「相馬、さわやかすぎる青年」 (Souma, Sawayaka Sugiru Shounen)
“Souma, An Overly Refreshing Guy”

As much as this episode was about Hiroomi and how he’s a sly blackmailing machine underneath his cheery facade, some light was shed on the likely cause of Souta’s mini complex — his four sisters. With all of them taller than him, including his 12 year-old younger sister Nazuna who’s getting there, I can understand why Souta likes small and helpless girls like Popura. In his sisters’ cases, it doesn’t help when one’s an abusive lawyer, another is a creepy romance novelist, and a third is a drunkard self-defense instructor. Nazuna is the only one he gets along with normally for now, but he’s already wary of the female Takanashi gene taking its effect in her before long. While I can sort of feel for what Souta has to put up at home, I’m actually kind of envious how his sisters, Kazue, Izumi, Kozue, and Nazuna, are Shiraishi Ryoko, Hikasa Youko, Itou Shizuka, and Saitou Momoko respectively. I would’ve preferred Kugimiya Rie over Momoko in the last role as per the drama CD, but his three older sisters are an awesome bunch with their distinct personalities. It never hurts to have Shizuka playing a drunkard in an anime either, when you consider the fact she sort of is one in real life.

As for Hiroomi, I was a bit surprised at how he quickly digs up the dirt on all of the other Wagnaria employees in order to have them do his share of work. This of course includes how Souta had to wear hand-me-downs from his sisters when he was younger. It was somewhat disturbing how he searched the trash to get this hands on that photograph just so that he can use it against Souta, which is why I was pretty happy about seeing Jun take it to him with a frying pan. In Jun’s case, they’ve made it clear that he has a thing for Yachiyo now, even though Yachiyo herself is too dense to realize it despite Hiroomi’s insistence. Because of that, it’ll be interesting watching the Jun x Yachiyo interactions from now on, which the abrupt inclusion of a Valentine’s Day segment at the end of this episode already gave us a taste of. I found it a bit weird to have Valentine’s Day covered so briefly when that day alone generally warrants a dedicated episode, but hopefully this means they have some better stuff in store.

Now as for my personal highlight of this episode, it would have to Hiroomi’s ultimate weakness, Mahiru. Evidently, he can’t blackmail shit all when he doesn’t even get a chance to speak, so I really enjoyed watching her beat the crap out of him. At the same time, I like how they started hinted at some potential feelings Mahiru is developing for Souta ever since the compliment he gave her about her hairpin. Given the nature of this series, I don’t really see anything amounting from that, but it’s still fun to have some potential romance floating around to help drive the comedy.

* Note: I’m behind on my Sunday shows because I got sick yesterday. I’m trying my best to catch up between the extra rest I should be getting, but it hasn’t been easy.

 

Preview

37 Comments

  1. With so many females around is hard for Souta to relate to females. Lol they kept him under amazonian power! Haven’t seen so many oneesan since Aoi Hana, wonder if there will be anything development for them. I noticed that Hiroomi didn’t try anything with the manager either… could it be yakuza ftw? lol Finally Mahiru is getting more interesting than Popura

    Island Esper
  2. Looks like violence is pretty effective against Hiroomi, maybe Souta should consider taking some lessons from Kozue 😛 Hilarious episode, probably the best so far.

    Take care Divine, I hope you’ll get better soon.

    Jurkasz
  3. Wow, I feel bad for Jun, since Yachiyo is way too dense to understand him =/. This was by far the best episode so far, the best part being the insane beatings Mahiru gave Hiroomi (although another good part was when Hiroomi tried to get Yachiyo to pay more attention to Jun).

    Click
  4. Aha, I was wondering where you were at! Hope you feel better, rest up!
    And I don’t know if I’m saying something obvious, but aren’t there a lot of Yachiyo x Kyoko vibes as well?

    innerchihiro
  5. Question of the day:

    Which of the following deals more damage?
    A – Satou’s frying pan
    B – Mahiru’s fist

    Just ask Souma. XD

    In Japan, being called a “nice guy” by a girl, especially a girl you like, is akin to being rejected by her. It’s usually the first excuse they use when they’re being confessed to by a guy they hardly fancy: “XXX-kun, you’re a nice guy, but…” You get the idea. The term “nice guy” is now a by-word for “miserable girl reject”.

    So I sympathize with Satou for being called a “nice guy” non stop by Yachiyo. LOL
    Of course, Souma, the instigator of all this, gets what he deserves. XD

    With her assaults on Takanashi intensifying, Mahiru now feels increasingly like the main female protagonist than Poplar is.

    Perhaps living with so many “mature” sisters have more or less desensitized Takanashi on more “normal girls” might explain his obsession for something more different, more “mini”. lol Oh, what chance does Mahiru have of winning his heart? (That is before she accidentally kills him. )

    PS What Divine? You were sick? You’ve been so excellent that I hardly even noticed you were gone. lol

    Kinny Riddle
  6. “It never hurts to have Shizuka playing a drunkard in an anime either, when you consider the fact she sort of is one in real life.”

    Wait what? How do you know that? WHAT?!?

    (My Itou Shizuka image just got like butchered…)

  7. Thanks to Hiiromi being a manipulative bastard just like Izaya (with the same voice, even), I’ve got a new found respect for Inami. Specifically, the part where she pummel him before he even got a chance to do anything. I hope that Shizuo will one day do the same to Izaya.

    Still, this episode makes me really pity Souta. Not only are his sisters…odd, the only girl that seemed to be interested in him has the unfortunate tendency to beat the crap out of him every time they meet.

    Nestor
    1. But I really don’t like how the show makes it seems that it’s okay for Inami to beat up every single guy. It’s not. She need to work on getting over her feats of guys. It was painful watching her beat up Souma.

      Loveya
  8. By the way, the fact that Hiroomi is a blackmailer explains why he knew that Takanashi was in the same school as Popura in the first episode.

    Sorry about this second comment (_ _)

    okami

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