When we last left off, Maki seemed like he had a good chat with Umi’s father about how to approach his parents. Let’s see if it really paid off.

— The episode opens with Maki asking the student council prez if he could leave the venue for fifteen minutes. Oh yeah, he’s working as a staff member for the party. I’m just kinda amused that all of his friends are behind him like this is some big, life-altering question.

— Maki meets with the woman his father is seeing after school. Her name is… Minato, I believe? He actually asked to meet with both of them, but of course his father couldn’t make it. We then learn more details about his relationship with Minato, like how she was one of the new hires. She then literally refers to him as her boss. I can’t condone that. Even if she weren’t his subordinate, it’d still be sketchy.

— Minato then begs Maki to consider living with his father again. She even promises to leave his father if he agrees. Maybe don’t get involved in the first place, lady.

— Kinda flashy for a Christmas party. They seem more like prom dresses. And if you scan the room, very few people are fancily dressed. Also, where is everyone?

— With Minato’s help, Maki arranges a meeting between his parents without telling them first what’s going on. Maybe he’s right in that his parents need to hash things out. Not get back together, but at least unburden themselves of any resentment. At the same time, however, I don’t feel right lying to people like this, especially your loved ones. I don’t like the idea of deceiving people just because the ends might justify the means.

— Wait, Maki’s really going to beg them to get back together? Sure, he’s getting it off his chest and moving on. They’re also literally acknowledge that it’s a temper tantrum. But still… he’s not five. Maybe I’m too harsh, but I find this off-putting coming from a teenager on the cusp of going to college.

— Why would you do this? Why would you secretly watch a private family moment? I’m flabbergasted that this is being portrayed as wholesome.

— Yeah, why are you here? You’re not even friends with Maki.

— Well, it turns out she’s just here to be the photographer.

— I guess the silver lining is that Maki finally confesses his love to Umi. Had to make a big spectacle out of it, but at least he got it out.

— Good lord, it’s all about cornball, cheesy endings, ’cause Umi is now thinking of patching things up with her former friends. Y’know, the same friends that lied to her just to hang out with Yuu alone. She even says she was partly at fault… for not confronting them at the time. What is this nonsense? That’s not a fault! Is this some social harmony bullshit again?

— Rather than half-seriously threatening them, I’d rather just not be friends with two-faced liars.

— You’re asking that now? He literally told you he loved you in front of his parents (and his dad’s affair partner).

— A fairy tale ending would’ve been his parents miraculously getting back together despite nothing changing about themselves or their fractured relationship. So I’m glad that didn’t happen. I’m glad we’re not just pretending that it’s better for our parents to force it when it clearly hasn’t been working out for years. But personally, something about this week’s episode still felt incredibly cheesy and hard to swallow.

— So… what now? The story doesn’t have to end just because the main characters are finally a couple, but they kinda wrapped up every lingering plot thread. Maki confessed his love, he confronted his parents, Umi patched things up with her two shitty friends… what’s left for the final few episodes? It doesn’t seem like we have time to build up another serious conflict, so…