Well, at Shuchiin Academy they say – that the President’s courage shrunk three sizes that day.
What They Say:
“The Student Council Wants to Move Forward / Miyuki Shirogane Wants to Make Her Confess, Part 2 / Miyuki Shirogane Wants to Make Her Confess, Part 3”
Parent-Teacher Conferences to determine each student’s future begin at Shuchiin Academy. One wishes to continue in the academy’s university, one is considering taking exams for a different university – both will declare their future plans. Fujiwara, who is joined by her father, jokes around and expresses her desire to go to a university outside of the academy. Meanwhile, Kaguya’s father didn’t show up, but she informs them just as her parents instructed – that she will continue to Shuchiin’s university. While Maki, Hayasaka, and the others each discuss their dreams, last but not least is Shirogane who is taking the exam. In a clear and confident tone, he declares the road he must proceed. And that answer is…!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Parent-Teacher Conferences are a serious affair at a prestigious high school like Shuchiin. It also gives us not only insight into the future plans of each member of our varied cast – a foreign enough concept for anime and its obsession with high school as the center of the universe – but a great excuse to hang out with their parents. The Fujiwara family is pure joy as expected, but Kaguya and Hayasaka lament their limited relationships with their parents, a commonality that no doubt strengthens their bond with each other. But while Hayasaka is usually at Kaguya’s mercy, she gets a happier scenario here as her mother does appear, and we see a Hayasaka unlike any we’ve seen before. One could say that she’s fairly honest with Kaguya, and she lets her true feelings slip in occasional interactions with others, but she’s uncharacteristically vulnerable when it comes to her mom, and it’s rather adorable to see given her usual persona and its equally in-charge variations. Hayasaka’s mother, of course, has some of the qualities we love from her daughter, and they come into play wonderfully with the appearance of Shirogane’s father. I forgot how hilarious his character was, particularly with how he interacts with Kaguya, but it’s mined to phenomenal effect in this episode, and suddenly a very embarrassed Kaguya has self-appointed parents.
Of course, learning how the cast intends to progress with their lives is also a fascinating experiment. We get a full range of characters, including the already-nameless-again Kashiwagi’s Boyfriend, but it’s the five stars we really care about. Ishigami is torn between NEET and CEO, and he’s frighteningly capable of either. Miko will become a lawyer who would love nothing more than to send Ishigami to prison on principle. Chika claims that her aspirations to become prime minister are a joke, but I wouldn’t count her out. Okay, it’s not just the five members of the student council I care about. Hayasaka actually has the comedic highlight of the “future plans” portion, because she already has a full-time career, and she just wants to do anything but be Kaguya’s babysitter forever. As with her lack of real parents to accompany her, though, Kaguya’s thoughts about the future are quite depressing – she doesn’t feel like she can have her own dreams, only that she must continue to do whatever her family tells her to. There’s no fun punchline to this; it’s what crushes Kaguya and makes her longing for freedom so poignant. What’s even more tragic is that Shirogane’s own plans may take away a future where she could confide in him. Shirogane’s father may be a ridiculous source of comedy in this appearance, but he also has some very thoughtful advice for his son, something we all needed to think about more as teenagers.
While he may not credit him entirely, Shirogane realizes how true his father’s words are, which leads to a pair of sub-episodes with the very intriguing title of “Miyuki Shirogane Wants to Make Her Confess.” I’m… pretty sure there was never a Part 1 despite it essentially being the premise of the series, but because it’s so integral to the foundation of the story, having that as a title means we’re getting into some very important material. Indeed, Shirogane acknowledges that this paradigm can’t continue forever, and even goes so far as to declare that if Kaguya doesn’t confess by the end of the upcoming cultural festival, he will. He commits to this bold claim by immediately asking her on a date… in the way that he can muster. It’s still so tame that even Kaguya – always watching for something that could be construed as a confession or date invitation – totally misses it until it’s too late. This series wouldn’t have more than a quarter of a thousand chapters if this was such a simple hurdle to overcome, after all. It’s in its very nature to make these two idiots always just miss the mark. Obviously it’s still an incredible series, but it can get a little frustrating, so it’s nice to at least see some attempts at real progress being made here.
Hayaska is back to her usual role when the highly lovestruck version of Kaguya – nearly Bakaguya level – needs to vent about her critical misstep, seeking advice and time travel, to which Hayasaka coldly informs her that she probably blew her only shot and that she is unfortunately not Doraemon. Our two lovebirds dance around the issue in their classic deadlocked fashion, hoping that one of their fellow student council members can help set the stage to make the plan go through, which naturally means that each one of them has to crush any courage they may have had for their still absurdly comical inability to even be clear that either of them would be interested in being together for these plans. Again, it’s frustrating that the series can’t let them have a win, but the way the writing sabotages them is always extremely funny, and the end result is possibly the best part, especially with the little bit before the next segment.
Although that final part bears the same title, it’s not so much about the subject of Shirogane’s desire for confession as his attempts to understand how he can better appeal to her through the other girls in the council. Our sweet little Chika uses this opportunity to turn it into a full-on roast of Shirogane. She’s painfully cruel, but you can see how so much trauma over having to correct his criminal incompetence in everything she excels at has eaten away at her. Just before this, she shudders at what he might do to a poor innocent guitar if he got his hands on one. We see in her imagination that these experiences have caused Chika to see their relationship as one of a mother and her difficult baby son. The power dynamic between these two and how it subverts their regular characterization never ceases to be hilarious.
Miko and eventually Kaguya are also involved in this discussion, which Chika already forgot was supposed to be anything but tearing Shirogane apart, but it does have the dual purpose of exploring the philosophical concept of whether one can truly view oneself objectively. Chika’s frustration with Shirogane not realizing just how bad he is at things he subjects others to – namely her – inspires this experiment, and we ultimately realize that none of these characters are particularly adept at thinking about how their actions affect those around me. Even if self-objectivity is impossible, it’s an interesting idea to touch upon, especially regarding these characters who, for all of their depth, are still characters in a comedy series and therefore inevitably have to embody certain jokes for a significant percentage of their respective screen time. Oh, and there’s a fantastic – very direct – Rose of Versailles reference as well.
In Summary:
After an unusual episode last week, we’re back to somewhat regular material this week, but with the kind of weight that makes it feel like we’re getting into really important territory. The future begins to loom on the horizon, and Shirogane realizes that that means he needs to finally kick his ass into gear and make some progress. Whether or not anything will really change anything soon I’m not sure of, but it’s still exciting to see these little hints of something bigger. It’s an episode with laugh-out-loud humor, poignant character moments, and deep thoughts on universal truths of the human condition. What a show.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
