My Little Monster - Episode 9

Never mind love, Shizuku has something else to concern herself with at the beginning of this week's My Little Monster.  No, not the fact that Haru has let himself into her house through her bedroom window (although to be frank, she should probably worry about that too), but rather the fact that her father's shop has gone under.  Hey, the economy is tough right now, don'tcha know!

Far from being shocked, distraught or upset, Shizuku takes things in her usual unruffled and pragmatic style, calling her Mum to pass on the news before dragging her father off to get things sorted.  Then again, given that this is the sixth time this has happened I suppose preparedness also comes into the equation here.  With her Dad sorted out, Shizuku finds some time to join her friends in a study session, arriving just in time to be reminded that a month ago at the culture festival she's promised to think over her relationship with Haru.  Except she hasn't thought about it at all.  Oops.

Once Haru is suitably distracted with trying to catch a crayfish to impress Shizuku, our protagonist actually finds herself with some time to think things over - something which she ends up doing in her own inimitable style, that being one involving having diagrams drawn on paper to explain her psyche.  The provider of this explanation is none other that Yamaguchi who, in spite of himself, seems to be developing some feelings of his own towards Shizuku.  In fact, love is in the air all around, as Natsume suddenly begins to act very strangely as circumstances catch her unawares...

Never mind Haru or Yamaguchi, I think it's pretty obvious from my 'blogging of this series that I too am an admirer of Shizuku, and by this juncture I feel as if watching her get a grip on her feelings and relationships is actually more interesting and enjoyable than the love story angle of the show (although of course you wouldn't have much of one without the other).  Thus, I'm continuing to love watching Shizuku's self-analysis and occasional moments of surprised or insightful inner monologue, as the rather tasty meat to what is proving to be an entertaining and occasionally amusing sandwich, spoiled slightly only by Haru acting as some kind of tomato.

And that's why My Little Monster is like a sandwich.  Or something.