With yakuza now sniffing around and threatening the ramen shop which serves as Alice and company's base, things are taking a turn for the dangerous - a problem not helped by Meo's decision to do a runner and try to do a deal with the group in question herself, offering to hand over the 200 million Yen in return for her father. It's a deal the group agree to but clearly a bargain they have no intention of keeping, leaving Narumi to try to make amends by saving the day only to find himself being beaten up by said gang.
Enter Hinamori and his own forces to save the day and both Narumi and Meo's bacon - an event which makes Narumi realise that he's in no real position to protect anybody, which leads to him suggesting that he become Hinamori's "brother" by effectively joining his group. With this piece of ceremony out of the way, it's up to all those involved to figure out how to get Meo's father back safely; an occasion which leads to Narumi stepping up to the plate to deliver an utterly reckless plan, but one which can't be bettered by anyone else present, leading to a game of bluff against the yakuza group holding Meo's father so that they can eventually free him.
Although there were some snappy segments to this episode as it went about its violent business, it never really showed the same kind of smart storytelling as its first episode managed so well - Narumi's bluff was a smart idea, but it stood out in the midst of a sea of dull punch-ups and an ending which felt far too simple and ultimately undermined the supposed threat of the yakuza group our NEETs were going up against. I can't go as far as to say that I didn't enjoy it, as the first half of this arc was pretty solid and this instalment wasn't a complete write-off, but I'll certainly be hoping for something more akin to episode one from the next story arc so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it has some good source material left to mine.
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