Score: A

We are getting closer to Christmas! And that’s the case for both reality and within the show itself. It’s nice that the show will be pretty well timed to release its Christmas episode as close to the actual day as they can. With this we get yet another really fun episode that allows for some interesting pairings. Cocoa and Syaro don’t pair off that much, though it happens on rare occasion. While Chiya is likely lonely herself not having any friends working at her place, Syaro must be the same. She is constantly bouncing between one job and another with few familiar faces around her. So having Cocoa be at each and every job must have felt good. A bit shocking of course, but Cocoa is a bundle of energy and someone you enjoy having around.

Of course one has to get used to Cocoa making up songs as she goes. A bit of a difficult one for Syaro since it does make her draw attention to where she feels she is lacking…But Syaro does appreciate having Cocoa around even if she is sometimes difficult to handle. It made for a nice moment a bit later when she did join in with Cocoa’s song. It will be a nice follow-up if she’s able to respond to Chino’s call for assistance and get to work with Chino and Chiya next. Syaro isn’t as honest with herself as others, but you can definitely feel how much she enjoys having Cocoa as a workmate. But nothing was quite as worth a big smile as seeing Syaro losing it over the idea of getting a King melon bread. No idea what makes that different from regular melon bread though.

I like that while Cocoa loves to take it easy when she can, she’s also perfectly able to push herself into taking up all these jobs. Because it is all for the sake of something she cares about. Perfectly aware that her efforts to buy presents for everyone is also for her own sake. Nothing wrong with knowing that you enjoy giving people things and seeing them happy because of it. If that means working hard then Cocoa is ok with doing that. No wonder that some of those places like the roasted chestnut stand really wanted to hang onto her as long as they can. That kind of beautiful energy and friendly smile draws in customers. I’m sure of course she’ll be happy to get back to working with Rize and Chino at Rabbit House as soon as possible.

This is a bit of a tougher season for Chino. Cocoa is being held up at different obligations for the Christmas season. Rize is also a bit busy and can’t make it for work as much. That wouldn’t be the worst thing normally, but Rabbit House is booming. Her father can only do so much if he’s going to get enough sleep to run the bar at night. And while Rize’s father is being called in to help out, I’m sure he’s got things to do. Chino has matured a lot through the show, but handling a busty café by herself would be crazy. I’m glad that her growth is also tied into knowing when to ask for help.

It’s a nice tie-in that Cocoa will be indirectly helping since she finished those uniforms. I’m not too surprised that she did so. But maybe a bit surprised that she managed to up her skills enough to finish them properly. It’s a nice touch to have her finish what Chino’s mother started, but obviously couldn’t finish. Heck, she even did it without ever mentioning it to Chino. Doing some nice big sister work in the background without ever drawing attention to it. I’m sure Chiya and Syaro will sign up though. They don’t get to work with their friends very much and should be more than capable of handling this. The only question is whether they can fit it into their schedules.

Give Chino whatever she wants

There’s not much to say about Chimame begging for Rize to buy them treats. But it was such a cute scene that I can’t just ignore it either. I suppose it shows how open everyone is with each other now compared to the start of the show. Also that Rize really has lost much of her intimidation factor. Or more accurately people understand her better and know it’s perfectly fine to cutely ask her for things. A good bit of comedy as well from Maya having to pay in the end because the reliable Rize forgot her wallet.

I’m looking forward to the Christmas episode this season. Hopefully it will have a similar moment when the busy girls are able to show up and help out. Seeing the main cast all working together in Rabbit House uniforms would be a big win. But regardless of what happens next, this episode was a good one. I like Cocoa and Syaro as a duo and we got plenty of that. And this episode did draw back to focusing a good amount on Chino. She’s got a lot on her hands with Rabbit House getting really busy. But she’s got the ability and courage to ask for help when she needs it.