An Awkward Birthday Party…OverviewFushi and his friends look for ways to get back in touch with Mizuha.Our Take Picking up from the previous episode, this chapter wraps a seemingly simple attempt to reconnect with Mizuha around an ordinary milestone in an unsettling atmosphere thick with unease, using slice-of-life calm as a deliberate smokescreen for creeping dread. School routines, small acts of kindness, and quiet conversations are constantly undercut by unsettling behavior, awkward silences, and the persistent feeling that something is deeply wrong beneath the surface. Despite being downplayed and how some side characters add little beyond clutter, the episode remains compelling due to its oppressive mood and sharp character focus. Mizuha is the driving force behind that unease, coming across as genuinely unhinged in a way that’s impossible to ignore: her erratic shifts between vulnerability and cold detachment create a constant sense of discomfort, making even mundane interactions feel threatening. While questionable character decisions occasionally strain believability, the episode’s atmosphere, strong performances, and Fushi’s ongoing existential conflict keep it engaging, emphasizing that the most unsettling battles here are psychological rather than physical.Overall, despite uneven writing choices and occasional lapses in logic, the episode remains compelling by fully embracing mood over momentum, leaning into an uneasy contrast between everyday normalcy and creeping menace that makes even its warmest moments feel fragile. Rather than pushing the plot forward cleanly, it functions as psychological buildup, using discomfort, emotional ambiguity, and slow-burning tension to explore themes of detachment, mistrust, and the cost of connection. Messy and divisive as it may be, it certainly wasn’t boring, but sadly, as I’m typing this, we won’t know what will happen next until near the end of February.