Sweetness & Lightning

Episode 5

This week's Sweetness & Lightning makes some progress in expanding the show's relatively small world and delivers a strong episode in the process. In addition to adding some new faces to the mix, episode 5 does an effective job of illustrating just how comfortable the key players have gotten around one another. On the off-chance that you've been on the fence about Sweetness & Lightning, this just might be the episode to bring you around.

This week's first half introduces us to Yagi Yusuke, an old friend of Kohei and his late wife. Although Shinobu, Kotori's apparent best friend, was never given a proper introduction, the show doesn't make the same mistake with Yagi. Even though his screen time is limited to the non-cooking portion of the episode, we're given a clear picture of who the guy is—at least in relation to the Inuzuka family. When she sees Tsumugi being led around town by the slightly shady-looking Yusuke, the ever-protective Kotori suspects that her surrogate little sister has been kidnapped and begins tailing the duo. However, even after Kohei arrives on the scene and clears up the misunderstanding, Kotori remains wary of the handsome scruffy chain smoker. Still, some good comes out of her clumsy spy work—learning about Tsumugi's “meh” attitude on donuts inspires Kotori to make home-fried donuts the trio's next project.

While episode 5 largely adheres to the show's established formula, it makes a few efforts to change things up. For example, instead of cooking dinner, the group assembles on a Sunday afternoon to bake an elaborate midday snack. Additionally, slightly less emphasis is placed on the preparation process than in episodes past. In fact, a good portion of the time spent at Megumi's restaurant is devoted to cleaning and shooting the breeze. At this point, Kohei and Kotori have become so comfortable around one another that they have no problem sharing details about their personal lives and offering each other advice.

This latest installment also shows us just how protective Kotori feels towards the Inuzukas. When she first spots Tsumugi holding hands with Yagi, she doesn't think twice before tailing them. (Still, if she genuinely thought Tsumugi was in danger, why on earth didn't she say something? At the very least, she could have approached Tsumugi under the pretense of saying hi.) Kotori's level of devotion is a bit unsettling. Before Kohei showed up, she didn't even entertain the possibility that Yagi was a relative or family friend. His debatable “shadiness” aside, she admonishes the guy without knowing a thing about him—even after her teacher spells things out for her. She doesn't even seem particularly comfortable with the idea of Kohei—a full-grown man—being chummy with Yagi. I realize she has her friends' best interest at heart, but Kotori's behavior came off as too obsessive this week.

Episode 5 marks another solidly entertaining entry in the Sweetness & Lightning saga. While the “don't judge based on appearances” message comes off as muddled and gets completely lost by episode's end, I suspect this is in service of making Kotori's distrust of Yagi a running gag. The episode also features the trio's first notable (albeit quickly remedied) cooking failure. I wouldn't mind seeing the show get a little more ambitious in its storytelling, but even with things so consistently low-key, Sweetness & Lightning has yet to bore.

Rating: B+

Sweetness & Lightning is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Amy is a YA fantasy author who has loved anime for over two decades.