Random Curiosity

「歌声・悪者」 (Utagoe / Warumono)
“Singing Voice / Bad Fellow”

Episode at a Glance:
Paying a visit to the Saiga mansion, Megumi confesses her feelings to Yahiro and asks him to go out with her, which he agrees to do so, provided that she can show him a good time on a test date. Back at the Hakusenkan greenhouse, Akira informs the others that Hikari is sick, so Kei suggests paying her a visit and invites himself along. While everyone agrees to go as well, Megumi says she already has plans and meets up with Yahiro later on. Despite all the date suggestions Megumi has, Yahiro makes everything difficult for her and later gets traumatized by her singing. With Megumi all depressed, Yahiro suggests that she go home as she probably doesn’t like him anyway, but she insists that she does, so he tells her to talk to him without her sketchbook. Determined, Megumi throws her sketchbook away and says that she communicates in writing to protect her singing voice, which she realizes is somewhat pointless given how everyone reacts to her singing. Thinking to herself, Megumi also recalls how she decided to become Yahiro’s girlfriend in hopes of changing him for the better, after hearing that Tadashi is now going out with Akira and that he likes her as well. Having heard enough of her explanations, Yahiro tells her to stop talking.

At the Hanazono house, the rest of the S.A class finds out that Hikari self-induced her fever by getting overexcited about a shell gathering event, which her parents leave for. Surprised at the ridiculous reason, they then find Hikari in a dellusional state that is inexplicably drawn to Kei. On their date, Yahiro suddenly asks Megumi for the lunch box he assumed she prepared, causing her to scrounge her bag for whatever food she can find. While Yahiro figures the snacks she pulls out are simply for herself, he eats a bit anyway, before giving the rest back to Megumi. He then comments on her weight and appearance, so Megumi comes back with lipstick on, which Yahiro teases her about further. Meanwhile, Kei is trying to cook a meal for Hikari, who suddenly shows up behind him saying she wants to try touching him. Unable to contain himself with this inadvertent teasing, Kei relieves his built-up anguish outside. Megumi on the other hand has her hands full trying to keep Yahiro entertained and ends up asking him a lot of questions about what he wants to do. Pissed off that she’s speaking again, Yahiro takes off, but returns shortly after with a magnetic writing board. Reaffirming that her voice is important to her, he tells her to use it instead, which makes Megumi realize how considerate he’s being.

In order to keep Hikari in bed, Tadashi and Akira have tied her up, but she dives head first out the window in search of Kei. Unphased by her fall, Hikari randomly confesses to Kei, which throws him off guard enough for her to break in. As for Yahiro, he continues to distance himself a bit from Megumi, even though he was touched by her gratitude earlier. Megumi then catches sight of Ryuu and Jun, so she drags Yahiro around in order to avoid them, but they still end up being discovered. Seeing the predicament they’re in, Yahiro lies about forcing her to come along with him and possibly using her for something, so Megumi declares that they’re actually going out and asks Ryuu and Jun not to interfere with their date, much to their shock. Elsewhere, Yahiro figures that Megumi’s doing this for Akira’s sake, but he says there’s no need to as he can’t possibly do anything that would bother her. Realizing how self-sacrificial he’s being, Megumi sings a song for him in an attempt to cheer him up, after which she asks him if he had fun, but Yahiro still won’t admit that he did. However, Megumi simply thinks that she can always play this game of his again and that he’d better prepare himself for next time. Back at the Hanazono house, the others are exhausted from trying to keep Hikari under control and Kei is hiding from her on the roof.

Next Episode:
「スイッチ・崖っぷち」 (Suicchi / Gakeppuchi)
“Switch / Cliffhanger”

Impressions:
Wow, Megumi speaks for the first time and sings well too; that’s two series firsts in one episode. As for her voice, she sounds just like Takagaki Ayahi’s usual roles, so all you need to do is think Isurugi Noe from true tears, Feldt Grace from Gundam 00, or Asakura Otome from D.C. II ~Da Capo II~ if you’re wondering what she sounds like. Anyway, while I’m not sure if they’ll revisit this pairing in the remaining episodes, Yahiro and Megumi didn’t seem as weird of a couple as I thought they’d be once things improved a bit and Megumi could be more like herself around him. However, it turns out that Megumi was just trying to go out with Yahiro so that he wouldn’t ruin things for Akira/Tadashi and the rest of the S.A class. With that said, I think they could make almost any pairing feasible in this series as all they’d need to do is establish one eye opener moment, much like how they’ve shown us with Jun and Sakura.

I found that most of the comedic flair this episode came from a fever-ridden Hikari, whose random advances on Kei freaked him out so much that he could barely contain himself. It’s quite amusing watching the normally calm and composed Kei lose himself to the point where he’s actually trying to stay away from Hikari. Megumi on the other hand was just cute to watch, but Yahiro was being his usual cold self again, so I was actually hoping she’d smack him at some point. Of course, Megumi’s too kindhearted for that, but at least she got through to Yahiro a bit in her own way. Judging from the preview, the next episode is about Jun and Sakura, but it looks like we’ll finally see some more of Kei and Hikari as well.

Finally, this episode featured Megumi’s character song, which I find sounds a lot better than the other character songs Ayahi has performed in the past.

Cast:
- Hanazono Hikari (華園 光) / Gotou Yuuko (後藤 邑子)
- Takishima Kei (滝島 彗) / Fukuyama Jun (福山 潤)
- Toudou Akira (東堂 明) / Nabatame Hitomi (生天目 仁美)
- Karino Tadashi (狩野 宙) / Shimono Hiro (下野 紘)
- Yamamoto Megumi (山本 芽) / Takagaki Ayahi (高垣 彩陽)
- Yamamoto Jun (山本 純) / Yonaga Tsubasa (代永 翼)
- Tsuji Ryuu (辻 竜) / Horie Kazuma (堀江 一眞)
- Saiga Yahiro (雑賀 八尋) / Taniyama Kishou (谷山 紀章)
- Hikari’s father (光の父) / Imaruoka Atsushi (伊丸岡 篤)
- Hikari’s mother (光の母) / Nabei Makiko (鍋井 まき子)