That’s our second anime title drop in barely over a week. Not quite as dramatic as when Lt. Tsurumi did it, and it wasn’t the character one might have expected. But it certainly fit. As I mentioned earlier in the week one of the nice things about this season is that every series I’m covering scratches a different itch. With Seihantai na Kimi to Boku the vibe is just incredibly chill – we’re basically watching a bunch of clueless adolescents trying to figure it out. That could be stressful viewing but it’s not here, mainly because they all have each others’ backs. And the title is one of the universal truths of the premise.

This episode was a bit of a departure in that the non-A couple focus ran all the way through it. Even when Tani and Suzuki were spotlighted it was largely in how they impacted Yamada and Nishi (clearly the B-couple now).  Micchan is still around, bumming about how high school just isn’t as much fun as middle school was, and how he misses his “idiot” crew. Which, by the way, I totally get. In America very few kids go to private high schools, so it’s far more common for classmates to stay together through high school than it is in Japan.

Kentarou is the one who drops the title, and – obviously – it’s in relation to himself and Natsumi. And he’s certainly not wrong. The introvert-extrovert divide is an obvious one (they come in many sub-classes though, as Makeine portrayed so well). But another big divide is people who think too much and who think too little, and that’s where Nishi and Yamada land. That trait tends to follow the I/E divide most of the time, but it’s not inexorably tied to it (though it is here). I feel like Seihantai is pretty deeply wedded to the “opposites attract” theory. I mean most romances follow that pattern, but with this series it’s the guiding principle.

Then we have Taira, for me hands down the funniest character in the cast. His opposites attract time is coming, but for now he’s still very much in the observer of life role. As much as he tries not to get drawn into the lives of the people he internally roasts, Taira can’t help himself. He wants friends, probably even a girlfriend – on some level the one-man Greek chorus thing isn’t fulfilling him. Miyu miming speaking to him while he had his earbuds in was hilarious – even Yuusuke smiled. But for Shuuji it’s especially hard seeing Yuusuke grow socially, because he’s every bit as awkward as Shuuji is and his growth serves as a reminder of Shuuji’s lack of it.

Tani-kun, in fact, comes to Taira-kun for advice when Suzuki-san seems inordinately interested in his time with Nishi-san. That’s interesting in its own right – Taira isn’t the most obvious source for relationship advice. While Taira is inexperienced he does observe people carefully, and his assumption – that Suzuki was jealous – is the most logical one. It’s Honda-san that Nishi goes to for Yamada advice, of course. This is another polar opposites scenario, except on the friend level. Hon-chan hilariously notes that she vaguely dislikes everyone she doesn’t know well.

Nishi is grinding on the fact that she doesn’t know why her heart is pounding whenever she’s with Yamada, because she has no comfort level with boys. Is it him, or would any Y-chromosomer do it? This is another “too much-too little” pair, and Honda’s advice reflects that – what difference does it make as long as you feel it? This argument – “don’t look for problems that aren’t there yet” – is one someone like Natsumi could never come up with independently. But in this instance it’s good advice. The worst thing that can happen is that Nishi realizes it isn’t Kensuke specifically that makes her doki-doki, but gains the valuable experience that will help her tell the difference next time.

As it turns out Miyu isn’t jealous at all – she’s just lamped the fact that Nishi is probably the one Yamada is into. This is actually a mild disappointment for Tani, because – as Shuuji spotted – he was kind of turned on at the idea that he could make a girl jealous. But Miyu doesn’t roll that way – nor Kensuke for that matter. she’s part of team idiot, the sort of kids that can amuse themselves for hours playing with a bunch of discarded children’s toys. The world needs Yamadas and Suzukis – nothing would ever happen if everyone was like Nishi and Tani. If you believe the theory behind this series, anyway.