We're slowly but steadily getting near our ending. This show certainly excels at meshing both a mellow feeling and melodrama, thus I hereby coin the term mellowdrama. Every episode, I want to say "Wow, nothing happens!" But, in fact, something significant happens almost every episode, but it just doesn't move the plot along very much. We get much of the same in this week's installment, ranging from on-the-spot confessions to soothing guitar pieces.
Last week, I said that Kinoshita's feelings must be genuine because her reaction to Kai's rejection. Boy, did I read her situation wrong. I guess I took Kai's intuition that something was bothering her too lightly. Though it turns out that I was right about them being written out of the picture this episode. Certainly, it isn't hard to see that Kinoshita and Arisawa are both plot devices to move the stagnant relationships forward, for Kai and Ichika, and Tetsurou and Mio respectively.
This was perhaps my favorite scene in the episode. Mio repeatedly thanks Tetsurou for not exposing her secret (no pun intended), but in Arisawa's aggressive pursuit of her man, she accuses Mio of being a exhibitionist pervert. In response, Mio breaks down divulges her insecurities about her family's "free" at-home practices and how she's happy to have made so many friends. Tetsurou, being the good friend that he is, tells her that she could tell them anything that's on her mind because they're friends. She does just that and declares her love for him right on the spot. Though the confession is still hanging in limbo as of right now, Tetsurou had a rather serious face on when Mio said she didn't need an answer right away. I think Tetsurou will end with Mio over Kanna.
As Arisawa indirectly helps the Tetsurou/Mio relationship move ahead, Kinoshita directly tries to bring Kai and Ichika together. After just blatantly ignoring Kai's confession and helping him study instead a couple of episodes ago, Kinoshita helps her realize that the feelings are indeed mutual. Prior to this episode, I would have said that Ichika is the sole character holding the show back, but she is showing that she can make some moves too. Again, Kai may be a bland protagonist, but you definitely cannot fault him for knowing what he wants and going after it.
Unfortunately for Kanna, Kai and Ichika are getting ever-closer and her hopes are slowly getting dashed. Once again, she is being left out of the loop and stuck being troll fodder for Remon. However, the preview hints that she's going to make her move at the festival next episode. I'm interested in how Kai is going to respond because he already knows she loves him. I also like how they've been dropping hints about the finale for the past two weeks via Rinon and the spaceship. It's only a matter of time before they revisit Kai's spaceship crash injuries. The only prediction I can make for next week is that Tetsurou and Mio get a little closer. Though Kai rejected Kinoshita quite firmly, I think it'll be a different story with Kanna, so I'm not sure what will happen. Until next week~
-Bern
