Score: A

I think an episode like this was definitely deserved. Alya has earned a few wins. After enduring things like the super spicy food and being messed with during that debate it was nice seeing Alya have some fun. She found some openings and took full advantage of them. Honestly, I don’t think we’ve seen Alya look so confident and nailing every move she took! This date was a true win for her. Considering it was her first date it’s nice that it can always be something for her to look back on with a smile.

Distractions are difficult

The episode wasn’t all about the date of course. I like the character moments that are a strength of the show. It is tough for Masachika to flip the switch. While he’s far more capable than he appears, he has actually slacked off a bit on certain things. I appreciate seeing him struggle to maintain his focus while studying. It’s so easy to get tempted by a show or anything else when you want to get something else done. It’s a bit sad to think that he lived a life before where all he had was working hard and doing what was expected of him. The real issue may simply be finding a way to motivate himself when before…hard work was probably imposed on him by his KFC grandfather.

A chat with Alya on the phone was cute. I’m not sure if he did manage to study as much as he wanted thanks to that bet, but hopefully it helped. If nothing else it raised his opinion of Alya. A nice misunderstanding of imagining that the call was about her worrying about his focus. The show is somewhat built on Alya being unaware of Masachika’s knowledge of the Russian language, so maybe it’s fair to have him misunderstand a few things the other way around.

Girl is just in love

I like the fact that Alya did get a bit upset about the birthday thing. The best part was that it did seem to have a logical basis. Alya sometimes can use Russian culture to cover for some jealousy fueled actions she takes. But I do think this time she legitimately thought he had left her out of his birthday party. That he didn’t have one simply didn’t cross her mind. For me birthdays weren’t ever on the level of full-blown parties, but I did always enjoy spending them with family. Not celebrating at all feels a bit sad to me, but everyone has their own feelings on things. I’m sure for many birthdays are things they don’t think about at all.

Alya was in control!

It was all about the date though! Alya was in her element and I loved it! She was going for it from the very beginning. No shock that everyone was turning their heads to stare. And honestly Alya maintained that momentum throughout the date. Even her revealing that it was her first date was effective in her favor. A nice touch on Masachika’s side that he didn’t pick a place that served spicy food this time! I don’t think there’s a chance that Masachika really expected her to be that aggressive (after they had a quick chat about election topics). Her honesty in thanking him for helping out with her wishes gave her an opening and she just ran with it after that!

Wow. It was honestly fun seeing Alya take full advantage of everything to the point where she didn’t have to hide anything with Russian. This time with the crowd watching her feed Masachika…she didn’t hesitate for a moment. There wasn’t even a moment of her hesitating to keep using the same fork! But I think the present part was a real treat. It was a nice gift considering she didn’t know about his birthday until this episode! The present was good, but her actually playing some mind games was the best. Did she get a matching up that she’s using at home? I don’t actually know! Her response could have been wanting him to think she didn’t get one. She just 100% won with that scene alone!

Never change!

There was good stuff beyond that of course. Yuki managed to make the most of her screentime yet again. And I can totally buy her wanting some pampering since her brother has been spending most of his time as of late with Alya. It’s both a silly scene and one that truly makes sense for her. And I can really see the family resemblance with her other grandfather! That guy is a riot! I also salute his dedicated effort to hook his grandson up with Alya! Of course, he’d be absolutely hyped to meet her! Both he and Alya’s mother seemed happy to joke around about marriage for those two. Understandable since the interest is obviously there. With Alya’s mother it’s all the more reasonable since I can bet that Alya truly does talk about Masachika all the time in a tsundere way.

Grandpa keeping the peace

The emotional punch landed at the end. That short scene alone spoke volumes. Masachika’s mother clearly has interest in her son since she asked Yuki about him. But there’s a very obvious distance between them and she isn’t comfortable. Whatever her feelings when she looked away…that action just set Masachika off! If his grandfather didn’t move forward to start a conversation, I’m not sure what Masachika would have said! This mother and son duo have some serious issues. With his father he can downplay any potential frustrations that he’s oversees working and not able to come to his son’s parent/teacher interviews. But with his mother he truly seems ready to boil over at a moment’s notice!

Loved this episode

I’m looking forward to the next episode. It’ll be interesting to see if there is any outburst directed at the mother coming. And another episode means yet another lovely ED to enjoy. This one was a treat as usual. The song was good, but it also had a heavy dose of Alya and Masachika which was very fitting. Their relationship was the star of the show this week and I’m glad for it. The progress will obviously take time, but that’s just fine. Not everything has to be in a hurry.

But beyond that the student council campaigns could kick off a bit with the closing assembly. Alya may not like the point that she’s the underdog here, but that’s just how it goes. The key right now is not cementing the idea that she has no chance. Avoiding a completely silent audience is the biggest priority here. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.