Given the shock seen on Ryouko's face when she came face to face with Hitsujikai, it's more than a little understandable that her mind is distracted by his appearance, and via this episode we're granted some further little clues into the history between the two of them. These are clues that Ryoushi would love to be party to no doubt, worried as he is about Ryouko and her history. Indeed, his worry is such that he seeks to find out more via Ringo, to no avail as she quite rightly points out that if he wants to know then Ryouko has to trust him enough to tell him directly.
Much of the rest of the episode therefore focuses on solidifying the back story between Ryouko and Ringo - How the latter got to know the former, and how the two became friends thanks to Ringo's dogged perseverance in the face of Ryouko's distant and unfriendly behaviour, which was an issue even then on account of her past travails.
This made for an instalment which really didn't move things forward to any particular degree, nor did it tell us anything that we couldn't have extrapolated for ourselves, but nonetheless it actually made for an enjoyably touching episode when it came to examining the relationship between Ryouko and Ringo that actually moved me a little more than I would otherwise have expected - J.C. Staff certainly seem to be good at getting the emotional tone of their shows right if nothing else. This episode also perhaps worked simply by being a departure from the stories offered up in previous weeks; it felt almost oddly luxurious to actually spend some time getting to know characters a little better in a series which has wasted little time on doing so previously. Perhaps things are looking up for this little show after a sub-par beginning after all?
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