The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behaviour! - Episode 9

In a shocking break from her normal behaviour, Mayumi has been drinking heavily and is loudly bemoaning the current state of her life - in other words, it's business as usual at the Kawai Complex.

Although getting a piggyback ride on the shoulders of Shiro helps her to feel a little better (simply because it means she gets to look down on everyone, in case you're wondering), it still isn't quite enough... she needs to be higher, and the room of the complex is the perfect place to be at that moment in time.  Throw in a guitar given to her by an ex-boyfriend, and you have the perfect recipe for an impromptu "live event" from Mayumi from the roof of which The Smiths would be proud.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating that part, but it does at least allow Mayumi to be exposed to some of the love felt by her fellow housemates, even if it's tempered by complaints about how loud she's being.

This level of noise is nothing compared to the piercing screams which ring out in the middle of the night however, and once the commotion dies down we find a very simple root cause - a centipede in Ritsu's room. Given her hatred of creepy-crawlies, there's no way she's going back to her room without some kind of assistance - cue a journey of excitement and enlightenment into the unseen pleasures of the women's side of the Kawai Complex. Or a complete mess, if we're talking about Mayumi's room. Still, this night seems to be made for Usa, as he gets to play the hero - first figuratively by showing himself to be brave enough to tackle Ritsu's insect problem, then literally by saving her from her own panic and an over-spilling Thermos flask of boiling water.

The two halves of this week's The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behaviour really shows the two sides of the show as it stands with me - the first leaned too heavily on its now over-used character tropes as they pertain to Mayumi (there are only so many "drunk and miserable because she's single" jokes before it gets old, while the second delivered some funny moments and a well plotted little story that had room for both jokes and a chance to tackle the show's romance angle pretty nicely.  This might be because I'm a sucker for Ritsu's character (okay, not might be, is), but it seems that this show is always at its best when her character and/or Usa are at its centre, simply because their characters feel more fully realised than much of the rest of the cast.