New character, new interactions, new recurring gags. But there’s also a surprise in the offing, one which the observant will probably notice in advance.
What They Say:
Episode 8: An Idol Character, Too
Business is booming at Café Stile, but they’re short-handed. When an advertisement goes out for a new part-timer, applicant Hideri Kanzaki comes in right away for an interview. Maika and Kaho are charmed, but for some reason, Dino isn’t quick to make the hiring decision.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This episode introduces us to the final new staff member Hideri Kanzaki, who has been featured in the opening animation from the start, but had not made an appearance until the end of last episode. We start right in the middle of things with Dino interviewing Hideri, but for some reason, he does not seem that interested in hiring…er…her. This should be a warning flag already that something is up about Hideri, since normally, Dino would be fawning all over a cute girl. Could it be the somewhat narcissistic idol personality that Hideri brings? Could it be that her character potentially overlaps too much with Mafuyu, as both would appeal to the lolita-favoring demographic among their customers?
Or perhaps it would be because it’s going to turn out that Hideri is a boy.
This was a suspicion I was having from early on, though they gave the game away when Hideri used a normally “male” pronoun (boku) for himself and then later they stop at any pretense when his biological sex is openly stated. Dino seems to have known from the very start, even if Hideri acts very much like a girl and even put “Girl” on his application for the job. This doesn’t really stop the other staff members from thinking that it would be fine to put Hideri on staff (Dino’s reluctance, we know, is because he much prefers to surround himself with cute girls).
Truth revealed…the show then just goes on about its business. Which is to serve customers with fetishes (Hideri’s is an “idol” character, which is what Hideri wants to be in life as well, since the alternative is inheriting his family’s farm and becoming a farmer, which he seems completely uninterested in [you don’t get to wear cute clothing and be admired]), and serve us the viewing audience with quick gags, of which there are quite a few. Hideri seems to fit right into the set of oddballs that work at Café Stile. Though not quite pleased at first, Dino comes to accept Hideri’s presence and even comes to rely on him somewhat: Dino turns to Hideri for some dating advice, all of which is perfectly reasonable advice…but Dino, as usual, makes a mess of it.
The episode then gives some new time to the new cast member alongside one who has not really been part of things as much as we see Miu wind up taking Hideri clothes shopping when both are not at work. The two characters’ personalities are played off of each other well as they are very different people in their tastes and the ways they behave.
With the cast finally rounded out, Café Stile and Blend-S takes its final form for the rest of the season. It continues to be pretty amusing, though there were not quite as many jokes that brought out deep laughs. Hideri provides another option for having weird personalities interact with other weird personalities, though it’s hard to say yet whether this is going to result in any completely new veins of humor or just a reshuffling of the chairs in the cafe.
In Summary:
A new cute idol character joins the wait staff at Café Stile: Hideri Kanzaki. Sweet, petite, and possessed of all the usual charms, Hideri also is a touch too narcissistic and has a little “surprise” awaiting everyone at the cafe. Stories sometimes add new characters when the original author is running out of steam. It didn’t really feel like this was the case here, though Hideri doesn’t really seem to add anything particularly different so far: yet another oddball among a collection of oddballs working at this place. Though there are still nice moments of humor.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra
Not quite, the cast is not complete yet. All that�s left is the dog, a dog that was in the opening from the start, I might add.