One of the things that’s interesting about Hinamatsuri is the idea of balance.  The way it balances the three main girls, and the way it balances the different tones it aims for.  The two or three mini-episode format could almost be looked at as a bit of a cheat in that sense – the show is free to go in one direction for 8 or 10 minutes and then completely change gears.  But there’s overlap happening here, too – just not as much as there would have to be with a conventional narrative structure.

There’s no doubt, though, that Anzu has emerged as the focus of the “serious” side of Hinamatsuri.  And this ep picks up right where the last one left off, with Anzu settling in with her new parents and trying to figure out how to work at the restaurant.  While she struggles with keigo, insults Nitta and goes catatonic at the sight of the mounds of cash (not really) in the till, there’s not all that much comedy here.  Anzu is definitely not Hina – she has a modicum of common sense and by default (now) treats other people respectfully.  Maybe her transition was a bit comprehensive for the amount of time it took to happen, but I won’t quibble over that considering how she was living for most of that time.

The second chapter, by contrast, has very little that’s serious about it.  It’s pure comedy, and comedy gold, and it features the two lynchpins of the absurdist side of this series.  Hina complains to Nitta that school is no fun – there’s not enough food at lunch, and she’s always being scolded for sleeping in class.  He tells her to “find a way to make it fun”, and this eventually segues into Hina deciding to run for student council president (never mind that first-years can’t be student council president).  I think you can easily see where this is going, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Bring Hina and Hitomi together, and the chances for wackiness are strong – as Aizawa says, this has great potential for amusement.  Matsutani-sensei is horrified that Hina is the only volunteer to run, and her first draft at a speech – basically a two-item gripes list – is evidence of why.  Eventually the yakuza mob lawyer is brought in to craft her speech, and the scene where Hina delivers it – stage directions and all – to the assembly is pure comic genius.  As always Hitomi’s apoplectic reaction shots are worth their weight in platinum, and in the end she’s the one who gets roped into (brilliantly) doing all the secretarial work for the seitokai, as Hina has bailed upon finding out she can’t be president.

Finally we have Nitta turning to Hina for advice (he’s suitably horrified at the notion) when Utako continually rebuffs his advances.  As silly as this chapter is, in some sense it may about as serious as things have ever gotten with Hina (though that’s a low bar).  She seems genuinely intrigued at the idea of a mother – though Hitomi gets altogether the wrong idea about the whole situation.  Still, Hitomi being Hitomi she does insist on helping – and somehow, inexplicably, this all ends with Utako actually agreeing to go out with Nitta one time and leaving the bar entirely in Hitomi’s hands.  It also features Nitta swinging Hina around the room happily and breaking her ankle in the process – which I have to confess was totally unexpected and way funnier than it had any right to be…

As for the date, it ends badly – though curiously, it’s really neither Nitta or Hina’s fault.  I’m not 100% sure about Utako – there are a lot of contrasting sides to her personality, shall we say – but that Nitta feels bad enough about Hina that he tries (with hilarious incompetence) to make her feel better even after having his own hopes crushed says something about his development as a parent, I guess.