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 manDidn’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 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.
Guy Thompson
September 1, 2024 at 8:31 pmThey are totally ‘dropping hints’ with this Lemon First Love bottle haha. As for the Komari arc, it will surely be uneventful by itself, but probably useful as a chance to showcase Yanami looking at her and Nukumizu relationship through a context of his other interactions.
Brian Guy
September 2, 2024 at 5:17 amWhether or not this arc pairs (or at least leaves breadcrumbs in the direction of pairing) Nuku and Komari, there’s no way to miss her surprised relief/ relieved surprise at finding Nuku x Yanami isn’t a thing (yet?).
Although I think it’s gonna lean harder into her “thanks and farewell” to her first love, it’s probably worth noting her love was orders of magnitude shorter in duration than the others’ (she’d known him for only a couple of months before taking her shot) and she might well be over it far more quickly than either Anna or Remon can manage. But, even if she does find a second, would she be willing to go through that again so quickly?
Guardian Enzo
September 2, 2024 at 6:58 amKomari’s was a childish crush compared to the other two (and she qualifies as a homewrecker too). That’s kind of the level she’s been operating on, but we’ll see where it goes from here. She has a legit friendship with Nukumizu now.
Nadavu
September 2, 2024 at 9:58 pmMy, my, Enzo. That’s quite the rendition, although technically Lemon is an osananajimi and the girl in the song, I believe, is the OG doroboneko, literally stealing poor Paul’s stuff. I do get the feeling that you’re Team Lemon, and me being Team Komari, well, we might end up having to settle this mano a mano, at a schoolyard at midnight.
I want to drop a good word on Kaju for a second. I’m really, really happy that they managed to come up with an onii-sama obsessed character in a way that isn’t sexual and gross.
Guardian Enzo
September 2, 2024 at 10:00 pmWell, she kind of is a little sexual and gross really. In a low-key way. There’s definitely something a bit wrong there.
Nadavu
September 2, 2024 at 10:08 pmOkay, I’ll grant you that – but at least she’s not overtly sexual and super gross. Still progress
Nicc
September 5, 2024 at 8:28 amFall is in the air, as it will be in the real world soon too. I better get started on laundering some of my jackets now. The switch in the seasons means it’s time to change uniforms too and they look spiffy. Nope, I’ll never get used to the four bowties. It’s the school festival time and so the students are making their preparations, which includes the Lit Club. Alas, their initial proposal for a club project is rejected by the student council, the message brought to them courtesy of Shikiya. It’s a little early for Halloween, but she lets Komari and Nukumizu know that they’ll have to try again. It does seem that she’s the featured heroine in this arc. Both Tamaki and Tsukinoki will be stepping aside once the festival is over and Komari will be promoted to club president. Nukumizu is going to be the new VP. Thus, she’ll also be taking the reins for the festival project.
You’re right that on paper, the both of them are a great match as they have a lot in common. But, for now they have to work on getting their plan approved by the student council. Along with the Lit Club being under new management soon, they also need to find a new club advisor. When it rains, it pours… Lemon spends more time on the track than in the club room, but she does her part in helping to find a new advisor. It would have been a surprise if it was somebody other than the school nurse, considering we haven’t been introduced to faculty members other than Amanantsu-sensei, who did think that Nukumizu and Lemon were there for… other reasons.
Alright, the club has to find a new theme and having it themed with food is a good idea. It is obvious to everybody that Komari has got a lot on her platter and she’s in a position that she’s not really used to. We then get some more character introductions at the end. I’ve been wondering how a zombie nurse would be qualified to serve in the student council… Well, it turns out that they’re all just weirdos. They’re good at what they do and with a side of eccentricness. It looks like Nukumizu will have some more interesting personalities to deal with.
Sonicsenryaku
September 5, 2024 at 8:38 amAye yo! That Lemon verse is kinda fire!! And yea, I thought it was wholesome the way the episode treated Lemon’s arrival into the club room as if she was some mythical creature.
Speaking of wholesome, seems like this episode went out of its way to elucidate Shikiya’s true motives with the lit club: she was never really looking for excuses to shut them down; she’s actually been trying to protect them by making sure the members stay within regulatory parameters, preventing the student council from having any concrete reasons to disband them. It seems more and more likely my theory about Shikiya seeing Koto as a friend of some kind has weight to it
Anna continues to be our lovable, perceptive fool with how she’s able to quickly figure out Chika’s emotional drive for wanting the festival to be as great as can be; too bad she couldn’t figure out that Kazu and Chika gave her the consultant role so she could be involved in as little of the activities planning as possible, even though the act of trying to mitigate her interference ironically lead to her providing a much better idea than what they were initially going to go with; guess at the end of the day, you can’t really control chaos
Looks like with Chika’s arc, they’re going for the hard-working onee-Chan who has to take care of family matters while balancing school, kinda like a Hori situation from Horimiya.
A low-key but effective set-up episode; you can tell this arc is going to have a more leisurely pace to it to make full use of its 5 episode length.