Despite Kurumi's bright and breezy attitude in greeting and waving goodbye to Sawako (which of course she revels in every minute of) Yano and Yoshida already seem uncomfortable with Kurumi's attentions being lavished on their friend - Partly out of jealousy admittedly, but also from a feeling that something isn't quite right, a feeling reaffirmed as Yoshida related a story about Kurumi from their time together at middle school.
Meanwhile, it becomes increasingly obvious from her interactions with Sawako that Chizuru's real goal is to remove any obstacles between herself and Kazehaya... obvious to everyone except Sawako herself that is, as she laps up everything Kurumi tells her without any deeper thought with her usually idealistic naivety, a reaction which threatens to see Kurumi's mask slip. With her options seemingly running out, Kurumi ends up taking a very different tact to warn off Sawako as the episode closes, but how will the show's female protagonist react to this revelation?
As episodes of Kimi ni Todoke goes this particular instalment could never really hope to match some of the brilliant moments showcased early in the series, but once again it proves to be a warm and inviting watch even with Kurumi's facade on hand to set your teeth on edge on occasion - Watching Sawako and Kazehaya's ever more awkward interactions is amusing in itself, while the former's pure and innocent world view makes for some easy comedy that is perfectly accentuated by the series animation style. Unlike so many series where you can't be too sure who to root for sometimes, there are no doubts as to where the viewer of this show's loyalties are supposed to lie, but even with what could almost be called a pantomime-esque set-up in keeping with the time of year, Kimi ni Todoke remains as entertaining as ever amidst the crop of currently airing series.
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Whoa, Kazehaya – Sawako IS the first girl he’s fallen for! He’s as innocent as she is (although not for the same reasons, obviously). That’s really sweet, isn’t it? Of course, any female viewer probably knew this from 5 minutes into episode 1, but I thought Kazehaya was interested in Sawako because he wanted to “complete the set”, and she was the last girl in his class left. Poor Kazehaya – that Kurumi has set his development back by years. Well, it all makes sense now – no wonder he’s all over the place trying to communicate with Sawako.
Kurumi, on the other hand, is really good at this communications lark, and thinks she can use her scheming wiles to get Sawako to do whatever she likes, a belief reinforced by Sawako behaving like a deer caught in headlights whenever Kurumi hails her. Alas for her, the best laid plans prove to go astray. This was pretty amusing stuff, as Sawako’s social naivety leads her into taking Kurumi’s words the wrong way (well, from Kurumi’s point of view, anyway), and putting a positive spin on negative intents. She’s very optimistic, really, that Sawako. So after the sniping doesn’t work, Kurumi is forced to bring the big guns into play, and goes for a direct attack by confronting Sawako directly with the fact that she (Kurumi) likes Kazehaya, and will Sawako help . . . .? Ooh, cliffhanger!
That Kurumi is very definitely a sly one, and selfish as anything to boot.
Next episode – can we have some football, finally, please?
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