(CR) Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman (More than a married couple, but not lovers.)

[Frontier]

Twintail Akari! She's in the running for as many hairstyles as Shikimori at this point! Although I definitely aslo appreciated the visual of her and Gyaru Pals's legs in their gym clothes :naugthy:.

Seems like Akari's friends already have boyfriends which is why they're not too worked up about the marriage practical or going too far with it...and Akari has her own mixed thoughts about it between desiring Minami and being with Jiro .

Minami is the typical based ikemen stud, having the looks, the heroic-qualities, and seemingly the eyes of both girls Jiro is interested in. Also we get a nice fantasy of Shiori and Akari in dresses...and Sadaharu, in case you wanted to see that .

Ah, the classic gym storage room romance moment...gotta love how Akari's shirt went up to expose her bellybutton when Minami protected her. And of course it leads to the classic mistaken kiss moment as well .

Akari seems relieved that Minami can still stir her heart, meaning she still has feelings for him, but she feels relieved probably because she was worried she didn't have feelings for him anymore because of her falling for Jiro. I guess the difference between a crush and a genuine feeling of love can be a thin line to tread over .

Minami seems to just be going along with whatever Shiori wants, but what does he want himself? Shiori wasn't being that subtle that she wants to switch partners with Jiro, but does Minami care? Does he have feelings for anyone ?

Peak comedy from Sadaharu here. First it turns into an episode of Duel Monsters with Sadaharu getting trapped in the Shadow Realm, then he does a next episode preview of the romantic drama, and then saves himself by realizing how badly him trying to defuse the tension would go. And then he falls for Minami because he actually remembered his name .

It's funny how Jiro's 8-bit RPG reflects his love life. But don't leave Lancia alone, man! Don't do her dirty like that !

Gotta appreciate how Akari is always lounging around their house in nothing but a shirt/dress that barely covers up her legs and panties .

So of course Akari didn't actually kiss Minami, and they make fun of how cliche that is, but that just made it worse and brought her to tears because Minami didn't do anything because he probably doesn't see her that way. But who is there, right in front of her, and comforts her when she needs it? Jiro. And I wonder, with that look in her eye when he hugged her and let her cry on him, if she realized Jiro makes her heart beat differently than Minami does...

Look at Akari twirling around in Jiro's shirt! She really rocks the boyfriend shirt look. and then she cozies up with Jiro and is practically flirting with him! It's almost too much for one man to take. Jiro even received a Trophy for it !

Jiro can definitely appreciate the fact that he took Akari's first kiss and she'll always remember it...even if she complains about how bad a kiss it was, yet she won't stop talking about it and yelling his name at him. If that's not a sign she's really into him, I don't know what is .

[stray]

Originally Posted by Frontier

It's funny how Jiro's 8-bit RPG reflects his love life. But don't leave Lancia alone, man! Don't do her dirty like that !

I don't really get why he's playing what looks like a Game Boy Advance in 2022. He's a bit less of a wet noodle lately too.

[FlareKnight]

Akari can definitely max out the cuteness when she goes for it. Getting comforted really did put her into quite the positive mood there.

I still find it amusing that Jiro can get so pessimistic when he's in such a good position. He's already got the childhood friend pining for him and Akari is already questioning her own feelings when it comes to him as well. Things are going great .

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by stray

I don't really get why he's playing what looks like a Game Boy Advance in 2022. He's a bit less of a wet noodle lately too.

He prefers the classics .

[frubam]

Man... I.. definitely could not get into most of this episode. I am honestly blaming Romantic Killer; when all the little annoying nuances were happening(the storeroom scene, Jiro moping, semi-confessions 'randomly' interrupted) I could do nothing but double back thinking of that series and how refreshing saying what you need when you need to say it is. Of course they are different kinds of series, but just finished watching it, I could not help but compare.

The friend scene talking about cards... not only was that super annoying to interrupt Jirou and Shiori at that specific moment, his joke about cards fell completely flat to me. Maybe its something card collectors could understand, or maybe I was just annoyed by his entrance.

I struggled to make it to the end, but the t-shirt scene was at least cute. Their relationship was actually enjoyable to watch without all the annoying melodrama focused behind it.

[Lex79]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Akari can definitely max out the cuteness when she goes for it. Getting comforted really did put her into quite the positive mood there.

I still find it amusing that Jiro can get so pessimistic when he's in such a good position. He's already got the childhood friend pining for him and Akari is already questioning her own feelings when it comes to him as well. Things are going great .

Too bad he isn't aware, his life could be much better...though I don't blame him, one girl made no secret that she likes another guy and the other from his perspective friend zoned him.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by frubam

Man... I.. definitely could not get into most of this episode. I am honestly blaming Romantic Killer; when all the little annoying nuances were happening(the storeroom scene, Jiro moping, semi-confessions 'randomly' interrupted) I could do nothing but double back thinking of that series and how refreshing saying what you need when you need to say it is. Of course they are different kinds of series, but just finished watching it, I could not help but compare.

