It’s about time for another look at the other couple in this show.
What They Say:
A mysterious girl has appeared who claims to be Mori Summer. She is very keen on fervent, little disciple, Dekomori. Nibutani is outraged that anyone should have the gall to steal her fake identity, but then decides to give up and use this precious opportunity to wash her hands of her dark history and also of her annoying freshman, Dekomori.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It was only a few weeks ago that we got an episode dedicated to Shinka and Dekomori, but it’s time for another one, and this one covers very similar ground in some ways. Dekomori has again found salvation in meeting Mori Summer, but instead of the real one being considered a fake by her, it’s a fake one pretending to be the real one. A lot of this season has been about a new girl getting in the way of the main couple, and this actually offers a similar situation with the other couple in the main group, that of course being Shinka and Dekomori. In fact, this episode paints them as a couple more than any episode prior, which does give it a slightly different message from the last time these two took the starring roles. While they continue to show their love by fighting, though, this new girl is infatuated with Dekomori and will do anything to get close to her.
Although it’s only a few seconds out of the entire episode, the ongoing romance between Yuta and Rikka isn’t completely ignored, as they continue their cute, innocent little baby steps one at a time. It really doesn’t serve the episode’s plot at all, but seeing that their own relationship does still exist even if another plot is unfolding around them makes it feel a bit realer.
Not unlike the earlier episode (and not unlike many situations for Yuta), this one requires Shinka to once again dig into the past she was only in this story to escape from, and this time she goes possibly even further in embracing it to get what she wants. With the two episodes this season starring either of these two characters both being very similar situations revolving around their relationship, I wonder if either will get any real focus alone, but they really are most important as a pair. Shinka’s excuse for being around was because Dekomori had the surviving evidence of her dreaded past, and Dekomori can’t see her without attacking with all her heart. Dekomori now has the chance to accept someone who loves her and embodies her chunibyo dream, but can only spend her time longing for Shinka to snap back with some witty retort and keep the fight going. Shinka’s methods of removing Dekomori from her argument early in the episode show some more very amusing examples of their classic fighting, and later Shinka gets to be the one suffering as she has some of her most intense embarrassment attacks in the process of learning to reassume her former identity fully enough to take out the… real imposter.
It’s an episode similar in structure to some of the lighter offerings, culminating once again in a battle sequence that’s beautiful but completely ridiculous, carrying a bit more genuine emotion in its usual dose of visual metaphor. If anything has changed by the end of it, it’s that Shinka and Dekomori have learned to appreciate each other a bit more. Good luck getting them to admit it.
In Summary:
Shinka and Dekomori return to center stage to overcome their own third piece of a love triangle, and it’s as contradictory and complicated as you’d expect from them. There’s a lot of similarity with the earlier episode focusing on them, but instead of going for a more comically antagonistic ending, this one actually does serve to bring them closer together, and that’s not so bad.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Toshiba Satellite L655-S5191 PSK2CU-1C301U Notebook PC.
