Recap: Yuuta can’t seem to figure out why Nibutani joined the Magic Nap Society when she doesn’t seem particularly interested in either magic or naps. He gets his answer soon enough, but will it be the one he was hoping for?

Jel’s Thoughts: I spent the second half of this episode kicking myself for not seeing this coming. Maybe I was putting too much weight in the show’s pedigree in assuming that Nibutani would stay the cute, innocent airhead whose only job is to be a foil for Rikka. That might not be entirely wrong, but after this week’s outing we can say it’s mostly wrong and I love it.

That’s not to say I think we’re totally done with the “will they/won’t they?” relationship between Nibutani and Yuuta. As it turns out, they have much more in common than we previously realized. But having now shown her true colors it seems Yuuta would have quite the uphill battle if he’s still interested, and that’s kind of refreshing. We’ve gotten so used to girls falling for the main character for no discernible reason, I’m kind of glad to see that’s not the case here. At this point I think I’d rather they just drop the romantic tension between them altogether.

The big twist aside, there was also plenty of comedy gold, including Yuuta’s pretty insightful musings about guys misinterpreting a girl’s feelings. We really all have been there, haven’t we? Pretty much anytime he remembers his days as Dark Flame Master is hilarious, so seeing him trying to put the moves on a girl while in character was great. Dekomori was also quite funny this episode as she may have earned the title of Best Troll of the season. Seeing her take down Nibutani was glorious, and the fact that she makes Rikka look sane and well adjusted leaves a lot of potential for future laughs.

It will be really interesting to see how the group dynamic develops from here as they’ve now established some of the strangest relationships I’ve ever seen in an anime school club. If you haven’t been keeping up with the Lite episodes that KyoAni releases each week, I’d recommend checking them out. Some are pretty funny, and this week’s bit gives us a little glimpse of how the club settles in to their routine. I’m hoping things don’t get too comfortable though, as this week’s twist made this episode a lot more satisfying.

Dragonzigg’s Thoughts: Wow, the worm sure turns fast huh? After her delightfully mellow cuteness in episodes 1-3 it was a real shock, but a satisfying one, to see Nibutani transform into an utter bitch in this episode.  Although it’s pretty easy to see her true reasons for wanting to hang out with Yuuta, I expected a tearful confession of guilt rather than the sharp tongued riposte we got. There are so few genuinely nasty characters in KyoAni shows it’s sort of a shock to see one.

That’s not to say I think Nibutani is going to become a baddie, far from it. Rather, this sets up an amusing contrast between her and Yuuta – while he’s learning to be a little more relaxed about his chuunibyou past, she’s militantly trying to stamp it out. It also of course braings them closer together, since they’re pretty much in exactly the same boat, and I’m with Jel when he says I don’t think this is the end of the will-they-won’t-they relationship is over. The romantic teasing in the first half of the episode is beyond adorable and it’s both charming to see Yuuta worry about the romantic implications and hilarious to get a flashback to his Dark Flame Master days.

Rikka and Sanae are a little less important this episode, but do get the lion’s share of the laughs. Sanae makes up for her slightly underwhelming debut by just cranking the crazy to whole new extremes, and though I maintain her double act with Rikka teeters on the edge of annoying, it falls just on the right side this time round. My only concern is Kumin, who only shows up to deliver a few lines in this episode, and I do hope they’re not going to reduce her to a one joke character who’s sort of on the sidelines. Otherwise, another funny, fresh slice of craziness, this time with added anger.

[Aqua Edit – This was episode /four/, you idots.]