Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou – 09
On this episode of Some Weak Friends…
Another two story episode for Kawaisou this week. I wonder how many people would call this show ‘Slice of Life’, since it clearly is, but very often that term conjures up much more ‘cute’ imagery. Either way, the two stories this week don’t revolve around Usa’s part-time job.
Only the Lonely
It’s unwanted concert time!
Rough week for Mayumi, as the only more lovelorn person at work found a boyfriend. That means the office loser in love is now Mayumi herself, which doesn’t help since that’s the thing she’s most self-conscious about (the bit about the older co-worker actually made me think of 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku, an amusing show). So the first half of the show is a bit of a pity party for Mayumi, as first she rants about the rest of the world while riding on Shiro’s shoulders, and then she climbs up on the roof to serenade everyone… with songs about weddings and marriages.
Tagami thinks he’ll give it a go
I do think that Shiro, Sumiko, and Sayaka have all realized that even with Mayumi’s moody outbursts, she’s still the most entertaining thing around, even without being a good singer. And even if Mayumi says she doesn’t like hearing Sayaka say that she’s interesting, I think she does appreciate that Sayaka at least cares for her a little bit, even if it’s not as much as Sumiko does. And someone else wants to “care for” Mayumi, as Usa’s friend Tagami from the mixer mishap wants to be introduced to “the onee-san with the big tits”. He doesn’t even believe Usa warning him off, and comes over anyway (since it’s not hard to figure out where the crazy people live). It’s gotta be a rough realization for Mayumi to be admired by a guy… and know that he’s just over half your age.
Ew Ew Ew
“Hiiiiiii!”
In the eastern part of the US, where I live, we have millipedes, which look like a little armored train, and we have house centipedes, which are startling as heck but almost completely harmless (the most harmful they really can be is if they scare you into hurting yourself). And they’re insectivores so you’re better off having them around. I lead in with this to say that these are NOT mukade. Those things are a veritable horror show. Probably the most analogous thing in the US is scorpions, and that gets a big “NOPE NOPE NOPE!” from me. So even though I’m pretty calm around bugs and spiders, I think that I’d be a bit freaked out if I saw a mukade as well, and I can understand one putting Kawaisou into a tizzy. Especially if it dropped out of the ceiling (NOPE NOPE NOPE!).
Mayumi and Ritsu’s rooms are finally seen!
So yeah, understandable that this is a code red situation, one which allows for the suspension of the Girls’ Area Rule since Sumiko isn’t there to take care of it as usual. Apparently a very familiar technique to deal with them is to grab them with chopsticks, and then dunk them in boiling water, so their preparations weren’t completely wrong. And it gets Usa a chance to see Ritsu’s room (after the relative unhappiness of Mayumi’s room). But when the mukade’s not there, it’s time to find out where it actually went, and it suddenly appears by falling on Ritsu. Usa actually turns into Mr. Cool here, and tries to deal with it the best way possible, but Ritsu still freaks out a bit, leaving Usa to take a shot of scalding water for her while calming her down. That also gives Sayaka a chance to show up (after putting on her makeup) and dispatch the mukade.
Nice catch, Usa!
Usa managed to survive the episode, even after sorta-good things happened with Ritsu. Honestly, at this point, he should just confess to her. Maybe he’s waiting for some perfect moment? Maybe he’s just too afraid of being shot down, maybe he thinks they’re not close enough yet. Heck, maybe he thinks that they’ll just all of a sudden be a couple. But I think his best chance is probably just to confess and put his feelings out there. I know that she’s kinda shut him down before, because of the teasing they’d get from the rest of the crew, but there comes a point where you just gotta say “screw it” and live your own life. Do you think Ritsu would react well to that? For me it’s kind of a tossup, with an initial bad reaction, but one that might turn around later. I even think that Mayumi would deal with it ok, at least if they didn’t get too lovey-dovey around her.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
If I was writing the show, I would try to dovetail the romance into the body of the show, while at the same time exploring Ritsu’s character. If he did confess to her, something awful would happen, cause that is just how the environment is working against Usa. Ritsu would retreat in embarrassment, and never look up form her books.
But then, you could explore her “still waters” characteristic and find something; she never sent out any signals of interest. But someone became interested despite that.
I very much understand the NOPE NOPE NOPE. Once upon a Time my ex-wife had me terrified of fiddleback spiders. So much that I took on the mantle of holy crusader of my domicile and surrounding territories to rid my domain of said invader. It was my duty as husband and father…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I like Usa’s self-awareness that Kawaisou seems to balance his experiences, although this episode would seem to belie that hypothesis, since nothing overtly bad happened after his calming of Ritsu. Of course, such a perception is a very human overstatement in the first place, since people always overstate bad things while minimizing good things.
I actually like that if Ritsu and Usa end up together and the show continues like it is, it would be outside of some big plot in the show that pushes them together. To me, that’s a lot more authentic in the way people tend to form a couple. There’s no big adventure that they come out of in love, there’s just an attraction that brings people closer. People like stories, but most people don’t have a story, just normal stuff.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
“HIIIIII” omg that centipede is soo cute and moe! its hi is great!
I liked this episode Usa is getting closer to Ritsu and I just love their relationship so far, Ritsu is soo cute when she not reading a book.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
This centipede episode made me all nostalgic about previous Nichcibros and Gintama episodes. The eww factor is always there so it was fun seeing everyone freaking out. Add Usa’s lucky-timeu in it and it became quite a refreshing episode. Go, Usa!