“It Looks Like I’ve Fallen For Yamada!”

Sundays at 12:30 pm EST on Crunchyroll

With Yamada’s help, Shiraishi bonds with her friends on a school trip. Things seem to be going well between the two until Yamada gets tangled in Odagiri’s latest plot to improve her standing with the Student Council President.

Jel’s thoughts

I really like how Yamada and Shiraishi’s relationship is developing. The grade school level “Ewww! Boys/Girls!” exclamations has been kept to an acceptable minimum, and really neither of them has denied there’s something there. Instead, we get some smoldering romantic tension as each of their kisses seems to linger a bit longer than necessary. I also appreciate they haven’t gone full harem when the situation almost demands it, at least not yet. Ito returning to her senses after breaking the Charm Spell and NOT still being in love with Yamada was a relief. I guess the jury is still out on Odagiri, but even if they do all end up in love with him I can’t see anyone breaking up the main pair.

Plot wise I’m also glad we’ve been introduced to another power before running out of viable body swap schemes. The Charm Spell is a little too convenient for a romantic comedy, but it could be pretty formidable in the hands of someone as Machiavellian as Odagiri. Between that and Yamada choosing to keep Shiraishi in the dark on the whole thing, I’m expecting a lot of hurt feelings in the next couple of episodes. It does make for a great dual meaning on the episode title though!

Of course the ever looming specter of Fan Service continues to plague Yamada-kun, and this episode managed to get the Hot Springs/Bath House episode in. I did at least appreciate that Yamada made the effort to switch back before heading to the bath like he should have instead of getting excited at his opportunity to see girls naked. That said, I was even more put off by the kiss with Ito, as they now seem to be animating spit trails. Unless this is Mysterious Girlfriend X, I really don’t want to see that. I wish I didn’t have to bring these things up every week and could just say this show is great and recommended for everyone, but here we are again. I guess it could be worse and the rest of the show keeps getting better though, so I’m still feeling really positive about Yamada-kun overall.