Again with the peanut gallery caring way too much about Yuu simply greeting Maki. Oh yeah, sure, kids totally react this way to two people potentially being friends. I’m sorry, but I don’t find this scenario remotely realistic. This is anime’s form of humble-bragging. “Ugh, now everyone thinks I must have done something to her! Being friends with the hottest girl in class is just so hard!” But fine, we’re in bizarro world where kids can’t even have lunch in peace. Taira in You and I Are Polar Opposites complained about school having a social hierarchy. This show takes that concept and pushes it to the extreme. As a result, Maki has to take the two hottest girls in class somewhere quiet — a place where they can eat their immaculate bento boxes in peace. See, you gotta hang out with the losers from time to time, ’cause they would totally know all the best lunch spots! On the other hand, if their classmates were that surprised to see Yuu and Maki simply inteact, one of them probably would’ve tailed the group there. But shh, let’s just brush that aside for now!
Maki makes the best rolled omelets! He makes the best sweets! Even with a tiny pitcher of (probably fake) maple syrup! He’s totally husband material! Watching Yuu ooh and ahh over Maki’s skills while everyone just drools over her looks, I’m reminded of a hilarious exchange in Disco Elysium:
YOU — “What is romance?”
Annette — “It’s the type of book where there’s a rich lady and she has to choose between the good man and the bad man.” She smiles at the thought, perhaps imagining herself in that situation.
“Or there could be a story about a poor lady getting a rich man. It’s about a man and lady business, sir.”
YOU — “What about when everyone is poor?”
Annette — “That’s really not a proper romance story. That’s more like everyday life!”
In our case, just replace wealth with looks. You can have a story with one average-looking girl and hot guys. Or you can have a story with one average-looking guy and hot girls. But you can’t have a story about two average-looking people! That’s just real life!
That aside, practice makes perfect. If you can’t make pancakes, you simply haven’t practiced enough. Or you’re pretending to be incompetent so someone else will do it for you. And Yuu thus finds an excuse to come over to Maki’s place yet again. I’m betting Umi must be feeling sore right about now. Her secret friendship with Maki is suddenly a little less special. And if she’s already harboring feelings for Maki, then she probably feel as though Yuu might steal him away. She’s already stealing his time and attention. After all, who could possibly compete with the prettiest girl in class! You can’t fool me, though. I can spot insecurity from a mile away! I was born in it! Luckily for her, Maki remembers their prearranged Friday dates. I mean, let’s just call it what it is — they’re dates. And fine, this part was a little sweet. No need for syrup here. Though Umi pinching his nose for being considerate of her feelings is a bit weird.
When Friday rolls around, the kids find themselves enjoying manga together. I’ve never read a manga with anyone else. Unless you have similar reading speeds, it sounds annoying. Eventually, the two kids tire themselves out and fall asleep. I mean, you know how much brainpower manga requires. All that exposition… Maki soon wakes up to find a woman yelling at him. Uh oh, mom now knows what he’s been up to. I couldn’t possibly sleep through a friend getting scolded. No way, no how. That aside, the whole situation is odd. The mom starts things off by telling Maki that she’s taken work off early. This is a rare occurrence, apparently. She then phones Umi’s parent(s) to let them know where their daughter is. After a quick chat, she turns and tells the kids that Umi might as well stay the night ’cause it’s late. Haha, what? Also, I’m not a parent, but I feel like it’s never too late to pick up my kid.
The next time they’re at school, no one volunteers to be class reps for the upcoming school festival. As a result, they’re going to do do a lottery for it. Maki immediately wins it for the boys. Right off the bat, people start badmouthing him, and y’know what? The teacher’s right there. Even the girls are like, “Yes, I struck out!” And she’s right there! What’s with all these shitty teachers in my anime all of a sudden? Yuu ends up having to stand before the entire class and defend Maki. First off, why didn’t Umi jump to his defense? Guy even loaned her his clothes and bed! Maybe Yuu has the “prettiest” personality as well. Second, I just… I can’t, man. Once in a while, this show shows its sweet side. But then bullshit like this crops up, and I’m taken out of the story again. I just don’t find it believable. Sure, people badmouthing him behind his back, I can totally see. But in front of the teacher and she does jack shit about it? Bro, c’moooooooooooooooon…
Stray thoughts & observations:
— Haha, why the hell was this small bit of animation necessary? A show like Frieren will have a lot of flourishes where a character simply putting on a coat is lavishly animated. But this isn’t that.
— B-b-but where’s the tiny, lil’ pitcher? Also, he didn’t make any for himself?
— A modern day FPS game with 3-player couch co-op? Hm, I dunno about that…
— Wow, girl, I was in the middle of playing that game. Rude much? Also, who presses the physical buttons on the console anymore unless you’re turning it on for the first time or you need a hard reset?
— Whoa, what’s that! …sorry, I was just so shocked to see a landline. Thought I fell through a time warp or something!
— One pillow? And a tiny one at that. Step your pillow game up, son. Women have like a gajillion pillows.
— This show is so focused on the girls’ looks. You can’t go an episode without being reminded of it. I don’t remember having these conversations when I was in high school. Guess that just goes to show how ugly my friends and I were.
— A normal conversation to have when meeting your daughter’s friend for the first time. Look at dem crazy eyes, too.
