Something was nagging at me with Makeine and I couldn’t quite place it. Then it hit me – Chika looks like a character out of a Miyazaki film. Chika and only Chika – I don’t think any of Imigi Muru’s other (wonderful) character designs strike me that way. But with Komari even her mannerisms do. She’s something of a cartoon character in a cartoon, in a sense – the “which of these is not like the others” among the main girls. And I think her arc (is it over or not?) appropriately reflects that.
I continue to be impressed with this show generally. The writing here is just good, plain and simple. Sensitive and funny and more often surprising than you realize. Komari’s whole arc has been low-key (when the shoe fits) and it concludes (?) in a similar manner. School festivals are a fun canvas for a good anime and Makeine makes good use of this one. Humor is more or less in the driver’s seat here, and the romance side is more wistful than anything. This arc is less about Komari’s crush and more about growing up generally, both herself and Nukumizu-kun. And aren’t they a good pair, too.
Chika trying to compliment Nuk-kun and him batting than all back was very in-character for both of them. He can deflect credit all he wants, Kazuhiko is the one who put this all together. His adaptability and sense of calm makes him uniquely suited to this sort of role – he’s the one who channeled the talent and good ideas into the end product. And it’s a pretty impressive one too (I imagine 117 guests is quite solid for a culture club) – even the seitoukai prez (who exudes danger from every pore) is impressed enough to say that the Lit Club has earned back enough credit so that their next screw-up will be only a “temporary dissolution” (three strikes and you’re out).
It doesn’t seem like the story is seriously teasing it, but it can’t be denied – Nuk-kun and Chika are good together. They’re people who feel most at ease in their own company – as introverts do – and each of them exerts less strain on the other than anyone else. Kazuhiko is a higher-functioning introvert socially than Chika, that’s obvious – and helping her has allowed him to become stronger that way. But they’re both still who they are. They understand that about each other, and don’t push too hard. Hell, Nuk-kun even worries they seem too much like a couple and suggests she call him “Oni-chan”. I know “it” isn’t going to happen with this two but damn – it sure does make sense in a lot of ways.
It says something about the quality of this show than Anna and Lemon can be almost totally absent and it doesn’t lose a step. In truth Nukumizu is the only truly essential character – the one who binds it all together. Mind you both bachelorettes got excellent cameos. With Lemon it was her “Track Mask” challenge with her old middle school teammate (changing the rules mid-stream was kinda dirty). With Anna it was stopping by the exhibit to give the incoming executive branch a chance to enjoy the festival. And 100% brownie points to Anna for insisting they actually do that rather than just go to the club room and chill like the introverts they are. That was very sharp of her (and she’s quite insightful by nature).
That frames the Chika-Kazu vibe as well as anything. Being with each other is the closest they can get to being alone without being alone – and for an introvert, that’s high praise. But Chika still has her feelings for Shintarou, and Koto – feeling some guilt for having used Komari’s feelings as a stalking horse for her own assault on Castle Tamaki – engineers some alone time for them so Chika can get a sense of closure. Nuk-kun is such a good boy he’s compelled to offer support even to Koto (that Pocky-cigarette sight gag was chef’s kiss), who won. But he’s only marking time until the Prez leaves, so he can take his place at Komari’s side and give her a shoulder to lean (or cry) on. Stop him before he helps again.
So yeah, I’ve come to really respect and admire Make Heroine ga Oosugiru! and it doesn’t matter what the source material is – it’s the exception that proves the rule. But what I’d like to see from it that I think I likely won’t (because of what sort of series it is, in every sense) is for Kazuhiko to have the same chance the three main heroines (and even Chihaya to an extent had) – to confront himself and have a crisis about what he really wants out of life. Right now he’s focused on being what everyone else needs him to be, but it would be great to see him get the chance to focus on what he wants to be for himself.
Guy Thompson
September 15, 2024 at 8:12 pmI guess it’s not too visible for anime-only people at this point, but pacing got incredibly slow with 6 minutes of mostly monologues (even if they are important) at the end of this episode . The weird thing is the Komari arc is just half way through despite quite a few viewers feel like it is concluded. I mentioned it a couple of times but I’m still wondering how the project team manages to stretch the remaining small amount of content over the 2 whole episodes.
Also maybe it’s my imagination but there were 2 anime-only references in this episode – one to Oshi no Ko with ghost death scene (Tokyo Blade part), another one to Kaguya Sama where there is a 告 Kanji in a heart shape when Nukumizu received a message from Yakishio, same one used in Kaguya opening.
