I was really worried coming into this week’s episode because I had no idea what to expect. For me, last week’s episode really ended on a low note, but it does seem like this episode turned us right back around in a positive direction. We are once again revisiting the qualifications for love, but we also get to touch upon Kosuke’s struggles in the labs and even meet a potential new villain (actually who am I kidding? She’s definitely a villain.) I mean, with that ominous music plus a suspicious glare from Ibarada? There’s no way this girl can mean good news. But we’ll have to wait and see how much trouble she decides to cause.
But let’s back track to the beginning of the episode where we revisit Kosuke and his problem with deciding what to research for the lab. And personally, he is far from being my favorite character, but I really liked the overall idea that was being tossed around during his tantrum. He’s surrounded by a bunch of geniuses and it really sucks to feel like you’re the dumbest person in the room. So one, I completely agree with him that academic papers should be written in a much more accessible language (because! there really isn’t a reason why academic writing should be so convoluted! Yes, if you are writing to your peers who are aware of the terms you are using that’s fine!! But! There’s no reason to beef up your words solely to make yourself seem better than everyone else!) and two, I really like that his whole break down ended with Ikeda saying that there is science in things that you love and essentially you just have to find it. I love this way of thinking because it got me through a lot of my schooling. You know, when your professor says “it can be on anything! you just have to relate it back to the class” and you better bet that I wrote some of my best essays on anime! Follow your passions kids. Do let your memes be dreams.
So with that heartwarming thought in our minds, we revisit the two love birds in their quest to collect saliva from Kanade. Personally, I thought this whole segment was a little uncomfortable – quite frankly I had the same reaction to their …experience… as Kanade and Kosuke had. Yeah, I guess I can kind of get the joke that they were going for, but it honestly just felt really uncomfortable to watch. Don’t get me wrong, I probably would have had a completely different reaction to this scene if their explosive feelings were all in their heads. Yeah, that would have been fine, but when I realized that they were just having that moment in front of everyone? Have these two no shame? (I mean, no they don’t, but wow. ) So, I definitely appreciate Kanade’s comments about the two of them making absolute fools of themselves.
And with that moment completely unresolved, we are introduced to a mysterious new alumnus of the Ikeda lab and boy oh boy Ibarada does not seem to like her. And not only that, but they pretty quickly paint the alumnus as a bad guy, I mean if the ominous music, the crow, the red background, and her general demeanor don’t give it away – you can always count on the good ole’ new character introduced really late in the series trope to stir up some drama. I thought it was kind of funny, from a non-science person’s perspective, that she had studied in the lab and yet turned into the “starving manga artist” trope. It kinda validated me! Even the science-types can fail! But back to our alumnus I’m really curious about what sorts of things she’s end up contributing to their research. I wonder if it will be true chaos as she attempts to get the two to separate, or perhaps she will introduce many new and hilarious situations.
The next episode looks like it will be a fun one as the gang packs up for their summer training camp. What sort of shenanigans will they get into in Okinawa in this Science-type spin of the beach episode?
