Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 12 (Fin) – The Hanging Out Continues

As expected, last week’s shocking cliffhanger is resolved within the episode’s first two minutes, as Uzaki clarifies she can’t hang out with him because she still has to do her college summer homework. Sakurai closes the door in her face, despite the fact she’s soaked by the rain. Pretty lame fake-out there, to be honest. Also, college summer homework? Sounds high schoolly to me…

When the cafe owner throws out his back lifting something he should have left to his hulking employee, it affords Ami an opportunity to ask Uzaki how she and Sakurai were like in high school. Uzaki basically reiterates that while she was initially intimidated by his scary face, she soon learned he’s a kind, earnest guy. What Uzaki didn’t realize until Ami tells her is that she’s picked up his speech patterns!

On to the next vignette, in which Uzaki, having shown her whole ass (figuratively speaking) to Sakurai when drunk, is determined to get Sakurai into a similar state of vulnerability. Sakaki tells her Sak intentionally keeps his alcohol intake down to avoid showing that side of himself, so she’ll have to work for it.

To that end, she cooks a delicious but spicy dinner for the two, pretends to drink so he’ll keep up, and brings bad shark disaster movies to distract him from his intake. By the end of the evening, Uzaki is successful as Sakurai is very drunk and for once couldn’t act cool if he wanted to, but when he earnestly praises Uzaki’s cooking and lets the word “love” slip, it leads Uzaki to binge drink in order to steel herself.

The end result is Sakaki puts drunk Sakurai in his futon to get a good night’s sleep, and drunk Uzaki crawls into the bed with him. When they wake up face-to-face, they have no memory of what, if anything, happened, and head to the cafe to treat their hangovers with quality coffee.

Naturally, Ami and her dad are eager to hear details about what happened, and are perhaps too amused by the fact neither Sakurai nor Uzaki can definitively state that they did not have a drunken tussle. One would hope that if and when they do it, they’d be in charge of their faculties and, more importantly, remember the experience!

The next college semester starts, and Uzaki has breakfast with her mom and previously unseen(?) little brother. Uzaki spots Sakurai on campus and catches up to his lumbering gait. She’s still experiencing post-summer break shock, and is mostly down in the dumps because she thinks they won’t hang out with classes in session.

Sakurai assures her, perhaps too earnestly, that it doesn’t have to be summer for them to hang out, and that “they’ll always be together.” That last bit brings out Uzaki’s mischievous flesh fang, and we’re basically back to their warm, cozy status quo dynamic.

While watchable and possessed of some nice moments here and there, Uzaki-chan wants to Hang Out! was a pretty ho-hum, take-it-or-leave-it rom-com. Too often the leads felt more like high schoolers than the adults they’re supposed to be. The antics of the Owner/Ami/Sakaki rooting triad grew stale, while the weird Tottori tourism ad episode was…a weird Tottori tourism ad.

That said, Oozora Naomi gave a solid performance as Uzaki, and I’ll be keeping an ear out for her in other lead roles (she’s also great in the far-superior Chio’s School Road). Other than that this show was a somewhat marginal-effort Summer time-passer…which will be back for a second season of hanging out!

Season Average: 7.5

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 11 – The Inevitable Precipice

Following their Tottori trip (which goes completely unmentioned here), Uzaki and Sakurai continue to ride high as an item, with Uzaki coming over virtually every day and leaving her junk behind, a definite sign of intimacy. However, Sakurai’s a neat freak and when the junk piles up he makes Uzaki clean it up. However, when she cooks him dinner he apologizes for being so harsh, while Uzaki revels at how easy it is to calm him.

When he’s offered cooking duties at the cafe, Sakurai’s attempt at pasta it inedible, so he comes to Uzaki’s house to have a crash course in cooking. He finally meets Uzaki’s cats, but of course her mom overhears him talking about petting them and assumes he’s talking about her. It’s a rehash of a joke that wasn’t particularly funny the first time, but at least we get Hayami Saori “hoo-hoo-hoo” laugh out of it!

We then move on somewhat clunkily to a day of rock climbing, something that comes naturally to Sakurai but which exhausts Uzaki almost instantly. She has no choice but to accept defeat in this particular competition, and simply watches as her “himbo” climbs his heart out while barely breaking a sweat.

We cut awkwardly again to Sakurai doing solo karaoke, the rise of which is explained by a “wise narrator” type I don’t remember hearing much of before, but is only notable because it’s such a poor imitation of Kaguya-sama: Love is War—of which this show isn’t even a pale shadow of a pale shadow.

