English Dub Review: Tomo-chan Is a Girl! “The Reason for Her Smile / I Want to Be Playful Like a Girl / Heroes Fall a Lot”

Overview:

Everyone tries to figure out Misuzu’s smile, Tomo wants to see what it feels like to hug other girls, and Tomo and Jun both stand up for their friends.

Our Take:

This episode is the first one to have three segments and they’re all very entertaining. The first one involves Tanabe and Carol trying to make Misuzu smile. Tanabe also confesses to Misuzu that he likes her. She responds by saying to tell her properly so she can turn him down with a smile. That’s brutally cold, but I still think it’s a great line.

In the second segment, Tomo wants to know what it feels like to hug other girls and be playful like normal girls do. Carol is the only willing volunteer, but this makes Misuzu jealous. Tomo hugs her as well, but Misuzu quickly regrets her decision. There’s also a fun exchange between Jun and Tomo regarding Jun’s double standard on this behavior.

Finally, the third segment has a lot going on. We see that Tomo’s father is still shy around his wife. It’s revealed that Misaki treats Carol similarly to how Jun treats Tomo. Carol and Misuzu give Tomo and Jun the opportunity to eat lunch together, which just makes Tomo feel awkward. Later, Ogawa needs Tomo’s help in turning down a guy. This ends in her hitting him and embarrassing him. When he tries to get his gang to go after her, Jun beats them up unbeknownst to Tomo.

This episode doesn’t really advance Tomo’s and Jun’s relationship that much, but it does put more of a focus on some of the other characters. I love how much screen time Misuzu and Carol get in this episode. They both have some of the funniest moments in not only this episode, but in the entire show so far. Misuzu’s cold demeanor and blunt deliver is hilarious and Carol is so weird and unpredictable that she always keeps me guessing what she’s going to do and say next. She sings a whole tune when she takes her headband off of Tomo’s head and puts it back on her own for no reason. It caught me off guard, but I couldn’t stop laughing about it.

It’s also cool to see what the relationship between Tomo’s parents is like. Her father is a completely different person when his wife is around. Speaking of relationships, it’s nice to see more of Misaki’s relationship with carol. It was only briefly touched upon in a previous episode, but it’s interesting to see that their relationship is very similar to Tomo’s and Jun’s. Misaki treats Carol like she’s his sister, but it’s clear that Carol’s feelings for him are much different.

As for Tomo and Jun, I think it’s great that Jun’s willing to stand up for Tomo. I would have liked it a little more if Tomo was aware of it, but I can also respect that Jun doesn’t want to make a big deal about it.

Overall, this is another strong episode. It gives the viewer more reasons to care about the supporting characters and it has many memorable comedic moments. It would have been nice if we got a little more progression in the main relationship, but what we do see of that here is still very nice.