Showing your potential rival pictures of eggplants sure is a unique tactic.
Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her Ep. 6
Narrative-wise, this episode is kind of a mess. Both Haruki and Hayato get slightly jealous when they see the other person interacting with the opposite sex — Haruki with that soccer guy, Hayato with the gardening girl. I’m not quite sure what to make of the soccer guy. He tries to befriend Hayato, but I wonder if he’s only interested in learning the latter’s secret. After all, Haruki only lets her guard down around Hayato. Meanwhile, Haruki starts gardening with Minamo as well.
A bunch of stuff happens. I don’t feel like going through each and every single event. It’s too much of a chore. The only one I find amusing is Haruki tackling a runaway dog outta nowhere. Ultimately, all you really need to know is that Haruki no longer wants to keep up pretenses. She used to always project this cool, aloof air that made her unapproachable. But she now also wants to act normal and goof around with Hayato on a daily basis. Sometimes, the mask slips inadvertently, like when she got a little too touchy feely with him in front of Minamo. Other times, she deliberately drops the mask when she doesn’t want the soccer guy to hog Hayato’s attention. Well, whatever Haruki ultimately decides to do, I hope it leads to a confession sooner rather than later. No point dragging this out when (again) she and Hayato are so obviously the canon couple.
It’s not like the story will end if they start dating. If anything, the story can finally begin. After all, we still don’t know anything about Haruki’s home life. Specifically, why is her house so empty? Where are her parents? What’s her connection to the famous actress? Basically, let’s get the stupid romance out of the way so we can finally get to the meat and potatoes of the story. There is, of course, also the siblings’ sick mother, but that subplot is a little less drama-laden. I mean, she’s sick. What else is there to say? I guess I kinda wonder what the father has been up to, but knowing anime, he’s probably just working 12-hour shifts to make ends meet and, well, avoiding his responsibilities as a parent to his two kids.
Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky Ep. 6
Lots of awkward youthful moments throughout this week’s episode. It’s raining, so Kakeru has Koharu hold onto his arm as he walks her home. This closeness allows him to smell the shampoo she uses. Okay…? Shampoo smells nice. Nevertheless, Kakeru feels the need to recite the sutras to distract himself, and when he runs out, he switched over to reciting pi. Why is this even necessary? What, was the smell of shampoo turning him on? Why can’t he just make conversation with her as they walk together through the rain? Legitimately why?
Eventually, they do start bantering a bit. She wants to know if he has a girlfriend, she “sees” his face for the first time when she asks to touch it, he jokes if she has the hots for him, so on and so forth. Eventually, Koharu has to be the bold one — she’s always been the bolder one — so she kisses him out of nowhere then returns to her home. The guy just stands there slack-jawed. Did he kiss back? Why isn’t he saying anything? I feel like I would’ve taken the chance to make things clear and ask her to be my girlfriend. I mean, she literally kissed him. What more do you need? All signs are a go, no?
But Kakeru is a helpless sort of fellow, so he wants to have a bro chat with his roommate Ushio about Koharu. Ushio senses what he’s about to encounter, so he invites Yuko to come along as well. Good, ’cause someone has to get this ball rolling. After a few oolong teas in his system — Kakeru’s a lightweight — our guy is hammered already, so he reveals everything. Yuko is annoyed that Kakeru didn’t put the moves on Koharu despite inviting her over to his room. Kakeru retorts that he didn’t want to scare Koharu. Yuko doesn’t understand. Kakeru argues that it would be scary if he started touching a blind person out of nowhere. So don’t do that? If she hadn’t been blind, he would’ve just blindly (pun intended) started touching her? Seriously, I don’t understand the dilemma. You would ask the girl first if they’re cool with physical intimacy, get enthusiastic consent, then start touching them. There’s no reason why she should be scared in the first place.
Eventually, Yuko coaxes Kakeru into “practicing” his confession. He should do it now while she records him. You can totally see her sending the video to Koharu from a mile away. It’s so painfully obvious. But Kakeru’s drunk. He already isn’t that bright to begin with, but his judgment is even more impaired than usual. As a result, he suddenly decides to stand up and scream his confession at the top of his lungs for the entire restaurant to hear. Even hammered, I don’t think it would’ve ever occurred to me to do something like this. But oh well, the damage is done. As soon as Yuko sends the video, she gets the read receipt.
The episode ends with Kakeru not hearing back from Koharu for several days. Really? You’re going to pull this cliffhanger on us? I mean, she kissed him. There’s no way she wouldn’t want to start a relationship. What would be worse, however, is her health worsening, and this is why she hasn’t responded. I’ve been told, however, by a friend — no spoilers — that this isn’t that kind of tear-jerky show. So fine, I guess we’ll find out in a week’s time why this cliffhanger is even necessary.
Saved by the Ice Cold Prince’s Embrace Ep. 5
There’s going to be a royal ball, so both sisters end up shopping in the exact same place. What a coincidence. I’m sure the prince will swoop in and save Katrina at the start of next week’s mini-episode.
How much do you suppose the voice actors get for these tiny roles?
