The second half of the series begins.  And with it, that stage most slice-of-life shows seem to hit sooner or later – the plot kicks in.  It’s a tricky transition and not all SoLs can pull it off by any means.  Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi had a little bit of a head start in that the premise itself is basically a plot.  Kotarou’s situation is singular enough that it always demanded exploration.  We’ve seen bits and pieces of that exploration already, but it was always going to kick into high gear sooner or later.

As such, this is really the first episode that doesn’t follow the usual mini-episode formula.  Or rather, it does – but they serve a larger thread.  And the character at the heart of that is Aota (Saitou Souma), the new neighbor (in #102).  Except it’s pretty clear right away that something weird is up with this guy.  Not only does he immediately cozy up to Kotarou, he knows way too much about what makes him tick.  It’s hardly surprising that Tamaru-san would smell a rat here – one suspects duplicity is a big part of his daily life.  But Kotarou does too – he’s just too much of a grinder not to play along.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that kids in difficult family situations can be extraordinarily good at reading people.  Is it exaggerated for effect here?  To be sure.  But not so much as you might think.  When your parents fight a lot – or even worse scenarios – you adapt in order to survive.  And it’s not that hard to figure out that Aota is here on behalf of Kotarou’s father – he’s the one who has a pointed interest in the boy’s whereabouts.  Turns out there’s a restraining order against him, but he’s still a paying client.

Kotarou is not especially welcoming of his other neighbor’s interference, which is initially somewhat puzzling.  The issue is that he doesn’t want to appear weak – and we’ve seen hints of this obsession with him already, when interacting with his friends.  I’d assumed it was because he was desperate to be self-sufficient, but the truth is altogether bleaker than that.  Kotarou wants to get stronger so that his father won’t think of him as a weakling – which Kotarou believes to be the reason why he turned into a “bad guy”.

Again, if you don’t have direct experience with abusive family situations, you might think this is far-fetched or over-dramatization.  It’s not, I promise you.  Kids frequently – maybe usually – blame themselves for their parents’ abuse.  Especially boys, with fathers.  Fortunately for Kotarou Aota does have that direct experience (as his cigarette burns attest).  He chooses to give Dad a bum steer to an empty apartment rather than rely on the law to protect Kotarou should it come to that.

How can Kotarou be talked out of this obsession with getting stronger so he can be with his father?  He can’t – not now, anyway.  Shin recognizes this and turns the situation just enough to keep it under control without pushing Kotarou to draw away.  Shin’s the hero of the story, really, though no one credits him for it.  He’s done more than anyone to step up for Kotarou, and changed his life the most to accommodate him.  He’s protective without being possessive and doesn’t condescend to Kotarou, which is exactly the right approach to encourage him to feel rooted in this new place.

We do get a couple of humorous chapters to close the episode, with Aota involved.  A scammer targeting the landlord gets more than he bargained for when Kotarou picks up the phone.  Hanbe-san steals Mizuki’s panties, forcing Aota to show off his detective skills.  And Kotarou arranges a “crime” for Aota to solve in order to give him a going-away party – though I suspect that Aota is going to remain involved in the story as the seeds planted in this episode start to bear bitter fruit.