Kannawa and Kamegawa are on a business trip, so we get all the familiar tropes. For instance, we make the classic blunder of reserving only one room for the two young, attractive professionals! Oh, what are we to do! We can’t possibly share a room together (even though it has two twin beds)! That would be so inappropriate! Unless… well, if this had been a hentai, I’m sure Kannawa and Kamegawa would be banging like rabbits, declare their love for each other, and have babies after. Make the late Shinzo Abe proud, kids! But this isn’t a hentai, so they stay up gaming all night instead. To her credit, Kannawa does get Kamegawa to stick around. He initially was planning to slum it overnight at a manga cafe instead. Why him and not Kannawa? I dunno, senpai privilege?
The whole business trip is just funny from the outside looking in, because this is definitely not what my business trips look like. My company would simply have me log onto a booking site with my company credentials — something like Egencia. After inputting my search parameters, the site would then spit out the cheapest flight and hotel accommodations available. Take it or leave it, folks. Well, leave it and get fired. Not once would I ever book anything with another coworker. Or, in this case, have someone else book the trip for me. The only reason Kannawa and Kamegawa ended up with one room is because some coworker of theirs was slacking off. But why was she doing it for them to begin with? My point is, there’s no chance a hotel would ever give another coworker and me one room instead of two. Hell, we likely wouldn’t even end up at the same hotel. But hey, I have no clue how they do it in Japan. Maybe they still do it the old way.
It’s also funny to see Kannawa and Kamegawa both hop on a plane in their business attire. But when they head over to the location for the photoshoot, Kannawa and Kamegawa are in much, much more comfortable-looking clothes. Hell, when the filming starts, Kannawa even unveils her bathing suit. My, how bold of her. Somehow, she thinks she needs to match what the models are wearing. Girl, what is going on up there in that noggin of yours? Anyways, I get it. We’re in Okinawa with all the pristine beaches and blue skies. It’s a relaxed party atmosphere! I just don’t get why they had to get all dressed up for the plane ride? And when it’s time to head back home, they put those business attire back on! Is that a thing in the Japanese business world? You gotta look your best for a freaking plane ride?
Personally, you would never catch me wearing a suit on a plane. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time I wore a suit. Or a tie. The industry I work in doesn’t care about that sort of thing anymore. I usually just show up in a hoodie and a pair of slacks if I need to come into the office. On the other hand, if I had a company wide presentation… no, no, I still wouldn’t put on a dress shirt. These days, I only dress up for fancy restaurants or the symphony.
Other than that, this episode is inundated with montages. Montages of them at various locations for the photoshoot. Montages of them doing a local folk dance. Montages of them visiting different cafes. Just lots of Kannawa and Kamegawa looking at each other and smiling. All that looking should lead to sparks flying, right? Well, kinda. Lately, Kamegawa has been feeling self-conscious around his senpai, which is an obvious indication that he’s attracted. He no longer sees her as just his mentor. She’s a bonafide woman that he could possibly date. Tsk, tsk, tsk, how inappropriate. You really shouldn’t look at a coworker — a superior, no less — with those eyes.
Meanwhile, Kannawa finds herself in two different predicaments in which she needs Kamegawa to come to her rescue. First, some guy (the director?) at the photoshoot tries to hit on her while she’s wearing the swimsuit. He was even going to reach out and grab her. Needless to say, he’s crossing a line. Kannawa isn’t oblivious to his advances either, but she’s frozen stiff. I suppose she is scared in this moment. Seeing this, Kamegawa makes up an excuse to shoo the guy away. That works, I guess, but did he really need the excuse? When dudes are being weird, point it out, i.e. “Bro, quit being weird.” ‘Cause you might have saved your precious senpai from someone being a creep, but he’s just going to go do it to someone else down the line. But maybe there’s a social etiquette thing in Japan that I’m not aware of. Maybe escalating this incident would get back to his employers, and Kamegawa might lose his job. I dunno!
In another scene, the group invites our two lovebirds on a sightseeing trip, but Kannawa’s social battery is running on empty. She’s definitely an introvert through and through. So again, Kamegawa has to come to the rescue. This time, it’s whatever. I’m fine with telling the white lie here. As a result, the two of them get to hit up all the cafes in the area, but it’s not a date date. It’s for work. Uh-huh. All we really need to know is that Kannawa’s social battery might’ve been out of commission for them, but certainly not for Kamegawa. They pretty much spend all their time together.
But yeah, that’s pretty much our episode. So what’s the “moral” of the week? Kamegawa had fun, y’all. And maybe — just maybe — he’s slowly falling in love with her. Nah, forget maybe. It’s inevitable. By the way, snacking and using the computer? I can’t stand it. I can’t stand getting grease all over my stuff.
