You know an anime is a good one when it can insert Kaji Yuuki into the cast and still not suck.

I would describe this episode as extremely low-key compared to the first five, though there were certainly some examples of violence (it’s always the girls who perpetrate the violence in this series, and this episode was no exception to that rule – but more on that in a bit).  In fact some of the biggest laughs came from the eyecatches, especially the last one – a Valentine’s Day message that asked the audience not to send chocolate to the boys, but if they did to “Please send it to the animation studio and not the TV station”.  That works on so many levels I think you just have to let the genius of it wash over you, but it reflects the humor this week – thoughtful and ironic, rather than uproariously funny.

As for the skits themselves, on balance I’d have to say this was the weakest episode so far in terms of overall impact, but that’s a pretty high standard.  The trend towards utilizing a huge ensemble cast with many of the gags centered around a “guest girl” (who also does the eyecatch) continued, with the “main” trio appearing collectively only in the pre-open and the first sketch (in fact poor Tadakuni is conspicuously the only one absent from a sketch about his own sister), where they were tortured by Hidenori’s sister because he innocuously made a highly insulting comment about her always being alone at Christmas.  The humor here is in the commentary about how clueless boys are about that stuff, and how oversensitive girls are – but it’s the sort of thing that you have to think about, and doesn’t exactly bowl you over in the moment.  The next chapter was more for gamers, I think, who’re probably the only ones who’ll find the nuance in the humor.  For me it sort of fell flat, including the payoff where the teacher (Mitsushi Kotono) tells Yoshitake and his friends that winter break was actually still going, and they were back in school a day early.  It did give us a chance to meet yet two more characters voiced by famous seiyuu – “Megane” (Kaji Yuuki) and Mitsuo (the always charismatic Okamoto Nobuhiko) who – by nature of his appearance in the OP (and the mention of it in the pre-open) and his re-appearance later in the episode appears to be the more important character. 

Much more successful was the aforementioned sketch with Tadakuni-Imouto, who comes to the student council for help with a problem (obviously stressing her non-existent relationship with her brother).  She’s been confessed to by a boy and rejected him, and they hit each other – but she shows her softer side a bit here.  While the council tells her she must deal with this on her own, they secretly tag along (in weak-ass disguises) to make sure she’s OK.  She is, as the guy just wants to apologize, and we discover that Yoshitake (who doesn’t even bother with the disguise) and Hidenori have also gallantly arrived in support, leaving Tadakuni as the only one who didn’t know his sister was having the problem. Next is the return of the always delightfully clueless Ringo arriving at the Student Council (the new main characters, really) to get their insight on whether she’s too short. They’re smart enough to handle it diplomatically, but the best laughs come when they desperately try to keep her away from the tactless President, resorting to a lame quiz and finally to the always GAR Karasawa mimicking a cat (high school girls and cats? ‘nuff said). The irony is that Ringo ends up beating on the prez anyway, despite his absurdly considerate answer.

The last two sketches also worked pretty well, the first a “Sket Dance” spoof with an even more clueless girl arriving to ask the S.C. to find her lost dog.  Motoharu is appropriately dismayed that the S.C. has turned into the Sket Dan, and encourages Karasawa to say “No!” more often – which the latter takes quite literally.  This is a very odd joke, but it somehow works thanks to Karasawa’s deadpan hilarity and the utterly vapid behavior of the dog girl.  I also enjoyed the return of Mitsuo, this time with Hidenori in tow to act as a proving ground for his various killing moves at soccer.  The humor is fairly thin here, but it’s enjoyable to hear these two seiyuu titans try and outdo each other in projecting adolescent bravado.

It wouldn’t be “Danshi Koukousei” without funky high school girls, and they’re back – again exemplifying every grotesque quality to be found in the adolescent female.  This time the abuse is heaped on Habara by Yanagain and Ikushima (once Yanagin has threatened to “ram another stick up Ikushima’s ass” and knocked her unconscious).  Poor Habara – “Miss Flat Chest” – takes a verbal beating for not having a boyfriend (the irony here is obvious) and the two psychopaths take her to the house of Takahiro-san, ordering him to date her.  He flatly refuses – offering 50,000 yen to be let off the duty – and proceeds to fill in the blanks regarding Habara’s notorious past as Archdemon of East Yada Elementary.  It seems as if Habara is the closest thing to a normal and decent girl in this cast, but a victim of her own past transgressions.  This is a tough town to be a high school boy on the prowl – Nako-san is looking better and better all the time.

Omake: “The Past”