One Week Friends - Episode 3

One month on from their first proper meeting, and Hase and Fujimiya's friendship is still going strong, even after she bombards him with more egg rolls than any one man could ever hope to eat in a single lunchtime.

Although all is very much well between the two of them, Hase remains somewhat concerned by Fujimiya's relationship with the rest of her classmates - thanks to her stony-faced behaviour in class, everyone thinks of her as either aloof or weird (or both), and much as Hase is tthrilled to have her all to himself as a friend he knows that this probably isn't particularly healthy.

In an attempt to change this, Hase invites Shogo to join himself and Fujimiya on the roof one lunchtime, promising her that she can trust his friend with her secret.  While this is true, his forthright behaviour and cynical eye make this an awkward first meeting, as he openly suggests that she could be lying about the whole thing - a claim which creates a schism between him and Hase that looks unlikely to be resolved as the week comes to and, much to the upset of Fujimiya who feels responsible.  However, Shogo's bluntness does have its advantages as well, as some more chatter behind Fujimiya's back from others in her class leads to Shogo opening up an opportunity for Fujimiya to explain herself - although she doesn't exactly make good use of the opportunity, it leads to Hase and Shogo reconciling, while the following Monday brings some good news for Fujimiya's memory.

Three episodes in, there continues to be something really rather enjoyable about One Week Friends - its main two characters and their relationship remains pretty simple, but you can't help but root for them, and adding both the good and bad aspects of Shogo's personality to the mix helped to carry this week's episode forward for the better into the bargain.  The result of all this has left me very much invested in its cast, which looks likely to be something that the series tries to leverage in next week's episode, which I'm now most certainly looking forward to as the series shows some very encouraging signs of progression.