She came in through the classroom window
Accented with a lovely tan
But though she tries to mask with laughter
She cries ’cause she lost her man

Didn’t anybody tell her?
Didn’t anybody see?
Nuk-kun’s on his way to Grandma’s.
Good boys can’t just let you be.

The Komari arc begins, and it marks an interesting change of direction for Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!. It’s accompanied by a new ED of course, and like the two that preceded it that’s fantastic. The episode itself strikes me as being very different from the first two major arcs, though. It’s not like Komari’s storyline has lacked drama – that beach showdown was quite the emotional spectacle. But there wasn’t much of that here. In fact I’d go so far as to say it starts off looking more like the school festival arc than the Komari arc.

My feelings towards Chika through the first eight episodes have been pretty low-key, and that’s fitting because low-key is very much how this played compared to what came before it. Chika is cute and I find her mildly amusing, but her romance subplot seemed doomed from the start. She’s the same age as the other mains I believe but very much comes off as the most childish of the bunch. I speculated earlier than Chika might wind up having a crush on Kazuhiko at some point, and that may or may not happen. But if it did this ep certainly is a first step in laying the groundwork.

In a way Nuk-kun and Komari are the most natural pairing in the main cast. They’re both hard-core introverts (the scene when she freaked out about the crowd was a strong bonding moment for the two of them). They’re both tap water otaku (which is a seriously weird thing to be an otaku for). They’re both avid readers and writers – the two members of their peer group who’re actually in the Literature Club for, you know, literature. That doesn’t mean them hooking up as a plot point has to happen, or even that it should. But it is a sort of obvious reality.

For now, though, that’s really not in the air. Nuk-kun, serial good boy that he is, just looks out for Chika the way he looks out for everyone else he doesn’t realize he’s friends with. The Prez and Veep are quitting the club after the Tsuwabuki festival, and want Komari and Nukumizu to take their place. As such they’re leaving the arrangements for the club’s festival event to them. But Zombie-sempai from the student council stops by to let them know that their application was sorely lacking in details. Somehow or another Anna gets involved in the planning process, immediately suggests a food-themed exhibit, and the three of them go off on a research trip.

Anna is the constant of Makeine, and as often as not after the first arc her role is as a main driver of the comedy. Like Nuk-kun and Chika trying to find a way to discretely get her out of the way (as a “consultant”) to free themselves from her distractions. And her consternation over Sousuke’s blasé reaction to Karen disrobing for a costume fitting (“I’m just so used to it”). As for Lemon, she pops up like a semi-mystical faerie creature, emerging through the window dappled in sweat as the trio experiment (well, Anna is mainly just eating) in the home ec classroom. Lemon also takes a lead role on the subject of finding a teacher to act as the club’s faculty advisor, since in areas apart from romance she’s basically fearless.

I’m not crazy about either of the teacher characters to be honest, but Amanatsu-sensei’s reaction when Lemon and Kazuhio showed up in the copy room – assuming they’re there to do it – was pretty funny. And to Nuk-kun saying they were there for advice – she assumes it involves an unexpected surprise. I kind of assumed as soon as the topic came up that pervy nurse was going to wind up taking the gig, so no surprises there. One last bit of comedy comes from the student council, where we meet two more members (that they’re weirdos seems a given). Basori Tiara (Morohoshi Sumire) is extremely self-conscious about her weird name with its weird kanji. And Hookobaru Hibari (Nanami Hiroki, who’s all over the season’s best series) seems just plain weird. And trouble.

I’m not sure whether this arc will eventually focus more on Komari as a romantic object, or remain something of a tonal change of pace. Either way I’m fine with it, though I think what made the Anna and Lemon arcs to notable is the way they were able to balance those the romance and comedy. There’s work to do with Chika’s arc if it’s to achieve the same balance, but I’m not going to sell the writing short here when it’s been this smart for eight episodes. Whatever Makeine comes up with it’ll be a surprise if it’s not at least pretty darn good.