We’ve always automatically assumed Dekomori Sanae was our least favorite member of the (whatever it’s called) club in Chu2Koi, but it’s episodes like this that remind us that she comes out ahead of Tsuyuri Kumin, who has an even more irritating voice and does little but wisecrack and sleep. Meanwhile Sanae is a far more complete character with conflicts and useful skills. She’s actually an extremely capable, resourceful, charismatic young lady. She also happens to worship Mori Summer like a god.
When Satone of all people confirms that Nibutani Shinka is in fact the real Mori Summer (having met her in person before), Sanae’s enmity towards her evaporates instantly. After so many brutal battles, watching her not only put less stress on her desus but act civilly and submissively towards her former nemesis is a refreshing change in behavior. She also confirms what a competent right-hand woman she can be in politics as Shinka seeks the student council presidency. Sanae’s newfound deference to her couldn’t have been better timed.
So where did it all go wrong? Likely conditioned by so many past ambushes, it’s likely Shinka had a bit of whiplash when she suddenly found herself in the regular presence of a normal, friendly Sanae. But Sanae wasn’t really acting “normal”, she was just being nice to her as opposed to hostile. The Chuunibyou was still there, under the surface, and Shinka grew less strict about being called Mori Summer, then, as a reward for all of Sanae’s hard work (and beautifully-made cookies!), she whipped out the Mori Summer garb one more time. And that was the final nail in the coffin for Shinka’s candidacy.
Being in the presence of her exalted master sparked Sanae’s zealotry. She couldn’t help but modify her speech to honor Mori Summer, and using the one photo Shinka let her take. Mind you, Sanae wasn’t being vindictive (though for a moment we thought she was, but she’s not that mean). No, she’s just really into Mori Summer, and in her Chuuni-tweaked state, thought announcing it to the whole school was a good idea. Shinka freaked, which tipped off Sanae that maybe she was a fake after all, and just like that we’re back to the status quo ante, which is a bit of a shame, because we actually didn’t mind Shinka and Sanae getting along.
Rating: 8 (Great)
Stray Observations:
- Shinka’s impression of Yuuta as Dark Flame Master is pretty good.
- Yuuta utterly fails to properly distract Sanae so Shinka can talk to Sanae’s class without incident. Sanae hides in the lectern where she speaks, leading to some hilarious changes in Shinka’s voice patterns.
- Shinka kinda stole Sanae away from Rikka this week, but we liked how Yuuta stepped in to participate in the blue moon ritual thing.
- Sanae is apparently popular in her year, which suggests she suppresses her chuunibyou most of the time while around her peers. It’s another testament to her intelligence that she can live comfortably in both worlds, which ironically makes her more like Shinka than Rikka or Satone.
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