“It Got Cold and Then Hot”
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)
It’s New Year’s! Do you know what that means? New Year’s money! Hikage really, really, REALLY wants some. Why won’t her older sister give her any!? Renge stops by to deliver some New Year’s cards and Hikage asks her to help in convincing their sister to give her money. She does not. In fact, Renge looks disgusted. If someone looks at you like that, then I think you should reconsider what you’re doing. In the end, Hikage does get that New Year’s allowance. Of course, so does Renge. They decide to head over to see Candy Store. Renge just wants to buy some candy with her money. Hikage, on the other hand, wants money from her. So greedy! Candy Store senses what Hikage is about to ask when she enters the shop and immediately slams her face into the counter, haha. She deserved that. Renge simply purchases her candy. Does she not want Candy Store to give her a New Year’s allowance. She does not. She knows that Candy Store has her hands full with the shop. Renge is happy with the money she got from her sister. Such a good girl! Candy Store reveals that she does have a New Year’s allowance for her. Hikage uses this against her and scores some money, too.
Does Hikage’s greed know no bounds? No, no it does not. She also manages to get some money from Mama Koshigaya. Naturally, she has to go brag about all the money she got in front of everyone. Renge asks Konomi to do something about Hikage’s greed. She decides to also give her New Year’s money. Say what!? I am very confused. She explains that she just gave Hikage money even though she’s not an adult. She’s a third-year high school student. She gave Hikage, a first-year high school student, New Year’s money. By this logic, Hikage should give all the middle school students New Year’s money. Hilariously, she falls hook, line, and sinker to that logic. Nice one, Konomi! Renge knew she could count on her! Hikage’s woes don’t end there though. On another day, she’s forced to play outside with Renge and Natsumi outside. She’s not too pleased about this. One, it’s cold and two, there’s a freaking blizzard going on! Yeah, kids probably shouldn’t be playing outside during a blizzard. On the bright side, Hikage doesn’t actually play at all and instead spends most of her time yelling at the other two and making comebacks. Okay, maybe that’s not much better but at least she’s warm! I think.
Renge hasn’t seen Honoka in a while. Well, that’s about to change! She’s here visiting her grandma for a few days. The two get together for a day of fun! Renge takes her to the candy shop. While browsing the selection of candy, Renge realizes that Honoka is only here for a few days. That means she’ll be leaving soon. This realization makes Renge sad. D’awww. After buying candy, the two girls go home. The next day, they once again get together for another day of fun! They basically walk around the town and see all of the winter sights. They even see a cat at the shrine! At the end of the day, Renge walks Honoka back home. She remembers that Honoka is going home tomorrow and runs off.
The next morning, Renge is given a bag of candy from Candy Store. Can she give it to someone else? Sure, it’s her candy now. Renge rushes to see Honoka off. Honoka is very happy that she came to see her before she left! D’awww. Renge gives Honoka the bag of candy as a parting gift. In return, she gives Renge one of her precious cat hairpins. Now they match! The episode ends with Renge waving goodbye to Honoka as she goes back home. My heart, it is warm.
In Summary:
Renge and Honoka’s friendship is freaking adorable. It’s so sweet that I think I’m getting diabetes every time they’re together. It sucks when you don’t get to see a good friend that often. It sucks, even more, when that friend is the only friend around your age that you have. You can tell Renge has a lot of fun when she hangs out with Honoka. She doesn’t get to play with kids her age that often. Renge truly cherishes the time she spends with Honoka. It’s so heartwarming! Those scenes where Renge was sad because she realized Honoka was leaving broke my heart. Again, their friendship is just so gosh darn cute. I hope they’ll get to play together again soon! As for Hikage’s half of the episode, all I can say is that she got what she deserved for being so greedy, haha. Karma!
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, HiDive, VRV
