There were only three cats in this episode! What will this show do without its cats?! All kidding aside, plot-wise I found this episode pretty enjoyable. The focus this time is on Kaname, the tsun tsun serious member of the group, who gets a cold after Chizuru forces everyone to practice for a mixer outside during the rainy season. There's also a little backstory, where the flashback to preschool segment is allowed to run its course during the first half instead of being randomly spaced throughout the episode. I liked this setup much better, although I still have a problem with the kids acting a bit old for their age...and just calling it precocious doesn't cut it. Anyway, during the flashback I thought that we were getting an explanation for why Kaname acts a bit strangely around their teacher, but it turned out that both of them haven't made the connection from the past to the people in the present, so I guess that there's more going on there. Also, surprisingly enough, another girl character was introduced this episode! Apparently she's a childhood friend, and Kaname's classic tsundere reaction means that I'm auto-shipping them. And I can't forget Kaname's mother! She's something that you really have to see for yourself... So while I did get a lot of enjoyment from this episode, particularly in the second half when things turned mostly to comedy (the dog pile on the bed was a particularly funny moment, as well as the fact that they walked off with all of Kaname's notes), but I have to admit that I've seen this before done better. What Lucky Star pulls off in a minute takes this show half an episode. I've come to like the slow and steady pace that this anime has established, but what's going to happen when it gets to the "drama" and "romance" aspects listed in its genres on MAL? Will it adjust the pace to accommodate for that? Finally, I know that last week I promised to stop complaining about the animation, but in this episode it really bugged me because... well, there was hardly any animation at all. The majority of the episode consisted of still images with only the character mouths moving. When I watch anime, I expect, you know animation. I don't think that this is the kind of show that's going to need a huge budget for its finale. Unless CG cherry blossoms cost a lot more than I thought. Anyway, next week has a festival. Hopefully Shu doesn't wear something with flower print... That could get confusing... Images from Crunchyroll.com.
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