Recap

Usa buys a bike but Ritsu doesn’t seem impressed. Mayumi’s Ex tries to contact her, leaving her with mixed emotions. Sayaka’s flirtatious personality proves to be quite dangerous in more ways than one.

Jel’s Thoughts

I guess the episode structure we saw last week is a thing that’s going to continue as this week’s episode also neatly breaks into three parts. The first part is pretty cute as Usa attempts to woo Ritsu with his sweet new bike. I appreciate that he at least had the guts to ask her if she wanted a ride, not to mention Ritsu taking the time to properly explain and apologize for not accepting. It gives me a glimmer of hope that we may get some sliver of progress throughout the series, even if they seem to be aiming for more of an ensemble cast friendship theme than a straight romance. I also loved the bit with with Sayaka emitting the weird pink cloud for romantic effect, that may have been the first genuine chuckle the show has gotten out of me.

The real emotional meat of the episode is in the second part. Mayumi’s love life might be the most interesting aspect of the story by default as it’s so rare to see a single adult as part of the main cast in an anime. As cute as Usa and Ritsu may be, nothing they’ve done has packed as much of a gut punch as watching poor Mayumi cart herself out on a date you just know she shouldn’t be going on. The scene still plays out kind of silly for sure, but her ability to reclaim her self esteem coupled with the loving support of the rest of the cast has made the best moments so far.

Part 3 was probably the weakest bit of the episode, but did deliver some needed screen time for Sayaka. Much like the other older residents, she seems to be just the right amount of despicable. Her cute, helpless act is clearly meant to be transparent and obnoxious to the audience, but I have a feeling she will (mostly) use her powers for good. It was also kind of neat to see Ritsu rescuing Usa, slowly eroding my fears about Ritsu being the sad, quiet girl just waiting for prince charming to save her. In fact, I’d say this entire episode help ease my concerns about the direction Kawaisou is headed, and I’m much more excited for the next episode than I was a week earlier.