A tipsy Uzaki and Ami spot him and join in the fun, and due to their reduced inhibitions even dress up and crowd him with chinese dresses, a cop uniform, and a bunny girl suit, the latter of which an unguarded Sakurai declares to be his favorite.

Since this is apparently an episode full of sharp cuts to unrelated events, it ends in the same fashion. Suddenly it’s a dark and rainy day (or night), and Uzaki shows up at Sakurai’s door absolutely soaked…but won’t come in. She declares that she “can’t hang out” with Sakurai anymore, and tears fall down her cheeks.

I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s unusual for a rom-com couple to hit a “low point” or reach some kind of “precipice” before the big finale, but it’s all been goofy fun and games to this point with scarcely any drama aside from the high school swimming flashback.

While this is totally out of left field for the show, I’m still eager to learn why exactly their fun has to come to an end, and would welcome a measure of genuine drama. Was it because Sakurai said the bunny girl was best? Are she and her mom suddenly moving? It could be anything.

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 10 – The Tasty Truth About Tottori

Last week’s lurking shadow villains turn out to be Ami and Sakaki, as expected. They’ve followed Uzaki and Sakurai and rented a car so the couple can experience everything Tottori has to offer—all while they observe from a mostly respectful distance and eat it all up. But this episode isn’t just a means of Uzaki and Sakurai becoming a little closer, it’s a full-on love letter to Tottori!

Never far from Uzaki & Co. is a uniformed tour guide describing in detail a certain lovingly-rendered Tottori point of interest, starting with the famous sand dunes to a circular school converted to museum honoring all the famous mangakas from the area.

Also always near by is a more lovey-dovey version of Uzaki and Sakurai, always providing a mirror of how the two of them look to others, especially when they do very couple-y stuff like playing together on the dunes or taking bites of the same rabbit cake.

By the time they pray at a shrine and receive a very favorable fortune regarding their coupling, Ami and Sakaki admit that Tottori is a historical Couples’ Mecca—much to this particular couple’s chagrin. They were enjoying themselves totally until their friends made the implicit explicit, but they try to fight back the blushing, relax, and enjoy hanging out nevertheless.

They couldn’t be in a better place to relax, thanks to Tottori’s famous hot springs and steam baths. When a sweaty Uzaki slips and falls chest-first on top of Sakurai and some deceptively suggestive dialogue ensues, causing an attendant to rush in assuming they’re up to things best done in the privacy of their room.

But while Ami and Sakaki came to watch a relationship blossom, they also undermine it; Uzaki ends up sharing a room with Ami and Sakura with Sakaki, eliminating what would have been the most romantic part of the trip—a night alone in a hotel room.

Ami and Sakaki get a “feast” out of watching the couple, but if their goal was to somehow jump-start their relationship into a higher gear than it was before, they come up a bit short. That’s not a bad thing; it just means that no amount of meddling will either help or hurt a slow but steadily simmering romance emerging organically from their interactions together and increased comfort with one another and their quirks.

Uzaki still teases Sakurai about being a loner, but we already seen last week that he prefers that to an artificially meek Uzaki. No doubt Uzaki likes Sakurai the way he is, and any change she causes in him will be minor and incidental.

In short, these two came together because of the kind of people they are, they like each other that way, and they’re going to be fine. Sakaki seems right on one count: Sakurai may insist he an Uzaki “aren’t like that”, but it’s all but inevitable that they soon will be, if they aren’t already!

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 09 – Mother’s Intuition

After weeks of affable but otherwise frustrating wheel-spinning, the romantic part of this rom-com has really come along in the last couple episodes. I was hoping for that to continue in this ninth installment, and it mostly does. No there are no confessions or anything—those would be wildly out of character!

Instead, the romance comes through in the closeness and comfort these two have come to share. Oh, and Sakurai meets Hana’s mom, Tsuki! Unlike Uzaki, Sakura can only see the surface man. For one thing, she’s surprised her daughter’s senpai is a man at all. For another, he’s big and scary!

Mama Uzaki’s handling of her fear is demonstrated in a rather ingenious camera shot we don’t see often in rom-coms: while she appears to be across the kitchen table from them, the camera pulls back to reveal she’s really all the way across the room!

