Saturday 1 February 2014

Nisekoi - Episode 4

With a little help from Ichijou, Kirisaki has managed to make herself some friends and is now getting along like a house on fire with her classmates, bringing her a new dimension of happiness to the point where it's actually starting to disturb Raku a little.

Meanwhile, Onodera is continuing to watch this pair's pseudo-romance from afar - it isn't too difficult to see where her feelings reside, and friend Ruri Miyamoto can spot Onodera's true feelings a mile off.  Whether Ichijou is dating Kirisaki or not, she takes it upon herself to give her friend a push in the right direction by press-ganging Raku into holding a study group at his house - a rather delicate situation for him, given his domestic situation.


Still, Ruri certainly knows how to create an opportunity, and thus does everything in her power to bring Raku and Kosaki a little closer together, all while Kirisaki blindly misses the obvious tension between the two of them before almost destroying the lie of her relationship with Ichijouo in the process.  Such is the awkwardness of the situation that Raku chooses to confide in his friend Maiko, which in turn reveals to Ichijou the prospect that Onodera might actually have a crush on him.  Of course, Raku's yakuza pals have different ideas, and decide this is a perfect opportunity to lock Ichijou and Kirisaki in a dark storeroom together to help progress their relationship a little - and whaddya know, they might just have a point.

Every turn this series makes is as predictable and cliched as the last, but yet Nisekoi continues to be tremendous fun - it's really enjoyable watching the cast bouncing off of one another, while Onodera and Kikisaki both have sufficient charms to be likeable in equally unoriginal but memorable ways.  I feel like I should be able to find numerous reasons not to like this show, but it manages to work with its ideas and execute them in a way that transcends its place as "just another romantic comedy" to be a superior result than the sum of its parts suggest they should be.

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