Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 09 – The Flavor of Fulfillment

It may be a new year, but for Shiraishi, not much has changed. Most people still fail to notice his existence. But when he arrives at his new class, he finds that some things that haven’t changed are in his favor: Kubo is not only still in his class, but still sitting beside him, this time near the windows.

Kubo has celebratory soft drinks with her two besties, and with the next day comes the school committee assignments. Shiraishi notes that he usually just ends up with the leftovers since the teacher doesn’t notice him raising his hand, so Kubo gives him an assist by volunteering for the environmental committee and telling the teacher Shiraishi raised his hand too.

Kubo knows Shiraishi enjoyed the environmental committee because he was able to make the flowers bloom, even if everyone thought they were blooming without being tended to. The other member of the committee last year was Sudou, who happens to remember Shiraishi because of his green thumb.

When he and Kubo end up in the same lab group as Sudou and Sudou needs an eraser, Kubo mentions that Shiraishi has five, and Sudou strikes up a little convo with Shiraishi. Later, Shiraishi thanks Kubo, as it’s the first time he’s been able to enjoy talking with someone other than her. Kubo has to temporarily retreat to blush, as him saying he enjoys talking with her catches her off guard.

When Shiraishi is trying to buy a new “youthful lemon” flavored Fanta, Kubo surprises him and he accidentally buys water. She then wonders why youth tastes like lemon. Shiraishi thinks his youth would probably be more like water—often overlooked or ignored for its lack of flavor.

When Kubo talks about all the ways he could have a fulfilling youth—making friends, having his first kiss—Shiraishi is overwhelmed, as he claims not to even have any friends to begin with. This miffs Kubo, who asks what about her?

That’s when, now nine episodes in, Shiraishi finally realizes that he and Kubo are friends. I guess I can cut him a little slack as she’s his first friend, and realizing she is his friend greatly improves his mood. So he’s slow on the uptake as usual, but thankfully no longer totally clueless thanks to Kubo.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 08 – Learning from Hamburger Mistakes

When Nagisa, Akina and Saki go shopping for their cherry blossom picnic, Nagisa spots Junta with his little brother Seita and greets him warmly. Saki, possessive of Nagi-chan, is then utterly disarmed by the adorable-as-hell Seita, who regards her as a big sister.

That’s when Akina decides to invite Junta and Seita to their picnic. This means Nagisa, who was originally going to leave the cooking to her cousin and sister, wants to cook something for Junta.

That something turns out to be hamburger steak, which she knows he likes. But when even peeling an onion is a baffling ordeal, it’s clear she needs a lot of help. Saki is happy to guide her, but when Nagi nicks her finger with the knife, Saki asks Nagi to leave the cooking to her.

That’s when Akina comes in, sees Nagi sulking on the couch, and tells Saki to give her one more try. Nagi was careless and made a mistake, but she says her sister isn’t someone prone to repeating them, and in any case, mistakes are crucial to learning.

Nagi and Saki end up making a successful steak, and the next day the cherry trees are resplendent. Junta eyes the steak, but it’s a little far away, so he prepares to eat something closer until Nagisa serves him.

When he says it’s delicious, Nagi is on Cloud Nine-gi. But then Akina gets drunk on beer and starts hitting on a guileless Junta. This pisses Nagisa off, and she storms away to buy some yakitori at the stalls.

Seita urges Junta to make up with Nagisa at once, but when he walks up to her and apologizes, she says it wasn’t his fault and keeps walking away. That’s when Seita grabs her hem and directs her attention to Junta sulking on the ground, and asks again with his childish innocence if they can make up.

They do, and while Junta isn’t sure why Nagi got mad and apologizes for being dense, the fact he thought about her so much makes her happy. Seita suggests they hold hands, with the lil’ peacemaker as the conduit between Junta and Seita from blushing brighter than the blossoms.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 07 – Matching Pens

Shiraishi and Kubo return after about a three month delay, and I couldn’t be happier for another comfort-food series to watch early in the week. Kubo continues to indulge her crush by embracing destiny: it’s raining, and Shiraishi forgot his umbrella…but she didn’t.

