If a season is good – as this one is – it’s a pretty safe bet it’s going to have at least one really underrated show.  For me, Jijou o Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru is definitely that show this season.  Mix is underrated in its way too, but Adachi has his core fans and they know what they’re getting.  This series is flying so far under the radar and it really shouldn’t be.  It delivers the goods, week after week.  Cuteness galore, comedy, sneaky depth and tonal diversity.  It will never get the attention it deserves from Western fans simply by nature of its being about little kids, but those of who do know it appreciate just how good it is.

Akane as a witch?  Yeah, that tracks.  It’s so on the nose that even she doesn’t seem bothered by it, but that doesn’t stop Taiyou from expertly dismantling the notion that she fits the profile.  He can take any situation and spin it into a reflection on how cute and/or cool she is.  And while a broken clock may be right twice a day, it takes a damn smart clock to be right all the time.  Coincidence or calculated cleverness?  I have my own thoughts on the matter, but you be the judge.

The festival at Yukiko’s middle school was great for all sorts of reasons, but I especially liked the interaction between the siblings.  Of course, the headline here is that this is sort of a date between Akane and Taiyou – which I think was very much on Onee-san’s mind when she gave them those tickets and sent them on their merry way.  Naturally the yukata-clad pair are spotted by some classmates, and the usual bully brigade tries to bully Taiyou by threatening to spread that around.  But in the words of the tank top Bodhisattva, what are you even trying to accomplish with all this?  The only concern Taiyou has is that it sounds like he’s bragging.

At that, talk turns to the upcoming undokai (sports festival), a big day at any Japanese school.  The rumor around That There Elementary is that whichever team the Reaper is on will lose, which – surprise surprise – Taiyou thinks it totally cool because it means her power is working even when she’s not trying.  He even says he’ll feel bad if their team wins, because it means her power isn’t real – she assures him he can just be happy if that happens.  And since he’s the fastest boy in his grade (that tracks, too) that seems like a very real possibility.

That’s when things take a rather more serious turn.  Taiyou talks Akane into climbing up on the… whatever that thing is called.  They have a nice talk and enjoy the view, but when she loses her balance in the wind and falls, he dives after to protect her.  This is a reminder that for all his confidence and positivity Taiyou is still a little kid, and breaking your arm really hurts.  He freaks out, as you would, and after the fact so does Akane since she’s blaming herself.  A trip to the hospital later we meet up with Taiyou’s mom (Saitou Chiwa), and it immediately becomes clear that this apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

If my kid had broken his arm I’d have a hard time being as chill as Takada-san, but intellectually I get it.  Little boys get hurt all the time and kids do heal faster than grownups.  Takada-san is exactly right about Taiyou’s feelings, too – he’s just glad Akane didn’t get hurt, as he tells her the next day.  As broken up as Akane is at causing his injury and depriving him of the chance to be in the undokai, not even that can stand up to the relentless force of Taiyou positivity.  He’s already taken a chuunibyo approach to his injury, naming his broken arm the dark dragon sealed in its cast.  Taiyou will, obviously, be fine (and maybe even in time for sports day).

Now it must be said, the sports day arc is my absolute favorite in the manga, and I look forward to it with stupendous anticipation (especially if they include the extra chapter, which made me laugh harder than anything I’d read in an age).  It’s The Clueless Transfer Student is Assertive at its absolute best and most charming – which is a hell of a statement I know, given how good and charming it’s been already.