The time between asking for a meeting and getting it can seem like forever.
What They Say:
A series of commands have appeared in the mansion causing quite a stir. But that means nothing to Ririchiyo as she frets over her upcoming tea with Miketsukami. What will they talk about, what kind of tea will they drink, can she be true with her feelings?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the previous episode giving Ririchiyo a chance to start expressing herself more when it comes to Soushi, it was really well done as they had their time under the cherry blossom tree talking and being honest with each other in a very limited and kind of formal way. For Soushi, we managed to learn a good bit about him and that helped to make him a bit more of a rounder character with his personality, explaining more of why he acts as he does. With a “date” of sorts set up, it’s almost disconcerting for Ririchiyo as she runs through so many things in her head yet Soushi comes across as perfectly normal and composed.
In the lead up to this date, things are pretty much normal to a degree within the complex, though not without its quirks. Throwing off several of the residents is the fact thta notes are showing up throughout the place with amusing sort of commands that sometimes don’t make complete sense and often just seem a little off. Having that unfold while Ririchiyo tries to distract herself from what’s coming is cute and it lets the cast as a whole get involved in things while being mildly silly at times, a little frustrated and expressive in general as they deal with the commands. They’re not a distraction, but it’s a way of padding out things while Soushi and Ririchiyo go through their normal relationship during the day, especially when you have the young residents working on their homework as all the bodyguards watch on.
This kind of silliness fills up the majority of the episode which is both good and bad. It’s good since it’s light, fluffy fun and having the group as a whole getting involved in things is rather enjoyable since many of the episodes have been more focused on smaller groupings. Having all of them outdoors and being outgoing and silly does a lot for making these characters a bit more accessible while watching all of their interactions. On the downside, it does feel like it drags things out a bit from point A to point B that was established at the end of the previous episode by setting a time for Ririchiyo and Soushi to get together. Seeing how she handles the time in between definitely is good and the way Soushi plays it so cool, but you end up wanting to get to the meatier moments that you hope are in the offing. Yet there’s so much cuteness…. it can be conflicting!
In Summary:
Similar to the previous episode, the end credits come earlier than they usually do and that’s where things attempt to get a little more serious. It doesn’t follow up with what we want, but it deals with the mysterious commands that had been appearing at times during the show and it’s cute to see how they try to unravel the mystery. But in the end, I really wanted more out of the Soushi and Ririchiyo material that was promised an episode ago. Seeing how she handles the time between has its moments, especially as she’s a lot more outgoing and frantic at times in dealing with everyone, but it was just too much of a good thing when you get down to it. There’s definitely fun material to be had here and it made me like some of the other characters more, but it wasn’t what I wanted out of this episode and that left me a little let down.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
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.