While she qualifies their walking together under the same umbrella as an “experiment” to see if anyone notices him, the bottom line is she wants to walk under the same umbrella with him, so any story will do. He even makes their walk more intimate by picking a less busy route home (though he was simply trying not to be seen). But Kubo’s sister sees. Oh, she sees.

While out and about, Shiraishi spots Kubo’s cousin Saki carrying heavy bags. He offers to carry them for her, and to tell Kubo (whom Saki worships) that she carried them the whole way so she’ll be praised. While walking, Saki asks what kind of relationship Shiraishi has with Kubo.

While he says they’re merely “classmates”, not even going so far as to say friends, Saki can smell the bullshit. That’s reinforced when Kubo comes out to meet them, and makes Shiraishi prove he knows her first name, Nagisa, by saying it. She in turn calls him Junta. Saki’s right; they’re not “just classmates” anymore.

The next segment is one of the most relatable ones I’ve ever come across: not only did I use to disassemble my pens when I was bored in class, but the spring was my favorite part too! I love Kubo’s extremely perplexed expression, and how she makes lemonade out of lemons.

When Shiraishi loses the spring for his pen, she offers him one of hers, which he can keep. It has a cute rabbit-and-carrot motif, and also happens to exactly match the pen she’s using. And while she tells Shiraishi he can replace the cartridge, she swears she bought a second before she knew she could do that. A likely story.

The final segment is another relatable event: the ol’ high school sleepover with Kubo, Kudou, and Tama, complete with snacking, asking about one’s love life, and just generally enjoying each others’ company. With their second year arriving soon, there’s a possibility Kubo and her friends will be separated.

That means she and Shiraishi could also. He had considered this earlier in the episode, and seemed a bit blue about the prospect of no longer having her in his class to “find him”. But I doubt they’ll end up separated, and even if they do, they still live nearby and can find any number of other ways to spend time together.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 06 – Lean On Me

It’s not quite Valentine’s Day without a good rom-com, and this week Kubo delivers, featuring lots of sweet little moments in between Shiraishi continuing not to notice Kubo’s romantic interest in him. If patience is a virtue, Kubo is a saint…and may also be a masochist!

But if learning more about someone endears them to you more, Shiraishi made some progress this week. First, he learned the bookstore lady is indeed Kubo’s big sister. He also meets Kubo’s cousin Saki, who also notices him, and looks exactly like Kubo when she was in middle school.

Were Shiraishi a shrewd fellow, he’d use the adorable photo of middle school Kubo Akina gave him to mess with Kubo the way she often messes with him. It’s not like he isn’t aware she enjoys messing with him; it’s why he initially hesitates to ask her for help studying when they cross paths in the library.

In this case, Kubo-sensei doesn’t make fun of Shiraishi, because he’s genuinely trying his best to get a good grade. Kubo also turns out to be a very good tutor—and the fake glasses she borrows from her friend contribute to her teacherly aura.

Both Kubo and Shiraishi are looking forward to meeting in the library tomorrow to study, but when tomorrow comes, Shiraishi is absent with a fever. Kubo misses him immediately, and the entire day goes by in a haze as she tries to find the right message to send to him.

She settles on a question: Are you coming to school tomorrow? He says he will, and then sends an I miss you that causes her heart to skip. He then immediately texts back that his little brother sent it on accident (the truth). She sends him a Lonely without you sticker in reply, then says her sister sent it (not the truth!)

This was a case where Kubo could have really been more aggressive, asking the teacher if there are any printouts so she has a good excuse to pay him a house visit. The next day Shiraishi is back, but is late for first period and considers waiting in the hall until the second.

That’s when Kubo leaves the classroom looking very out of it; she also came down with a fever. She’s headed to the nurse’s office, but Shiraishi is concerned with how woozy and unsteady she is, so he offers to escort her. He says she can even lean on him, and boy howdy does she take him up on that!

