Oh gosh this was a week of second hand-embarrassments for both Takumi and Kokone. Poor Takumi had thought Yui was maybe talking about him when he swung by to drop off the circular notice, turns out she was talking about Kokone’s driver. Bless his heart, he was so flustered with himself!
It was really nice to see Kokone coming out her shell. It’s a lot of fun to see her being more expressive than the day we have met her. She is still getting used to socializing with others, and found herself overwhelmed when her classmates all asked sit with her during the picnic outing. And honestly could you blame her? There was a freaking line queuing up to talk with her. I can only imagine the reason why her classmates suddenly find her very approachable (when they previously though she was out of their league) was thanks to three girls she had helped out when they got caught in the crossfire of Gentlu’s monster asking if they could eat with her.
But the problem was that Kokone was so focused on trying to do the outing properly she forgot all about enjoying the meal she worked hard to make. And I can certainly attest to the disappointment of not being able to enjoy a meal you were looking forward to, especially due to getting side-tracked by other distractions. It also didn’t help that the idea of a picnic she had in her head didn’t pan out as she expected. When she heard Mari talk about the times he had picnics on the hills, she imagined singing and dancing– an exaggerated piece of detail that he never mentioned at all haha. So when she announced to her classmates it was time to dance, oh my gosh, I felt so bad for her in that moment! Suggesting something only to have people look at you in confusion or strangely is so mortifying. The second-hand embarrassment was real.
It was sweet to see Todoroki (Kokone’s driver) cheer her up with getting her food from one of his favourite places to eat. It was then when she learned that he is actually Solomogu on Curesta. He talked about the importance of remembering to take the time to enjoy a meal, something he had once neglected to do due to being too busy in the past. It is an important message since people tend to forget to eat, or aren’t able to really stop and enjoy it due to just not having the time do so. As Yui loves to say, food brings smiles, but it can also offer a therapeutic breather when you need it most.
And finally, we did get to see Takumi show up as Black Pepper (Black Pep, as Ran likes to call him) today (albeit a bit late to the party), but he realized he didn’t need to intervene, or rather it would be better not to or else Kokone would’ve been caught in the crossfire of his attack. I do think it’s a smart idea for him to lay low for a while by lingering behind the scenes to swoop in as necessary back-up when needed. This way he can catch Narcistoru off-guard, giving them a chance to turn things around should they find themselves in a real pickle, something we are definitely starting to see more of since Narcistoru has become their main opponent.
Ah, speaking of the devil, it is really great to see how much stronger his monsters are. They do make the fights a lot more exciting, and this week was a great follow up to the last one. This time the girls faced off a heavy-hitter. It had an interesting range of attacks, making it difficult the likes of Yui who can only do close-combat at the moment to land a hit. However despite saying that, it was Kokone who actually knocked it off his feet with a sucker punch of her own thanks to her resolve to rescue Todoroki’s memories.
Next week, it looks like it will be Ran’s turn to get frustrated at Narcistoru’s meddling, and potentially another flashy fight. It’s exactly what we need to spice things up a bit, so it’s something to look forward to!
Notice: Ep 17 will be released a double-post next week!