Hana-Kimi S2 Ep. 7
I hate it when a show feels like it’s building up to something, but then the immediate next episode decides to let all of the air out of the balloon. Julia and Sano just had a chat about Mizuki. Meanwhile, the demon herself literally tackled Shin to the ground in an attempt to patch things up between him and Sano. So do these scenes lead to anything in this week’s episode? Anything at all? Nope, Julia fucks off back to America. She was just a diversion, not a catalyst to jump-start this meandering romance series. She had no real impact whatsoever. As for Shin, forget Shin. All we hear is that he’s gone home. How utterly anticlimactic.
The story instead pivots to a bunch of schoolgirls swarming the gates of the all-boys school every day, because someone posted a picture of Nanba and Sano. I guess they’re so hot, local schoolgirls have nothing better to do with their lives. Wasn’t the mangaka inadvertently insulting her own demographic when she wrote this story? Why did she make them so vapid? Ah well. We also have a shady photographer (with strangely small hands) trying to recruit the main characters into modeling for him. Yup, a total snoozefest. It’s not like Hana-Kimi had its foot on the pedal or anything like that. It was like a kid’s tricycle making its jolly way through the neighborhood. Somehow — just somehow — this was moving too fast, so we gotta pump the “brakes” and get back to… well, whatever the current arc is.
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You Ep. 5
In the first third of the episode, Sasaki spends most of it hanging out with the manager instead of Yamada. The manager is surprised that Sasaki doesn’t know Yamada’s age. Is it really that strange, though? If you’re just having a casual chat with someone a few nights a week, you don’t need to know their age. Of course, the manager is coming at this from the perspective of a shipper. So yes, if you plan on dating someone, you should totally know how old they are. I’m pretty sure Sasaki doesn’t even have the courage to entertain the thought of dating Yamada, though.
Yamada overhears the conversation, so she finally clues Sasaki in: she’s 24. I already knew that going into this show, and I don’t want to beat a dead horse so I’ll just say this: at the end of the day, she’s an adult who can make her own decisions. She’s not a wide-eyed child; hell, Sasaki acts more like a child than she does. If she wants to date someone old enough to be her father, hey, that’s her life. I don’t personally care for age-gap romances. I side-eye any dude my age who goes for anyone in their twenties. But ultimately, what other legal adults do with their lives is none of my business. For the sake of commentary, I’ll of course mention my personal opinions a few times. But in general, we gotta stop acting like people Yamada’s age are helpless.
Second third of the episode isn’t really notable. 14 terrible workdays completely drains Sasaki of his energy, so he gets a pick-me-up from Yamada. In an ideal world, he could and should get a better job. But few of us have that luxury.
Final third isn’t that notable to me either. Business is slow, so Yamada gets the night off. She still runs into Sasaki doing his usual night shopping. We haven’t seen her cheery, customer-facing facade in a while, so she jump scares him as her alter ego. Somehow, the goofball accidentally shoplifts a magazine in the process. We see him frantically hurry back to the store with the stolen ‘zine, which earns him a scolding from the manager. Man, he’s such a square. It’s a cheap magazine; I’d just mentally slap myself for the mistake, then take it home with me. Ain’t worth makin’ a fuss over. The supermarket is probably corporate-owned anyway. They can afford to lose a magazine. Loss from theft is likely something they factor into their budget every year.
Please Excuse My Younger Brothers Ep. 6
Ito has been gaming with Syu so much that she’s not getting any sleep. But I don’t think I should really cover this episode in-depth, because I don’t think I can handle people like Syu. I decided a long time ago that I would never have kids, and this is due to a myriad of reasons. But the main one is that I just don’t think I have the capacity to be empathetic in every possible situation. I can’t raise a kid like Syu. It’s just not in me. This whole “woe is me,” “everyone has already made up their minds about me,” “they won’t believe anything you say…” — it’s beyond annoying. Again, it calls to mind Ned Flanders’ parents: “We’ve tried nothing and we’re all outta ideas!” I can’t fight the urge to roll my eyes. Hell, Syu quit school because he was being bullied, but he didn’t want his brother to become “scary” and confront said bullies. So what does he want to do instead? He doesn’t say it. He just runs and shuts himself away. Years after the fact, Gen has to apologize after realizing that what Syu really wanted was to handle the situation on his own. That’s all fine and dandy, but why didn’t Syu just say that? Why do people gotta make their loved ones read their minds? Years of drama, guilt, and disappointment for nothing.
…
No, no, I gotta stop. I said I wasn’t going to talk about the episode in-depth. To put it simply, I can’t stand people like Syu. It’s a character flaw of mine that I don’t really care to correct. So instead of saying something horribly mean about the kid, I’ll just move on. The magical happy ending is that the brothers make up, then Syu decides to go back to school. Hah, no thanks to his actual father.
