One Week Friends - Episode 8

It's the summer holiday, and although Kaori and Hase are having a good time - much of which they're spending in one another's company - there's one staple of the season that they're yet to embark upon.

The missing link here is, of course, a trip to the beach, and although Hase is a little disappointed at the prospect of Kiryu and Yamagishi tagging along, it's still preferable to missing out on this trip entirely and so he does everything required to assemble the gang for a day trip.  With the quartet gathered, a pleasant train ride ensues, only for their arrival at the beach to be quite literally dampened by the onset of rain.

Still adamant that they need to make the most of their time, Saki leads the way in ignoring the rain and wind in favour of some typically beachside activities, sandcastles, beach balls and all, before logic prevails and sees them take to a nearby arcade for entertainment.  By the end of all this the sunshine has returned, making for a sunny end to proceedings before darkness brings the opportunity to bring out the fireworks.  A satisfying day is over, and even though both Saki and Shogo seem to be despairing in their own ways at the inept romance clearly bubbling between our two leads all is well... for now, at least, as a newcomer onto the scene as the episode ends seems to be a foreboding one.

After an episode like this, it's almost easy to forget the sense of drama earlier in the series, and one which it seems the show will probably return to - at least to some extent - over its remaining weeks.  Although the easy-going fare of this week's instalment wasn't particularly memorable it was still quite fun to watch, remains beautiful visually and also succeeded in bringing some sweet, satisfying moments to the table to boot.  Having built up this group of four friends so nicely, we're now perfectly poised for the cat about to jump into the midst of the pigeons, and the next week or two will surely see the feathers fly.