While Sakurai turns out to be more well-mannered than he looks, Tsuki’s misunderstandings continue when one of their cats jumps on her lap and Sakurai can’t help but stare at it. Being a big fan of a soap opera in which an older woman is being seduced by a younger man, she assumes Sakurai is looking at her chest, and thus has his eye on her.

This misunderstanding persists when Tsuki visits Hana and Sakurai at the cafe and meets the owner and Ami. They tell her the kids of customers love Hana, while older women love Sakurai’s blend of dignified hunkiness. This leads Tsuki to wonder out loud if he likes their attention, to which Ami’s reply is priceless: “He’s no cougar hunter. He’s just a doofus!”

Tsuki has cause to question Ami’s assurances when she overhears and misinterprets Sakurai and Hana’s conversation about the need to mature adult beans, how it leads to more richness, if one overindulges you’ll be so excited you can’t sleep, and how he plans on getting a good taste before long. It’s just coffee shop talk, but Tsuki is convinced Sakurai has the hots for her.

Back at Sakurai’s place, he and Uzaki are playing video games as usual, and after beating him soundly, she has him get her a drink, noting she’ll do “whatever it takes to see [him] frustrated.” This leads Sakurai to compare her to her “quiet and kind” mom, and Hana starts to carefully observe Tsuki at home.

The next day at the cafe, Uzaki’s persona and very way of speaking has transformed to the “quiet and kind” Sakurai apparently craved…and its a nightmare for him! Rather than endure her continue to act and sound as sweet and reserved as her mom, Sakurai literally folds, bowing and apologizing for messing up.

But by adding that he “prefers the usual Uzaki”, he sets off a heated lovers’ quarrel between them, as Ami perhaps over-zealously imagines the two taking on different personas based on the clientele. It’s clear that if Ami and not her dad were in charge, the cafe would become a very different (but not altogether worse) place!

Uzaki and Sakurai’s bickering is stopped not by the owner or Ami, but by one of the little kids whose mom is a regular. The girl gives them a ticket for a shopping district lottery, and as they head over to try their luck after work, the couple is chastened by having been scolded by a child. That said, Uzaki is also secretly elated Sakurai prefers her “usual” self—but damned if she’ll let him see it!

In keeping with situations that continue to help bring these two together, they end up winning the lottery’s grand prize: a two-night trip for two to Tottori, which is apparently the home of Detective Conan. And in the very next scene, they’re already there! I found it refreshing there was no debate or waffling over whether to go; they just go.

As for the bizarre oil-slick faces who are watching the couple…I’m somewhat stumped. Assuming they’re not Conan villains (I’ve never read or watched so I know next to nothing about that venerable franchise) I’m guessing it’s Ami and Sakaki, but would the two really drop everything to follow Uzaki and Sakurai to Tottori? We shall see…

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 08 – Beautiful from Any Angle

Ever since she got wasted and threw up on his futon, Uzaki has been out of sorts. While apologizing in public and offering money for the futon, bystanders get the wrong idea thanks to a lot of unfortunate phrasing. But at the cafe, Ami has the antidote for Uzaki’s recent blues. Sakurai will take Uzaki out to the fireworks festival, and if he’s nice and compliments the hell out of her yukata, she’ll cheer up: Ami guarantees it.

The night of the festival Ami is proven right; Uzaki is still down and things are awkward, and despite how annoying he’s typically found her, Sakurai just thinks it’s wrong for Uzaki to be so down. His steady stream of compliments eventually bring out the usual energetic Uzaki-chan, but also results in her accidentally hitting him too hard in the head with her purse.

Even before the blow, Uzaki’s quiet-and-meek disposition reminded him of her when they were still in high school, and while he’s out cold, he remembers one evening she was practicing alone (which is dangerous) and he jumped in the pool to help guide her. That night they came across the fireworks festival, he bought them grilled corn (perfect after all that swimming), and he watched Uzaki’s subdued face brighten up for the first time.

When Sakurai comes to, he’s in Uzaki’s lap, not quite able to see her face, but he can tell she’s back to being meek and contrite over braining him. So Sakurai does what a good guy would do: look back on their time together since reuniting at college and admitting it’s all been pretty fun. He’s been able to see and do so many things he otherwise wouldn’t, so he tells her not to be so down, and invites her to hang out more before summer is over.