While her face is flush due to her fever, there’s no doubt she loves the fact that Shiraishi took the initiative for once; it makes up a bit for her lack of action on the day he was sick. Once he has her in bed, he starts to look for the nurse, but she stops him by taking his hand, saying it feels cold and nice. He, in turn, says her hand is warm.

The nurse shows up, and with Kubo in good hands (and fast asleep), Shiraishi takes his leave, feeling…different. In fact, for the first time he can recall, he feels like a main character. Not surprising, considering all of the firsts he’s experiencing thanks to Kubo’s friendship.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 05 – Keep His Name Out Yo Mouth

Kubo goes on the offensive numerous times, with Shiraishi mostly bemused, confused, or flustered each time. He’s used to and even enjoys eating alone, often in a different spot every day. But Kubo’s been lookin’ for him so she can eat with him. When she offers her tamagoyaki to him with the standard “say ahh” gesture, he doesn’t take the bait, but when he offers her his, she takes his arm and noms it right out of his chopsticks.

Kubo’s gotten to the point where both her sister and her best friends can tell something is clearly up. She simply looks cuter than usual, and is noticably glowing. Ruling out contact with radioactive material, they ask her if she has a crush, or is interested in anyone. She admits to them it’s Shiraishi, and when Tamao starts ragging on he guy, Kubo firmly shuts it down, saying she knows his good qualities…which she then keeps confidential.

That increased possessiveness of the person you like continues when Shiraishi arrives at school extra-early, for no particular reason than he likes the vibes. Kubo beats him there, which is either coincidence or she guessed right. She puts one of her earbuds in his ear, sits right beside him on his chair, and they listen to her music. For a minute the two simply exist in their own little world.

She then asks Shiraishi what kind of music he listens to, and when he says it’s mostly anime music, it doesn’t deter her from wanting to listen with him. He then goes on and on about the anime based on the manga she borrowed. Moved by his passion, she starts watching the anime, which Akina clearly and correctly deduces is not because her girlfriends told her about it.

Akina wasn’t born yesterday, but sometimes it seems Shiraishi was. He manages to actually go and buy a White Day gift, but remains ignorant as to the identity of the one who gave him a cookie. Since Kubo is the only one he talks to, he asks her to come with him somewhere secluded where he explains the situation.

You can see the subtle moment of panic washing over Kubo when he says he wants to give it to “another girl”, but when he says he doesn’t know who that girl is, she’s relieved. She also gives him plenty of additional “hints” to help him realize she is his Valentine. I used quotes because when directly asked who gave him the cookie, she says her damn name.

I’m not under any illusions that Shiraishi will finally awaken to the fact that Kubo likes him and wants him to ask her out—at best, I’d expect any meaningful step forward for him will come in the last or next-to-last episode. But that’s okay, as there’s still plenty to enjoy: Kubo’s face’s, Hana-Kana’s voice work, the general nice vibes.

Those are key, since we all watch Vinland Saga around here, this is a welcome salve from that excellent but somewhat bleaker story!

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 04 – Made With Love

When Seita has had enough TV, Junta takes him outside to play (where it’s oddly not winter despite it being Christmas last week). After watching Seita try and fail the proper sequence of movements to “Transform!”, Junta strikes the pose perfectly, inspiring his brother to do it with him. Ironically, Junta doesn’t notice Kubo is there until she’s already filmed him.

Back at school. Junta notices he’s wearing socks of two different lengths, and that there’s also something different about Kubo. When they get a chair to post up some printouts, she notices his socks, and he finally notices the difference: she’s wearing tights instead of her usual socks. Of course, that implicates Junta in having looked at Kubo’s legs all day.