I guess to me it worked because of the execution and that it felt natural to the kind of series this is trying to be and where the characters are at at this point in their relationship.

The friend scene talking about cards... not only was that super annoying to interrupt Jirou and Shiori at that specific moment, his joke about cards fell completely flat to me. Maybe its something card collectors could understand, or maybe I was just annoyed by his entrance.

If you've watched any Yu-Gi-Oh! it's absolutely hilarious in how accurate it is .

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by frubam

Man... I.. definitely could not get into most of this episode. I am honestly blaming Romantic Killer; when all the little annoying nuances were happening(the storeroom scene, Jiro moping, semi-confessions 'randomly' interrupted) I could do nothing but double back thinking of that series and how refreshing saying what you need when you need to say it is. Of course they are different kinds of series, but just finished watching it, I could not help but compare.

The friend scene talking about cards... not only was that super annoying to interrupt Jirou and Shiori at that specific moment, his joke about cards fell completely flat to me. Maybe its something card collectors could understand, or maybe I was just annoyed by his entrance.

I struggled to make it to the end, but the t-shirt scene was at least cute. Their relationship was actually enjoyable to watch without all the annoying melodrama focused behind it.

Yeah the majority of the show is bound to be just like this. I actually found the yugioh friend to be a bit refreshing in middle of all that .

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by frubam

The friend scene talking about cards... not only was that super annoying to interrupt Jirou and Shiori at that specific moment, his joke about cards fell completely flat to me. Maybe its something card collectors could understand, or maybe I was just annoyed by his entrance.

It's all Yugioh. It wasn't bad, good enough that they went all the way even turning the guy into Kuriboh instead of just doing one popular joke, so I'll give them points on that. Not a winner, but it could have been worse.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

It's all Yugioh. It wasn't bad, good enough that they went all the way even turning the guy into Kuriboh instead of just doing one popular joke, so I'll give them points on that. Not a winner, but it could have been worse.

It was the next episode preview and getting stuck in a card that did it for me .

[Frontier]

Nothing can beat the sight of Akari performing her wifely duties of fixing Jiro's tie and giving him a goodbye hug first thing in the morning! Just try to keep your eyes up, Jiro-kun .

Seriously, Shiori, listen to Mei. She's like the perfect wingwoman and everything she says is right in as far as Jiro obviously likes you and you need to make your move before Akari does. Although I'd say another caveat to all that praise Mei is giving her is that Mei herself might have feelings for Shiori, particularly later on when she seemed a little sad with how things are going .

Even Akari's gal pals can see the obvious that things are progressing between her and Jiro despite her denials, although they're not pressing her about it. But I don't think they take her still being hung up on Minami now as seriously as Akari does .

So 10 pairs have already become official couples? I figured that would happen at some point. Now how many of them are banging already ?

Well, points to Shiori for at least actually trying to kiss Jiro, even if she chickened out in the end. By comparison Jiro at least seems more willing to physically make his move sometimes .

Ah, I see now it's Akari's turn to be jealous of Jiro and Shiori together .

Nothing more couple-y than watching the stars together on a balcony! Especially with Akari in that loungewear !

I thought it did kind of stand out that Jiro was still calling her by her last name despite how comfortable she is calling him Jiro, and Jiro finally calling her "Akari" is a definite critical hit. So much so that she practically gives the game away by saying "It's like I'm the only one in love here!" Akari may think her emotions are mixed up, but her words tell another story .

They're still a school at the end of the day so in-between trying to get these couples to get along together they need to make sure they're still prioritizing their studies. With gyaru's their academic acumen is remarkably inconsistent, so Jiro has to make sure Akari is ready for all their tests coming up. And personally I think a study date with your man is better than a group date with some guys .

So Akari's not dumb so much as she just doesn't like studying...and would rather seduce Jiro than study. Very effective seduction at that! She knows how to get his hear stirring, maybe too much so because he turns the table on her and once again the two look like they're about to have sex on the couch. I guess it's a good thing Jiro got undone by a nosebleed because I'm not sure if Akari was ready for it, she seemed to have a lot of mixed feelings between giving in or being uncomfortable with it .

Akari realizing that her and Jiro's relationship is more than just study together...when they finally achieve A-rank and can switch, I expect a lot of mixed feelings .

[Decel]

What's a letdown is how it seems only the 2 main pairs are in the practical. I don't get the feeling from the other students (excluding the scores and the occasional he said she said).

For example, Mei and Jiro's BFF (forgot his name), or Akari's friends, none of them even give a hint of being matched and living as a couple.

