Ah yes, it’s time for the obligatory festival episode, so you know what that means: girls wearing yukata (only girls allowed, though!), everyone enjoying grub from all the food stalls, and last but not least, we can’t forget about the fireworks. We even get a scene where Kannawa burns herself eating takoyaki! How does an adult woman get this far in life without knowing how to eat hot food?! Well, not to be a Debbie Downer, but I can’t help but feel as though I’m watching a high school romance series. But that’s not entirely fair now, is it? There’s no reason why two adults can’t go to a festival together. And it’s not even just two adults, because this episode introduces a whole new character. Nevertheless, every time I watch this show, I ask myself, “What makes this different from a high school romance series?” And truthfully, I can’t really give you a good answer. Kannawa and Kamegawa might be working adults, but they often act like children.

So what’s up with the new girl? Her name is Hotta, and she started at the company around the same time as Kamegawa. It makes sense for the newbies to stick together. In fact, the whole reason they’re even making plans for the festival is for all the new hires to meet up and hang out. A couple of older colleagues were even going to join them until Kannawa asked if she could join. All of a sudden, those older colleagues immediately bailed. That’s… kinda mean and passive aggressive, isn’t it? And also really rude and awkward. But everyone just brushes it off. Like what the hell? Talk about a hostile work environment. I get that Kannawa is strict, and her manner of speaking can be rather blunt. But holy shit, where’s the class? Even if I wanted to worm out of a hang-out with someone I don’t get along with, I wouldn’t do it literally in front of them. So in sharp contrast to those two mean girls, it’s nice to see that Hotta is so welcoming.

In fact, I appreciate My Awkward Senpai for not leaning into the jealousy route. They could’ve played into it and drummed up all sorts of drama about how Kannawa is mad that Kamegawa might like some other girl, but they didn’t go there. Sure, Kannawa does end up feeling like a third wheel during the actual festival, but that’s more due to her own awkwardness and insecurities than anything else. She then awkwardly leaves the group without saying a word. I wanted to face palm so bad during this scene. It’s one thing to feel left out, but damn, she really just left them without saying anything. Naturally, this only worries them; it would worry any sensible person when someone in your group just disappears. For someone as uptight as Kannawa, she really created a mess for no good reason. Not only that, she goes and wanders down a dark, empty street. Again, My Awkward Senpai could’ve leaned into drama. I half-expected unscrupulous dudes to show up outta nowhere and hit on Kannawa. You know how it goes: the love interest feels unsafe so the manly man has to swoop in and save her from other evil men!!! But no, Hotta quickly finds the senpai, so everything is quickly resolved without much fanfare.

Ultimately, Hotta feels like someone who can read the room, which is something we sorely need. Between the socially awkward Kannawa and the blissfully naive golden retriever in Kamegawa, it’s nice to have someone with a little awareness. Plus, it helps that Hotta just seems like a nice person. She earnestly tries befriend Kannawa unlike the other newbies. Unlike her, they unquestioningly buy into all the negative rumors about Kannawa without meeting the woman herself. Hell, during the actual festival, they even make up an excuse to split the group in two just to seemingly avoid having to interact with Kannawa. Again, it feels like this company has a terrible work environment. Outside of a handful of characters that I can count on one hand, everyone else seems like huge, presumptuous jerks.

But again, Hotta can seemingly read the room, because she makes it repeatedly makes it clear to Kannawa that the kouhai mentions the latter a lot. It almost seems as though she doesn’t want to come across as a threat to their budding relationship. It’s like she can tell that the senpai is a bit hapless, so she’s going to lend a hand. Not only that, she gives the two alone time at the end of the episode just so Kannawa and Kamegawa can see the fireworks go off together. Hotta’s pretty much the MVP. I can’t help but wonder if she’ll continue to have a significance presence going forward, ’cause the two main characters might need her prodding on a regular basis. If those two continue to stall, I hope Hotta swoops in and gives them a swift kick in the butt towards progress. And no, I still think it’s unprofessional for a mentor to date her mentee. But since we’re headed there anyway, we might as well get to our destination on time. Look, I just watched the oft-injured, former loner Yano-kun confess to his crush within a single episode of realizing his own feelings. A high schooler is kicking their ass, so yeah, these two working adults need to get their shit together.

Anyway, anime always makes me wanna pay way too much for food.