Kubo then takes Junta on a little after-school date to the konbini, where she samples the instant drink machine for the first time. When Kubo suggests they buy two different drinks and split them, Kubo sees the indirect kiss trap, and gets a meat bun instead. Kubo ends up taking the first bite of that bun, but after she leaves, he’s unable to eat it as it falls to the ground when someone bumps into him.

Next up, it’s Valentine’s Day. Junta, naturally, has never gotten chocolate from anyone, even the teacher in grade school who forgot he was there while passing it out to everyone. So when he sees a heart-shaped cookie in his desk, he assumes it’s some kind of mistake. He also doesn’t have the courage to ask Kubo about it. Kubo likewise doesn’t come right out and say she made him the cookie, but tells him it was made with love so he should enjoy it.

Then we cut to the previous night, when a determined Kubo tried and utterly failed to bake edible treats. That’s when Akina decides to “bake herself” some treats, and offhandedly suggests they could work together. Because Kubo wants to make the best cookie she can, she swallows her pride and follows along with her sister, resulting in a superior final product to her first attempt, which Akina even deems better tasting than hers, since Kubo put so much love into it.

Thus the welcome trend continues of balancing Junta’s thoughts with scenes of Kubo on her own or with her sister. Junta is wise to Kubo’s desire for an indirect kiss, but dense about the Valentine, despite Kubo giving him plenty to figure out where it came from. Will he put two and two together and get her a gift in return on White Day? Only time will tell!

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 03 – You Can’t Go Wrong with Mittens

Shiraishi returns the tracksuit he borrowed from Kubo, and she asks if it was small on him. It was, but only a little, as he’s 5’4″ to Kubo’s 5’3″. She gets onto a higher step on the stairs to become 5’9″, because she heard six inch difference is ideal for couples. Then she gracefully jumps down to Shiraishi’s level and declares that she prefers it this way. Give this girl an inch…

Kubo wants to hang out after school, but Shiraishi rushes out in an apparent hurry, with plans. This turns out to be taking his baby brother Seita to the park to play in the snow. Shiraishi is no fan of the cold, so it’s fortuitous that Kubo (who lives nearby after all) spots him. She has a warm bottle of cocoa which she offers to Seita, who then offers it back to her. But when she offers it to Shiraishi, he won’t take the obvious indirect kiss bait.

Shiraishi has to go a little ways to get a limited edition manga magizine with a poster he wants, but when he finds it among the stacks, an adult magazine is laying on top of it. Assuming no one can see him due to his presence, he prepares to take a peek, but is caught red-handed. Just his luck Kubo’s sister Akina works there—and that apparently all Kubos can see him!

Akina doesn’t 100% buy his innocent explanation, but when he drops his school ID after leaving, she notices it’s the same school as her sister, and asks her to return it to its owner. When Kubo says it’s Shiraishi’s, Akina stirs the pot a bit by saying he was looking at a porno mag featuring big boobs. This leads Kubo to asking him if he likes big boobs, calls him ecchi, and flees before he can explain.

Kubo isn’t sore about it for long, as she overhears other girls hanging out with their boyfriends for Christmas, and decides to cash in Shiraishi’s promise. Only she asks if they can hang out “Saturday after next” and he agrees, and only later realizes that it’s Christmas day.

Nevertheless, he’s at the agreed-upon spot 30 minutes early, while Kubo comes 10 minutes early. She manages to deduce that he was waiting longer than a couple minutes by the coldness of his hands. She also came with a Christmas present for him, and gives him fifteen minutes to buy her one with a budget of 1000 yen.

Shiraishi draws a blank on what to get her as he mills through the mall, until he realizes that like him her hands must be getting cold as she waits, so he buys her a pair of cozy pink mittens that go well with rose sweater dress and pale pink coat. Kubo is elated to receive a gift into which he clearly put a lot of thought.

