Overview (Spoilers Below):
After witnessing the Uzaki women undress a drunk Shinichi, Hana and Fujio take him back to his apartment, and she finds herself in an awkward position. The next day, Ami is in a great mood after receiving pictures of the previous evening from Yanagi. Then, Shinichi visits his family on New Year’s Eve and later meets with the cafe’s gang for the first sunrise of the year.
Our Take:
The year has ended for Hana, Shinichi, and many others. However, it also means that the show’s second season has reached its conclusion. It’s been a fun and highly amusing experience, but we all know that things like this don’t last forever. What better way to conclude the year and season two than with another series of comical misfortunes during the New Year’s celebration?
One of which happens at the beginning of the episode, with the Uzaki clan having more fun with Shinichi while he’s drunk. Although, from Fujio’s perspective, he thought they were stripping poor Shinichi for some juicy action. However, Hana and Yanagi are actually stripping him naked so that Yanagi can take pictures of his muscular body, much to Ami’s delight. It’s moments like this that bring so much joy and laughs into their sense of innocence, even if they seem sexual.
Amid its hysterical moments, including Shinichi’s reaction to the pictures of himself, the season two finale suitably develops Shinichi further. One reason was that he remembered passing out on top of Hana despite being drunk. Hana was shocked that Shinichi was about to do something reckless to her at first, but that’s nothing compared to how he reacted. This incident puts Shinichi in an uncomfortable position, which forces him to finally recheck himself in time for the New Year’s festival.
Thanks to the support of Sakaki and Akihiko, Shinichi finally gained the courage to face the situation head-on instead of hiding out of cowardice. Unfortunately, the start of the new year wasn’t the right moment for Shinichi to tell Hana his true feelings. It looks like we’re going to spend another season watching Shinichi find the perfect moment to do so, for better or worse.
Much to our delight of seeing Shinichi be this gullible throughout the season, it’s nice to see the finale pushing him to the next step without dragging it even further. While the ending isn’t what we’ve hoped for regarding Shinichi’s big moment, it’s still a fun and entertaining way to conclude the second season of Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out. More importantly, it satisfyingly progresses the characters to the next phase of their relationship through its comedy and charm. Like my experience with season one, I had a blast watching season two, and I hope its third season can provide the same. Whenever it comes out, of course.