Jijou o Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru really is one of those shows where if it can’t raise a smile out of you, I’m not sure smiling is your thing.  I was grinning ear-to-ear for most of this episode, apart from the times I was laughing.  There’s an audacious simplicity to this premise, but the key is that the series is pot committed to it from the beginning.  Like Takada-kun, it’s unstoppable.  And not only that, the adaptation is absolutely nailing the charm of the manga.  I was expecting a “fine” adaptation – literal and unimaginative – but this one is spirited and snappy.  There’s no budget (this is still Pierrot, after all) but it makes up for that in other ways.  If you want an adaptation that’s faithful to the spirit of the material, Pierrot is as good as anybody out there.

Taiyou (who really is aptly named) has the remarkable ability to turn anything – anything – into a positive.  Ghost photos?  Great, sign him up.  And even the whole ghost photo thing being a backhanded insult against the Reaper doesn’t faze him – whether he’s just hearing what he wants to hear or is a really good actor I’m not sure (that’s a common theme with Taiyou), but in the end it really doesn’t matter.  He’s a human ray of sunshine in Akane’s heretofore dark world (though at this rate she may not live long to enjoy it).

The resident expert on ghosts is, of course, Daichi.  His interests range from tank tops to the supernatural, you know.  He deduces that the only way to get a real ghost to show is for the subjects not to look like they’re enjoying themselves, but unfortunately Taiyou isn’t able to pull that off – as long as Nishimura-san is standing next to him, he breaks out in sunshine.  Daichi-kun also scolds Taiyou for not keeping his shoulders warm when he gets a cold (pot, meet kettle), and when Akane shows up for school in a new-not-new outfit, he bemoans that he can’t tell the difference because “it’s all sleeves to me”.

Daichi is the best, believe me – he has scores of great comic deliveries to come.  But another excellent side character makes their bow here, Taiyou’s big sister Yukiko (Tanezaki Atsumi).  Yukiko isn’t the last (or best) onee-san to be introduced this romcom season, but she is a lot of fun.  I love Tanezaki’s performance here – it’s very natural and unforced.  She immediately gloms onto Akane when Taiyou brings her over, and is obviously a big fan of kawaii.  So much so that she invites Akane over when Taiyou isn’t home to try on her old clothes (and be photographed extensively), some of which she gives Akane to take home.

Piling on the cuteness factor is a two-hour phone call from Taiyou to thank Akane for being so great (I think Onee-san put him up to that), which certainly sparks the interest of her father (Maeda Seiji).  Then the kids are tasked to do a calligraphy of their favorite word.  Daichi chooses “tank top” but is distressed that he doesn’t know the Kanji (if you check the eyecatch, he actually does manage it), while Taiyou wants to write “Grim Reaper” (much to Akane’s horror).  As for her, she likes bright words, like sunshine (taiyou), but that results in yet another fit of blushing and steam.

Finally, Akane shows up at school in one of Yukiko’s outfits, a white one.  Taiyou is fully on-board of course (Daichi, as noted, can’t tell the difference) but naturally the bullies sense blood in the water and swoop in.  But Taiyou is, again, unstoppable.  He always throws the bullies’ words back in their faces in twisted Taiyou-vision form until they say “F*ck it” and walk away.  And of course he’s seemingly incapable of being bullied himself.  It’s a powerful combination – so much so that this boy isn’t only a chad to his girl, he’s chaddish to the entire world.