English Dub Review: Aharen-san wa Hakarenai “A Musical, Huh?”

1. Overview (Spoilers Below):
   Ren’s school project inspires a musical turn for Raido and Aharen.

Our Take:
Music usually has the power to uplift the spirit and transport listeners to different realms of emotion and imagination, especially when the songs are from iconic musicals.  However, it can also bring out the awkwardness of having to break out into song every once in a while or all the time.  This is the case in this week’s episode, where Aharen and Raido decide to reenact the “High School Musical” scenario by singing everything they say.  Unsurprisingly, everyone at school followed suit except Riku, who thought they’d all gone crazy.  Considering Raido and Aharen’s transformations from normalcy to aristocracy, I would be pretty freaked out, too.
However, as much as I would like to see a musical-filled episode, this segment only lasted throughout the first half.  Fortunately, the second half managed to compensate for it with another dose of development for the show’s supporting characters, particularly Sato and Ishikawa.  These two childhood friends have been hinting at a more profound connection throughout the series, but they are currently pretty distant from each other through their friendly facades.  This episode finally brings this “will they, won’t they” situation to a close, as Sato uses the friends’ game break as an opportunity to confess her feelings to Ishikawa.  However, instead of progressing their relationship further, Sato and Ishikawa decided to remain friends after Ishikawa rejected her confession.
Considering the show’s primary focus on Aharen and Raido’s relationship, “A Musical, Huh?” is smart enough not to distract the viewers with another relationship between two classmates.  I felt that having two relationships for the show to focus on would be too much to handle, especially since we’re nearing the end of the season.  Nevertheless, it was a sweet closure to Sato and Ishikawa’s arc that’s been on everyone’s mind since the beginning.  The “Game of Life” part of the episode was also enjoyable, even though it ran a bit longer than necessary.  Overall, it’s a good start to the season’s final stretch, which aims to end the final school year on a high note.