Score: A-

I kind of appreciate that the story did try to find less extreme solutions for Tina’s problems. Allen didn’t rush into some absurd solution and instead was rather methodical in his approach. It was a difficult thing to do since obviously Tina was hurting with every failed attempt. The end of this episode wasn’t a shocking place for it to end up. There was only so much grief and guilt that one girl could handle before it overflowed. It might also not remotely be her fault. The constant attempts to use magic might have built up some kind of excessive amount of mana inside her body. Either way her situation has now reached an emergency level!

From smiles to tears

Tina is great. I love how she was doing her best to swallow her frustrations for much of the episode. She knew that it was good for Ellie to get better and gain confidence. And of course she trusts Allen. The girl isn’t the type to cut corners either as we saw her training multiple times by herself. And she really isn’t an idiot. I mean that both academically and in terms of being observant. Tina is fully aware that Allen is hitting the books all the time trying to find a solution. She knows he’s trying and appreciates that. It’s probably why she keeps trying each new magical formula that Allen presents with the hope that he’ll have cracked it.

But that all just makes it even worse in some ways. He’s not going to abandon her, but that means he’ll keep overworking himself while trying to help her. The guilt of someone she respects (and is falling for) putting himself through difficulty for her sake would eventually start to hurt. Not being abandoned can hurt quite a bit in its own right if it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. All that guilt steadily mixed together with natural human envy. Ellie may not have the massive resources that Tina has…but she is making progress. There’s talent there and Ellie throughout the episode was growing more and more capable. While she of course cares about Ellie it’s not shocking to feel frustration and envy. The feeling that she was being left behind just ate away at her like her failures did.

Allen is running out of time

So far there isn’t much reason to suspect anything about Tina’s father. He is sticking to the “make her give up if she can’t hack it” position. But that’s not completely unreasonable. It’s likely correct that Tina would suffer significant harassment from other students if she got in purely based on academics while not being able to use magic. I get wanting to spare her that harassment. If she’s going to suffer then…might as well at least be at home. But I obviously side with Allen who is putting his all into helping this girl and trying to find a solution. He’s not giving up. But I suppose the conversation with her father might have pressured Allen to intensify his research and that resulted in his oversleeping. A minor thing in the bigger picture, but with Tina on the verge of a breakdown it was enough.

Girl is a smooth operator

I do like Ellie overall. This episode delved into her history a bit which was nice. I was curious about her family situation and sadly it is true that her parents are dead. Girl has been through plenty herself and had her own doubts before Allen showed up. She couldn’t keep up with Tina in terms of academics and her magic ability didn’t appear to be particularly noteworthy. But even by the end of this episode she’s a great deal more confident and is building up a variety of skills. There’s no question she’ll be qualified to go to that academy with Tina if Tina can just get through whatever is blocking her and restraining her potential.

Yeah, she’s not going to be happy!

As expected Lydia is a hothead tsundere (though mostly tsun here) that gave Allen a piece of her mind through that letter! Also she’s quite the needy person requiring one letter a week! But her letter did introduce a mysterious option that Allen has up his sleeve when it comes to helping Tina. It must be something effective if Lydia is confident that it would resolve the issue. But it obviously has some implications if Allen were to use it! Whatever it is he’s already done it with Lydia and likely will do so with Tina in the next episode. I’m sure she’ll flip her lid after Allen does what she told him wasn’t permitted! But at the very least I appreciate that she’s got a good head on her shoulders. I’m not the only one who can see that something obviously is shady about Allen’s failed exam.

If only it was all sweetness like this

So the episode ends with Tina just having her breakdown. And it’s fair enough that we got here. She didn’t intend to lose control, but clearly she was at the breaking point. There was just a desperation for all that pain to end or at least to be blamed for her perceived incompetence. The time is now for Allen to figure things out and get through to Tina. If not then her powers could actually pose a danger to herself and those around her. Trapping herself within that ice shell and freezing the room is definitely not a good sign!

I’m enjoying this show quite a bit. The characters are good and it’s not feeling rushed to me. No idea about the actual adaptations pacing, but this feels right. Hopefully it can keep this up. Will also give the OP some props. The visuals and the song were great. I’ll probably avoid skipping this one. The ED is plenty cute and will probably provide some nice relief after any emotionally charged episodes.