Bob
September 16, 2024 at 4:15 am>I guess it’s not too visible for anime-only people at this point, but pacing got incredibly slow with 6 minutes of mostly monologues (even if they are important) at the end of this episode .
My anime-only self most certainly noticed that. It’s the first time I’ve felt bored watching this series.
Nadavu
September 15, 2024 at 8:52 pmI’d like to point out that what is often referred to as “Anna’s arc”, aka, the first 4 episodes, is not in fact very Anna centered. She’s only slightly more prominent than Lemon and Chika, which makes it an introductory arc to the story, if anything. I imagine that the last two episodes would, therefore, focus on her.
You can tell Chika feels comfortable around Nukumizu since he’s the only person she openly talks down to without having to type it on her phone a-la Celty. It’s that paradoxical mix of timidity and arrogance, not seen since WataMote, that makes me team Komari.
My favorite moment: Nukumizu dissing the writing quality of Anna’s play (perhaps a bit of jealousy there?)
Second favorite: Chihaya whipping together a lethal air gun capable of penetrating soda cans, then allowing uninformed visitors to shot it. That girl is a menace.
Simone
September 16, 2024 at 7:55 pmHonestly it’s not that I don’t expect that kind of thing to happen with Nukumizu too, but it feels too appropriate for it to be a final arc, the wrap-up point of the entire story, and while I’m not sure if the LNs are concluded at all, it’s pretty obvious this one season wouldn’t cover that far anyway. So yeah, in the end this is more com than rom – plenty of comedy ABOUT romance, but very little romance to actually follow. It’s like that graphic novel about common New Yorkers witnessing Marvel super heroes and super villains fighting it out from afar. There’s at least three more romance anime happening in this school, and this is really just the behind the scenes featurette for them.
Guardian Enzo
September 16, 2024 at 8:25 pmI wouldn’t expect it to happen this season anyway, and the LNs are not over. But my point was more that I don’t expect it to happen at all.
And just to be clear, I don’t see it as a romance thing at all. Just an arc focused on him figuring out his own identity instead of being a bodge on everything else’s breakdowns.
Brian Guy
September 18, 2024 at 4:19 amThis series being what it is, there are no arcs in which romantic shenanigans don’t play a substantial role. That said (and avoiding any sort of content-based spoilerage), Kazu will get the opportunity to look at himself more and more closely and more and more honestly as the next season progresses. Not one arc, but as an overarching (if secondary) theme.
Nicc
September 24, 2024 at 6:19 amAll of the prep work is finished and it’s time for the festival to begin. Tsukinoki picks up Komari to give her a ride to school. That, and to show off the BL drama CDs she’s playing in the car. Do new cars in Japan still come with CD players? I still miss those, even if I can load a lot more music from a phone with Android Auto/Apple Carplay. I can still remember when cars had tape decks.
The focus is indeed on Komari and Nukumizu, though everybody gets at least some screen time, including the student council. Komari is going to have a difficult time dealing with the eccentric personalities there, I’m thinking. At the very least, the Lit Club is off the chopping block for now as the stuco Prez liked what she saw when she stopped by. That’s at least one less thing for the club to worry about. Otherwise, the exhibit was big success and drew in over a hundred visitors, which is indeed pretty good. While she did help out with the prep, it seems that Yakishio was too busy with the track club with the Lit Club that day. With the way she handled that lad (I don’t think it’s the first time she’s done this), she’s got the makings for a track hustler, if there’s such a thing. Yanami takes over and gives Komari and Nukumizu a break and insists that they actually go enjoy the festival instead of holing up somewhere.
Indeed, the two of them are good together and to the point that Nukumizu does ask Komari to call him as “Onii-chan” so that others won’t get the wrong idea. They’re lucky that Kaju wasn’t listening in at the time. She happens to be there too and watching from a distance. She’s not interacting with him as she wants to see the raw footage, like filming an animal documentary. As for other details… Argh, it’s been over a week now since this episode as it’s a late post. Right, Tsukinoko gives Komari and Tamaki some alone time as they won’t be seeing each other that much from now on. The festival is a success for the new president, but she’s got a big hurdle to get over there will be a meeting for the club presidents coming up. The club was able to help her out with the festival, but she’ll be on her own with the meeting. As somebody who never got used to speaking in public, it’s rough.