Nisekoi - Episode 5

Ruri's plans to bring Onodera closer to Ichijou in last week's episode ended up backfiring somewhat thanks to that whole "trapped in a storeroom" incident involving Kirisaki - however, she isn't done with her attempts to play cupid by any stretch of the imagination.

For starters, she makes sure to talk loudly about Onodera's key, and how it pertains to a boy she was in love with a decade previously while Raku is in earshot to make sure he's aware of it, and then steps things up a gear by inviting both Ichijou and Onodera, alongwith Kirisaki, to practice for the school's swimming meet.  Although the competition is an all-girls affair, Ichijou's job is a "simple" one - to teach Kosaki how to swim.

Aside from ogling the girls in their swimsuits (and boy does this episode do a lot of that), this whole setup provides Ichijou with some other heavenly experiences, but most importantly of all it gives him a change to see if Onodera's key will fit his pendant.  Only he picks up the key to the girl's locker room instead.  Oops.  Once again, any attempts to bring Ichijou and Onodera closer together ultimately backfires as Kirisaki winds up in need of rescue at the meet itself, which again resets Kosaki's expectations.  Ruri, meanwhile, is still trying to get a handle on the exact relationship between Raku and Chitoge as it makes less and less sense in her head.

Another episode of Nisekoi goes by, and it's another episode that is entirely predictable in everything that it does - so why is it still so enjoyable?  I'm frankly a little baffled as to why I like this show as much as I do - SHAFT's layer of presentation certainly helps, and the show's cast is likeable enough, but week after week the series continues to be greater than the sum of its component parts.  Perhaps in an era where so many shows try to hide or otherwise subvert tropes of old, some degree of reverse psychology makes this series seem fresh, but regardless of the reason I'm continuing to have a lot of fun watching Nisekoi - I just wish I was able to ascertain exactly why in a more verbose manner.