As for his gift? A highlighter yellow shirt that says “Main Character,” so he’d be more noticeable to others. Something of a gag gift, but still a thoughtful one. Put it all together, and this was another sweet, cozy, charming episode to warm the heart on a cold winter day.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 02 – Scent of a Shiraishi

Another con of Shiraishi’s lack of presence is that his P.E. partner will lose track of him when he’s running unless he announces when he’s finishing. On the other hand, Kubo always has eyes on him, even when he doesn’t know it. When she approaches him after his run he’s self-conscious about his sweat and smell, but Kubo doesn’t mind. She even lends him her scented wipes specifically so their smells will match. Marking your man, if you will!

Kubo doesn’t wait for Shiraishi to propose a time and place to hang out. When she spots him trying (and failing) to open the automatic door to the bookstore, she can’t help but assist. He’s there to buy the latest volume of a manga she wants to start reading (probably solely because he’s reading it) but the store doesn’t have Volume 1 in stock. Perfect excuse for her to stop by Shiraishi’s house so she can borrow it from him!

Kubo also learns that Shiraishi lives a five minute walk from her house, and also leaves earlier than her, so the next morning she gets up early so they can walk together. Her sister Akina sees her different hairstyle (and smells her hair mist) and knows exactly what’s going on. Kubo can deny it all she likes, she’s got a crush and wants him to notice her.

Kubo manages to intercept Shiraishi on his way to school, resulting in the very first time he’s walked to school with anyone, boy or girl. Kubo even suggests they sit at a park bench to chat for a bit since they have time. This ends up working against her, as her friends Tamao and Hazuki show up, and Shiraishi continues on alone; definitely not what Kubo wanted!

Shiraishi notes that his day is the same as always despite Kubo walking with him at least part of the way: no one notices or acknowledges him. Except her, of course. When he gets hit by mud from a passing car, she sees it, and when he realizes he forgot his key, she offers the use of her shower and a change of clothes. He briefly spots a hamper with her unmentionables, but otherwise it’s a pleasant house visit.

When she’s sitting outside the bathroom, Kubo has a noticeably forlorn look; an expression she also wears after Shiraishi has gone home. Suffice it to say, she’s down bad, and there is no such thing as spending too much time with her invisible-to-everyone-else crush. These scenes that are just Kubo alone with her thoughts might just be my favorite.

In what is hopefully a sign he may finally be catching on (though I won’t hold my breath), Shiraishi blushes profusely while walking from Kubo’s house where he had a shower, used her shampoo, and is wearing her tracksuit. Ain’t young love grand…

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible – 01 (First Impressions) – Getting a Little Closer

I wasn’t initially going to pick this show up, as it sounded awfully familiar to shows I’d already seen (most prominently Takagi-san). However, I needed some Tuesday evening comfort food, and two words sealed the deal: Hanazawa. Kana. She voices the titular Kubo, the smart, popular, athletic, and beautiful class idol who has eyes only for Shiraishi. This, despite the fact Shiraishi has such a severe lack of presence, most of the class doesn’t notice he’s there, and considers it good luck when they do.

Kubo sees him just fine, and no one else will do when it comes to killing time in class. She decides they should experiment whether he’ll be noticed if he stands on his chair during a lecture (he can), then “punishes” him by sitting on him for failing to say Good Morning back to her (he assumed she was greeting one of her girlfriends). She initiates little bets, but is neither as competitive as Takagi or as aggressive as Hayase.

Like those other two rascals, Kubo’s primary purpose is to get closer to the boy she likes, and even if he hasn’t yet gotten the message (and probably won’t for some time), she looks determined to keep trying until she does, and in the meantime enjoy herself immensely. She even arranges for him to be able to give an answer in class by being called upon and giving him the floor.

At the end of a day Kubo tries to casually ask for Shiraishi’s LINE contact (called PINE in the show), but they’re interrupted by her friends, and before she knows it, he’s vanished. But when she spots him at a park on a school holiday, she cannot hide her elation, and uses her phone’s difficulty focusing on Shiraishi’s face to draw closer to his than ever to take a selfie together.

