When we last left off, a school festival coming up, and Uka had volunteered to lead the charge. She’s organizing a maid cafe, by the way. When is it not a maid cafe? But hey, you get to see Uka in a maid uniform if that’s your thing. Don’t worry, it’s a pretty tame uniform for a pretty tame anime. Either way, this part of the episode feels a bit disjointed. It’s like a dream as we drift from scene to scene. At first, nobody wants to help Uka, so she’s careening around on her bike all by her lonesome. But eventually, the other girls get over themselves and lend a hand. Ganbatte this, ganbatte that, and our heroine is happy. For now.

Then there’s this weird thing they do at the festival called “Crazy Cool.” Apparently, they trot all the attractive students and make a snazzy video to introduce them to the entire student body. Cue people swooning over and over. I find it difficult to believe that someone with sort of authority signed off on this. I never encountered anything like this in any of my four years of high school, but hey, maybe I was living under a rock. Still, that’s not even the crazy part; Kai proclaims in that bored voice of his that he’s none other than “Ishimori’s caretaker” when it’s his turn to introduce himself. Um, okay. Weird. But this delights our heroine even though I would personally find it patronizing if someone talked about me like that. But it’s her crush so any attention is good attention? Unfortunately, he also painted a target on her back.

Naturally, a bunch of jealous girls flock to Uka and talk shit. Again, nothing I’ve ever seen before. Sure, people get jealous, but all of them chasing after her in a group like that? Immediately after the “Crazy Cool” event too? Do they have no shame? You can’t convince me that this is what Japanese schoolgirls are like. No way. Plus, don’t they realize that if she’s their rival, so is everyone else who is yelling at the poor girl? You’re all competing for the same guy; he’s not gonna date all of you! Then again, I’ve never seen a popular guy claim to be someone’s caretaker so yeah. I’m telling you, I’m like an alien visitor whenever I watch this show. I’m here from another galaxy, quietly observing these bipedal anime individual interact. It’s very odd. Very bizarre.

Classic overthinker Uka starts to worry that once she gets her groove on, Kai will no longer feel the need to be her caretaker. And if he isn’t her caretaker, does this… does this mean he won’t talk to her anymore? Well, he would keep talking to her if they’re friends. It’s a thing friends do, y’know? But maybe she still doesn’t think that they’re friends. To her credit, she tries not to spiral too hard. Yes, she runs and hide initially, but she also insists that she’ll strike up a conversation with Kai every chance she gets… which is a goal you make if you don’t think you’re friends with someone. ‘Cause I mean, don’t friends already do that? Maybe not every you get, but enough not to worry about someone ditching you.

More weird things happen with sudden injections of drama out of nowhere. First, Uka and Kai overhear more girls trash-talking her, so the guy boldly leaves their hiding place while holding her hand. Scandalous. I’m told that’s how babies are made. Again, does he not realize he’s making the jealous girls hate Uka even more? Or is it more important to be an idiot, break rules, and stick it to people? This is what his best bud was trying to warn Uka about episodes ago. His best bud also wonders if Kai will eventually push Uka away or protect her forever. Isn’t this tiring? I wish they would just stop talking around the issue. Clearly, his bud sees a pattern. Maybe Serina was shy like Uka, which was something the former alluded to in last week’s episode. Maybe she became too dependent on Kai because he helped her out all the time, but he was never actually in love with her. As a result, his best bud doesn’t want Kai to repeat the same mistakes. So just say that. Stop beating around the bush. I hate all these little subtle hints at something that isn’t even that deep. This ain’t Severance. It’s just a high school love story. No need to treat it like a mystery box.

Speaking of the devil, we cut to a dating event where Serina was supposed to be one of the participants. She was told to either join the fun or find a substitute. If it were me, I’d have told the guy to go eat rocks. What power does he have over her? But who knows? Maybe that’s too rude or something in Japan. Maybe Serina feels a great sense of obligation to an event she never agreed to. Maybe I’d be bullied to tears if I had grown up there. But this is all just a lead up to Uka volunteering to take Serina’s place. After all, our bold new Uka will bravely try everything and anything!

Sadly, our wallflower freezes on stage when the host is a little too rude and and a little too inappropriate, so Kai has to make yet another dramatic appearance. Uka basically bit off more than she can chew. You don’t start running a marathon if you’ve been a couch potato for years and years. No, you gotta take it slow and steady. Leading the class event for the festival? Bravo. Way to step out of your comfort zone. I certainly wouldn’t have done it at any point in my life. I’ also don’t care ‘m also happy to be the quiet introvert in the corner, but I digress. The point is that she’s getting a little too desperate. She’s less outwardly negative about herself these days, but her wild, reckless behavior here hints at the real truth: Uka still doesn’t think she get to stand next to Kai as if you need to be good enough to deserve love and friendship. Remember, this is the same girl who is just happy to breathe the same air as him.

Again, this is Kai we’re talking about. In Uka’s eyes, he’s shining, which I don’t get. Yeah, sure, everyone says he’s the hottest guy on campus. But he’s always wearing a frown. He always looks like he doesn’t want to be there. He always talks to people as if they’re wasting his time. What part of that is shining? So I don’t understand why Uka is mentally torturing herself over this guy. I don’t understand why Uka’s empowerment has to be centered around him. I wish I got a show about a shy girl emerging from her cocoon just for the sake of it and not because of some guy. Yeah, sure, she does it with the help of her friends and maybe falling in love is a nice bonus. But Kai feels too important to Uka’s development, and I dislike that. If he had to move away for family reasons, you can easily imagine Uka falling to pieces. You can easily imagine her undoing all the progress she’s made. Yes, she’s become bolder and stronger, but it’s built on shaky foundation.

Nevertheless, this is what we get, and it’s not like Honey Lemon Soda is going to magically evolve into a different, more empowering anime six episodes in. So what can I say? In the end, Kai tells his best bud that he takes back what he said about not being romantically interested in Uka. But when will he tell her that?