Rinko reluctantly catches up with Kotaro, whom she used to have a working relationship with — maybe also an intimate relationship. Lemme guess, she found Kuroe’s egg then decided to settle down? Meanwhile, he’s a playboy who couldn’t give up his work? After all, he conveys that feeling of an absentee dad, i.e. practically never sees the kid, but love bombs them on those rare occasions when they do meet up. And unlike Arata, he knows about Kuroe’s condition; he likely also knows that she’s also the kaiju that’s been rampaging around. There’s no way he’s clueless. Rinko also comments on his current look; she doesn’t think it makes him look much like a scientist. Hm, I dunno… people come in all shapes and sizes. Scientists can be fuckbois too, if they want! Maybe she only intends this to be a lighthearted jab — an attempt to needle a former colleague and lover whom she’s none too pleased to see. In the back of Rinko’s mind, Kotaro represents a potential threat to the peaceful life she’s built for herself with her kaiju daughter.
Kotaro has tickets for a metal festival, and Rinko immediately balks at the idea. I’m inclined to agree with her. It does seem unsafe for a young teenager, and I don’t necessarily trust Kotaro… but I can’t speak from experience. I’ve never been to anything but the symphony or orchestra, and as jammin’ as Shostakovich can be, you won’t find any mosh pits there. Anyway, Rinko doesn’t shut the idea down completely. Instead, she wants to tag along, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. Minors shouldn’t be at a music festival alone with a strange man. But I guess he’s not so strange to her; Kuroe is very comfortable with Kotaro.
Unfortunately for her, Arata happens to be working his part-time job at this same festival. What a coincidence. Even worse, we’re doing one of those misunderstandings subplots. For some stupid ass reason, Kotaro introduces himself as Kuroe’s boyfriend. If you want to be charitable, he’s also being overprotective like Rinko. But c’mon, Kotaro is old enough to be her dad. And all Arata does is act surprised and envious, especially when he sees how comfortable Kuroe is with Kotaro. He doesn’t realize that she’s comfortable precisely because she sees Kotaro as family. She can just tell Arata that, right? Nope, the situation spirals out of control, because we can’t use our words to communicate. But let’s think about this for a moment: if Arata really thought Kuroe was dating an adult, then he should be reporting it to the authorities, not acting like a pouty, jealous little boy who needs to mark his territory. Sigh, to be fair, he is a boy — a teen boy, but still a boy.
As a result of the very stupid misunderstanding, the kaiju shows up again. But hey, it’s a metal festival, so she fits right in. Bizarrely, the metal band on stage keeps singing. Arata then climbs onstage in a desperate attempt to find Kuroe. Wait, what? So he doesn’t know? I… ugh, whatever. This guy is the classic dumb hot guy. Pure himbo energy. There isn’t a single brain cell in that pretty little head of his. But he’s brave, so he offers to play decoy for “Harugon.” Speaking of Harugon, Manatsu also joins the fray, because… because why not! Let’s get everyone here to mosh with the kaiju!
Like we’ve already seen in a previous episode — hell, maybe the last one — Arata calms Kuroe down by not rejecting her in her true form, i.e. he sees her natural beauty and still doesn’t turn away. It’s kinda starting to be repetitive, though. Just a little. And in the aftermath, the two kids are finally able to use their words. Arata even asks her to be his official girlfriend. But until these two idiots can be completely honest with each other, their troubles won’t end.
Stray thoughts & observations:
— Kuroe and Kotaro apparently bond over heavy metal. That’s… cute, I guess. The guttural screaming is not for me.
— Ugh, the hat is too much. He already looks shady — like “cover your drink whenever you’re with him” shady. The hat screams “M’lady…” vibes. Do I spy a gold chain as well? On top of the soul patch? Bro…
— You can’t even tell a friend “good night”? That’s only for couples? Anime characters are so weird, sometimes.
— Characters in anime romance series always do this: “I won’t ask for more than this.” Granted, she has good reasons to be insecure. First, literally a kaiju. She doesn’t want to lose control and destroy the city her crush lives in. Second, this show’s entire subtext screams “ugly duckling” doesn’t recognize her own natural beauty. We have to explore her insecurities. Having said that, when will I get a super confident female lead who shoots her shot and isn’t afraid to keep shooting when she misses? Even Marin in My Dress-Up Doll got super self-conscious about confessing her feelings. Obviously, there’s Suzuki from You and I Are Polar Opposites, but she’s the exception that proves the rule.
— This sounds like projection. Speaking of which, I typically hate stories about Chinese emperors (or any emperor, really) because they’ll almost always involve a harem. So I looked it up, and there was at least one dude who stuck to a single woman for the duration of his reign. One. So maybe it isn’t projection; most guys, if they had the choice, would form a harem for themselves too. Sad.
— Uh, when Kuroe smacks those helicopters out of the sky, she killed the people in them, right? No wait, they seem to swerve out of the way at the last second. Near the end of the episode, we get yet another news report confirming that there were no serious injuries.
— Does this count as “death by snoo-snoo”?
— I’m surprised we didn’t see Rinko sneaking around the metal festival in disguise.