[Lex79]

Nice to see that Jirou has some libido and can take action when he's seduced, though of course it's too son for anything to happen.
Akari is closer to win him than she thinks, but I can understand her unwillingness to let go her previous crush.
Shiori also could have probably won had she managed to kiss him but her shyness got in the way. Sadly for her, sometimes in life you have to take risks in order to get what you want, and time is not on her side given that Jirou and Akari keep getting closer.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Decel

What's a letdown is how it seems only the 2 main pairs are in the practical. I don't get the feeling from the other students (excluding the scores and the occasional he said she said).

For example, Mei and Jiro's BFF (forgot his name), or Akari's friends, none of them even give a hint of being matched and living as a couple.

They've mentioned them (Akari's friends have boyfriends so they do the bare minimum of commitment in their pairings) but none of them are as plot relevant as the main characters.

[frubam]

Much better than last week's ep for me. I thought for a second it would be the reverse scenario of last week; Jiro being seen with Shiori, and Akari getting into some mopey moodswing. While it did affect her later in the episode(the feelings when they were cuddling) it wasn't blatant like Jirou last episode, so it came across much more organically.

The cuddling part was very well done; it looked amazing 'sexy'(for lack of a more sophisticated word) and I'm surprised Jirou didn't blow his junk right there. Fortunately like Lex79 said, he handled it reasonably given his lack of experience with women. On the Akari side, it was really nice to see the usual bit of teasing, but also a sense of comfortability in her being in Jirou's arms and lap.

On a side note, someone way earlier harkened this series to Toradora. When I think about that series in comparison to this, the biggest thing is the lack of Tenjin. Toradora had a complete square and all 4(Taiga, Ryuuji, Minori, Kitamura) and all stayed relatively in the mix of the series, but Tenjin feels like a non-issue against the development between Jirou, Akari, and Shiori. I feel that this will weaken his resolve as a character when he(Tenjin) ultimately "makes the move"(when/whatever that will be) and it will feel like it came out of nowhere because he hasn't properly been built up yet. Time will tell I guess; still a number of eps left.

Originally Posted by Decel

What's a letdown is how it seems only the 2 main pairs are in the practical. I don't get the feeling from the other students (excluding the scores and the occasional he said she said).

For example, Mei and Jiro's BFF (forgot his name), or Akari's friends, none of them even give a hint of being matched and living as a couple.

Yeah, got that feeling too. Like some of the pairs should have ranked really high, which means there should be more lovey-dovey couples being shown(maybe they did show them, and I just missed it =0v). They could have at least given a glimpse at how the high-ranking pairs behave like. The only explanation I have to this is that they literally act like normal students EXCEPT when they reach their co-habitation dorm room then do stuffs to earn points(which actually sound like the more probable thing to do if you're not serious, but who knows).

[Frontier]

Feels like Jiro and Akari get closer to actually having sex than most anime couples .

Originally Posted by frubam

On a side note, someone way earlier harkened this series to Toradora. When I think about that series in comparison to this, the biggest thing is the lack of Tenjin. Toradora had a complete square and all 4(Taiga, Ryuuji, Minori, Kitamura) and all stayed relatively in the mix of the series, but Tenjin feels like a non-issue against the development between Jirou, Akari, and Shiori. I feel that this will weaken his resolve as a character when he(Tenjin) ultimately "makes the move"(when/whatever that will be) and it will feel like it came out of nowhere because he hasn't properly been built up yet. Time will tell I guess; still a number of eps left.

Minami's own feelings seem particularly enigmatic beyond just going along with what Shiori wants. At this point he feels more like an obstruction than a character because functionally he's keeping Jiro away from Shiori and he's the reason Akari won't 100% commit to herself that she's in love with Jiro because of her crush on him.

[Alchemist007]

For all the attempted titillation there hasn't been much progress, unless you count a retracted confession.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

For all the attempted titillation there hasn't been much progress, unless you count a retracted confession.

Make that two retracted confessions .

[FlareKnight]

They really have taken this as far as they can without it just turning into hentai . I don't know how they will spend the second half of the show if they are this all over each other in episode 5!

Even at the point where Akari is accidentally confessing. I'll give her this one. She's caught right up to her romantic rival. Well somewhat. Shiori could still instantly win this thing with a short sentence if she had the nerve to just confess. But considering Akari is starting from scratch she's made crazy progress. Even if she did walk back her confession...she's far enough along that she's confessing.

[EroKing]

Is fresh to see young people being horny without being too horny, especially from both the main leads. Whether they end up together or not, this marriage practical is helping them both get some valuable experience in "how to relationship". Totally do not want them to tone down on any of the teasing in the second half of the show either. Give me more...