A friendly competition and peer pressure.
What They Say:
Episode #2: “The Story of Doing Something Bad With Hikari”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Futaba is still struggling to adapt to her new home. When her alarm goes off she grabs her phone not to turn it off but to check for a message from one of her friends. She continues to mope around until she finally receives a cheerful text from one, and with that, she’s off to school.
Hikari is the polar opposite. She gets up early to take the scenic route to school, only to run into her teacher who is also doing the same. Suddenly an amiable walk turns into a race and both women pick up the pace trying to get to school before the other. Hikari takes a shortcut and breaks into a sprint, the teacher catches a ride on a passing motorcycle, and then Hikari runs straight down a hill to leap ten feet to the bottom. She somehow sticks the landing, barely, right in front of her teacher and Futaba.
The race only further cements Futaba’s opinion that Hikari is truly a weirdo. Although the race does provide an opportunity to reveal that the homeroom teacher is also a diver. That’s obviously going to be a key point going forward.
When the school day ends Futaba retracts into her shell once again, deciding she doesn’t want to check out the clubs available at the school. Hikari’s sneaking around just outside draws her attention and before she knows it she’s being dragged off to the diving club room a week before clubs actually start. There they run into the cat. The strange looking cat is quickly nicknamed Chu because it makes that noise, which is a noise I can honestly say I’ve never heard a cat make. Hikari pokes around and has no qualms about giving an impromptu lesson on the difference between wetsuits and drysuits before talking Futaba into trying on one herself. Futaba realizes she’s likely going to be in trouble, but can’t seem to say no to her classmate, who isn’t even really pressuring her at all!
One jump into the pool later and both girls are partners in crime, floating amid the sakura blossoms.
Silly faces still abound, mostly centered on Hikari. The animation team is still making fun transitions back and forth from her goofy muppet face to normal one. These exceptionally silly moments might drive away some viewers who can only put up with super serious drama or slapstick, but I can’t say the silly faces bother me.
In Summary:
Futaba can’t help but get lured in and wrapped up in Hikari’s enthusiasm. Even if it means following the girl into areas which should still be off limits to the students. Hikari remains dangerously goofy for a girl whose main hobby is scuba diving, but I guess she follows the rules when it’s a life or death matter. However, that drama is nowhere to be found. This remains a peaceful, stress-free show about friendships and diving. The girls don’t even appear to get caught while they float in the currently off-limits pool. Next week school clubs begin and it’s obvious who the first two members of the diving club will be, as is the identity of the instructor.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
