Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi – 05

「バレンタイン交響曲」 (Barentain Kōkyōkyoku)
“Valentine Symphony”

That’s right we’ve barely started November, and Senpai Ga Uzai decided to jump straight into Valentine’s day, in case I have to explain it, but I do believe all of us are sufficiently weeb enough to know that Valentine’s day in Japan is a usually reserved for girls giving chocolate to guys. White Day is the reversal where guys got to give chocolate to girls. There are several levels to chocolate gift-giving, which this episode promptly touches upon. Courtesy is well just that, kindness and nothing more. Fancy chocolate might signify you’re trying to show wealth, and homemade chocolate is just the simplest form of choco gift-giving, the most humble, yet the one that show’s the most affection for the other person. Bonus points if you change up the recipe and add ingredients to the chocolate that might spice up the flavor, spicy chocolate, or in this case green tea chocolate. I personally love green tea, as coffee is not really my thing. True Cacao is also supposed to be bitter. So adding green tea is a genius idea, and show’s how much Futuba actually cares about Harumi. She’s always asking about him in the office, she’s always checking up on him, and they seem to have formed a bond strong enough so that they can go eat ramen after work, Harumi even feeling comfortable enough to invite Futuaba to his usual ramen place.

More and more do I enjoy this show, personal favorite moments include how Souta just has a full-blown mental breakdown that was caused by irrational fears produced by a misunderstanding. He sees Touko walking along with another man, but not really turn’s out it’s just her little brother. Sakurai Yuuto (Horie, Yui), gets introduced when Futaba and Natsumi walk along the street after watching a movie. He’s lost and his GPS has deceived him once more (cursed technology!) but thanks to their quick tips and pointers he is able to get right on track, later Harumi bumps into Yuuto when some thugs are trying to rob him some money, but Harumi comes to the rescue and beats them up. Then Futaba arrives on the scene and they both recognize each other, finally, Touko walks in the confirm the relationship. This is important because Souta still doesn’t know Yuuto is Touko’s little brother. Resulting in a pretty fun breakdown for Souta, (I mean more for us than him) but finally, he gets the courage to ask her about the guy he saw her with. After Touko makes this whole ordeal about how it doesn’t matter what type of chocolate you give to the other person as long as your heart is in the right place, those feelings will communicate to the other person and you will be heard.

Speaking of Touko, we got a little bit more of her backstory, it seems that people were quick to dismiss her, talking around her instead of to her, all because she was really pretty and people didn’t want to approach her directly, even the girls giving her the cold shoulder, because she’s pretty, but in reality, they are putting her on a pedestal and isolating her, because of her perfection. I bet she tries constantly to break out off. Nothing major or anything, just hope we get more backstories later on.

Relationships are hard, and it’s how we navigate those turbulent waters that make us who we are at the end of it all. I’m not an expert at relationships or anything like that, so I can only give my biased opinion. Poor Souta someone should have told him sooner, everyone who saw him just walked by because it seemed like a mess they don’t really want to deal with. And I think that’s something Senpai Ga Uzai is managing really well. I’ve said it before all of these relationships seem adult and everyone in this show is genuine good at heart. I’m just really liking this show!

What else can I say about this episode, it was pretty simple, the plot was slowed down, stretched thin, to allow us to simmer in November Valentine’s episode. Really get in the spirit of February, when it’s still a little bit cold but not so chilly you’re freezing to your core. This episode felt more like a simmering hot pot of romance. Who would have known we’d be getting Valentine’s episode. While last week we got more off a relationships episode, rather a themed one. I’m convinced this trend will continue with the next episode giving us depth and backstory of these characters, while next-next episode we will be getting another holiday-themed episode, but only time will tell on that one. For now Happy November Valentine everyone!

P.S. End Card by Made in Abyss guy!

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