Recap: Hachiman finds his friends doing a study group without him when he gets roped into helping out a delinquent classmate at the behest of his sister’s friend.

I guess not much information was out on this show when it first aired. When I looked around, it seemed like the only focus characters were the main three, but by this episode we can clearly see that Hachiman’s social circle is actually growing and evolving with the people he helps. I really am glad for that, because the scenes with Yoshiteru are always golden, and while Saika is a little unrealistically girly, his scenes are pretty fun too. It was also nice to see Hayama again, showing that their relationship doesn’t just end after helping even with the popular kids.

However, if I had to be disappointed about anything it would be the blatant fanservice that ran rampant in the visit to a maid cafe where of course Yui and Yukino have to dress up. I also find it highly dubious that Saki could so easily fake her age in a job like bartending. In America, you need two forms of identification just to get hired as a grocery clerk.

With a bit less of a treatise on teen social problems this week, Hachiman deals with the age old problem of sibling inequity. Classically, this is a problem that stems from the oldest sibling getting an advantage as far as parental support for college or other expenses. The same thing happened to my grandfather during the Great Depression and my own father as the fourth of five siblings. In Saki’s case, she’s trying to make sure this doesn’t happen by working to pay her own expenses. While the cause is noble, Hachiman points out the way easier route of scholarships and the problem is solved.

After all of the problem-of-the-week episodes, it looks like we’re finally getting into the meat of the story. I can totally understand Hachiman’s point of view when he learns who Yui really is. It can be really easy to take kindness for pity, especially for those who have been hurt by friendships in the past. It was certainly the most painful scene to watch, but in a good way. Hachiman has been getting along better each week as he’s hung out with these girls, but with one bit of mistrust he totally reverts back to the way he used to be. It’s also obvious from small body language cues and the way Yui talks that she really doesn’t just pity him. It looks like next episode will be coming straight off the repercussions of his mistrust, let’s hope he gets some sense in time to realize what a mistake he made.