She then gets his PINE info, and proposes both verbally and in a text that they should hang out together sometime. Shiraishi wonders if she’s just messing/toying with him, but responds “all right”. He has no idea just how happy that makes Kubo. Her big sister even remarks at how cute her face looks, and asks her (and also can guess without asking) what happened to give her such an expression. Just love, baby.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible is a bright, breezy, fluffly school rom-com with cute character designs, exemplary voice wrok from both Hanazawa and Kawanishi Kengo (Rei from 3-gatsu No Lion, among other things), and generally low-key cozy vibes perfectly suited for a Tuesday Winter anime.

Urusei Yatsura – 08 – A Ran for Her Money

After seven episodes of floating around class causing a commotion, Lum officially enrolls at the school, surprising Ataru so much he nearly chokes to death. He insists Lum attending school will “cramp his style” but I know not of what style he speaks.

Lum isn’t the only transfer student either: the other is the newest addition to this boisterous and chaotic bunch: Ran, Lum’s childhood friend. Ataru starts hitting on her immediately, which is when Lum recognizes her and asks for a talk behind the school.

Once there, Lum and Ran greet each other like the old friends they are, and Ran says she’s disguised herself as a human so she could see Lum. But when reminiscing about old times brings up the boy they both fell for—Rei. who looks like a complete bore—Ran’s personality suddenly curdles into that of an enraged ogre.

Ran hasn’t forgotten how Lum stole Rei from her, and has come to earth to take revenge on her. Specifically, she intends to use her succubus-like ability to suck the life out of people with her mouth on an unwitting, two-timing Ataru who will be all too eager to kiss.

Lum tries her best to stick close to Ataru, committed to protecting her darling despite the fact he’d still cheat on her in front of her face without batting an eye. This episode does not show Ataru at his best, but I suppose it shows him at his most libido-first Ataru-ness.

Ran manages to get Ataru alone under a tree, but is unable to apply a smooch due to Lum flattening Ataru at the last minute with a tatami mat. I guess the injuries he receives as she keeps him away from Ran’s mouth aren’t as bad as what would happen if she kissed him.

During the cavalry clash, Ataru gets the chance to witness what happens as Ran accidentally kisses another boy, who ends up transforming into a feeble old bansai-watering fogey. And yet, Ataru doesn’t care in the slightest. He’s always been about the hunt. If capturing the hot babe of his dreams will result in his death, it will have been worth it.

Yet the day passes with Lum successfully defending her baka-darling from Ran’s lips. Ran slips back into her more mild-mannered mode, only to get all worked up again when she remembers the wedge that split the two of them apart: her would-be darling Rei—whom I must point out chose Lum over her.

The second segment involves Ran saying, Poochie-style, that she’ll be returning to her home planet shortly, but wants to spend one more day of tea and cookies with her best friend and her darling. Why she chooses to relay this message via self-destructing Ran doll is a mystery I fear we’ll never solve.

Ditto Ran’s insistence on passing as human while her house is very clearly an alien spacecraft. Ran makes sure she looks her cutest and most innocent, as she tries to convince Lum that 1.) she’s really leaving and 2.) she’s given up on stealing Ataru from her. That fiction evaporates when Lum feeds her drugged cookies to a sentient vase that then falls fast asleep.

But Ran has more than one trick up her lavender sleeve, as she’s preparing a copy of Ataru in her oven, identical in every way except for an apostrophe near his head (looking like a kind of floating ahoge). That apostrophe is actually one of the first things the real Ataru notices, and he snatches it just as Ran grabs him and returns him to Lum, thinking he’s the copy.

Ataru doesn’t know it, but he accidentally saved his ass by grabbing that little thingy. As Lum forces him to leave with her, Ran storms out holding a wholly deflated Ataru clone, madder than ever. That night, Lum, ever the optimist, wishes she’d tried to get along better with Ran before she returned to her home planet.

Of course, Ran doesn’t return to her home planet, but back to Ataru and Lum’s school the next morning, still maniacally determined to steal Ataru from Lum and suck the vitality out of him. So for all intents and purposes, she’s here to stay … and I’m fine with that! The more intensely-haired shiny alien beauties, the better, I say. I’m simple like that!

