English Dub Review: My Tiny Senpai “Despite Appearances, I’m More the Big Sister Type”

Overview:

The manager arranges a dinner for Katase and Shinozaki. Also, Shinozaki gets sick and Katase goes to check on him.

Our Take:

Katase and Shinozaki keep having the sweet yet awkward exchanges in the office. Their manager, Chihiro Akina, seems invested and wants to bring them together romantically speaking. Akina even sets them up for a romantic dinner. He tells them that they’re scouting a location for an upcoming party, but he has other intentions. He even spies on them during the dinner, along with Hayakawa. They don’t interact exactly how Akina expects, but they still end up having a good time.

Later in the episode, Shinozaki brings an umbrella to work simply because he hears it will be his lucky item. Much to his surprise, it ends up raining when the work day ends. He sees that Katase is just standing looking at the rain without an umbrella. The two share his until they arrive at a bookstore. Katase tells Shinozaki to go on ahead and she reveals that she’s actually had an umbrella with her the whole time. Shocked, Shinozaki stands in the rain.

This leads to him getting sick and Katase is worried about him. She eventually goes to visit him at home. She also cooks and clean for him while he’s ill. Shinozaki gets her a present to thank her when he returns to work. He also tells her that he wouldn’t mind if she were to come over and cook for him again.

This is a fun episode all around. Last week, I said I wanted to see more of the supporting characters and this episode delivers. We see a lot of Akina and I enjoy watching him interfere . He does it a lot in this episode, but it doesn’t really feel like he’s overstepping his boundaries. He sees there’s already a connection between Katase and Shinozaki and he’s just helping move it along. It’s not like he’s forcing them to do anything uncomfortable.

The interactions between Katase and Shinozaki are still awkward occasionally, but they’re sweet regardless. I feel the chemistry between these characters and it’s pleasant to watch. One character going to the love interest’s house to check on them might be a little cliché at this point. However, it’s a trope that I generally enjoy seeing because it usually creates some tender moments and this is no exception. The scene where Katase reveals that she’s had an umbrella with her threw me for a loop too. That showed that she just wanted to spend more time with Shinozaki, which is really sweet.