When their clubroom and hence the very existence of their club is threatened by student council looking to root out clubs that aren’t really about anything and don’t do anything (a laudable goal, in our opinion), it’s Kumin that comes to the rescue by asserting that it is a napping club, which is apparently a legitimate thing. That means the gang has to take part in a competition with a real (and very seasoned) “Siesta Club” Rikka vows to disband the club if they lose: a seemingly random decision that artificially raises the stakes (they probably could have kept the clubroom with further negotiations and a good word from their advisor).
The point of Rikka placing a hefty wager on their victory seems to be why Kumin loves the club so much: whatever Rikka does, she goes all out, partly due to her Chuunibyou, which turns trivial matters into life-and-death struggles. Something the show isn’t going all out with is the progression of Yuuta and Rikka’s relationship, showing they meant what they said when the two decided to go at their own pace, which is to say no pace. A heavily Shinka-and-Sanae-focused episode is thus followed up by what’s essentially a Kumin one, something we should have expected to come along at some point, as she’s listed as a main character (So is Isshiki, for that matter, which …troubles us).
Yuuta and Rikka’s story is pushed to the side to make way for the napping club plot, but we do get some glimpses of Rikka’s growing concern with the way Satone so effortlessly snuggles up against Yuuta when she’s not looking. This takes place during a sleepover during which everyone is meant to stay up all night to prepare for the nap-off, but everyone has so much fun they go out one by one and emerge impeccably, disastrously well-rested. Against their rivals—who appear intimidatingly languid—the chances for victory looks bleak. Enter Tsuyuri Kumin.
The show makes the inspired but very appropriate decision to make the napoff a Chuunibyou battle within the dream world, which their rival club claims as their solemn domain. What follows is a series of duels in which the loser wakes up and is thus out of the nap-off. Kumin wins the day by staying asleep the longest (even transforming into a goddess: perhaps a female Hypnos or Morpheus), impressing the competition, who questions why she wastes her talent in a convoluted “combo” club. Kumin, a simple character, answers simply: Rikka and the other’s passion and livliness inspire her, and the clubroom is just a nice place to nap.
Rating:7 (Very Good)
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