Sakurai may not be able to see the reaction in Uzaki’s face either to his words or the fireworks, but it doesn’t matter; “the view is fine” from where he is. While last week’s interactions were lubricated by alcohol and looser inhibitions, this was the true romantic standout episode thus far, when Sakurai is open and honest about how he feels about their time together, and Uzaki shows more than her usual quasi-loner-bullying default mode. Nice work, all!

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 07 – The Cause and the Solution

“Please be with me. I need you.” These are the words that cause Uzaki to rush to Sakurai’s side, only to be disappointed: he couldn’t go into a cat cafe without someone with him.

I realize he probably didn’t consider how his words over the phone sounded, but he’s gotta be more careful with his words as he spends more time with Uzaki! Sakurai, who loves cute things, is over the moon to be surrounded by friendly cats; Uzaki is both charmed and creeped out by this side of him.

But for briefly leading her on, she punishes him by poking his foot with hers while his legs are asleep from being folded too long. The barista tosses them out for unauthorized “play”, but both Sakurai and Uzaki had a good time.

Because he owes her for “being with him”, he offers to do something for her. In response, she just says her 20th birthday is coming up (the age Japanese can legally purchase alcohol), and expects “great things”.

While racking his brain for a gift she won’t reject or mock him for, he gets the same kind of misleadingly amorous call he gave her, though apparently she’s not getting back at him on purpose; she just doesn’t want to go into a pub alone. So her birthday plan is sorted: Sakurai guides her through the world of alcohol and its role in heightening enjoyment of food, the night…and company.

Homer Simpson once toasted alcohol as “the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” Now that Uzaki is a part of that world (and loving every minute of it) one wonders if a little of it (or in her case, a lot) would grease the wheels of romantic progress with these two (along with the actual grease of the fried food they eat with their drinks).

Alas, Uzaki isnt the heavyweight she thinks she is, and it all hits her at once by the time they leave the pub. It shouldn’t be a surprise that her drunk self is simply a less restrained, more wobbly version of her sober self, but Sakurai wonders if she planned for them to be out until the trains stop running and when he’s out of cash for taxi fare.

Grudgingly letting her stay over at his place, she tries to stay up playing games, and when he apparently falls asleep she leans in to kiss him, proving that he was only pretending and delighted by his bashful reaction. But a near-kiss is all that happens, as Uzaki soon passes out, enabling Sakurai to finally get some sleep.

Uzaki experienced the joys of alcohol, and in the morning come the horrors in the form of a five-alarm hangover; her very first but probably not her last. Sakurai watches over her as she prays empathically to the porcelain god, and puts her up in bed.

Before he leaves for the store, Uzaki earnestly thanks him for sharing her first pub visit, saying she had fun. Sakurai feels likewise…but the lovely moment is ruined when Uzaki vomits all over herself and the futon! Ah well, a ruined futon and steep pub check are a small price to pay for making Uzaki happy on her birthday.

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 06 – Rich People Light Switches!

Realizing it would be better to make money as an employee while messing with Sakurai than spend money as a customer, Uzaki gets a part-time job at the cafe. Sakurai takes her through a formal training session, but Uzaki has been there so often she already knows the ropes, and she and Ami use the time to wind him up. Then Sakurai’s friend Sakaki suggests the four of them go on a trip to the beach, and the beach episode is off to the races.

Ami is extremely intimidated by Uzaki’s bazongas in the changing room, but once outside is disappointed to see Sakurai busy hardcore swimming in the ocean while leaving Uzaki alone to be hit on others. When Sakaki breaks out the watermelon piñata, Uzaki’s chaotic fighting game-style directional outputs backfire, as he ends up stumbling onto her and his hand inexplicably ends up grabbing one of her boobs.

 

That evening, after making themselves at home at Sakaki’s family summer home (where Uzaki and Sakurai both marvel at the mod cons), and after some BBQ he suggests they have a good old-fashioned Test of Courage! While he had hoped Uzaki would get scared and seek comfort from Sakurai, the opposite happens, with the test having to be called off because Sakurai is absolutely paralyzed with fear. Like Kinomoto Sakura, the dude just can’t handle scary stuff!

Back at the house Uzaki wants to play video games, but Sakurai is already out cold. When she draws close, hoping to capitalize on his vulnerability, he grabs her and holds her close while still asleep. As she’s certain he’d never do this while awake, and recognizes that the whole reason he’s so wiped is that she ran him ragged with the test of courage, she decides it’s okay for them to stay in this position for a little while.

