Finally. No other word really fits when Aharen-san wa Hakarenai at last gives us an all-Raidou episode after inexplicably altering the formula for most of the season. It wasn’t vintage Aharen-san on the comedy front, but it’s clear by now that this season is overall going for a more serious tone. That makes sense given that it’s adapting the manga up to the ending (presumably). As long as the dynamic remains centered on the main pair I’m good with that, though the more wild flights of Matsuboshi imagination we get the better.

Birthdays are the driver of the story at first. A chance encounter with Ren means Matsuboshi knows Reina’s birthday is coming up. It’s interesting that she didn’t tell him but as it happens, their birthday is the same day (there are just no coincidences in animanga) and he didn’t tell her either. Raidou knowing Reina’s birthday and not what to get her leads to some misconceptions, but not from the expected source (at least until she shows an interest in taiyaki). Eventually he flat-out asks, and even then still doesn’t come clean about his own being at the same time.

The full-size doll thing is obviously pure silliness, but that’s the sort of conceit Aharen-san can always get away with for me. I find it fascinating that Aharen would think Raidou wanted a doll of himself, but never mind… Next up is a diary chapter, and if you think about it, that Matsuboshi-kun was a chuunibyou makes perfect sense. It suits his imagination to a T. It’s very Raidou that he has none of the cliche embarrassment over this – in fact the next day he’s happily sharing it with Reina. She expresses interest in the diary idea, and Matsuboshi (always up on the latest trends) suggests an exchange diary (“analog social media” indeed). I’d worry about most teen relationships being strong enough to handle that but not with these two.

This leads to a signature Matsuboshi imagination riff, when she hands him the diary and it’s full of adorable pictures of apples that he gets a bit wrong, to say the least. Turns out those were Ren-kun’s, and Matsuboshi can go back to his usual chuuni food description entries. After this the focus turns to Xmas, and Ishikawa-kun suggests repurposing the joint birthday accoutrements for a Christmas party. But Raidou (good for him) demurs – this is his and Reina’s first Christmas as a couple, and he wants to do couple things. Which the pair proceed to do, with Aharen taking extreme care in picking out an outfit and hairstyle (and nailing it with both).

Not too much comedy in this last bit, but it’s full-on MatsuReina feels. It’s in-character for Reina to get a fever just from getting excited over a date, and Matsuboshi winds up carrying her home and putting her to bed. When he hears the heretofore only legendary mom walk into the house, he poses Reina with the doll (which she’s tacitly admitted she hugs when she’s alone) in hopes of escaping the mom’s attention. He comes clean but Ai (Minase Inori) has already figured that out. When they sit down to chat she’s even more nervous than he is, but it’s clear Ai-san has heard a lot about this boy from her daughter.

Matsuboshi being an incredibly supportive boyfriend is not news at this point, but the college reveal certainly confirms it. Through the exchange diary he knows she dreams of being a teacher, and he’s encouraged her to pursue it despite the obvious challenges. That includes her seeming intent to go to university out of town, which means (unless he follows her) they’ll be separated at a crucial time in their relationship. I don’t blame Mom for her reaction to this – if I had a daughter Matsuboshi is certainly the kind of guy I’d hope she wound up with.