©Sunsunsun、Momoco/KADOKAWA/Alya-san Partners
It speaks volumes that the show feels best when Arya is barely there. There is some narration and a lot of dialogue surrounding Arya, but most of what happens in this episode doesn’t involve her directly. While she’s rather petty and indecisive about things, everyone has these complex character arcs and dynamics surrounding how they present themselves to others. It’s a thoughtful and interesting character episode that showcases the show’s strengths.
I was right, Ayano’s introduction helps bridge the gap with Kuze’s family drama and upcoming student council president run. I’m glad the show finally answered a few of the questions they asked in the first half. At some point after the divorce, Kuze appears to have been more or less disowned by his mother’s side of the family and was no longer allowed to interact directly with them. But now his grandfather is using family as an excuse to either feel guilty or force Kuze to withdraw from the upcoming student council campaign. Cuse points out the hypocrisy, and there are many moments in the episode that point to a larger theme: people trying to work within the framework others have set for them. Kuze and Yuki are forced to pretend they’re not siblings due to a rule imposed by their baby boomer grandfather. It makes sense, Kuze’s actions could be seen as a direct act of defiance, and his decision to support Alya might have been a little bit, but I’m sure the answer is more complicated than that and will likely be answered later down the road.
I loved the scene where Yuki more or less understood her role in everything. You get the sense that this isn’t exactly what she wants because she arguably denies a lot of things every time. Forced into being the head of the family, she’s expected to run for student body president, and now she doesn’t even have the option of having her brother run with her. Still, she tries to make the best out of every situation. As long as she could act like a pixie around people she felt comfortable with, she was happy. She wants to try and make the situation fun and exciting.
Finally, the final scene is Kuze and Maria trying to get everyone drinks. I like Maria’s explanation that while she’s more or less true to herself, her personality is at least a little calculating. She acts a little more goofy than she actually is so that Arya will let her guard down, but she also likes to wear down those around her so they have no choice but to relax. I love what she says about Hisawa, who also makes it clear that he’s very calculating as well. He is much smarter than he lets on, a good communicator, observant, and very used to people relying on him.
Whether he wants to admit it or not, he’s doing his best to make as many people around him happy as possible. I like this because, similar to Maria, he’s arguably true to himself and his interests, but you wonder if he’ll ever get to the point where he can truly rely on others. The show feels like it’s going to make Arya that person, but there’s a lot of work to do to make that happen, so hopefully she can catch up to the others in terms of being well-written and likeable.
grade:
Arya sometimes hides her feelings in Russian Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the majority shareholder of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