We never learn quite how long that is, but in the morning when they’re both brushing their teeth in the bathroom Uzaki mentions how he could probably do with a body pillow, Ami and Sakaki’s imaginations run wild. So the beach episode results in Sakurai reaching second base (while blindfolded) and spending the night with Uzaki (while totally unconscious). Still, you can’t say they haven’t technically gotten closer, which was Sakaki’s whole plan.

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 05 – Toothpaste Isn’t Food!

Sakurai can’t even daydream about falling in class without Uzaki getting on his case, and it just happens to be a class about dream interpretation. Uzaki is having so much fun mocking the issues behind Sakurai’s falling dream, she almost falls down the steps herself, but is tiny enough to be plucked out of mid-air and held in the safety Sakurai’s arms. Neither blushes about this unplanned close contact.

We finally see Sakurai spend some time with his male friend Sakaki Itsuhito, who is pained to hear that his pal has been wasting his crucial college days doing nothing of note. That is, until Uzaki arrives, he gets a taste of their dynamic, and he’s fully invested in helping them get together. This draws the ire of Ami, who prefers a hands-off approach and condemns any meddling on Sakaki’s part.

But as the final sequence shows, if they don’t do anything to move things along, Sakurai and Uzaki will become an official couple in, oh, about a thousand years. That’s because in the aftermath of an epic monologue defending the Choco-Mint flavor to the mint-adverse Sakurai, the two both realize they’ve shared indirect kisses from using the same toothpick to eat the candy. This is stuff middle schoolers would get bashful about.

So yeah, like Sakaki, I’m worried this thing will just keep spinning its wheels without intervention. The Uzaki in class and in front of Sakaki was much like the one at the glasses store—mercilessly mocking Sakurai and his flaws, yet still blushing at the indirect kiss realization. Hopefully something will come of their continuing to blush over one another…but I won’t hold my breath!

P.S. Like Uzaki, I am a dedicated Choco-Mintian. Death to the Anti-Mintite Brigade!

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 04 – Curry and Rain

This episode starts with Hana paying Shinichi an unannounced visit to his apartment. It’s Golden Week, and she had a reasonable expectation he’d be home and wouldn’t have anything going on. She gets him to join her on a Doraemon Go! trip outdoors, but his eyes are bothering him from all the gaming, so she takes him shopping for glasses. That’s where they encounter Ami, who is back from her family.

The two proceed to gang up on Shinichi, having him wear increasingly ridiculous glasses and then laughing at him. Considering Shinichi is not an M, he’s not really having fun, and the scene gets a bit uncomfortable, especially when Ami lies about having a serious pair for him, only for them to be over-the-top aviators. Shinichi has had his fill of this, so when Hana finally tries on a pair, he insults her and the two dive into a spirited bickering session.

It’s not a particularly good start for two people who are presumably eventually going to click as a couple, but when the train they’re on gets increasingly crowded, their dynamic morphs from aggressively adversarial to protective, as Shinichi’s relatively large body shields her from the crush of new passengers. Eventually the chests of the two are pressed together, Shinichi’s heart rate increases, and both he and Hana start to blush.

She remarks that they’re in a “wall slam” like situation, without getting into how she feels about that, though she admits there’s not much to be done about it; there’s no space. Rather than reckon with the present situation, Shinichi withdraws within himself, trying to block out all sight and sound, only for the smell of Hana’s hair to become more prominent. He ends up passing out standing up, and gets separated from Hana when the doors close between them.

When he comes to form his mini fugue state at the end of the train line, he sees missed calls from an obviously worried Hana, and feels bad. Back at the cafe, Ami suggests the best way forward is to simply reach out to her. At the college common room Hana is down in the dumps because it’s so gray and dreary and “there are no holidays in June”.

So Shinichi, unbidden, takes the initiative and suggests they hang out together to at least make the free time they have worthwhile, and also to make up for leaving her in the lurch on the train. The day they’re to hang out there’s even more rain, and Hana is soaked on her way to his place.

No matter; she simply showers (after playfully asking if he’d join her), borrows his much larger clothes, and cooks up some tasty curry. They spend the day playing Meowcraft, building a ridiculous structure together. Shinichi’s got his new glasses to cut down on blue light, and in general the atmosphere is so much more pleasant and comfortable than the glasses store debacle.

Aside from a brief vertical pan on a showering Hana there’s minimal fanservice and more importantly, no teasing or bickering. Between the close quarters, the shared clothes and cooking together, there’s a lovely domestic intimacy to their day, and even if it never veers into overt romance there’s definitely ample chemistry and amity we frankly needed to see after Glassesgate.

