Sweetness & Lightning

Episode 7

Sweetness & Lightning manages to benefit from putting cooking on the backburner this week. Sure, the gang still gets together and prepares a dish, but the circumstances under which they do so are dramatically different from the norm. In much the same vein as last week's installment, episode 7 changes up the usual formula just the right amount. Things definitely feel different—but in a good way.

Despite being an exemplary single parent, not even Kohei is immune to the occasional bug. When her dad falls ill, Tsumugi decides that taking measures to cure him is a better use of her time than sitting around watching anime. Without informing her father of her plans, Tsumugi leaves the apartment and makes the trek to Megumi's restaurant, where she's greeted by a perplexed Kotori, who gives her a bag full of cold-friendly refreshments and proceeds to escort her home. While making their way back to the apartment, the girls stumble upon a very worried Kohei, who hits the roof when he discovers what Tsumugi did. In an effort to calm things down, Kotori takes the Inuzukas back to the restaurant and attempts to cook them some rice. However, after she burns their meal, the trio turns lemons into lemonade by using the unburned rice to make Gohei mochi. (Strangely, Kohei didn't seem all that sick after getting some rest, nor was he particularly concerned about spreading germs to the girls.)

In keeping with this series' knack for accurately portraying children, the Walter Mitty-esque adventure Tsumugi has en route to the restaurant nicely conveys a sense of childlike wonderment. Her simple songs and adorable line-walking game definitely stand out as this week's “d'awww” moment. A lot of shows that prominently feature child characters opt for contrived cuteness, but Sweetness & Lightning is all the better for simply allowing kids to act like kids.

This episode also marks the first time we seen Kohei lose his cool and become noticeably angry. He's never been a particularly intimidating presence, but when he shouts “DON'T LEAVE THE HOUSE!”, it's pretty clear that the man means business. Even though he's probably more frustrated and distraught than outright incensed, this is the most raw emotion any character in the series has shown thus far. For her part, Tsumugi also acts a little differently this week. Although she still has the best of intentions, she's not quite the perfect little angel we've seen in weeks past. The frightened tantrum she has in response to her father's outburst is equal parts amusing and heartbreaking—not to mention completely believable.

With so much time spent outside of the kitchen, episode 7 marks another nice change of pace for Sweetness & Lightning. The episode takes a turn for the dramatic—but not to the point of feeling like a different show. Also, despite taking a backseat to the main story, this week's cooking segment is fairly original. Instead of deciding on the entrée in advance, the group turns one impromptu meal into another one. If this is how Sweetness & Lightning does drama, I wouldn't mind seeing more episodes like this one.

Rating: A+

Sweetness & Lightning is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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