Score: A-

I was looking forward to this one and the first episode delivered nicely. Got into the nice dynamic between Umi and Maki pretty quickly. I can certainly see that friendship blossoming into a really enjoyable romance. And a lot of the reason for that will be the effort being put into it on both sides. Umi did a lot of work early on, but Maki is certainly not retreating back from this friendship. I’m curious to see how far things will go by the end of the season.

Ease up with the interrogations!

Totally get the discomfort in the early part of the episode. Honestly that teacher’s approach would be hell for those who aren’t outgoing. Randomly selecting victims of her interrogation…I mean introductions. Then she just keeps on digging until she gets however much she feels like. Just have the person introduce themselves and ask about a general interest. There’s no need to dig into why they are going to this school or that much about their personal lives! I know she’s a new teacher, but ease up on the intensity a bit. It really takes someone like the class’s #1 beauty to take control of the situation. Only way to stop the teacher from digging too deep is to not give her room to interject and deftly move a new…victim out front!

This girl is a treasure

There was an obvious gain though. Because Maki was being constantly prodded at, Umi was able to realize there as a potential kindred soul in class. The challenge was finding the right timing and opportunity. Umi also came from an all-girls school. I’m sure it did take her a while to work up the nerve to want to reach out to Maki and then to try and find a way to do so. Unlike the teacher, I’m sure she could pick up that just walking up to him in class would leave him uncomfortable. I half wonder if she’d been going to that store for a while hoping for a coincidental encounter. Either way she definitely was clear enough that it did end up giving Maki the idea to check out some videos.

Nothing but wins

Umi is a treat though. Even during their first conversation she had a great mix of being a tease and understanding. She poked a bit, but did keep advancing to make clear why she wanted to talk with him. There was no room left for a misunderstanding. And it was thanks to her approach that Maki did end up comfortable enough to give video recommendations and their friendship got rolling. It wasn’t an entirely smooth thing, but that made it more grounded anyways.

I like that we got a bit of a skip into the future, but only a little. She’s visited his place a few times to watch movies or play games. He’s comfortable enough to destroy her at some shooters while she’s willing to tease him a bit also. Utterly merciless in venting her frustration at losing during the gaming session. She just has a natural charm to her and it makes sense why Maki has gotten comfortable with her. Having similar interests helps, but her friendliness has let him relax. But she’s also trying to pull him forward a bit too. Gaming at his place is great, but no shame in going out to have some fun too.

Sometimes easier to keep quiet

Right now they are keeping their friendship quiet. I’m sure both sides feel some social pressure on that front. Though I do think Umi is interested enough to be willing to jump to dating if Maki was up for it. I could be wrong, but I feel like she’s just being respectful to his comfort level. He had a tough time with the introductions and doesn’t have much of a public group of friends. Even if she’s seen as the “second” best girl in their class, it would draw attention on him to have them openly being friends. I’m sure it would give her some uncomfortable attention in some ways too. But it just feels like it is more about keeping things easier for him.

Although that doesn’t mean others aren’t going to keep approaching Umi in the meantime! No shock that she’s getting a confession at the end of this episode. She’s a cute and fun girl. I don’t want to say that being the second most popular means she seems easier to approach than her friend…but that might be the case. Either way that confession does put Umi in a bit of a tough spot. Being confessed to by someone a year ahead of her would have some pressure to it. Umi obviously isn’t interested and probably ended this episode thinking on the best way to turn him down. But it is quite the scene for her friends including Maki to witness. How she rejects him and explains it to her friends should be interesting.

The best friend is great too

This was just a fun episode. Umi is great and she is obviously going to be the highlight of the show. But I do like Maki so far. He’s not a super social person, but it didn’t take him long to embrace this friendship he has with Umi. It’s not like she forced her way into his life without his consent. He could endure loneliness, but he didn’t enjoy it. He wanted a friend like this. Even if he’s uneasy about hanging out with her outside, he still asked his mom for some extra pocket money and is going for it. The scene with his mom showed that. He is happy to have a friend he can spend time with. It’ll be interesting to see how things go once that friendship starts leaning more down the romantic side which seems a given.