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

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Aharen is in charge of the class’s exhibit for the culture festival, leaving Raido to ponder the future.

Our Take:
From one school festival to another, the entire class is now participating in the cultural festival in the season’s penultimate episode.  Considering that everyone is now thinking about their futures, it’s fitting that they get to practice their future careers through this type of festival, particularly by running a chic café.  Regarding the plot structures seen in previous episodes, this episode seemed like another piece of filler, involving their comical misadventures both inside and outside school grounds.  However, if there’s one thing I learned from this season, it’s that it did a pretty impressive job utilizing them to develop the protagonists’ relationship, especially in “Christmas, Huh,” where Aharen’s future college plans are revealed.
“The Culture Festival, Huh?” marks another episode that takes this strategy to heart, primarily focusing on Raido’s future with Aharen.  While the cultural festival plays a role in the episode, the primary focus is on Raido questioning himself about his continued support for Aharen, rather than considering his own future.  Things become even more complicated when Aharen is chosen as the festival’s creative director, a role that aligns with her dream of becoming an art teacher, resulting in a distancing between them.  This led to another misunderstanding involving Raido’s thoughts on their diary and Aharen missing the festival because she fell asleep on the bus.  Usually, these misunderstandings often lead to a comedic outcome, but for this episode, the outcome turned out to be more heartfelt than funny due to Raido and Aharen’s growing relationship.
This is another episode that highlights the genuinely heartwarming evolution of Raido and Aharen’s relationship since they first became classmates.  They had gradually grown to respect and support one another as they came out of their shells, which in turn helped them become better people by embracing themselves fully. Raido, in particular, is determined to support Aharen and her future in any way he can.  However, he also realizes that it’s also essential to support himself and pursue his own dreams, whatever they may be, and focus on cherishing the time they have together in the present.  Of course, the sentimental moment involving Aharen’s memory video sealed the deal in providing an uplifting final lap for the quirky classmates’ unique bond before their graduation.  I’m definitely going to miss this show when it concludes next week.