English Dub Review: The Ramparts of Ice “Lightning Bolt”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
As Koyuki slowly notices her new, surprising feelings towards Minato, first-year Momoka suddenly tries to cozy up to her—for reasons she can’t grasp.

Our Take:
With the anime nearing its conclusion, it’s no surprise that Koyuki’s feelings for Minato continue to gradually form, which may or may not be enough to help her come out of her shell.  However, we got ourselves a new challenger that could disrupt those good vibes, Momoka Kuriki.  Momoka is the best friend of Akine Atagawa, the sister of the girl who made Koyuki’s middle school life a living hell.  Fortunately, Momoka has a friendlier appearance than Akine and even her older sister, but she also has a massive crush on Minato, which would explain why she’s super friendly towards Koyuki.  The love triangle with Koyuki, Minato, and Yota did seem pretty harmless despite Miki’s insistence on making Yota and Koyuki a couple.  But now we have one that may do more harm than good, especially since we don’t know whether Momoka’s friend is as ruthless as Manatsu.
Fortunately, we hardly see Akine interact with Koyuki in this episode until the post-credit scene, where Akine confronts her with a request we didn’t expect.  But the real situation outside Akine lies in Koyuki’s growing feelings for Minato.  While she does start to develop some, it also results in her anxiety getting the better of her, resulting in her avoiding Minato yet again.  Of course, this also causes Minato to doubt himself in his attempt to befriend Koyuki after a conversation he had with Momoka.  At that point, we can hope that Koyuki overcomes her low self-esteem before Momoka wins him over.  Regarding the episode’s plot, it slowed down a bit with Yota and Miki’s trip to the dam, but not enough to bring it to a complete halt.  I also enjoyed how it shows that a certain relationship is built not by someone’s appearance but by the little things they do for others.