Can Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi possibly get any more wholesome?  An episode focused on the adorable siblings certainly puts that to the test.  I get that romcom/SoL series where no one is an A-hole aren’t everyone’s cup of milk, but this is still totally working for me.  Even the characters you think are going to have a mean streak really don’t.  Tsukishiro has a bit of snark to her, but even she gracefully steps aside when she realizes her presence is putting a debbie downer on Futaba where Harumi is concerned.

I pretty much misread Souta, who I thought was going to be a serious prankster type and office cut-up.  He’s in fact a relatively serious and even insecure fellow.  I like the way he’s sliding into a big brother role with Yuuto (who’s his future brother-in-law after all).  This week that involves basketball, as after a chance meeting (this series specializes in those) Souta and shota take to the court for a practice session.  Souta is pretty good at it, as it turns out, and Yuuto isn’t – but is more than willing to accept whatever coaching he can get.

I prefer to think there really wasn’t an ulterior motive here, but Souta’s kindness definitely (further) endears him to Touko, who’s understandably protective of her brother.  I do sense, however, that she’s a bit of a jealous type – she seems a bit edgy about anyone spending time with Souta, even Yuuto.  She invites herself along for a follow-up basketball session, despite clearly having no interest whatsoever in the game (and no inclination to play, despite her current obsession with losing weight despite looking like she clocks in at about 45kg).

This basketball session is interesting for a number of reasons.  Souta invites along the jamokes from the office – bad move, but lucky for him they beg off.  However Natsumi, Harumi, and Futaba show up.  Of note here is that Furobe-san notes that she invited the others – but of course that means that Yuuto-kun invited her.  Touko clearly likes these people, especially Futaba, but again even this innocuous change of plans leaves her a little peeved.  A game ensues, and Touka begs off to be the ref, leaving a matchup of Souta and Harumi against Yuuto, Futaba and Natsumi – with the comic potential obvious.

The absurd spectacle of Harumi vs. Futaba doesn’t disappoint.  He continues to be relentlessly straightforward – he doesn’t ease off even in this scenario, and represents a terrifying freight train to poor Futaba and Yuuto. As a 6’3″ or so judo nut it’s hardly surprising he can dunk – and let me tell you, having someone dunk on you is a uniquely intimidating experience.  The most hilarious element here is when Futaba tries to bait him into stooping to her level (literally), only to have the ensuing double-knockout blow take them both out of action.

As for Yuuto, his handles have gotten better but attempting a dunk was definitely not his wisest course of action.  The real battle here is between Souta and Natsumi, who are both quite skilled and both quite competitive.  This too manages to piss Touko off, especially when Natsumi attempts to go all Alex Caruso on Souta.  To her credit Touko doesn’t hide her displeasure at the way things turned out, so Natsumi intervenes to take Yuuto along (by the hand, literally) on Harumi’s proposes sento excursion.  As for Futaba she’s run out of energy and conked out altogether.

More hilarity ensues at the bathhouse, where the parallels between Futaba and Yuuto – which we see accented enough to make me think he’s older than he looks – rear their ugly heads (no pun intended).  Especially hilarious is Yuuto’s reaction when Harumi stands up in the bath, which brings home the reality of just how much growing he has to do in a very particular way.  At least in Yuuto’s case time (I don’t think milk has anything to do with it) is on his side – his sister seems to be of average dimensions.  Poor Futaba has already been dealt the cards she’s going to have to play with – as Yuuto unwittingly reminds her.  It all works so well – any series that can make me smile as consistently as Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi does is doing almost everything right.