Hina Loji ~from Luck & Logic~ – 04

「恩を花で返す」 (On o hana de kaesu)
“Repay Kindness With Flowers”

Being called ‘old’ is a well deserved jab if you’re going around saying that a computer is a mecha. Even Stilts and Enzo don’t go about saying these things! On the other hand, Yuuko is such a lovely character that being mean to her is so unwarranted. Especially on her birthday.

Yuuko’s Birthday

To be fair to the other girls, if Yuuko had forgotten about her own birthday, I would hardly expect the girls to have known either. In fact, a session full of effort and careful deliberation more than made up for it. I’d say they did a fantastic job, given the time constraints on their hands. Yuuko was even touched to the point of shedding a single tear! Though most of us might be a bit too old for this stuff now, a well thrown pyjama party is always super fun around any age. Mahiro went over the motherboard in keeping Yuuko out of her room, and I would really like to have seen her trance, using some abilities to amplify her hacking. But she’s plenty good with or without any trancing, just by virtue of being Mahiro. Yuuko’s trancing was totally on point, and complements her disposition rather nicely. I can’t think of many people who would be extremely happy to clean on their birthday, let alone a whole dormitory bathing area. If I had to make my pick for Yamato Nadeshiko so far into this new season, Yuuko might very well lead the nominations.

Shopping Trip

Despite the fact one tried to kill them last episode, it seems Lion can never stop finding bears adorable. She may have a few screws loose judging by the reactions everyone else gave to the bear carving she found cute, myself included. But it’s all done in a cute and likeable way. Sadly they don’t grab the pyjama they were intending on gifting to Yuuko. However, the distraction of helping out an awkwardly familiar crying child leads them to a different solution, that allows them to shoot two birds with one stone. Not only do they resolve someone else’s problem, an equally wonderful gift is found by using Lion’s trance to bring flowers out of season into bloom. I’m sure Yuuko would have been proud, and I reckon she would have chosen to have another person be helped any day, over having a new set of her own pyjamas.

Concluding Thoughts

Poor Mizuki got hung to dry after misunderstanding what letter Yuuko was talking about. It would have been a nice gesture for the girls to have invited her to the sleepover, considering she’s one of Yuuko’s best friends and all. That said, having her present during the heartfelt moment between Yuuko and her kouhais might have felt quite strange, since that was a personal scene in which she had no part to play. Although I found the subsequent flower language explanation pretty forced, Hina Logi from Luck & Logic has always been an upfront series, with its frankness being a part of its wonderful charm. It is unabashedly moe in its inclinations.

Moving onto the focus of this episode, Yuuko is truly special. No less than what I would expect from a girl with the catchphrase ‘Ara ara’. I really like kind and gentle characters, especially if they exhibit elegance too. Even though I wouldn’t describe this older sister archetype as my favourite mould of character, it certainly ranks pretty high, and arguably attains a kind of perfection in itself. My bone to pick is that usually with a completed product, there is little room for growth and development, which is personally what I want to see a lot of when I watch anime.

Looking ahead to next week, we can expect a trip to the beach and some action on the table. Personally, putting this particular conundrum aside, I’m also hoping to have some focus on Nina. We already know she’s capable at this point, so at the moment there is one particular question in mind. Will more light be shed on her mysterious background?

Preview

Omake

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