Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove it

Episode 9

Fun at the beach with a science twist.

Continuing from the last episode, the lab members head to the tropical island of Okinawa for their lab retreat. For the most part, this turns out exactly as you'd think. Yukimura and Himuro are so enraptured in an experiment (i.e., each other) they prevent the plane from taking off for a few minutes. Then, at the island, we get some classic anime beach trip tropes with a sciency twist. It's funny enough, but nothing unexpected.

The main joke of the episode revolves around Yukimura and Himuro doing their oxytocin measurement research. Simply put, the two of them never considered that close physical contact would be a bit different when the pair were half-naked in swimsuits.

This gives Ibarada the perfect chance to mess with Yukimura by getting him sidetracked. She leads him to the idea that the amount of skin-to-skin contact in an embrace is what's most important to getting clear results. Thus everything devolves into a discussion about which is the best way to hug a person for the most skin-to-skin contact. The results are interesting to say the least—and end up being yet another opportunity for Ibarada to trick Yukimura and Inukai into playing out her BL fetish.

However, while the situation and humor surrounding the main pair are simply par for the course, the scene with Ibarada and Inukai is not. For the second week in a row, this pair steals the show by further developing their backstory and relationship. As the two sit in the shade, Ibarada begins musing about a time they went to the beach together as children. At that time he was just a rambunctious kid while she was basically his caretaker.

But what's truly interesting is that she is the one covered in band-aids, not him. Why this is is a tantalizing mystery: is she a victim of bullying? Does she have problems at home? Or is she just clumsy? It's obvious that Inukai has some idea given his reaction to her wounds—and a shared past trauma could explain why the two's friendship has lasted so long.

Of course, from Inukai's viewpoint, her tale is just your typical story of a nieve childhood love confession—and one that nearly kills him with embarrassment. Eventually, he runs away to buy some food in order to escape her stroll down memory lane.

While he's away, Ibarada is approached by the guy who hit on Himuro back when she was on a date with Yukimura—you know, the guy that learned via PowerPoint presentation why Himuro had no interest in dating him. Even as Inukai sees this guy and his friends surrounding Ibarada, he reminds himself not to jump to conclusions—that what he's witnessing is likely totally harmless. ...And then the playboy grabs Ibarada's arm and Inukai decks him without a second thought before all but telling the gang to “stay away from his woman.”

But then comes the twist: in direct contradiction to the usual trope, what was happening is actually harmless (they were talking about a smartphone game)—meaning that Inukai sucker punched the guy for no reason.

Of course, Ibarada finds this hilarious and won't let Inukai live it down. Yet, through her laughs, she compliments him, saying he was “really cool” and promising that she'll never forget this moment. Inukai, expectedly, takes it as her making fun of him. But knowing what we know of Idabara from this episode and the last one, I think it's safe to say that she means every word. Sure, the irony of their recent conversation and his overreaction hits her right in the funny bone but she is clearly touched at the noble actions of her lifelong friend.

In the end, it is a standout scene in an otherwise unremarkable episode showing their complex-yet-nuanced personalities. Between this episode and the last one, I'm starting to care about these two more than any of the other characters.

Rating:

Things I Loved:

• Himuro and Yukimura walking through the metal detector at the airport with a laptop out and open just so they can make their usual “badass science pose”

• Using trigonometry to find the location of the watermelon while blindfolded.

• Past Ibarada wears platforms even when going to the beach—likely to ensure she is taller than the younger Inukai.

• The random yells from the professor as he does the butterfly stroke in the background of Inukai and Ibarada's scenes.

Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.