Jijou wo Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru pretty much doesn’t put a foot wrong.  This was my favorite arc in the manga, and given how spot on the adaptation has been you’d expect the best.  And this was great, no question about it.  But I can’t help but be a little heartbroken that it cut the extra chapter (it’s 50.5 if you’re curious) set just after the undoukai, which involves Yukiko’s video.  It’s my favorite gag in the entire manga and Dai-chan at his absolute best.  I suspected they might – it’s just a bit blue for a series this fresh-faced – but I never gave up hope right until the credits started rolling and I looked at the time bar.

Still, I must fight through the pain because there’s still a phenomenal episode to talk about here.  It starts out with Taiyou struggling to use his chopsticks left-handed (keep this episode in mind next weekend if you’re watching another romcom with kids a few years older).  Akane decides to feed him, and while even Taiyou has the modesty to blush at this, I’m quite confident Akane (unlike Taiyou a lot of the time) did it quite innocently.  Umi’s hilarious “Yup, they’re married” aside (repeated later when Akane scolds Taiyou run trying to play soccer against doctor’s orders) is perfectly representative of Jijou Tenkousei’s sense of humor.

Takada’s absence (not many grade-schoolers can run a 7.3 50 meter dash) puts quite a hole in Sensei’s plans for the event.  And in Akane’s specifically, because she was dreaming big this year after being a spectator at all her other undoukai.  If you’re wondering why animanga seems so obsessed with sports day it’s because Japanese schools are.  They much such a ridiculous production out of it that it stretches credulity.  Akane doesn’t care about personal glory – she knows she’s slower than maple syrup in the freezer.  She just wants to win, and break her own curse, and be part of it.

You know Akane must be desperate to go to Kasahara-san for help.  But “Kasahara the Swift” is a That-There Elementary School legend for her blazing speed.  She’s retired, though, having reached the age where it’s no longer either cool or girly enough to try in athletic events.  Akane’s charms of persuasion are not up there with her husband’s (whose are?) but her sheer earnestness finally thaws the ice queen just enough to get her to relent.  As for the boys, Takada applies the real thing to get bully boy Kitagawa-kun to run despite being nervous in front of crowds.  And even class bullies wither in the fact of Taiyou’s unrelenting barrage.

The star of the undoukai for me is actually Akane’s dad, who’s just so consumed with rapture at seeing Akane interact with Umi in a normal way.  He’s also hilariously unmade by Yukiko’s assertion that Taiyou promised to be back in time for the relay because “Nishimura-san is waiting for me!”  It’s all up to the doctor and the X-ray machine now – especially since Kitagawa has drunk so much tea that he’s trashed his stomach.  Kasahara-san does her part, dragging the red team from last place to second in the penultimate leg.  But happily it’s not Kitagawa waiting for her (he’s in the porta-potty), but Taiyou, about to write a new chapter in his already bulging book of legend.

There’a a great moment here after the race, when everyone is crowded around Taiyou congratulating him and he catches Akane’s eye across the field.  Slowly everyone disappears from frame as they’re only seeing each other.  Well, two great moments, as Taiyou doing a belly-flop on top of Kasahara and Akane is pretty hilarious too (and for once I don’t suspect Taiyou’s motives).  Kasahara is now seemingly entrapped, another satellite pulled in by Taiyou’s brilliance and magnetic attraction.  Another tremendous episode – I just wished they’d put the cherry on top the way the manga did.