When Shinichi walks Hana to the station, the rain has stopped, and it feels like they’ve reached a milestone in their relationship. Not only did Shinichi suggest they hang out; not only did they thoroughly enjoy themselves, but he suggests she come by another time, something Hana thought wouldn’t happen so fast. She throws caution to the wind and proposes tomorrow, and Shinichi is fine with it!

Now Shinichi knows what it’s like to hang out with Hana on a rainy day, without Ami or any other bystanders to provoke any sniping or misbehavior. The two end up getting along famously. While Shinichi will probably always value his solitude, it’s clear he no longer sees hanging out with Hana to be a hassle or a chore, and something to which he can actually look forward rather than dread. It’s very promising development!

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 03 – Slow-Roasted for Rich, Deep Flavor

This week we’re introduced to a new voice in this show’s “chorus”, the cafe owner’s daughter Asai Ami, who is also a senior and thus Sakurai’s senpai at college. Like her dad, Ami is an enthusiastic observer of people, but in her case that observation sometimes descends into ogling.

Sakurai’s tall frame and swimmer’s physique highly attractive, and can tell other women who frequent the cafe feel the same. When she meets Uzaki-chan and gets a taste of her dynamic with Sakurai, her desire to observe more of their hijinx quickly outweighs her carnal interest in his muscles.

After a frankly ridiculous instance of Sakurai spilling an entire pitcher of ice water on himself and Uzaki, he catches a bad cold and can barely move. Thankfully the cafe owner gives Uzaki his address, and she comes by to assess the situation. With no medicine or food in the house, Uzaki is eager to roll up her sleeves and show she can nurse as well as she can tease.

Between straightening out his kitchen and preparing some tasty rice porridge, wiping down his sweat, and sticking around after giving him medicine until he falls asleep, Uzaki proves quite capable of taking care of him in a pinch. As such, Sakurai’s opinion of her improves greatly…even if her frustration with a video game keeps him awake a bit.

To celebrate his quick recovery (not to mention the passing of an important step in their relationship), the cafe owner and Ami take Sakurai and Uzaki out for Korean BBQ, where Uzaki again makes sure he as many cuts of grilled meat as he can handle. While Uzaki is washing up, Sakurai assures his boss and Ami that “it’s not like that” between him and Uzaki; he values his solo lifestyle and doesn’t want to cause trouble for Uzaki vis-a-vis rumors.

The owner and Ami can communicate telepathically, so they agree that rather than meddling they should be patient and let things play out. It’s like Ami’s pops says, it’s like coffee: letting the beans slowly roast than painstakingly brewing them for the best flavor.

The next day at college, Uzaki tries to hypnotize Sakurai with a 5-yen coin to call her by her first name, like he calls his co-worker Ami by hers. She feels that considering how long they’ve known each other (regardless of how much contact they had earlier on) the least he could do is not address her with “heys” and “look heres”.

It’s one of the first times Uzaki mellows from her usual bubbly hyperactive manner, and Sakurai responds seriously, by getting down on a knee and apologizing sincerely. That said, he’s not usually comfortable calling girls by their first name.

As for not gathering a crowd hypnosis antics, he is unsuccessful, as the consensus of observers is that they’re a couple of “love dummies”. The fact he can so easily hypnotize her means she trusts him a great deal, and he no doubt trusts her more after she took care of him when he was sick. With that mutual trust established, the careful slow-roasting of their relationship can proceed.

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 02 – Cafe Jazz

Sakurai seeks both employment and refuge at a serene cafe run by an old man for the last ten years plus. His business policy is to have a calm atmosphere for his customers, and Sakurai has proven adept at enacting that policy in his fine barista work.

That is, until a hungry Uzaki shows up wanting to tease Sakurai. Their ensuing bickering completely changes the carefully-cultivated atmosphere, but the owner doesn’t care; these two are surprisingly fun to watch. After two episodes, I tend to agree….tentatively.

Turns out Sakurai is also a big fan of cats and dogs, but has limited experience due to growing up and living without pets. When a friendly alley cat runs off, Uzaki tries to chase it but gets very awkwardly caught in a hedge. Her underwear is exposed and if she’s pulled out to fast her shirt will flip off.

