Himōto! Umaru-chan R

Episode 8

This episode might be titled “Umaru and Hikaru”, but the cast's most recent addition only shows up in the last few minutes of the episode. For the most part, this is another entry focused on Kirie and Umaru, with Ebina getting some overdue development too. Given how much I've come to love these characters over the course of the season, you won't find me complaining about the opportunity to spend more time with them. Even if Anime Strike had to once again deprive us of our Himouto for almost three days, a late Umaru-chan is better than none at all.

If nothing else, this second season of Himouto! Umaru-chan has made me a firm supporter of any story that involves Kirie and Umaru spending time together, so it's no surprise that I enjoyed the first two thirds of the episode much more than the last third. The initial sleepover storyline exudes the gentle cuteness that Himouto! Umaru-chan R has been pulling off so well lately, and it did well to further Kirie's season-long arc of growing beyond her antisocial tendencies. The focus this week is less on Kirie and Umaru's bond and more on the way Kirie relates to the other girls in her life, especially Ebina. It was heartwarming to see Kirie become aware of her tendencies to balk at anyone's real-life romantic prospects, and of course she would latch on to Ebina's rather pathetic love life as her self-improvement project. Making Kirie the personal relationship coach/hype-woman for the ever-pining farm girl is a surprisingly perfect pairing, and it finally gives Ebina something to do other than daydream about her brother.

I'll admit, I was initially taken aback by the episode's sudden swerve into all of Umaru's friends gushing over Taihei. The last thing in the world this show needs is to become Taihei's Harem Comedy. Sylphyn's affections are nakedly platonic enough not to worry, but I will admit that I started drafting up angry tweets when Kirie started reflecting on Taihei's sweet deeds. She reassures a flustered Ebina that she only thinks of him as an ideal big brother, which I have to believe for Umaru's sake (and maybe mine). The episode does highlight her adversarial relationship with Bomba more than it has since season one, though it remains one of the show's broader gags to say the least. If nothing else, we get a hilarious blink-and-you'll miss it gag where Taihei finally explains to Bomba the “ingenious” disguise Kirie donned that caused him to not recognize his own sister during their beach vacation last season. (For any new viewers: she wore a hat.)

All of this brotherly affection segues nicely into Umaru running smack dab into both Taihei and Hikaru near the tail end of the episode, and this is where I began to feel ambivalent about the episode. I get that Hikaru is the final piece in the “All of Taihei's Coworkers Have Cute Younger Sisters” puzzle, but the young girl doesn't make much of a good first impression. She falls into the “absurdly possessive little sister” archetype, so her only function so far is to give Umaru dirty looks and eat all her food when Taihei isn't looking. I get the joke (Taihei already has a weirdo little sister, and Hikari isn't even related to him), but it just doesn't strike me as all that funny. One of the main reasons this season has been so successful this year is that it abandoned season one's nasty antagonistic streak. Himouto! Umaru-chan R has proven that the series works best when focusing on the good times its characters share. I'm not so sure that the show will benefit from adding Hikari to the mix.

That being said, I'll be more than happy for Himouto! Umaru-chan R to prove me wrong. We're talking about a show that's gone from being an irritating mess of mean-spirited almost-comedy to one of the sweetest, funniest, and most endearing hangout comedies I've seen since Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun. If the show can pull off something that impressive, I'm more than willing to give Hikari the benefit of the doubt.

Rating: B

Himōto! Umaru-chan R is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.

James is an English teacher who has loved anime his entire life, and he spends way too much time on Twitter and his blog.