“My Senpai Had Entrance Exams Coming Up”
What They Say:
Renge, Natsumi, Komari, and former big-city-girl Hotaru live a quiet life in the Japanese countryside, but things get a lot more exciting when newcomer Akane Shinoda moves into the house next door to the Koshigaya family!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
A member of the band club quits because she wants to focus on entrance exams. She can’t do that if she has club practice. That’s fair. Exams are important! Akane wonders if Konomi will also be leaving the club. Speaking of Konomi, she runs into her in the city. What a coincidence! Oh hey, there’s a festival going on. Konomi was looking for gifts to bring with her to Natsumi’s place. She buys a mask for Renge and Akane. Akane’s mask looks weird though and Konomi immediately apologizes, haha. Konomi still needs gifts for the others. Akane suggests winning prizes from festival games. That sounds like fun! First up, candy-cutting. Akane ends up breaking her candy right away. That’s okay. Konomi has got this! She doesn’t want to brag or anything, but she’s a pro at cutting candy. I wouldn’t have guessed since she also breaks her candy. Oopsie! The girls enjoy the festival a bit more before heading home. Akane takes the opportunity to thank Konomi for everything she’s done for her and wishes her the best of luck on her exams! Konomi remarks that she has already been accepted to a local university and that she’ll be staying in the club. But she sure did appreciates Akane’s words! Poor Akane is blushing. How embarrassing!
Konomi makes it to the Koshigaya household later that night. She decides to stay over with Natsumi and Komari. Sleepover! Natsumi immediately throws a pillow in Komari’s face. Wow, rude. Classic sleepover shenanigans though. Natsumi isn’t done and winds up her ultimate pillow attack…only to hit her hand against the sliding screen. That’s karma for you. Also, there’s a hole in the screen. Did she do that!? Natsumi is absolutely terrified. Her mom isn’t going to be happy about this! She asks Komari and Konomi to take the blame for her. Ha! As if they’d agree to that. What is she going to do!? Natsumi puts a poster over the hole. That should be good, right? And then she hears her mother’s footsteps. Natsumi isn’t ready! In an unexpected twist, her mother reveals that she’s the one that made the hole in the screen. She bumped her elbow into it while vacuuming earlier. Safe! Natsumi is relieved she’s not going to be in trouble. She enthusiastically rips the poster off…as well as the screen paper. Oof. That’s unfortunate.
The next day, Akane and Renge are having flute practice at Konomi’s place. Renge notices that Akane is feeling troubled. What’s up? Konomi is graduating soon and Akane was just wondering how long she’ll be able to visit. Natsumi, Komari, and Hotaru show up a few moments later. Konomi thinks this a good chance for Akane to play in front of a crowd. She has been practicing to get over her nervousness playing with people around. The girls are very excited to hear her play! Sadly, Akane is too nervous to play. This was too sudden! She just needs a little time to prepare. She can do this! Konomi suggests that they go outside for a change of pace.
It’s a beautiful day! Everything looks so gosh darn pretty outside. It’s the perfect stage for Akane. Once again, she’s nervous. Everyone believes in her though! She’s got this! Eventually, she calms down and is able to play in front of everyone. Yay! Later that night, Konomi tells her that she plans on continuing to play the flute in college. She hopes that they’ll keep practicing together. Naturally, this makes Akane happy! The next day, Renge notices that Akane is much happier. Did something good happen? You betcha!
In Summary:
Another week, another dose of cute girls doing cute things. Konomi and Akane’s relationship is adorable. Akane is a bit awkward but that’s what makes us want to root for her. Konomi has been a good senpai to her. She has encouraged Akane this whole time and she was finally able to play the flute in front of everyone! Akane picked the right person to look up to. So wholesome! On a side note, Natsumi can never seem to catch a break, haha. She definitely in need of some luck. I did love the back-and-forth between Natsumi and her mom. Yukiko is great. And lastly, I just want to say that Renge is a very observant girl. She always seems to know how people are feeling. It’s a good talent to have. I would expect no less from someone who made me think about perfect roundness for an entire week!
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, HiDive, VRV
