It’s time to make a new friend! This week we’re introduced to Makoto Kurume, a nervous introvert who already has some preconceived feelings towards certain characters and their archetypes. We’ve seen her hanging around in the background in the past few episodes, but it’s nice to see her front and center with the rest of her classmates. And once again, this show does not disappoint with keeping things light-hearted despite all the internal roadblocks many of the characters are facing.
After last week’s episode, Mitsumi has made the declaration to join the student council and to her surprise Kurume is also there to check it out. They both have very different reasons for stopping by. Mitsumi is using it as a means to help her future goals whereas Kurume is hoping to find a collection of like minded people before she’s left in the dust in her high school years. Once they step into the office, it is noted that the student council isn’t actually recruiting any new members which is a huge blow to Mitsumi. Still, they do recommend her joining one of the support groups and they are also able to give her more information about what it actually means to be on the student council… rather how much time it takes to be a member. It’s a wake up call, but she still seems invested. Afterwards, Mitsumi ends up inviting Kurume and Sousuke out to Starmax. And even though cafes are a pretty common hangout spot, it’s just so refreshing to see how excited she is to just be in the space and try one of their special drinks. It seems so mundane and normal to everyone else, but her smile is just so infectious!! Mitsumi, I hope you’re never sad during the course of this anime because you are an absolute ray of sunshine.
What I really liked about the whole Starmax scene is that Kurume, who was originally hesitant to come, opened up as they continued to talk. There were a couple of moments where they could have had her just step out and leave, making her a harder friend to obtain. But instead she smiles and leans into the conversation. As a major introvert myself, I loved to see this! She’s still uncomfortable with the situation, but she’s slowly making friends! You go Kurume! I hope you’re able to open up to the rest of the cast. One of the things I really appreciated about Kurume’s character is that she seems to stereotype her classmates based on what she thinks their perception of her would be – and for the most part she struggles to give others a chance. And while making assumptions about others isn’t the greatest thing, you can tell that it’s coming from a place of self-defense. With Mitsumi she’s able to drop her guard a lot faster, and tends to cling to her whereas characters like Yuzuki, despite trying to get along with her, tend to get denied by her. It’s a situation where she’s not deliberately mean, but it definitely comes across as her not liking someone of that personality. Ah… I really hope they are able to become good friends.
The second half of the episode focuses on Kurume trying to invite Mitsumi to a movie, but failing to recognize Mitsumi’s “oh, I’ll just invite people as I chat with them” type approach to social situations. As a result, there’s a whole group going to see the movie (but no Kinomoto 🙁 ), much to her stress. And as a side note, I loved the little moment where they talked about Mitsumi’s style. Personally, I think Nao-chan should have let her go out in the full get-up. She was cute!! Anyways, once we get to the meeting place we find out the group to see the movie is: Mitsumi, Kurume, Sousuke, Yuzuki, Mika, Yamada and Mukai. Mika is quick to hype herself up based on the appearance of Mitsumi and Kurume, and I don’t blame her, she was cute! But of course Yuzuki arrives and Mika immediately deflates. You were so confident in your outfit ! Just because there is another cute girl does not make you any less cute. Instead there are more cute girls !! (ahaha I say this, but I am definitely guilty of this… ah … haha…) I can’t wait for Mika and Yuzuki to actually sit down and talk to each other. I think they could become good friends, but they have to actually talk ! Mika doesn’t seem to think highly of Yuzuki and Yuzuki generally understands that certain people just don’t like her. And it makes me sad. I hope Yuzuki is able to have a happy high school life with friends without having to constantly tell people that it’s okay not to like her.
Ah…. I’m really glad that Yuzuki and Kurume got to interact by the end of the episode. Kurume is another character that directly assumes things about Yuzuki, specifically that she would be a mean girl. At the diner, Yuzuki tried multiple times to make connections – one with the learning app and the other with salted popcorn – but it appears she might have come across too strong. She’s trying her best, but keeps hitting strikes. So, it was really a bummer when she had to tell Kurume that she didn’t have to play nice with her and that she was sorry about the situation they were in and then for Kurume to basically respond (mentally) with “Can you blame me?”. Feelings are complicated but ahhhhhh to watch them all play out makes me sad !! But thank goodness Mitsumi is here! Completely oblivious to her surroundings she’s able to make people laugh and smile around her! And in the end, Kurume is willing to admit that she’s willing to try and become friends :^)
Another absolutely charming episode from Skip and Loafer. I’m having a blast with this series and my heart is so full. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
