What They Say:
Hio-tan’s has the flu?! She takes the day off, and Kantoku pays her a visit. Things get a little awkward when he shows a more caring side of himself. But whatever happened to the com in this romcom: things get serious when Hio-tan collapses!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While I know I feel like I’m coming down hard on this show every week after a couple of promising bits at the start of the series, I do admit to enjoying in a kind of base way. The series has some decent archetype to work with and I continue to enjoy the setting a lot, even if it is largely underutilized when you get down to it. The cast has plenty of room to grow but they manage to work the soft humor in a good way while also turning in some amusing bit of fanservice here and there that do manage to play well. The show could be so much more though. But it also manages to bring in the right kind of moe moments, such as the opening here with Hiotan being left at home alone for three days as her older sister goes off for something and the potential for Hiotan shenanigans are large – until she passes out from a cold.
Not surprising, Kantoku comes to visit her after she calls in sick for work but he gets worried when she stops answering his phone calls later on. Naturally, she doesn’t want to be seen like this, but he’s come a bit of distance and brought food for her that should help, so naturally it lets her allow him in, which has him getting all parental in a way with the house. There’s a real cuteness about their relationship at this stage and you really do want to see it progress into something more because that would be satisfying. But mostly we get teasing around the edges with it. We do get a better sense of closeness between them here, especially when he basically rescues her in true anime trope form as her illness does her in big time, and that in the end is the goal.
The second half shifts away from the pair to a bit more general fun with others coping with what’s going on, including Sensei and Sommelier going to visit her briefly to see how she’s doing. There’s some comical bits about it, especially as Sensei gets caught up in Hiotan’s sisters’ undergarments thinking they’re Hiotan’s. With that and then a smaller segment towards the end focusing on the Christmas shopping season at the store and some of the weird things that surface because of it, you get a pretty amusing bit that of course shows just how unrealistic things can get in a simple way. The Smutty Santa segment towards the end is certainly amusing though as she rescues confiscated adult material that was banned and tries to give them a new life through the store.
In Summary:
The breakdown of the episode goes about as you’d expect with the first half focusing on Kantoku and Hiotan as he does what he can to take care of her. It’s all predictable, though nicely done, and it serves to bond them together a little bit more without having to actually do anything that would really change the status quo. The second half runs amuck in more outright humor, qualifying for this type of show, and there are cute moments. But it’s the kind of moments that are little bits in other shows whereas it’s the main attraction here, which is what keeps it from really finding itself.
Grade: C
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
