This anime continues to impress as it knows when to step back from the hard hitting emotions and give the audience a chance to breath. And yet, even those breaths are full of great character moments, moments that recall past events and remind us issues still unresolved.
A lot of this episode focused on the sisters running a sweet stall and recruiting Rei to assist. This very much draws us back to season one where Rei was literally being dragged out of his apartment to now, where he voluntarily involves himself with this family and is finding himself more and more connected to the world through them. We also see how the sisters are growing and evolving over time and how Hina is bouncing back from her previous trauma. Hina’s growth is particularly highlighted through a visit to Chiho on the farm firmly reminding us how strong Hina has been to get through previous events.

The second half of the episode turns to the middle school and the ongoing fall out from the bullying incident. the head teacher isn’t staying on as the homeroom teacher and the changing of the guard isn’t going smoothly, mostly because the lead bully (not the only bully but the one who became the face of the group responsible) still refuses to actually take any responsibility for her actions.
And this is another reason why I love this show. Nothing is easily solved and then forgotten. There’s never a neat end point to a single story. Each event continues to send ripples through future events and the show doesn’t forget where these characters have come from or how their interactions will impact upon their futures. While this episode might have felt like a breath of relaxed air compared to some this season, it was packed full of points of note and maintained the narrative and character strength I’ve come to expect from this anime.
Season 1 Review:
March Comes in Like a Lion Series Review
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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I totally agree, especially the bullying scene.
I heard this anime is very good. I must check it out!
Definitely worth trying. May not work for you depending on whether you make a connection with the characters, but the anime has been phenomenal and continued to build upon its strengths from season 1.
Oh I see. I will definitely check it out though.