Score: A-

This episode definitely brought me back to life. A refreshing episode that was just a lot of fun to watch. It was nice seeing the friendship between Chiya and Rize having more time to be fleshed out here. One of my favourite parts of this franchise is how they are willing to pair different characters off and let them have some good scenes together. And while keeping the focus there it was fun seeing Cocoa constantly drive her friends crazy with her promising to go running and being unable to wake up for it. Nothing bad to say about the second half of the episode with the great game of hide and go seek…that mostly just turned into a game of tag.

I liked the short scene toasting Chino’s decision to apply to Cocoa and Chiya’s school. With that decided they don’t have to dwell much on it, but it was sweet. Naturally those two are thrilled about it and even roped Rize into the celebration despite her not going to their school XD. It does make sense of course why Chiya is also hyped. Besides this being a joyous occasion for Cocoa, it means she’s got another person in their circle of friends to spend time with at school. With her job she’s the only one of them working there which no doubt leaves her feeling a bit lonely. But school is now looking to be even more fun with Chino heading their way.

For Cocoa it’s obvious why she’s excited. Spending even a year going to the same school as Chino will be incredibly fun for her. I’m sure she’s looking forward to bragging about Chino and playing the big sister on campus. But really the fun is just being able to walk to the same school with Chino, spend time there, and head back to Rabbit House for some work. Chino’s a big part of her life now and going to the same school will max out the levels of fun for her.

All of this lead nicely towards the marathon plot. I’m quite proud of Chiya for putting in so much work. Not easy to get up and do that kind of thing every day. All the more so since the first few days would have been pretty rough with her muscles getting sore from doing more than they are used to. But she really embraced the idea of being this respectable big sister and senpai combo. Very fitting that she ended up being essential for Cocoa finishing the race. Those twintails were powerhouses! No shortage of praise either for Rize though. Of course she was going for runs regardless, but she didn’t have to go out of her way to help out. Even being willing to help Cocoa…if she had the physical ability to wake up on time.

I appreciate that Rize and Syaro at least were open to helping Cocoa out and running with her. All the more so with Syaro since she didn’t even need to get up to go running period. It was absolutely a gesture of friendship that she was ready to help out in that way. Not that I blame Cocoa too harshly. At least not beyond her acting as if she could get up early to go running when she’s absolutely terrible at it. At least I doubt either of them really expected her to get up after the first time she failed to get up. And kind of nice that this all was reflected in the end result. Cocoa really needing to be dragged to the end via hanging onto Chiya’s hair. And again, credit to Chiya since running while dragging Cocoa behind her couldn’t be easy.

Nice to have an episode that gives some focus to Aoyama and her editor Rin. Of course Aoyama is never far away from each episode, but this was definitely her most involved appearance of season 3. Kind of nice to show how these two have and haven’t changed since they were students. Aoyama is no doubt an elite author at this point and Rin has her hands full keeping her on task and tracking her down. While there are times I can definitely feel sorry for that woman, she does seem fairly satisfied with her life overall. I kind of loved how Aoyama handled the chase. It isn’t fun to just hide and not be found. The real thrill is making your presence known and then having to escape the chase. You can definitely tell how much she enjoys her life right now.

No shock at all that Cocoa was the first ‘caught’ nor was there any shock at the means of her capture. Easiest move ever to just lure Cocoa in with Chino. The only way she could have unleashed more destructive firepower would have been calling Cocoa by her desired title of big sister. You have to respect the power of Cocoa’s love though. Chiya is right, Cocoa is a girl who lives to the fullest through her love. Denying that would be denying Cocoa’s very existence. In the end Cocoa was pretty satisfied getting a hug and some cuddle time with Chino. It was a win for the seekers, but not really a loss for the hiding party.

The rest of the game was a blast as well. Rin showing how much of a fan of Lapin she is was great. I enjoyed the heck out of the carousel with everyone getting on for a quick ride. And we even got a cool little chase between Rize and Chiya. The mentor and student having one last challenge…before Chiya ran out of road XD.

This episode was just fun. There isn’t much more to say about it than that. No matter who they pair up for an episode the result is almost always great. I have no idea what to expect from next week from that title. But, I’m sure it will make for a strong episode. With this last episode they’ve covered a pretty wide spectrum of the main cast so it will be interesting to see what surprises the rest of the season has in store. Maybe we’ll see Mocha again or focus on some of the parental figures that are characters in this show.