Do It Yourself!!

Episode 11

What if I told you the most satisfying and romantic character arc of the season involved a terminally tsundere girl finally admitting to her love of carpentry? While in a literal sense, Do It Yourself!!'s primary focus has been getting the treehouse off the ground, the show's most important construction project has been building the relationship scaffolding to support this exact moment between Purin and her friends. With every obstinate pout from Purin and every blinding smile from Serufu, the prospect of their eventual reconciliation became all the sweeter. And now that it's here, it's delightfully cavity-inducing.

The anime earns this climax thanks to all the work it put into making Purin so perfectly bullyable—I howled at the friendly shellacking Jobko gave her in front of everyone, exposing her many secret contributions to the club. However, the show's excellent sense of craft nails the follow-through. Not since the early episodes has the body language been this charming and expressive, nor has the minutiae of their faces been so precise. Even the distance models are full of life, with their skinny limbs wagging and their dot eyes wide with intent. Purin's acceptance into the club feels like the most natural thing ever. She has, in a real sense, always been a part of it. She's just honest about it now.

Seeing Purin be honest around Serufu is particularly satisfying. It's not like their friendship was ever in any serious danger—DIY is too fluffy for that—but after all of Purin's childish stubbornness and close calls with confessing her feelings, it's nice to watch the two of them exchange fruit sandwiches with nothing but smiles between them. Their goodnight scene is especially potent, recapitulating their usual window-to-window chats while cutting to Purin's unconstrained joy behind the curtains. It's difficult to read that lighthearted bed flop as anything but romantic. Nonetheless, I have to crown Takumin as this week's yuri queen for the sheer dedication she shows in making, installing, and appreciating her Sunflower Girls-themed stained glass window.

Purin's conversion to the DIY side also puts a nice bow on the series' thematic underpinnings, as articulated by Haruko last week. None of that supposed oldness and moldiness could keep Purin from the instinctual feeling of satisfaction that only a piece of smooth, well-sanded wood can bring. And beyond that, I think DIY's real argument is that these slow, deliberate, and tactile ways will only grow more important as technology progresses. These democratic pools of knowledge and techniques are valuable both on their own and as ways to help mold technology better. We continue to see this with the advent of “AI” art. I think it's certainly possible for machine learning and generation to be valuable tools for artists, but to do so, they need to be built in concert with those artists and their craft. They must be as humble and reliable as a paintbrush or palette knife. Disruptive AI tools can only benefit those that hold their keys. They have no place in DIY's toolbox.

Before I get too philosophically ahead of myself, though, I must add the disclaimer that I have zero clue what I'm talking about when it comes to DIY. My dumb ass thought tree attachment bolts would be the size of a pencil, so imagine my surprise when Kurei pulled out a TAB the size of a lightsaber handle. That size makes a lot more sense now that I've given it a single modicum of thought, but that's also a good, teachable moment. You only learn DIY by doing. It's in the name! An anime as well done as this one certainly goes a long way toward communicating the appeal of DIY but to reach the actual rewards and pleasures of these projects, you have to roll up your sleeves and get messy. That's life.

I'm really glad Do It Yourself!! not only stayed so consistent all season but managed to put together an above-and-beyond episode for its climax. In the grand scheme of things, these are minor conflicts and modest projects, but the anime has always focused on the earnestness of its characters, and that's what has made it special. It will be difficult to say goodbye to this show next week. Maybe in the interim, I'll build a bucket to hold all my tears.

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Do It Yourself!! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is a regular freelance contributor to ANN and also the guy who called Arataka Reigen an internet sex symbol that one time. Feel free to roast him on Twitter about this. Otherwise, catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.