Like Yosuga no Sora, Amagami is wrapping up it’s omnibus with the tsundere. And while this one may not be a twin, Ayatsuji takes a back seat to no one in the tsundere department.

While for better or worse (I would say worse in most cases) the tsundere has taken root as the most popular trope for females in the romance genre, it’s rare you’ll see one quite as tsundere as this one. Ayatsuji takes the model to an absurdly literal extreme. It’s almost a split-personality disorder in her case – but then, tsundere is really little more than a split personality disorder played for cuteness and laughs. In one moment she’s physically abusing Junichi and making ominous threats regarding the mysterious “scribble” in her notebook. In the next she’s all sweetness and light, and a little flirty. We’ve seen all this a million times, of course, but it almost seems as if it’s being used as a parody here – although I may be giving the show too much credit.

The net effect on Junichi, of course, is sheer confusion. In terms of his character he somewhat resembles the “puppy” from the Haruka arc – he’s definitely in the subservient role in the relationship for the first time since then. But while that Junichi had a clever subtlety he used to feed his ample sexual curiosity, we haven’t really seen that so far here – he’s more just affably confused and generally horny. The whole business of volunteering for the committee and finding reward in hard work is fine, though it doesn’t seem to be getting much dramatic traction at this point. Things are all about Ayatsuji and her volatile mood swings. As we see at the close, she’s starting to get “curious” about Junichi, so you know things are going to start getting ‘shippy next week.

I’m not won over by either Ayatsuji or this arc yet, but it least it has some edge and a little romantic spark. That’s progress.