Subculture Anime Blog

Possibly the most epic grope in anime history.

Summary:

Minori wonders to Taiga if she has found Ryuji and Ami in the apartment, but having seen what she has, Taiga lies by saying that there is no one inside. Ami wonders if this means that Taiga does not want to accept that another woman has been in the same room with Ryuji, but Ryuji can only hope that Ami would tell the truth about what has happened. Taiga seems obviously annoyed while she is with Ryuji and Yasuko later, but before Ryuji can properly explain things to her, the group’s attention switches to Inko who has his usual troubles. Ryuji panics the next day because of waking late, then forcing himself and Taiga to rush to school. Taiga and Ami get into another argument when they meet in the classroom, but this is broken up by Minori when she greets Taiga and the others. Koigakubo-sensei soon announces the upcoming swimming event to the class, then becoming annoyed by what she believes to be the students’ naive responses. Taiga also panics to herself, but for reasons unknown to anyone else.

Ryuji and Minori force Taiga to come with them to the bathing suit shop later, but Taiga is only annoyed to see Ami there as well. Minori is amazed by Ami’s figure when she tries on a bathing suit, and even Ami herself is amazed at the sight of her appearance. Ryuji is eventually dragged into the dressing room by Taiga, who worries about the different sizes of bathing suits there are. Ryuji finally convinces her of buying a seemingly suiting one, though she still seems reluctant while they go home that night. Yasuko is almost late to work while Ryuji makes dinner, but she does not leave without first drinking Ryuji’s specially prepared drink. When Taiga wonders about this, Yasuko explains that the ingredients inside help to make breasts larger. Taiga becomes very excited upon learning about this, even hoping to have some of the drink to herself, causing Ryuji to finally realize what she has been worried about.

After seeing Taiga in her swimsuit at her house later, and even seeing a photo of her from a previous event, Ryuji decides to help her. Taiga stays up with Ryuji as he works that night, then apologizing for things she has caused in the past. In the morning, Taiga is quite amazed by Ryuji’s work. As the swimming event starts, the boys are amazed at Ami’s appearance as expected. When Taiga finally reveals her swimsuit, she and Ryuji find that they have succeeded in fooling the class. Minori, however, sees through it immediately. The class proceeds to have fun at the pool, but Ami eventually throws Taiga into the pool as well. Seeing Taiga struggle, Ryuji realizes that her earlier statement about not being able to swim was true. Ryuji quickly jumps in to save Taiga, but she is more worried about losing her cup in the water. With this, Ryuji saves Taiga after inserting the cup back into her bathing suit. Taiga is very frustrated with both Ryuji and Ami in the classroom later, but Minori eventually proposes a sports challenge to them to resolve things.

Preview: 1,000 years of training before the all deciding challenge.

Impression:

And I’m not talking about her balls. Unfortunately, this episode really wasn’t much like Umisho at all. On the bright side, it was still hilarious on several levels. It’s always the little things that just add to the humor in comedies like this, such as Ryuji’s hitting Taiga on the head and the the facial expressions Taiga put on in general. Yuri’s inner dialog while the class talked about their typical swimming troubles was really great, as was Ami’s checking herself out in the mirror. (How hot is that?) I also couldn’t believe it when Taiga straight up started “sexually harassing” Yasuko! Plot-wise, we did get more development between Ryuji and Taiga. At this point, I see the two interacting more as family members than love interests. (Who drags their friend into the dressing room that easily, really?) Suggestions about Taiga’s expression when she saw Ryuji and Ami could be brought up too, but either way, I’m now not as positive about the direction this show is going to take as I was when I first started watching.