The kids are on a field trip, which involves other schools as well. It’s a small world, so the girls somehow bump into Rairi’s old crush Okada. Y’know, the guy who was only laughing at her and not with her — the guy who led her on. And sadly, he doesn’t even recognize Rairi. Ehhhhhh, I know this is exaggerated for comedic effect, but weirdos in the real world will actually argue that make-up is a form of fraud. So I dunno, I feel like this is adding fuel to the fire. It also raises another salient question: all this time, Rairi thought she was giving herself the confidence boost she needed to be happy, but what if she was really just erasing herself?
Okada starts flirting with Rairi hardcore, and it looks like she’s going along with it. In her mind, she’s getting one up on him. But we already know he has a rotten personality. Should we really care what bad people think about us? We even find out later that Okada still has a girlfriend — hell, it might even be the same one from before — so he’s attempting to cheat. Unfortunately, Rairi wants an even bigger win. She wants to spend even more time with the jerk to reap the delicious irony. This, however, also increases the chance of her accidentally exposing herself. So why bother? Just walk away. The best revenge is living your best life.
At this point, Arata comes by and invites Kuroe to hang out with him. I really wish Kuroe had stuck around to keep an eye on her new friend, though. There are going to be so many other opportunities for her to spend time with Arata. Meanwhile, I feel like Rairi is flirting with fire, and she needs someone like Kuroe to pull her back before anything disastrous happens. Ultimately, I want to say, “Girl, get some self-respect,” but these characters’ lack of self-esteem is precisely what this show is all about.
Kuroe soon sees Rairi stuck on a rowboat. See, girls gotta look out for each other. Actually, we should all look out for each other, but you know what I mean. And you just know Rairi’s going to fall into the lake at some point. How else would she accidentally expose herself to her old crush? So of course, she falls in. You could see this trainwreck (or shipwreck, I suppose) coming from a mile away, and yet none of the characters had enough foresight to prevent it.
When Okada sees her banana earrings, it instantly reminds him of Rairi. He starts trashing her, not realizing that he’s in front of her. But I mean, are we really surprised that he hasn’t changed? Of course, it’d be nice if he did. I’ve been watching a lot of shows that lean away from dredging up old drama and hurts. There are shows where people do grow into better people. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. Plus, Rairi didn’t exactly hang out with Okada again for innocent reasons. She played with fire and got burnt.
In the end, we get a kiss of sorts anyway, and it’s only because Kuroe wanted to save her friend. She knows that the ensuing emotions from the kiss will trigger a transformation, thereby drawing everyone’s attention away from Rairi. Damn, that’s a first. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen romantic development purely as a reason to save someone else. Imagine making out with your boyfriend in order to save the world. But like I said, girls gotta stick up for one another. If this means Kuroe has to “waste” her first kiss on a school trip in front of everybody, then so be it. Unfortunately, the story chickens out a little, because Kuroe merely kisses Arata on the cheek and not his lips. Basically, the true first kiss is still in the cards for a later episode (probably the finale). Okay, fine, she does kinda kiss him on the lips later… as Harugon. But c’mon, this doesn’t really count.
But despite Kuroe’s best intentions, Rairi also can’t help being a good person. Instead of reapplying her make-up to save herself the embarrassment, she heroically leaps after a classmate who is stuck in a tree. She then tries to defend the rest of her classmates from Harugon. We almost have ourselves a Kong vs Godzilla match for the ages. Well, if only Rairi could make herself 50x bigger…
In the end, Rairi had nothing to worry about, because none of the girls are disillusioned by seeing her without her make-up. They continue to be her friends; they even express their gratitude for all the times she’s helped them. They care about her character and not her looks. Wanting to feel pretty is still a valid desire, but we shouldn’t lose sight of what really matters. It’s a shame that Okada is still a horrible person, but hey, that’s life. Some people are incapable of change. Thanks to Mouthwashing, I like to call them Jimmy like how we call every nosy busybody a Karen. But I digress.
I guess the moral of the week is that we should just move on. Lean on your current friendships, and stop letting your past haunt you. Sure, you could argue if Rairi hadn’t accidentally exposed herself, she never would’ve found out that her friends are such great people. But that’s a different matter altogether. She could’ve simply opened up to them without letting her old, shitty crush back into her life.
Stray thoughts & observations:
— Kuroe hasn’t quite gotten the hang of applying make-up, but I don’t really think she needs to worry. Arata started liking her well before make-up ever entered the picture.
— Girls only care about one thing and one thing only: kaijus.
— I don’t think Mana-tee is a good nickname for any girl. But even if she knew English, she has such a one-track mind that I think this just goes over her head.
— Rairi’s friends are certainly… colorful. Kuroe wins them over by simply complimenting their make-up.
— Oh girl, are you using food to hide your sadness? Don’t do that.
— Plus, Kuroe is so worried about Rairi that she can’t even fully enjoy her time with Arata anyway. Might as well just stick with her friend in that case. Arata should understand if Kuroe explains it later.
— I’m all for characters getting over the “first kiss” hump, because I don’t think it’s really a big deal. But on a school trip? You guys really wanna do it here? I guess you can’t help it if and when the mood strikes.
