Remember, you can’t spell “speedo” without the “o” in “Raidou” (even if you wish you could).

A bit of a format change for Aharen-san wa Hakarenai this week, as we get a full-episode storyline. But it was a good one for the most part, so no worries. A bit less silly than usual but not so overly serious as to feel out of place. Once more we get a big focus on Tamanaha-san, whose prominent role this season is a bit of a puzzler for me. A total one-trick pony as a character and not that funny, so why the series obsesses over her after popping up from nowhere is a mystery. But it is what it is.

For the most part this was a standard beach episode, so you know what to expect. Not much runaway imagination comedy (and Eru got as much as Raidou did). Ishikawa (tragically, he still has no first name – like Matsuboshi’s sister) comes up with the idea to gather everyone for a beach trip. And he picks an island accessible only by ferry, which seems like a grand adventure for a bunch of 2nd-year high schoolers. Reina shows intense interest when he notes the island has a power spot – if you see the sun kiss the horizon with the one you love, you’ll stay together (Japan’s islands are great at manufacturing “ancient legends” as romance tourist draws). But of course Matsuboshi totally misinterprets the reason for it.

That’s the essence of Raidou’s imagination I suppose. Occam’s Razor is not a concept familiar to him, and the shortest distance between two points is rarely the most interesting. Since nobody has anything more than a school swimsuit that means a shopping trip (though for the guys an online one). All wind up in attire befitting their personality as well as their body type, and I have to say Aharen’s suit was definitely fitting in every way and the cutest of the bunch. Satou-san is determined to spoil Raidou about her choice – she’s just as determined to foil this any way she can…

Eru is a bit panicked about all this, and conjures up the idea that she needs to be ready to charter a chopper to get to the island if there’s trouble. But she has Ren, quite a neurotic little fellow, to distract her. Once on the island the kids have fun in all the usual teen beach trip ways, including having to grind their teeth on the cheap meat they can afford (but that’s often the most flavorful). Unfortunately the clouds move in before Reina and Matsuboshi can see the sunset. And also unfortunately, Ishikawa has misread (he says) the ferry schedule, and the gang misses the last boat. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but he’s the sort of kid where I wouldn’t be spectacularly shocked if he did.

Over the years I’ve ventured out to many Japanese islands (and in the Pacific Northwest before that). I’m always hyper-paranoid about missing the last boat. I’ve never done it here, but did on Victoria once (Canada had some kind of weird Canuck holiday I was unaware of), and ended up having to crash at a fleabag hotel. I felt for the kids here – Riku’s mom seems to have been the only one who flipped out, but that is one tough phone call to make. But at that age, I think I would have been secretly delighted (as long as I could find a place to stay). Alas for Matsuboshi’s imagination (the Joe Manjirou story is a fascinating one to be fair), the island is perfectly urbanized but at least that means it has plenty of cheap places to stay.

Those photos of the “IEON” mall reassure Ren and Eru, though he still gets very clingy in Reina-neenee’s absence (those siblings are endearingly close). We get a little bonus bath content after the beach content, and to gild the lily Raidou invites Aharen out to see the sunrise after they missed the sunset. And in the end, screw the first boat – they’re here anyway and their parent are already pissed, why not enjoy the beach again? That’s exactly what I would have done.