Ran is, you’d probably guessed voiced by the incomparable Hanazawa Kana, and I’m glad Urusei Yatsura saved one of the biggest guns in its massive seiyuu arsenal for a character with a split personality; the better to utilize Hanazawa’s fantastic vocal range. She has the ability to jump from syrupy-sweet to pure venom on a dime.

She also makes Ran, for all her flaws, a lot more likable than if someone else voiced her. The episode also wisely kept Shinobu, Mendou, and all the other characters out to the periphery so it could focus on the Ran-Ataru-Lum triangle at hand. I’m sure it won’t be long before Rei arrives on Earth to try to reclaim Lum’s heart. His efforts are sure to be met with failure, since Lum only has eyes for Darling now.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai – 08 – Esteem in the Bloodstream

Toubaru-sensei has taken note of the supreme squeeness of AhaRaidou and its deleterious effects on her health, which is why she’s made a habit of imagining the pair in all manner of adorable romantic situations while safe in her bed at night. Unfortunately, the real thing proves far more esteemed than she could imagine, as she watches the “nuclear esteemed family” dynamic of the two plus Ooshiro play out on the rooftop.

It is fortunate that Toubaru’s, or should I say Momo’s friend and fellow teacher Miyahara-sensei is well-equipped to deal with her reactions to the pure innocent romance she watches unfold. That night, she tries to imagine ever more ludicrous scenarios (with Aharen and Raidou’s characters changing completely) and almost bleeds to death in her sleep. Thankfully Miyahara had a spare key!

Ishikawa and Satou may not be the most dynamic side characters (honestly they’re bland as wallpaper paste, and probably intentionally so to serve as amiable straight men. But one thing they do do is give Aharen and Raidou an opportunity to go to a festival together, so they’re not all bad! Aharen looks appropriately angelic in her yukata.

She’s also appropriately ravenous, visiting every food stall and spending all her money before Raidou can finish explaining his grand strategic plan for “winning the festival”. Meanwhile, Toubaru and Miyahara-sensei also attend the festival, and Toubarou proceeds to lose a lot of blood for the second day in a row.

Otherwise it’s a perfect evening for our main couple, until it’s not; Raidou not only loses his phone, but Aharen, as Futaba ended up holding his hand believing him to be her dad. After taking Futaba to the lost child desk and reuniting her with said dad (after which she properly expresses her gratitude for once) the gods smile on our couple, as Aharen appears right beside him at that very lost child desk (naturally, the guy assigned to the desk assumes Raidou is her guardian.

Aharen is so happy and relieved to see Raidou, she sheds a tear. After all this dilly-dallying though, the two have to book it to get a good fireworks viewing spot. Ultimately, any spot is good for the nearly 2-meter-tall Raidou. When Aharen can’t see due to being small, he hoists her onto his shoulders, and she experiences a whole new world.

Later, after he daintily repairs her broken sandal strap, he offers his hand so they can go find the others. She hesitates, but ultimately takes it and proceeds to blush profusely. She’s grabbed him so many times, but in this time and place, it feels different. If the show is serious about progressing these feelings further, I’m looking forward to watching it happen…while making sure I’m more prepared than Toubaru-sensei was this week!

SAKUGAN – 04 – COLONY OF PASSION

We go from Gagumber and Memenpu parachuting into Jolly at the end of last week to the two in the custody of one Merooro of the Labyrinth’s “Bureau of Regulation.” They’re guilty of Crimes, and they will be Punished, but he doesn’t offer details about what either of those things were or are.

Instead, the father-daughter duo is set loose in Jolly Jolly pending the handing down of sentencing or some such. And Jolly Jolly is…fine. It’s fine! It’s one big Italian Disneyland, complete with canals filled with LCD “water”, a Leaning Tower Colosseum, and ristorantes galore. Memenpu, sick of noodles, decides to sightsee. Gagumber hits up the nearest bar.

