Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki

Episode 6

This episode got to the point fast. Within the first few seconds, Hinami tells Tomozaki to become Mimimi's advisor in her campaign. Although Mimimi initially rejects Tomozaki, she quickly warms up to him as the episode progresses, and he ends up becoming the "brain" of the campaign.

There is a little bit of politicking in this episode, like when Tomozaki advises Mimimi to make unrealistic campaign promises exclusively to the younger students, but for the most part this is a simple episode about getting to know Mimimi as a person. Even the popular kids have problems, it turns out. As far as Mimimi is concerned, the gap between number 2 and number 1 can feel just as overwhelming as the gap between the top and bottom. Although her rivalry with Hinami may seem like a petty problem in the grand scheme of things, it does help Tomozaki bridge the gap between himself and Mimimi. Despite the many superficial differences between them, it's nice to see them develop some common ground.

I will admit that I am a bit ambivalent about Mimimi as a character, though. I can see why she's a fan favorite because of her fun and cheerful personality, but her antics with Hanabi don't feel like organic character writing. There's a difference between being endearingly quirky and coming off as an utter weirdo, and I think that sticking her head up Hanabi's shirt, licking her belly button, and unhooking her bra in front of everyone in the gym should absolutely cross that line. It's hard to buy Mimimi as a social butterfly when nobody around her seems to even react to her inappropriate behavior either way. That part of her character just seems like fanservice for the sake of fanservice in a series that has largely not been about that, so it sticks out as an inconsistency.

While I may have had some problems with this episode from a writing perspective, the visuals struck me as pretty good for a bridging episode without many key events. The character art, especially for Mimimi, was consistently well-depicted, and it felt as if the drawings also had more detail than usual, especially when it came to the hair. I never suspected that the anime character designs would get anywhere close to the appeal of Fly's beautiful illustrations, but this episode affirmed to me that the anime designs are definitely great to look at in their own right. I continue to have my modest expectations exceeded when it comes to this anime.

Judging by Tomozaki and Mimimi's conspirator talk at the end of this episode, next episode looks like it'll involve some more politicking. That's an aspect I'm really looking forward to seeing how this series handles, since I tend to enjoy student council election plots in anime. It will be interesting to see how the various social dynamics that this series has been exploring so far end up tying into the results of the election itself. Until next time!

Rating:

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki is currently streaming on Funimation Entertainment.