This episode was fantastic and has to be my favorite episode for this season so far. Especially since this episode focused pretty heavily on my favorite friend ship between Kaguya and Ishigami. Not gonna lie, but after the last two episodes, I was starting to lose a little bit of interest in this season. So I’m really glad that they brought back some of the comedy and relationships that tickle me and bring joy.
Guess we found out the answer to who the third person who answered they were currently in love. That being Ishigami. Which would probably come as a mild surprise as he is someone who just absolutely loathes seeing couples. And it certainly felt rich with him saying “Students should be focusing on studying.” He says as he plays games and I love that Kaguya literally echoes my thoughts seconds later lol. But this man backtracked HARD on his statement of not wanting a girlfriend when the dude reveals that he has a pretty large crush on Tsubame. Also I just CACKLED at how as soon as she leaves he just smacks himself in the face as if smacking himself back into reality. It honestly makes sense why he would fall for her since she seems like a very sweet person. Not to mention that despite the rumors surrounding him, she still watched after him to make sure he was adjusting well to the cheer squad. However, because of his trauma during middle school, he believes it’s no use to even try and pursue her since he has always been met with failure.
I absolutely love the friendship that Kaguya and Ishigami have built up. In season 1, Ishigami has been absolutely terrified of Kaguya because he comedically believed she murdered people. However, Kaguya ends up going above and beyond to help Ishigami with his studies, even going as far as to defend him from the rumors surrounding him. After that, it seems their relationship had softened. Even enough for them to feel at ease around each other enough to open up about their hangups and throw tantrums around each other without fear of judgement lol. I especially love how they even brought up his trauma from season 2 and how delicate Kaguya is treating it. I appreciate that she isn’t treating Ishigami’s situation lightly and knows just how hard it weighs down on him. And the way she encouraged him to find a way to win Tsubame’s heart all the while making him look up instead of down. That just felt so heartwarming because she legit cares about him and actually wants to see him succeed.
Also it’s never not funny to me how hypocritical and just self-aware these characters can be sometimes. Hypocritical in the sense that Kaguya of all people is telling Ishigami to confess his feelings… while also being self-aware of the fact that the way she’s currently going about her feelings for Shirogane is an “endless slog” lol.
While Ishigami’s intentions are good, I couldn’t help but agree with Kaguya that if I found random flowers on my desk every day from a stranger, I would be a little freaked out not knowing who they’re from. Not to mention how even more creepy it would be to be given an album of someone. Especially since it seems as if Ishigami was just planning on leaving it on her desk without personally giving it to her. But even then, I feel like this sort of thing shouldn’t happen unless the two are already in a relationship, not before. Ishigami PLEASE. Poor Ishigami is just too socially awkward that everything he thinks up of doing ends up being “creepy.” So I do appreciate that Kaguya is trying to help him and being blunt on what he thinks of is wrong to try and steer him in a better direction. That’s what true friends do, calls out the bad ideas all the while still trying to be supportive. Also I can’t with that freaking title drop of ULTRA ROMANTIC XD.
It’s interesting how Kaguya and Ishigami have a similar relationship to that of Shirogane and Chika as both Kaguya and Chika are out to help the guys. Though I do enjoy seeing Ishigami and Kaguya grow closer as friends because of it, unlike with Chika and Shirogane where it seems as if Chika has had enough of him. Kaguya’s influence on Ishigami is also pretty similar to Shirogane as well. She gave Ishigami her belief that he will succeed and I love that that belief is what is propelling him forward to study so he can live up to her expectations. She gave him the determination to actually try and not hold himself back. And while he wasn’t able to make it into the top 50 like he and Kaguya had hoped, she was there to help pick him back up when he was slipping back into his defeatist mindset and didn’t give up on him. Not to mention the symbolism of Kaguya bringing the light in to Ishigami’s dark room, mirroring what Shirogane did for him back in season 2. But this time, instead of the room just fully lighting up, he chose to walk out into the light and follow after Kaguya. Ugh, it’s so good.
I do feel really bad for Ishigami when he ended up not doing as well as he would have hoped despite putting in much more effort than he typically does. When you put your all into something and don’t get the results you hoped for can be crushing. So I really appreciate that Kaguya didn’t make him feel even more terrible about not making it than he already did. Instead, she used this defeat to propel him to do even better the next time. Honestly, I do think Ishigami needed more time to prepare for the test so now that he has more prep time, he now sees what he has to work on, so all he has to do is apply himself. I’m sure he’ll finally be able to crack the Top 50 on the next final.
We just go from one friendship to another and I am glad they also chose to give some limelight to Kaguya and Chika’s friendship. The two’s relationships is dysfunctional as all heck, but I’m glad that they actually showed their friendship in a more positive light this time. As much as I harp on Chika, she is can be a very sweet individual. When she noticed that Kaguya was disappointed about not being able to have the sleepover at Chika’s place that night, she instead suggested the two of them have a sleepover at Kaguya’s. At first I thought Kaguya would be disappointed and act salty over the fact that Shirogane and his sister wouldn’t be coming. But girl please, there was absolutely no way that Shirogane was going to stay over at a girl’s sleep over even if his sister was there. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and instead the two seemed to have a legit fun time together. Throughout that happy montage of them hanging out, I was just bracing myself for something bad to happen. Thankfully nothing went south and instead Kaguya was just getting tired since she goes to bed so early. Also thank you narrator for clearing up the fact that she was only getting tired and the two of them weren’t drinking alcohol.
I think this had to be my favorite skit that Ayasaka was a part of. This girl has so many disguises, it’s ridiculous. Also the fact that she gave such an over the top tragic backstory for her male disguise was so unbelievably hilarious to me. I freaking died when she tacked on the fact that her disguise is a war orphan. I don’t know why that part made me laugh so hard. Probably because it was already over the top but she went above and beyond with it.
Chika ends up calling Shirogane to investigate who he is possibly in love with since the game they played in last episode was still on her mind. To which she believed that the boys had to be part of the three that were currently in love with someone. And thus the misunderstandings take root when Kei outs Shirogane over texting someone by the name of Herthaka lot recently. And because earlier Hayasaka tacked on the fact of Mr. Herthaka being gay… well let’s say that Chika was losing a large amount of blood from that revelation.
And of course, we just had to have that little tease at the end of Kaguya nearly confessing over the phone with Kei watching no less only to fall asleep before she could answer. And this is why a loopy Kaguya should not be left unsupervised. Though I guess Hayasaka was there, but she sure didn’t do anything until Kaguya had passed out. Who knows how this is going to effect future scenarios. Especially since Shirogane might now have an idea that Kaguya has feelings for him considering how she had phrased everything in that conversation. Though knowing this show, there might be another case of miscommunication. But I guess we’ll just have to see how everything plays out. Also Hayasaka’s position could be jeopardized as Kei believes Herthaka to be a girl and because she’s close to Chika, conflicting information could be brought up over that.
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode as it touched on relationships that I really liked while also hitting the type of humor that leaves me cackling. It also alludes to what could become future scenarios and I’m all for the build up. At this point, I think I had skipped over this portion of the manga since I literally have no recollection of any of the events happening. Or maybe it’s just been so long that I’ve forgotten the smaller stories. But I feel like I SHOULD have remembered this Ishigami and Kaguya bonding moment if I did read it. Either way, I eagerly await what else this season has in store since it feels like I’m watching new content now.