After twelve straight rejections by women at said bar, Gagumber finally meets someone who’ll give him the time of day—the woman on the motorcycle we saw a couple episodes ago, whom I assumed was Memenpu’s mom and Gagumber’s ex. Turns out she’s neither, but she is voiced by Hanazawa Kana in Sultry Mode, demonstrating her considerable range.

Turns out this lovely lady, rather inelegantly named Zackletu (sounds more like the name of a kaiju, if I’m honest) is wanted by Jolly Jolly’s mafia, who shoot up the bar just as Memenpu arrives. Gagumber covers Zack and Mem’s escape, only to be captured and almost tortured by the mafia don, only to be saved by Zack because his cell conveniently has a window.

Numerous chases and shootouts ensue, which oddly require more suspension of belief than the action of previous episodes. For one thing, I am not a big fan of characters in like Jumbo who are too impossibly huge to be actual human in shows where everyone else is normal sized. For another, the mafia guys and their don are pathetically dull, and have suspiciously bad aim.

Once the mafia is predictably foiled thanks in part to Memenpu arriving to save her dad and Zack in Zack’s own motorcycle, Zack takes her leave, promising to be back one day for the million Gagumber promised her. Like Jolly Jolly as a concept, this episode was…fine…but after the first three episodes I was expecting something more adventurous than generic colony mob chases.

Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! – 03 – Keeping Up Appearances

Jahy has herself a huge mana crystal that puts a serious pep in her step. Not only can she maintain her adult form, but she can work till last call without getting tired. Well, without getting physically tired.

Emotionally, she seems to wear down as she starts to question why she’s working at this izakaya. Her manager only makes things worse by having Jahy use the crystal to clean the place. Jahy has fun…until she reverts to her child form.

It’s here where we see how much “Hy-chan” of the human world differs from the Jahy-sama of the Dark Realm. While there she was at the top of the pyramid and often idle, here she’s just barely making ends meet as she works herself to the bone.

The fear and doubt that enter her mind are at least partially soothed by Druj’s fanatical sycophancy. But even that bubble is broken when Druj assumes Jahy’s crystal is just a small piece, then shows her a literal truckload of crystals she’s collected in the meantime.

It’s such an intriguing choice to have someone who will probably never see Jahy-sama as below her end up not only landing on her feet in the human world, but thriving. But we shouldn’t feel bad for Druj not realizing her and Jahy’s roles have reversed, because in her twisted dark realm mind, they haven’t, not matter how suspicious Jahy gets.

I was reminded of Fraiser and other classic sitcoms in the segment where Jahy pretends she’s the owner of the izakaya. As much as she flails about and lets slip about the reality of the situation, Druj simply will never suspect her God Queen is just an ordinary girl in this world trying to make rent. There’s a bittersweet purity to that notion.

But if Jahy hadn’t been outside hanging the open sign when Druj happened to be walking by, Jahy wouldn’t have received the affirmation she so sorely needed to keep moving forward. Watching Druj have an absolute blast drinking and scarfing down over a hundred bucks worth of beer and food she served to her, Jahy starts to get it.

Sometimes it just feels good to serve, especially if it’s someone you care about. Druj cares about no one more than Jahy, and while her masochism and idolatry can be excessive, let’s not forget she came from a place called the Dark Realm.

While Jahy and Druj’s power dynamics undulate in the human world, the post-credits omake puts Jahy back in command…as a space pirate! Druj is her only crew, while the Landlady warps into their vicinity to demand Jahy pay the rental fees on the ship.

I’ll admit this was a fun and unexpected departure from reality, and I could probably watch a whole cour of this, but Jahy’s continuing voyages back down on earth are far more compelling. While Druj remains the same loyal-to-a-fault servant no matter where she is, Jahy’s sudden shift in fortunes have forced her to adapt and evolve into a more complete person.