“Having Fun with Classmates!”
What They Say:
Aoi prefers indoor hobbies and is afraid of heights, but her childhood friend Hinata loves to show off her passion for mountain climbing. As young children they once watched the sunrise from the top of a mountain, and now they’ve decided to take up mountain climbing in hopes of seeing that sunrise again. They have cooking battles with mountaineering gear, climb small hills in their neighborhood, and meet new mountaineering friends as they learn the ropes of the hobby. When will they finally see that sunrise again?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Giving Aoi a chance to head out on her own the last time around, even if she did connect with one of her friends along the way, was a good thing. The girls as individuals is just as important as the girls as a group and it lets us see more of how they deal with situations as they continue to grow as climbers. And with Aoi being the eyes through which we view the world it’s one that’s critical for getting some alone time to explore and grow with. Seeing her struggle was a plus as well because working in new boots isn’t easy as is checking out a new path and place while trying to increase your stamina and ability to handle more difficult things, especially since she’s working toward Mt. Fuji.
Getting a little time with the girls at school is also a refreshing change of pace since we see the basic social interactions that exist and how some, like Hinata, have things to talk about other than hiking. It’s nice to see Aoi’s social circle expand a bit with another girl named Mio as well as we get her realizing that people do see her and what she’s doing, though it’s not anything cruel or something. It was just surprising that Aoi was working and discovering way gets her to really go on about hiking like such a total fan. Aoi’s growth since the start of the first season continues and seeing that here, and getting an invite to hang out no less, is a radical departure from how she started all that time ago. Having her and Hinata end up with Mio’s group and doing karaoke after school? That’s priceless just in itself.
In Summary:
While it is fun to see Aoi out in this manner and to have Hinata commenting on it, I did have to laugh in that she basically picked the most hiking-related song there was. Of course, the others are confused by it but do try to get into it as they discover it in a kind of weird quirky way, which naturally leads into it being the theme song when done with the full bad applied to it. It’s a good sequence overall because it reinforces what Aoi has been doing and it’s what you, as a viewer, are supposed to want for her considering how she started. She’s still not fully on board because of her confidence issues but watching her get closer and closer to it is priceless.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
