The world would certainly be a a much more pleasant place if everyone was like Mitsumi-chan. It’s not of course, but there are a few people like her out there. Would anime be more interesting if everyone was like her? Undoubtedly no – but even in Skip and Loafer, they’re not. In that case I think it can either revel in her essential Mitsumi-ness and milk it for all its worth, or play off the way it can be a challenge for some other people. Mostly it’s done the former up to now, but we may be starting to see a bit of the latter creeping in.
After what was arguably its most plot-driven episode, Skip to Loafer goes hard in the other direction here (at least for most of the time). It’s a summer break trip home for Mitsumi (notably not for Nao, though Mitsumi’s mom at least acts very accepting). I mean, when you do a four-minute cold open that’s basically a dialogue-free chronicle of Mitsumi’s commute back to Noto, that’s selling out to the premise big-time. This sequence is nothing profound but it does do a nice job of communicating how it’s sort of a big (and strange) deal for Mitsumi to be returning home from Tokyo.
Naturally Mitsumi’s posing at being a city girl gets pancaked in about three seconds, though to be fair she’s definitely not trying very hard. Noto is more idyll – pets, food, relatives, trips to the beach. Mitsumi’s family and friends seem very settled and serene – the very picture of how Tokyoites might imagine them to be. The big news back home is that Fumi-chan is now dating the boy she told Mitsumi about, and if Mitsumi is feeling jealous about it she does a very good job of hiding it. Mitsumi is even closer to Fumi than she is to her own family in some ways, like kids this age often are.
Even if she cries a little the morning she leaves Noto, it’s pretty obvious Mitsumi is excited to get back to Tokyo. And just as obvious what (who) the main reason for that is. Shima seems a bit taken aback that she says it’s a “good omen” that he’s the first classmate she sees (that’s quite a compliment). Mitsumi is bubbly and bursting with omiyage, but Shima (who almost always smiles through it) seems a bit distant. Naturally Mitsumi frets that perhaps the two of them have grown apart after not seeing each other for an entire two or three weeks, but she’s unaware of the underlying issues Shima is dealing with.
I see a lot of small things sort of conspiring to get under Shima’s skin here. Kanechika’s continued efforts to reel him back into acting, the class deciding to put on a play, Mitsumi’s relentless “dazzling” energy and positivity. The hard truth is, when you’re not one of those people for whom it’s easy to be like that, it can be easy to resent people for whom it is. I like this turn, though it’s too early to read too much into it – it almost seems as if in a very indirect and soft way, S&L is acknowledging that someone like Mitsumi can sometimes be a lot to take. I think that’s realistic – perhaps a bit more realistic than this series has been for most of its run so far.
Whatever her concerns about Shima (and they’re enough to draw three precious squid crackers out of her souvenir box) Mitsumi can’t resist being swept up in the prep for the school festival. At 7,000 visitors I’m sure the se seitoukai prez is right, she’s never seen the like. This is the epitome of the “fun little school life” that Ririka insists Shima is not entitled to. I still feel as if that storyline is a bit of a minefield, but it presents the potential for the closest thing to real drama we’ve had. Just how oppressive are the demands she’s made of Shima – might he even want to act again, given a chance? And would even a part in class play be enough to trigger his guilt or her wrath?
leongsh
June 1, 2023 at 12:23 amSousuke sees that dazzling light that Mitsumi represents. Does he see it as the light leading him out of his dungeon of guilt or just a dream through the gaps of the dungeon he put himself in.
Hoping they get the rights to perform the music for the play that the class chose in the anime.
Nicc
June 1, 2023 at 7:34 amSummer break begins and Mitsumi is up early to make the trip back home. Nao is staying behind and what follows is a near dialogue-free sequence as she makes her way from one train station to another until arriving at Tokyo-Haneda (Considering she’s flying AN… AMA Airlines). She did mention back in the first episode that there are no longer any train stations near her hometown, but that just means she gets some fun flying in a 787.
Her family is waiting for her as she tries to put on the city girl airs, but they’re not buying it. A good amount of time is dedicated in showing how Noto is a far cry from the big city, particularly the scene when she’s munching on some watermelon alongside shots of the quiet scenery.
It’s a big feast for the family as she comes back which includes sekihan and sea bream. After a big meal like that calls for a nap, but Fumi comes-a-calling and it’s time for a reunion with her and her hometown friends. That’s when Mitsumi learns about the relationship upgrade between Fumi and the now boyfriend. We don’t meet him here, but maybe that’ll be saved for later.
After spending lots of time at the beach for the holiday (And, getting a good tan from that), it’s time to head back and that means reuniting with everybody back at school. She runs into Shima first, who is still thinking about what Ririka said to him. It’s been a month, but it’s still on his mind and bothering him. The school festival is coming up and there’s a ton of things to get done.
Right, the first day back from summer vacation and Shima is not having a good day. Kanechika wants him to read the script for the play that his club is putting on, but he turns it down. Fate does seems to be conspiring against him as the class decides to do a play. I’m intrigued to see how this goes.
Monymous
June 1, 2023 at 10:25 amI feel like we learned more about Mitsumi during her trip home than in the entire rest of the series to this point. We got to see what she’s like in her comfort zone, when she doesn’t feel like she has to try so hard.
Despite our brief glimpses of Shima’s outside-of-school life so far, he remains a mystery. He’s always smiling, but the smile rarely reaches his eyes.
Guardian Enzo
June 1, 2023 at 12:18 pmYeah, that was good, but… It didn’t really strike me that Mitsumi was any different in Noto that she is in Tokyo (now that she’s kind of relaxed – like she said, not even faking a Tokyo-ben and hiding her accent).
I think Mitsumi is basically a person without artifice. She’s incapable of convincingly faking it – her sunglasses routine in Noto was no less convincing than her city girl act in Tokyo.
Simone
June 3, 2023 at 3:56 pmWere we supposed to read anything in Nao not coming? She’s a working adult, living in Tokyo to begin with, and probably can’t just get a couple weeks of leave every time her niece has holidays.
Rob Barrett
June 4, 2023 at 12:44 amInnocent whistling.