The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behaviour! - Episode 10

Fed up of his continuing label as being the ringmaster of a freak show, Usa is proving keen to quit his job working at a rather unique coffee shop, but until he does so he seems determined to make full use of his workplace garb to impress Ritsu.

Usa is also quick to pounce when another opportunity to impress her presents itself, with the cafe looking to fill some newly acquired bookcases but not having sufficient suitably old books to do. Given that Ritsu's room is a makeshift library full of just the right kind of material, Usa suggests that she loan some of he rbooks to the cafe in return for being able to read their whenever she likes. It's a great plan that works well, tempered only by the reappearance of Usa's former "friend" Hayashi, ostensibly to apologise to him for her treatment of him previously.

While there however, Hayashi finds herself encountering a kindred spirit, which leads to her spending more time at the establishment, much to the irritation of Ritsu who gets entirely the wrong idea about the whole thing.  This irritation comes to the fore as Chizuru comes by to play with Shiro, which ultimately leads to her quizzing Ritsu on why she isn't dating Usa - questions which eventually lead to Ritsu spilling the beans as to how Usa isn't interested in her romantically, and using Hayashi as an example of the fact that he'll happily look after anyone a bit odd.  Nobody seems willing to correct Ritsu on this point, and thus Usa takes another step back in his relationship with her.

I don't think I'll get bored of watching Ritsu being moody yet frequently adorable, and Hayashi's return worked pretty well in this week's episode to provide at least some highlights in an instalment that felt a little like it was going through the motions - it still can't escape the fact that much of its humour is stuck in the same ruts on account of its cast of characters, and that becomes more of an issue the longer the series goes on. That isn't to say that I'm not still broadly enjoying The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behaviour, but it needs to change things up a little more markedly to avoid running out of steam entirely.