Saturday 10 May 2014

Nisekoi - Episode 18

Amazingly, we haven't had a beach episode in Nisekoi yet.  So, here's Nisekoi's beach episode for you.

After getting at least some of its inevitable fascination with the female bosom out of the way, it's Kirisaki who takes much of the focus of this week's episode, as she continues to ponder that misunderstood proposal from Raku last week - a train of thought that leaves her getting more and more flustered, to the point where even Onodera is noticing that something is up with her friend.  The again, perhaps she should pay some more attention to her own thoughts, as she ends up blurting out to Ichijou that she wants to kiss him while they're alone on the jetty together...


...but, of course, Raku has dozed off and missed the whole thing.  Even after overhearing this, Chitoge convinces herself that she simply misheard Kosaki and resumes worrying about her own feelings as she works herself up into such a lather that she can't even hang out in the vicinity of Ichijou.  This in turn leads to Raku heading off to find her and Kirisaki not so subtly asking whether a relationship between the two of them could work.  Subtle or not, Ichijou's idiocy leaves him spouting off about how there's no way he'd have any interest in her, and so begins a cold war between the pretend couple.  Oops...

Inevitable though its eventual appearance was, some aspects of this week's beach instalment felt a little shoe-horned in, leaving the first half of the episode feeling rather week until it got to grips with its main relationships and decided to shake them up a bit... or rather, it pretended to in Onodera's case before turning it into a feint in a predictable but entertaining way.  However, there was no messing with the change in Ichijou and Kirisaki's relationship, which I hope is something that the show will lean into in its final couple of episodes, as it clearly has the potential to offer up something decidedly different than the usual expected (if enjoyable) fare to bring Nisekoi to a strong ending (although surely one which will decide nothing).

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