English Dub Review: The Shiunji Family Children “Respectively”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
After Ouka’s confession, Minami and Banri want to find out if anything has changed for Arata.

Our Take:
Well, that’s one way to end a fun day at the theme park.  Following our “harmless” misadventure at the amusement park, Kotono’s birthday came to an end with a shocking revelation from Arata’s “twin sister”: Ouka has a crush on him.  As if Kotono’s obsession with Arata wasn’t enough, he now has to deal with Ouka’s feelings towards him, which could provide some tough competition for Kotono.  If that’s not bad enough, two sisters, Minami and Banri, attempt to get the scoop on Arata’s opinions over this shocking revelation.
For Banri, it’s basically the usual routine we’ve seen in last week’s episode: teasing Arata by being his “girlfriend” who takes him out on “dates”.  Chances are we’ll be seeing this running gag throughout the season, along with a sweet callback to the siblings’ childhood memories.  Luckily, this moment maintains the amusement of how siblings tease each other despite being out of context.  For Minami’s attempt, the episode provided a nonlinear approach showcasing how Minami finds out about Ouka’s confession, prompting her to enact an investigation.  While not as amusing as Banri’s attempt, I’d still consider this approach helpful for keeping the narrative pace going.
“Respectively” continues the typical routine of Arata getting constantly flustered around his “sisters” while maintaining his thought process of seeing them as sisters and nothing more.  It’s still amusing enough to distract me from its rom-com tropes, mainly when it refers to the meta commentary provided by Seiha.  But again, my skepticism towards this concept still lingers as the girls try to keep this scenario a secret from Kotono.  However, that’s easier said than done thanks to Minami’s clumsy mistake.