The Culture Festival continues to be in full swing but we’re still waiting for whatever climax is awaiting us and I feel like the big thing that’s supposed to happen will be the last episode for this season. So it just feels like a slow build up to that point. Though it does seem like we’ve hit a bump in the road considering the unintentional state of Ishigami’s situation. But more on that later.
Nothing like bonding the different family through their fear of horror lol. I had a good laugh at how Kaguya and Maki were using each other as support when dealing with the horror house despite them pretending to be above it all. Though I did feel incredibly uncomfortable having to sit through that… scene with Iino. But I suppose the end result gave Kaguya and Maki a good fright. So all’s well that ends well…? I guess…? Either way, it was a nice suggestion from Ishigami (who took Iino as inspiration) to give his class a good project.
Speaking of Ishigami, poor guy just wanted to spend time with Tsubame in the horror house his class made… only for Iino to ruin that plan. Because of freaking course Tsubasa and Nagisa would use that time in a closed space to make out. When Iino was heading towards the locker that had them in it, I was like: NO IINO YOU’RE GONNA BE SCARRED. And thankfully they were just making out… BUT STILL. No one wants to see that you nasties. So because of that incident, boys and girls had to be split up.
Due to his crushing defeat of his first plan, Tsubame noticed he was a bit down and took him to her class’ project to try and lift his mood. And oh goodness, when Ishigami won that heart-shaped cookie and offered it to Tsubame I was like: DANG BOY, you doing this in a public place where so many people are watching?!??? I felt as if this could only end horribly… only to realize that he wasn’t even trying to confess and was just getting her something nice as a thanks! Oh no the second-hand embarrassment is slowly creeping up on me. This is going to turn into another big misunderstanding someway somehow if not already since Ishigami isn’t even aware of the situation and Tsubame is fretting over it. Not to mention EVERYONE saw it happen and this is surely going to bite Ishigami in the rear. Especially if someone sheds some light on how it looked from an outsider’s perspective. Though that may just end up crushing Ishigami when he realizes that he accidentally confessed before planning to.
However, because of Ishigami’s predicament, it also could be a hindrance to Shirogane’s plans. If Ishigami’s “confession” goes south, it would make Shirogane’s confession a little insensitive to Ishigami. On one hand, it is a little annoying that something like that was placed as an obstacle for Shirogane confessing, but on the other, it’s totally understandable since he does want to respect Ishigami’s feelings and be there as a comfort and support if he needs it. I do like the little introspective on Ishigami’s character, even though Chika was being incredibly rude about it initially and I’m glad Shirogane called her out on it. Ishigami’s biggest flaw was his confidence but it’s completely why that part of him had been shot since middle school. The situation left him broken and hesitant to try anything since that literally cost him so much. Everyone wants Ishigami to have more confidence in himself and it’s really sweet that all of them in their own ways are rooting for him and his confession to go well. It just shows that he’s stumbled upon a great group of friends who will always be there for him through the ups and downs. Thankfully Chika also gave a saving throw to her earlier rudeness and she is also cheering him on and does actually find him to be a decent person.
On a lighter note, the scene where Moeha meets Shirogane for the first time was pretty hilarious. Especially since Chika is dead set on proving to her how frustrating it is to deal with Shirogane’s flaws. But oh my gosh, just from how they set that up, I just KNEW Shirogane would be pretty good at juggling. Especially since he’s literally the complete opposite of what he says he is. So as soon as he said he’s “pretty inept at it,” there was no way he was botching it much to Chika’s chagrin lol. It seems as if he’s pretty good with his hands but not particularly with anything else which actually makes sense since he does a lot of the handiwork at home and at his odd jobs. But it’s hilarious how great he is at those things but completely sucks at the others lol. Not to mention that Chika was just constantly proving how much of a competent person Shirogane was despite her claiming the opposite of him and further justifying Moeha’s crush on him.
But oh gosh… Kaguya… please don’t hurt this child. As soon as Moeha was left alone to lament over the fact of not being able to give Shirogane the heart-shaped keychain OF COURSE Kaguya would be the one to walk in at that moment. I’m not a fan of Kaguya’s episodes of extreme jealousy, but I’m glad that they went a completely different direction with it this time and instead had the two bond over their mutual crushes on Shirogane. It was actually really sweet how Kaguya was able to relate to Moeha on what she liked about Shirogane and actually had fun chatting to her about it. Though I feel like it mostly had to do with the fact that Moeha is in middle school where Kaguya didn’t see her as a particularly large threat. Not to mention that in the back of my mind I did wonder: Isn’t this the same girl who said wanted to lock Kei up…? And yup… despite her cute disposition the show basically affirmed the fact she is indeed a psychopath. Thanks show.
This episode had its ups and downs but overall I think I enjoyed it. Though despite this show always being a bit episodic, I will admit that the fact there is an actual plot going on, the episodic bits do make this arc feel unnecessarily drawn out. It’s fine if nothing serious is going on, but with the rate that this arc is going, it makes me just want the arc to get to the freaking point already without so much filler. What does Shirogane have in mind for his confession? What will become of Ishigami’s accidental confession? Will Kaguya confess first? There’s a lot going on and it feels like we’re going at a snail’s pace to actually get to the bottom of these questions. Though I guess there are times where you have to stop and smell the flowers and enjoy the journey. Still doesn’t make me any less impatient though lol.
