Go For It, Nakamura-kun!!

Episode 9

I'm so happy the show decided to give me another cute wholesome episode after last week's episode was so bad it made me begin to question what the appeal of the show was really supposed to be. While this one didn't hit the emotional highs of episode six, it does highlight that the show can actually get very far by being very simple. For a while I was wondering what exactly the direction or gimmick was. I was waiting for some kind of supernatural or dramatic punchline to happen because of the rosary beads the occult club gave Nakamura. The show is a little vague about whether or not those beads actually do have any mystical properties, but I like the fact that at the end of the day, this episode is just about Nakamura being a pretty chill high school student who has very casual encounters with the rest of his classmates.

Nakamura is so inside his own head and so obsessed with Hirose that seeing some moments where other characters are just genuinely looking after him was actually really nice. Plus, Nakamura returns a lot of that kindness by putting himself out there for people, even if he is more on the introverted side of things. I like the fact that he originally didn't want to get involved in the school play because it was a genuine hassle and that director kid is kind of a pain. But the minute that he began to see why the play was falling apart, he really stepped up. It could've been so easy for the show to just make Hirose the incentive, but I like the fact that Nakamura was sort of rewarded for his kindness by sharing the literal limelight with Hirose on stage, even if he didn't immediately recognize it at first.

Probably one of my favorite jokes in the show was when Nakamura ran into Hirose's sister and immediately started questioning his sexuality. I think the idea is that Nakamura is, in fact, gay, he was just attracted to the fact that Hirose's sister looked like him to an almost uncanny degree, but that culture shock was very funny. I will take a million of these episodes over the one that I got last week. I think sometimes the show leans so much into the exaggerated obsession comedy that it forgets to showcase that Nakamura is an actual kind guy that is worth rooting for. This is the kind of episode that makes me want to see him get a happy ending. So please, just keep up this tone and continue involving the main cast if possible.

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