Ichika has been brushing up on her Earth pop culture references.
Last time, I was wondering how long it would take for Ichika's secret to be exposed and this episode sort of addresses that...in the context of a "misunderstandings abound" episode. I have to give the show some props here; it took what is probably my least favorite romantic comedy cliche (since resolving the misunderstanding usually eats the rest of the plot alive) let it have its run, and then ended it several minutes before the credits rolled. More anime characters need to sit down and ask clarifying questions of each other. It was really nice to see. But getting back to my first comment about Ichika keeping her alien origins secret, despite the hilarious MIB reference, it's clear that she's scared of being shunned by her new friends once they find out what she really is. I think that it's all going to come down to the presentation, since I'm sure someone's going to figure it out eventually. And maybe that day is coming sooner than we think, since the episode ended with Ichika figuring out that Kaito likes her. The pacing has been great so far, and I don't have any doubts at the moment that the show will be able to cover everything relevant to the plot in its twelve episodes.
But what really made the episode work, at least for me, was the continuation the subplots surrounding the other characters instead of focusing solely on the "wacky misunderstanding" angle. It's been obvious from the beginning that Kanna has already lost Kaito, and I really felt for her in this episode as well. Even though they went out on a "date" together, it was really just an excuse for Kaito to get away from Ichika for a little while longer while he sorted his feelings out. Even the setup in the scene where they're talking shows that distance between them; they're facing different directions, the camera shot places a pole between them. Despite how much she may want to, Kanna can't bridge the gap. Complicating matters, there's also Panda Girl (her name is Mio, but because of that scene last time, to me she is Panda Girl) and the one other guy in the group, Tetsurou. Panda Girl likes Tetsurou, but she believes that he likes Kanna, warning him that he'll probably get hurt in the end if he keeps liking her, but it really seemed more like she was trying to convince herself. But she is right; the way the relationships are set up now, someone is going to be hurt in the end. Except for Lemon. She's like Switzerland. A date-crashing, blackmail-collecting Switzerland.
Images from Crunchyroll.com.
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