Shirokuma Café – 10

「半田さんの合コン?/半田さんの合コン!」 (Handa-san no Goukon?/Handa-san no Goukon!)
“Mr. Handa’s Blind Date?/Mr. Handa’s Blind Date!”

Okay, first things first. Panda impressed me this episode by not being as annoying as he usually is when he acts as a main character in the skit. He may have been annoying when he was showing himself off to the ladies, but once again, his trolling capacities prove to be the superior comedy. “Name a girl you’ve talked to recently. Not your mother. Not an animal,” Panda is quick to point out to Handa, using his own “methods” to help his fellow coworker out. When the focus isn’t completely on Panda, funny things start to happen. It shows how much of a better person Panda becomes if he could just stop focusing on himself so much! At first I thought that the tag-teaming he often does with other characters was the key to his likability, but it’s so much simpler than that. As long as Panda does something that’s not for the direct benefit of himself, it all works out! When Handa receives the “assistance” of Panda, the comedy fulfills itself more as the cast is able to react in a variety of ways.

Penguin makes a great case for this observation. Panda tells a story to Penguin, denies him the opportunity to tag along by playing thick, and then takes everyone else (well, almost everyone) with him! By entangling the cast in his plans, Panda causes Penguin to react in humorous ways natural to his character. Not bad for a character that lazes around all day to be adored by many!

For an episode focused on Handa, it slightly exceeded my expectations. He still has these typical awkward tendencies about him, but at the very least he’s honest about it! It also looks like he’s knowledgeable and dedicated to the things he really does care about, though such traits aren’t depicted in a positive light here. For future episodes, if the show could redeem some qualities of Handa even by a slight, it would increase the likability of his character considerably. Nobody likes a complete pushover without any redeeming qualities!

Finally, for next week, Penguin will be receiving his final nod to Penko…in a negative manner. However, not everything is as it seems, as many of us saw the last time Penguin tried to forward anything with Penko. At the very least we’ll see Panda and Shirokuma console their fellow friend, albeit in a trolling manner.

P.S: This week we see yet another new ED! Though I don’t enjoy this one as much as Grizzly Rock, it definitely is one that’s more calming and gives attention to Sasako and her VA!

Full-length images: 16.

 

ED3 Sequence

ED3: 「みすいろ」 (Light Blue) by (Endo Aya)

Preview