English Dub Review: My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 “How About You Give Us an Explanation”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Although Akane really wanted to become friends with the members of their guild, she could sense that Eita’s younger sister, Runa, was putting some distance between them. She then receives an invitation from Runa to meet at the cafe, which makes Akane ecstatic. Little did she know this invitation was actually a prank Runa pulled on her, and the person who came to meet Akane at the cafe was actually a man and a complete stranger who is a self-proclaimed Rurihime fan. Akane excuses herself to the ladies’ room to organize her thoughts, but…. Meanwhile, Yamada, who was visiting the Sasaki household to tutor Runa, notices her strange behavior and soon finds out about the prank that Runa had pulled on Akane.

Our Take:
If you’re joining me at this point, we had the opportunity to meet the remaining members of the Chocolate Rabbit guild, including Eita, who’s also Rurihime from FOS. Unfortunately, the only member who isn’t as welcoming toward Akane as the rest is Eita’s young sister, Runa. Our first encounter with this despicable brat in the previous episode was anything but polite, as she immediately dislikes Akane and plots to get her expelled from the guild. If you don’t like Runa in the previous episode like I did, then this episode will probably make you loathe her even more, but only briefly.
At the end of the last episode, Runa invites Akane to spend Saturday together, but the latter doesn’t know that Yamada tutors Runa on Saturdays. Yamada knows this but struggles with whether he should tell Akane. Because of this, Akane gets caught in the middle of Runa’s prank, which has the young girl setting her up on a blind date with a Rurihime super fan, thinking that Akane is the guild leader. Thankfully, the prank doesn’t last long, as everyone, including Yamada, catches on with Runa’s actions and rescues Akane from a disastrous blind date. This led to a hilarious misunderstanding involving Akane’s broken leg, with the man explaining he was checking on Akane in the bathroom, and she sprained her shin from being surprised.
As expected, everyone, including Eita, is pissed at Runa for putting Akane in danger, which is well-deserved based on how Runa behaved toward Akane. Heck, I would be angry, too, if she did the same thing to me. Seeing a spoiled brat like Runa get the justice they deserve will never stop satisfying me. However, it doesn’t come close to the fulfillment of seeing Runa admit that the only bitch in the group is her, not Akane, as the two reconcile.
Was Runa’s character development rushed? Yes, but it’s better than spending a couple more episodes of Runa being an ungrateful asshole. At least, from my perspective, since I’m not a massive fan of spoiled and bratty characters. Thankfully, the episode showcased why Runa was being a pest toward Akane through a flashback involving her stuffed bunny her friends won for her. Runa wanted things to stay the same between her and her guildmates, which explains her hatred toward meeting new people, including Akane. Fortunately, Akane’s generosity and desire to meet new friends were strong enough to make Runa see the error of her ways.
Along with its heartfelt reconciliation between Akane and Runa and the suitable execution of its plot, the episode also maintains the show’s silliness, mainly from Kamota. Most of the episode is spent on Kamota frantically fearing for Akane’s life, and it was admittedly hysterical to witness. So, what does this mean going forward? For starters, we might see Runa start to gradually open up to Akane, putting her one step closer to making her first friend. However, Runa may have a long way to go to achieve that accomplishment based on what we’ve seen in her flashback. Overall, it’s another decent episode from this surprisingly sweet and comically entertaining rom-com series.