Rich Girl Caretaker Ep. 6
Hinako is now aware of her feelings for Itsuki, but he’s a total clod. As such, he doesn’t understand why the girl is avoiding getting too close to him. He spends time with Mirei instead. It’s kind of like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” but replace Goldilocks with a dense anime protagonist and turn the bears into haremettes. Y’know, gotta “test ride” these girls one by one, ultimately settling on Hinako in the end. We see Itsuki study with Mirei every single day. She even invites him over to her house where he meets both Mirei’s father and mother (conspicuously in a bath of all places). It starts raining, so the Tennojis insist on Itsuki staying the night. Apparently, it’s “downpouring.” Pfft, looks like a drizzle to me. Plus, they’re uber rich, so they could’ve sent him home in a limo.
In the end, Mirei’s father tells her that suitors with ill intent will start coming out of the woodwork. If she gets herself a fiance, however — hint, hint — then she can dissuade said suitors from approaching her altogether. Or, y’know, just tell them to fuck off. Like what are we even doing? You’re filthy rich. So what if people take an interest in her? Let them. They can’t do anything about it. But we all know where this is headed. Mirei will want Itsuki to be her fiance despite having only gotten to know him, and he’s going to shoot her down ’cause we all know Hinako is the canon love interest. Why do we gotta go through this song and dance anyway?
The Duke’s Son Claims He Won’t Love Me Yet Showers Me with Adoration Ep. 6
Julius drags Elsa to a soiree, but proceeds to ditch her so he can make connections. In fact, he spends most of the party with Serafina hanging onto his arm. He’s a pretty shit husband, but I guess you could argue he’s never had a good role model. Someone needs to take Julius aside and give him some tough love, but who has the balls to do that? Other than his royal highness, eh…
Off to the side, Jarmo tells his father that he has identified Elsa as a potential weakness for Julius. I kept dreading the thought of him luring our heroine off to a private room, creating a misunderstanding that leads to a massive rift between her and Julius. But instead, Jarmo merely points a drunk idiot in Elsa’s direction. Julius eventually comes to her rescue, but the sad part is that her own brother had to clue Julius in. After all, he wasn’t keeping an eye on his wife whatsoever. Still, what exactly is Jarmo up to?
Following the party, Julius asks Serafina to meet up with him privately. She gets herself all dolled up, but when she gets there, he merely tells her that they need to dispel any suspicion that he’s cheating on his wife. Sir, this could’ve been an email. But seriously, I understand his logic, but it’s deeply flawed for a couple of reasons. First, if he wanted to prevent rumors from spreading, don’t go meeting women privately. Second, all this does is paint a target on Elsa’s back. Way to go, husband of the year.
The Ogre’s Bride Ep. 6
Araki, Reiya’s secretary, is pissed about Yuzu. Apoplectic, even! ‘Cause he’s gay for Reiya, right? I mean, we’re among friends. He can admit it. But no, his excuse is that Yuzu doesn’t measure up to Sakurako, Reiya’s former fiancee. The thing is, Sakurako ain’t even mad. She knows the score: when demon men become spellbound by human women, there’s nothing you can do about it. More importantly, I don’t think Sakurako was all that emotionally invested in Reiya in the first place. So c’mon, Araki, you can stop pretending that you’re mad for Sakurako’s sake. You’re just mad Reiya finally loves someone. See, if Reiya was just a cold bastard, then him treating Araki as nothing more than a secretary is par for the course. But now that we know he’s truly capable of loving someone — even if I’m still not convinced that this resembles actual love in any way — then it becomes all too apparent that Reiya can never love Araki. There, there, buddy… heartbreak is a part of life. Plus, Reiya’s a creep. You’re better off.
When Sakurako is alone, she ominously tells the “camera” that she will have to teach Yuzu her place. She even stops by Yuzu’s grandparents’ home. Meh, there’s a good chance that this is nothing more than a red herring.
A good chunk of this episode is all about Touko and her cat fiance’s backstory. Apparently, he approached her when she was in middle school. Let’s just hope they’re around the same age. Still, Touko was quite resistant to his advances at first, but when she saw him walking down the street with another woman, she ran up and coldcocked him with a right hook. Turns out it was just his mother. Whoopsy.
Still, this brings up a good question: every male demon knows his bride as soon as he sees her, but what if the woman doesn’t love him back? What then? Is that demon doomed to never love anyone else? Hopefully, she has a choice in the matter, right? Right…?
Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life Ep. 5
Barely any romantic developments in this episode, and even then, it’s mostly confined to the second half. In the first half, Ryusei helps solve a mystery concerning a hidden camera in the PE locker room. Even though this is an all-girls school, that’s still a massive invasion of privacy. Luckily, there are no creeps to be found in this bright, carefree anime. A girl lost her necklace, so she was trying to find the culprit without alarming anybody. Still foolish, but she wasn’t trying to commit a sex crime. Just an accidental one! And the culprit behind the theft? A crow.
In the second half, Meteor tries to come up with a return gift after Ryusei had given her a ring. I don’t even remember what she ultimately decides to give him. Maybe nothing. They then go on a patrol for monsters. This is the one small bit of romance in this episode, and it’s barely anything. Y’see, Meteor doesn’t want them hanging out to look romantic, so she keeps nervously glancing around for that monster. Only after she admits that she’s having fun does one pop up. And as soon as it does, the episode ends. This isn’t even a cliffhanger, by the way.