Setting aside the rose-colored nostalgia, it’s not like the first season of Aharen-san was free of some clunkers for me. It just feels that way, because it’s the good stuff you remember. And with this series the good stuff was really, really good. Still, I’m a big frustrated with the first three episodes (well, two of them) of this season. I hate to see any time wasted on the series’ “B” game, most especially because it’s adapting like 50% more material than S1 did.

Still, at least it’s a B game and not a D game. And we did get a couple of top-tier chapters here, starting with an extremely silly one which basically consisted of Raidou splitting his pants and the chain of events that sets off. Namely, Reina freaking out and Matsuboshi unknowingly rattling off a series of butt puns (I don’t envy the translator this week). Reina does everything in her power to cover for him (literally), made especially challenging because it’s the week of the undoukai. But here’s my question – why was that old dude putting a surfboard on his car? But because this is Aharen-san wa Hakarenai, naturally no one asks that question.

Of course, all this would have been simple if Reina had simply told Matsuboshi what happened. But then we wouldn’t have been treated to his convincing himself that his bod had leveled up in her esteem through his chivalry. Or that she was determined to spank him for overreaching himself, and submitting wilfully to his punishment. In the end Raidou and Reina both manage to get out in front of the problem, but somehow that just makes things worse…

The best chapter this week was the sports festival itself, which focused on the dreaded relay race – the true final boss of sports day. Ishikawa-kun is set to be the anchor for Class B, and Ooshiro-san and Riku are both fast runners. But Reina is stressing hard because she’s not very fast (unsurprisingly), despite everyone’s efforts to reassure her. So Raidou takes it on himself to coach her, from keeping those toes up to straightening her back to how to complete an underhanded baton pass. It’s worth noting that the underhand pass is still praised as the fastest in Japan, but rarely used in other countries.

There’s no sense of irony to this – it’s just abjectly sweet the way these two care for each other. Matsuboshi – because he is who he is – dedicates himself wholly to leveling Reina up (and he’s a damn good coach), and she’s inestimably grateful (top “aware” moment of the season so far). But Ishikawa hurts himself in club, and Raidou-kun has to take over as the anchor. I thought for a sec he’d turn out to be awful, which would have been darkly hilarious – but no, he’s predictably heroic. I would ask, though – if you were doing a cavalry event, would you have Raidou be the rider and not the horse?

Lastly we get another too-long sidebar with Tamanaha-san. She’s just not that interesting or funny compared to the two leads and the best side characters, and I don’t really know why she’s getting so much focus. This third act is somewhat salvaged by one of those best side characters – Ren-kun – showing up. Riku becomes the latest to mistake him for Reina, and he’s certainly every bit as adorable. But his personality is much more assertive, as Riku observes. The bit where he gives her advice is pretty funny (and it’s spot-on). If we’re going the side character route, I’d prefer it sticks to siblings as much as possible.