In a card game amongst Taiki’s closest friends, he must finally reveal WHO HE TRULY LOVES!

Video Review

What Stands Out About This Episode?

Ahh yes.. Teasing the MC’s biggest payoff is how this episode starts, and where it leads us to may actually be for the better. Taiki mulls over his feelings to determine what is truly romantic and what is not. Love is hard.. Love is HARD alright..

Clarifying Taiki’s Feelings

There’s nothing like teasing the very thing we want to see happen since the genesis of this story with Taiki finally confessing his feelings. However, it’s not that time yet, but it is getting VERY, VERY CLOSE! This is the episode that makes Taiki finally face his feelings head on. The scene in the woods, where Taiki is literally chasing after Chinatsu, paired with the earlier scene of Hina looking for Taiki (where he was nowhere to be found), is the perfect representation of Taiki’s “clarifying moment.”

The episode opens up by playing with the story’s biggest climactic moment, while using that anticipation to make Taiki’s feelings for Hina and Chinatsu defined. Love is an abstract idea, and sometimes it just comes down to you to define what that is. Before I end up getting myself canceled for what love can mean in one extreme, this story is a wholesome one that is defined simply by admiration and physical attraction. Chinatsu is the one girl that Taiki has always naturally liked and without question expressed his love for.

In Hina’s case, Taiki is telling the audience that while she has admirable characteristics herself and even sees her as a girl, he can’t see his feelings for her as romantic. And so, the entire episode is setting us up to wrap up what the entire story has been slowly working towards.. A CONFESSION!

Why Ayame is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

While it seems like we are nearing a tipping point for what major decision Taiki will do next, Ayame is the wildcard that can take us on many paths. This episode clearly shows that Ayame is a MONSTER at playing with guy’s feelings. To be fair, the average guy is pretty easy to prey on.. A girl’s ultimate power is always going to be one of romantic manipulation, and an attractive girl like Ayame Moriya wields it without a care. With this aspect of her personality being introduced, it surely won’t cause any trouble in the future. And it SURELY WON’T involve..

Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, a story where the biggest moment depends on a confession means that what the viewer has been looking forward to each and every week will be lost when it does eventually happen. There is no easier person to point towards to fulfill that role in Ayame, where the episode starts setting up different avenues where her character can end up.

All in all, Ayame is a replacement for what Taiki will eventually leave behind as the MC, when his circumstances change. She also teaches some important lessons that some may not want to admit to, which is perfect for an exciting story where Redditors blow their load over every mistake a character makes. The episode itself finally felt like it made its most significant progress, with Taiki basically telling us how he feels.

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