English Dub Review: Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki “A happy ending doesn’t mean this game is over”

Overview

Erika Konno starts lashing out at her classmates after the school’s sports festival, and opinions are deeply divided on the best way to stop her petty antics…


Our Take

Fumiya Tomozaki unveils his secret plan to motivate Erika indirectly into taking an active role in the school sports team. With the help of Hinami, Izumi, and Mizusawa, Tomozaki executes his strategy, leading to Konno’s enthusiastic participation and success during the sports festival. However, as the softball strategy works, an unexpected turn of events occurs when Erika begins harassing Hirobayashi for reasons unrelated to what motivated her in the first place.

And it’s here that the heart of this episode’s plot unfolds as Fumiya witnesses Erika’s unjust treatment of Hirobayashi, and contemplates standing up for her. However, Tama beats him to the punch and reacts with a mini “violent” response, trapping herself in a loop of bullying. What adds to the frustration is the lack of support from her peers, as nobody else steps in to oppose Erika’s actions, while Erika manipulates Tama into accepting the mistreatment. Tama later confides in Fumiya about making a change for herself, leaving viewers curious about the direction this change might be…

Overall, I’m glad that we’re seeing Tomozaki’s growth on display in this episode. Yet at the same time, we’re also seeing the cracks in Aoi as a character. Granted, she initially was at first somebody who had all the answers in Fumiya’s eyes when it came to self-improvement and social situations. Yet this scenario leaves me scratching my head as now she comes across as a flawed hypocritical individual. She wouldn’t help Hirabayashi but she’s more willing to help Tama? What is she trying to accomplish with this? Hopefully, there’s some clear solution later on, as I remain curious to see where this goes…