You and I Are Polar Opposites

Episode 5

Looks like Miyu and Tani aren't the only polar opposites this series has on offer, and this week's episode has graced us with a brand new pair of awkward teens to root for. As adorable as our main couple is, the show can only really coast on them for so long before their dynamic starts to feel a bit stale, so I can't say I had any problems with pulling away from them a bit to see some other fun examples of how opposites attract. Thankfully this week's example ended up being plenty charming in its own right, and while it seems like this new couple will probably have a much longer road ahead of them towards becoming a couple, they've got no shortage of good laughs to provide in the meantime.

For the first half of this pairing, we have a brand new character, Nishi, who might already be in contention for stealing Taira's position as the funniest member of this show's ensemble. Like Tani, she's an introvert who largely keeps to herself, but whereas Tani is merely quiet and otherwise put together enough to hold conversation without too many issues, Nishi is much more of a disaster. She's the kind of introvert who really doesn't know how to talk to anyone she's not comfortable with, and is happy just listening in on other people's conversations, but also can't help but laugh uncontrollably at those conversations if she finds them funny. Having been a Nishi-style introvert at one point or another (and I still largely am), it was impossible for me not to laugh at how accurately this show portrays how dangerous Nishi's combination of traits is to someone desperate not to stand out, and the fact that her constant panic provides some of the funniest faces this show has displayed to date makes it hard not to find her instantly charming.

That charm catches the attention of the second half of this pairing, Yamada, who as the resident funny man of Miyu's friend group, gradually finds himself drawn to this quiet girl who keeps giggling at his jokes. In fact this turns out that this is his exact type, as explained through a cute cartoon montage of his past crushes, and the fact that he hasn't quite pieced this connection together himself just makes that attraction even more hilarious. All Yamada knows is that he wants to get closer to Nishi and gets varying degrees of practical advice from the others. Miyu and Azuma offer up a few natural ways for him to get Nishi's number, while Taira finds the very idea of trying to get a stranger's number repulsive since he can't perceive of being liked in such a way, and watching him turn to dust at the very thought of such a romance like he just experienced the end of Avengers Infinity War was easily the funniest bit of this entire episode (and certainly not on the list of references I would have expected this show to make).

Meanwhile poor Nishi is dumbfounded as to why a boy keeps wanting to talk to her and simply assumes he's there to chat it up with her friend Honda, who's really just desperate for Yamada to stop beating around the bush about this crush so she doesn't have to be stuck playing the middleman for these two dorks. Ultimately, Yamada decides to go for the direct approach in asking for Nishi's number before summer break so they can talk more, but this only really gets them over the hurdle of becoming friends, and they're clearly a long ways off towards ever becoming a couple. With how quickly our main duo hooked up, it's hard not to be a little disappointed that this one is gonna be much more of a slow burn, but given the kinds of personalities we're dealing with, it's definitely for the best that the show isn't rushing it, and with how funny it's been to watch these two airheads cluelessly bounce off each other, it can take as much time as it wants to get there.

After seeing how fun this new pairing turned out to be, I was almost a little disappointed to see the second half of the episode center back to Miyu and Tani, but thankfully what we got with them this week was just as hilarious. This time the two of them end up going on a study date, and compared to their festival date last week which mostly amounted to simply watching the two of them be cute together, this one comes packed with some stronger jokes that take advantage of just how differently they think. For instance, take Tani's decision to study at his place when every library ends up being packed with students cramming for exams. In his mind this makes it easier for them to study without interruptions with the added bonus that his family won't be around to bother them, whereas Miyu's mind quickly wanders to what any teen girl would assume when a guy invites her over with no one else around and gets mildly disappointed when she's reminded of just how straightforward Tani thinks. Similarly, it was also pretty fun seeing Miyu practically invite herself into Tani's room to see what he's like at home, only to discover that his room's about as plain as he is, and see that he's got nothing to hide. My favorite gag though, was probably seeing them both glitch out when Tani's grandma walks in on them, only for her to take to Miyu immediately and send her home with a bag full of oddly shaped vegetables. With how composed he normally is it was great to see Tani briefly lose his cool here, and whereas Tani's grandma decides to help keep this relationship secret from his parents, Miyu practically rushes home to brag about her new boyfriend to her mom, which was a great way to highlight how their relationships with their families are about as different as they are. While the visual humor did a lot to help carry these jokes, I can't argue with the end results, and I'm happy to see that the show can get some good laughs out of a scenario as simple as this one. Between the antics of our central couple and the potential new ones looming over the horizon it looks like the show has plenty of ways to help keep its formula fresh, and I hope that it'll continue to squeeze it for all it's worth.

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