Halfway
A moderate episode for us at the halfway mark.
This is anime original. Next time, less Hayato please.
Riho returns home and hears some suggestive dialogue between Hayato and Shiragiku. Expecting to see some naughty action, she barges through the door only to see a perfectly normal scene. It’s a typical comedy gag, but one that usually works. After, Riho decides to help Shiragiku in teaching Hayato how to “cook,” but it’s more sandwich making than cooking.
We have a random cutaway gag with Ami trying to do a Hadouken. If her tits didn’t look enormous in this shot I may have skipped this.
Ouka notices that Ami has been acting strange lately. When Hayato asks Akane if she knows what may be wrong, Akane speculates that it could be due to Ami having lost a Karate practice match several days ago. Hayato arranges for both Ouka and Ami to meet in his room after dinner.
Ami is inspired once more after Hayato and Ouka talk with her. Apparently, Ami actually tried to do a Hadoken during the match, to which she promptly got her ass kicked. The author has clearly tried to portray Ami as a bit airheaded, but I’m not sure how far he wants the audience’s opinion on Ami’s brain to drop. Also, we get another repeat gag with the dumbbell dropping onto Hayato’s laptop.
In a shocking twist, Hayato actually takes Ami up on her offer. They could have easily half assed this, but you can even see his fingers sinking into her flesh, a very nice touch.
Ouka manages to do the same with Hayato’s phone, receiving a threat for a similar fate to Ami, but Ouka has the presence of mind to run.
Another random cutaway of Shiragiku flashing Riho, who clearly seems numb to it. This has probably happened several times before.
We have some chapter swapping going on again, this time chapter 14 takes up the last third of the episode, while 15 and 16 were the first two thirds. This time, it’s easy to see why. I’ll explain later, after Hayato barges in on Akane and Ouka changing.
Not much more to say here, other than Hayato barged in on Ouka and Akane changing. The cafe was short staffed and he went up to ask for some extra help. One thing notable here is how this scene was expanded on in the anime. That shot above of the manga panel was the only service shot of the two, and as you can obviously see, the anime added a from-behind shot, and Ouka throwing the slipper. A nice touch, but I’d recommend not looking at her face in those frames.
Hayato is left to himself in the cafe after Shiragiku and Ami leave early. He ponders the nature of his relationship between himself and the girls and considers setting boundaries, but shortly after walks into the family room and is welcomed via a surprise party, one celebrating the two month anniversary of being the new cafe owner. Had the anime followed the manga sequentially, this would have been played during the last 1/3rd of the episode, which would have felt very awkward. While this is happening, Akane steps away and takes a call which leaves her looking worried and distraught. The last frame above is of Akane pulling her shirt down, and her tits look a lot bigger than they usually do, not that I’m complaining. If it weren’t obvious, next episode is definitely Akane focused, and we should get a nice shot of her in the bath.
