I enjoy the sort of series that’s more than it appears, and sneaks up on you in subtle ways.  And that describes Kai Byoui Ramune to the letter.  It can be taken literally, and I would say still be entertaining if it is – it’s fun visually and the writing is pretty sharp (including the humor).  But it’s a show where you have to see around corners, watch the background, and listen for what the characters are really saying rather than focus on their words.  If you’re really present when you watch, I think you’re amply rewarded.

More and more I get the feeling that Kuro is central to a lot of Dr. Ramune’s mysteries, and much more than he seems.  There are a couple of interesting throwaway Kuro moments bookending the episode, starting with his ability to smell the byoui victim-attracting incense that Sensei says “ordinary” people can’t smell.  That coupled with Ayame’s offhand remark at the end of last week’s ep suggests Kuro is a latent spirit medium of some sort.  It’s also notable that Ramune-sensei said “let’s go home” at the end of this episode – seemingly ending any doubt as to whether he and Kuro do in fact live together for whatever reason.

This week’s mysterious disease is chili-pepper fingernails, the cause of which I confess ended up being different from my initial guess.  It’s too early to say for certain, but a recurring theme to these byoui is deception – deception of others and especially oneself.  Living a lie, for whatever reason, causes the truth to build up like a poison in the body and search for any avenue by which to escape.  In this instance it afflicts a first-year high schooler named Takaharu – “Plain Old Haru” to his classmates.  At first glance he seems unremarkable, a nondescript loner who doesn’t stand out in any way.  The very description of a plain yogurt supporting character.

Ramune has seen this before, and when it becomes clear to him that the boy knows the cause of his chili appendages he gives him a magical item and leaves him to find his way on his own.  Sensei has an ulterior motive here, but his prescription appears to be the right one.  Haru, as it happens, is exceptional and desperately trying to hide it.  The reason is that since middle-school he’s constantly overshadowed his best friend Bungou at everything – at track, on exams, with girls.  Having accidentally witnessed how frustrating this was to Bungou Haru decides to live a lie for the sake of his friend (I thought there might be even more to it than that, but in this instance I think Haru’s feelings were exactly as they seemed).

This is an angle we don’t see too often – someone exceptional trying to pretend they’re not, and suffering for it.  After a chance meeting on the street, Ramune and Kuro bring Haru along for okonomiyaki (food is a definite recurring motif in this series – and Sensei getting a craving for pasta with chili was an amusing addition).  Sensei gets straight to the point: the key word here is pity, and it’s the root of this misfortune.  Knowing one is being pitied is among the greatest humiliations there is, especially when it’s someone you respect and see as a rival.  Haru has unwittingly committed the gravest betrayal of his friendship with Bungou he could possibly commit.

Haru accepts Bungou’s challenge to race him honestly, which Ramune-sensei and Kuro sneak onto campus in hilariously unconvincing high schooler cosplay to officiate.  Haru may lose his 100 meter footrace (a satisfyingly realistic outcome) but the clippers make it clear that he’s a person of exceptional nature, perhaps someone we’ll see again.  With that he’s able to unleash the clippers and remove the chili peppers – which now possess residual powers and may have been Sensei’s target all along.  Also of note is that the MacGuffins of next week’s episode made a cameo in this one (just as Ramune’s sensei did last week) – a nice little touch which makes me want to go and check if the other patients did the same.