The relationship between the two facets of Otome Kaijuu Caraméliser grows ever-more tenuous with each preposterous development. But it somehow it does manage to maintain a certain amount of believability on the personal side, even as the crazy ratchets up. I may just like the series a little better when it spends more time on the grounded side than on flights of fancy, but that ship has pretty much sailed I think (three modes of transportation in one sentence, woot). The relationship in terms of which side of the story was supporting the other has pretty much flipped since the early episodes.
Naturally Kuroe is stressing about the red-haired guy who basically threatened to blackmail her. But when she stumbles upon him seemingly being bullied by a bunch of grade-schoolers who call him “Yonegon”, it’s obvious something weird is going on here. Turns out that – improbably enough – the “man” is actually in fifth grade. Real name Yoneyama Daichi, he’s been dubbed “Yonegon” due to his enormous size. His comrades shun him because the girlie mag he bought for them wasn’t ecchi enough, and he soon confesses that he’s never had any friends.
If his behavior wasn’t enough to convince Kuroe that he was a little kid, Daichi has the ID card to prove it. Being the kind-hearted soul she is, Kuroe is an easy mark for his sad story, especially as they do share a certain something in terms of suffering because of their physical appearance. Daichi is understanding and non-judgmental when Kuroe tells him (some of) the truth about her condition – in fact he thinks it’s massively cool. The two of them go on to form an unlikely friendship and Kuroe even enjoys going over to Daichi’s apartment to game with him, though his lack of awareness about physical boundaries presents an obvious issue when they’re out in public.
That problem manifests itself when Arata spots the pair of them hugging and comes to the logical conclusion, though he should certainly have given Kuroe a better chance to explain herself. Things are already a bit dicey between the pair of them what with Arata’s newfound stardom, which is playing right into Kuroe’s self-esteem issues. Manager-san has even gotten him a part in the new “Godolla” movie, based on the Harugon legend. Kuroe tells Minami-kun the pair of them should break up, and to exacerbate the problem spots him and an actress from the movie hugging on-set.
Kuroe – after Daichi hugs her to hide her kaijuu parts popping out like the pure-hearted child he is – screaming out her despair for all of Tokyo to hear was the standout moment of the episode. But oh by the way, that massive winged kaijuu Rinko set loose on the world has arrived in Tokyo and seemingly made a beeline straight for Kuroe. That probably doesn’t seem very important to a teenager watching her romantic life fall apart, but Akae doesn’t seem like the type to give its big sis the space to deal with stuff while it waits…
