With a typhoon on the way, life gets a bit busier for Rin and Daikichi.
What They Say:
At school, Rin is concerned that the disobedient Kouki is getting off track and getting a bad reputation. Meanwhile, when a typhoon hits, Kouki and his mom take shelter with Daikichi and Rin at their house.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the series gets closer to the end, the best thing about the show is just enjoying the characters and how they deal with the things that life throws at them. This episode throws something big at them in the form of a typhoon. With that serving as a background threat of sorts, we get to see Rin and Daikichi going through their normal lives with that as a growing presence of uncertainty. Daikichi is doing his job as best as he can and working through the problems that come from there, and with having kids in how there are extra things to think about, while Rin continues to enjoy school but has worries of her own that she’s trying to figure out how to deal with. The fun thing about watching kids deal with problems is when they actually do figure out how to do so, it’s something either very basic and expected or out of left field completely.
Rin’s problem isn’t something that’s affecting Rin directly in a way, but rather a friend of hers. Kouki has been a big part of her life since getting into school, especially with Daikichi showing an interest in his mother to a light degree, so when Kouki starts to get in trouble, she takes notice. And Kouki is definitely getting into a lot of trouble as he’s not doing things he needs to in class. Kouki’s also getting caught up with some other boys that are problem kids themselves and the whole thing just grates on Rin to the point where she has to try and talk sense into him. Or rather, boss him into doing what needs to be done. And as luck would have it, she’s the one person that Kouki actually listens to, which says a lot about the dynamic between the two.
The background threat of the typhoon does make up a part of the episode as Daikichi later keeps an eye on Kouki while with Rin and there’s some really nice little bits of interplay and dialogue between them all. With Kouki’s mother gets back and involved, she’s surprised to see how casual things are between her son and Daikichi, but it’s a positive thing as it helps him to get out of his shell just a little bit. And Kouki very much enjoys spending time with Daikichi and Rin. For her, she sees things coming out of her son that she often doesn’t see and there’s a really nice blending of the two families that happens here. It’s a difficult thing in general, even as friends, but it’s the casual nature of children without all the baggage of being an adult that lets them ask awkward things without understanding that they are awkward.
In Summary:
While Daikichi has come across as a good guy from the start, each new thing we learn about him, his manners and the way he composes himself just makes him even more of one of those great guys that you wonder why he hasn’t been scooped up yet. Some of that just comes from personality as he seems to have little interests of his own, hobbies and so forth. But his way with Rin is hugely appealing to women, especially someone like Kouki’s mother, so there’s some great underlying moments here that are not overplayed. The way it comes together, bit by bit, is very natural and thoroughly engaging. While it may seem like it’s going in a predictable fashion, it’s the kind of thing where the ride is very much worth every moment regardless of the destination. This episode is no exception.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
