Aharen-san is like a little nesting doll of hilarious and heartwarming weirdness.  It really has a double-barrelled attack – a great formula which it executes brilliantly, but consistently tweaks too.  Add a supporting cast of winning oddballs and you have a comedy that shoots at a pretty high-caliber (especially where zombies are concerned).  I expected to like it – it was my sleeper pick this season after all – but it raises the bar for me just about every week.

It’s a testament to the fact that Aharen-san wa Hakarenai has its shit in order that it introduced perhaps the ultimate trip-wire comedy character – the stalker – early on, but nipped the problem in the bud almost immediately.  Mitsuki’s whole stalker thing was dispensed with quickly, and she slipped into a minor supporting role.  Here she shows up for the first time in a while to teach Raidou and Reina swimming – Reina shows up in full scuba gear (with a float).  What really strikes me here is that Aharen-san is wearing an elementary-school swimsuit – is it hers and she just hasn’t grown, or is there is a younger sister involved (stay tuned for a twist)?*

Competition is a major theme this week.  Raidou may be (almost) totally disconnected from the sexual tension one would expect in his age group. but he’s not immune to competitiveness.  And he’s well aware that Reina has smoked him at every turn so far (including in the pool).  A draw is progress then, of a sort – and he manages one in ping pong thanks to his “Newton serve” (which Reina quickly copies).  Giddy from their progress to actually being able to hit rallies, Raidou envisions world domination – but tomorrow’s gym class quickly disabuses him of that.

There’s a lot of peer pressure in bowling, if you’re a guy – I always felt like I had to use the 16-pounder whether I wanted to or not.  Reina’s attack (sorry Raidou, I don’t think that was actually ever the vogue in pro bowling) manages to get her a turkey.  But once Raidou shelves his pride and copies it, he manages a few strikes of his own – and it’s yet another draw.  91 pins is not exactly anything you’d put on a Topps bowling card, but two draws in a row certainly represents progress…

Raidou’s long-awaited first win finally comes – on the basketball court.  I mean sure, if there were ever a sport where you’d figure that should happen with these two it’s hoops (and Aharen-san manages to nutmeg him twice), but a “W” is a “W”.  Once again heady with success, Raidou decides that as a team they can conquer the world.  But basketball proves an even harsher mistress than table tennis.

As usual Aharen-san wa Hakarenai saves the biggest chapter for last.  It’s not so much emotional heft this time though as sheer spectacle.  Things start out normally enough, with a trip to the arcade.  Reina proves herself a prodigy at first-person shooters – Raidou reasons that her distance perception plays to her advantage because she’s standing so far back (I don’t really get that, but whatever).  But the fun really starts when she hits the head, but Raidou spots her at the crane game.  Puzzlingly, she seems to be struggling with it – and interestingly Raidou’s own skills appear to have improved considerably.

The gag here is great because it hits you with a punch line – Raidou leaps right over the obvious conclusion and goes to “body double” and “clone”.  But not satisfied with that, Aharen-san turns the haymaker into into a combo, because this isn’t Reina’s imouto – it’s her otouto, Ren (Kuno Misaki).  Okay, so Reina looks just like her otouto in 4th-grade.  But little Ren is quite the eccentric, because not only does he immediately seize the moment and pretend to be Reina, but he loves dressing in his sister’s clothes and apparently has the exact same haircut she does.  And naturally, she’s fine with this.

Why do anything in a straightforward manner when you can quirk the hell out of it?  It’s worked for Aharen-san wa Hakarenai so far, so no reason to back off now.  One other interesting little moment came when Reina hugged Raidou after he said he was feeling cold.  His reaction suggests he may not be totally unaware of the moment in that way – and hers that she may have indeed intended that hug as a sort of expression of attraction.  Who knows – they’re both such kind souls that it may be nothing more than that, and she’s certainly not averse to showing her love through physical contact.

*Reflecting on this I think I answered my own question – her JHS and HS didn’t have a suit small enough to fit her.