This results in some very adult-sounding double entendres (“Are you pulling out Senpai? Hurry!” “Almost…there…just behave, will you?”) which two passing women overhear and obviously get the wrong idea and flee screaming. It seems at least once per week Sakurai and Uzaki will end up in one of these … entanglements.

Sakurai seems neither ready or interested in an intimate relationship with someone, but whether it’s the college dining hall or the cafe, Uzaki can’t leave him be, though for now it seems she’s strictly interested in friendship. She asks him to help her with a report, and when his boss says it’s fine, he acquieses to her request.

During this time Uzaki asks if she can come to his place, stating how she’ll cook meals and its proximity to campus. Sakurai’s mind can’t help but take such proposals to imply she wishes to co-habitate, but she’s actually interesting in coming by to play video games.

Both seem to be in a state of arrested development, with Sakurai so inexperienced with women he blushes at the very thought of one in his living space, to Uzaki with her impish energy and innocent motives.

Despite some fanservice, this ep prompted me look past her appearance (which caused the seasoned cafe owner to mistake her for an elementary student) and see what makes these two young people more alike than they’d care to admit—which is what makes them so fun to watch.

P.S. Looks like both Uzaki and Sakurai have friends! But still just one each, and they don’t have much to do…yet.

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! – 01 (First Impressions) – Super Huge Fun

This wasn’t originally on my animedar, but the “[Name] Wants to [Action]!” formula has generally been a good source of slice-of-life comedy entertainment, and in the case of  Master Teaser Takagi-san, occasional gems.

Well peeps, I can say without reservation that Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! was well worth a look, delivering an irresistible blend of rom-com slice-of-lifeness, lightly dusted with ecchi on account of the titular Uzaki Kana having a very large bust despite being under five feet tall.

Sakurai Shinichi is a second-year college student and stubborn loner. When Uzaki, his old high school kohai, greets him, he remembers her name…then an entire dang year passes without the two of them interacting again. That’s one hell of a cold open!

Now a second-year herself, Uzaki is determined to establish a relationship with the now third-year Sakurai, and when their afternoons align she doesn’t take no for an answer. Their day together begins with a trip to the movie theater, where Uzaki mocks him for going to movies solo.

When he sees the genuine enthusiasm in her face and offers to pay for her ticket with his points, she then mocks him for having collected so many points by going to see so many movies alone. Throughout their interactions, which consist of her yelling a lot and him getting angry, they are mistaken for being boyfriend and girlfriend many times.

Aside from close-ups and the “SUGOI DEKAI” (“Super Huge”) label across her chest, Uzaki’s chest is never explicitly mentioned in dialogue, making it a strict ecchi sight gag. However, when she’s in a massage chair, it feels so good on her overburdened shoulders she can’t help but let out a series of thoroughly indecent sounds. She also puts on an inadvertently amorous show when she stands on a vibrating workout platform.

When she tries out the VR, Sakurai has a gas watching her frenzied, fearful reactions…until she absolutely obliterates him with a blow to the face; he was standing too close to her. The tables are turned when he tries out the VR in an underwater scenario, and one of his grasping hands mimicking swimming accidentally grabs and squeezes one of her boobs, marveling at the tech that apparently replicates feeling.

After a batting cage session that consists of Uzaki heartily and mercilessly laughing at Sakurai’s feeble attempts to make contact and Uzaki injuring her back out by swinging to hard, the two have dinner, where Sakurai learns that any unattended food he orders will be instantly hoovered up by the voracious Uzaki (clearly we know where all that food goes).

Sadly, we don’t get to see the two part ways or say good night, but the next morning Uzaki suggests they go right back to the cages so he can give her some pointers. What for Sakurai had been extraordinary infrequent situation of actually hanging out with someone, she’s determined to make a regular occurrence. Not that she wants Sakurai to get used to her—she’s  always going to keep him on his terms and be on his nerves.

But as he said earlier in their first afternoon of hanging out, “she has her moments,” and I have no doubt he’ll steadily warm to her sunny charm and brazen boisterousness, even as he ponders how Uzaki changed so much from that taciturn high school student by the pool.

Uzaki-chan is a zany superstar, thanks to adorable character design and the immensely talented comic voice of Oozora Naomi (who also voice Chio in Chio’s School Road). Her character strikes the right balance of abrasive and endearing, while Sakurai walks the line between annoyed and game. This show is a definite keeper!

P.S. There’s a stalker cat with a very creepy face. Huh!