It appears that the Ice Guy we saw in the premiere was very true to the essential nature of the series (so far), which is not always the case.  That is to say, very sweet and a little cheeky, and rather unorthodox in its narrative style.  Which is totally working for me, although I have some lingering doubts about whether it can go the distance if it remains this serene.  Maybe it can, maybe it can’t, maybe it’ll actually change somewhat – all seem like realistic possibilities.  But for now, full steam ahead.

I don’t see a lot of deception with these characters, that’s for sure.  Fuyutsuki-san is a serial helper, but especially where Himeno-kun is concerned.  Witness her taking his anxiety about the Okinawa onboarding trip and trying to fix it herself.  How?  By giving him a “wave drum” – and homemade at that.  I’d never heard of it but the idea is that it simulates the sound of the waves, which will help Himeno get used to the idea of being at the beach so he doesn’t go all occluded front on everyone’s asses.  Okay, why not?

With each gesture of kindness, Himeno is more hopelessly smitten with Fuyutsuki – and more convinced (maybe not wrongly) that she’s into him as well.  Their adoring, blushing gazes at each other haven’t started to bore me yet – they’re pretty freaking cute.  As is Himeno’s slipping into Kansai-ben whenever he gets excited (and the cold waves are a matched set), and her trying to imitate his accent.  Himeno assures Futsuyuki that he won’t melt (scary!) if he stays out of the sun since it’s only April, and she shows him the homemade guidebook to Okinawa she’s made for the trip.

I do have some questions.  Like, when Himeno found out that the forecast was for record, summer-like highs, why didn’t he just stay indoors with the A/C rather than hide under a cabana table?  And how in the world does he cope with a normal (read: brutal) Japanese summer if this sort of weather makes him shrink?  Which he does, by the way (how far would that go, theoretically?).  Which leads to another question – is Fuyutsuki-san a shotacon?  She certainly seems much more worked up over chibi-Himeno than regular Himeno.  Maybe she just really likes cute things (if so, she’s in the right series).

Well, a bunch of head-pats and an ice pop from the hotel restaurant (helpful – and clever) do the trick, and Himeno is soon back to his man-sized self.  And we get some fireworks to complete the beach episode vibe (I’m assuming the B-couple thread will start unspooling at some point).  There’s trouble on the horizon though (Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi seems to like ending on cliffhangers), as Buddha-san announces that the newbies may get split into different departments now that their training period is over.  Somehow with this series I get the feeling that things will work out – that they’ll always work out – which I think is its core appeal more than any suspense that they won’t.