I return, quite late, to find blissmo hasn’t killed me just yet! Read on for a past-due pair of plots!

Episode 4

Of course there’s an obligatory pool episode in every series, but wait a second, kids. This is Itazura na Kiss, a humble girls’ show, not a fanservice-packed harem. But Kotoko does cover that one strange fetish, that of the school swimsuit. I often find myself asking: is it real, or is it just an anime thing? This is one of those cases.

At any rate, she doesn’t bother with buying a fancy or sexful swimsuit because she only has eyes for Naoki, and well, who’s gonna see her there anyway?

HA! Of course, he shows, with his obnoxious little brother Yuki. It’s no accident, though — of course meddling Ma Irie thinks a co-ed trip to the pool would be awesome. Naoki isn’t interested, though let it be known that he’s taken an opportunity to show off his chiseled manliness. His little beast brother, while trying to bother Kotoko for a monstrous “class project” (in which he chronicles her life with belittling comments and rude pictures), manages to almost drown himself. You can probably guess what’s next, but of course the savior he never wished for is Kotoko herself. And she doesn’t even stop with mouth-to-mouth. She graciously takes him for a ride on the giant water slide.

Instant Karma takes over, and she gets a plot contrivance leg cramp. But not only is she saved, she gets a foot massage out of it! Go Kotoko! She then even manages to sabotage Yuki’s little project when she finds it, but Naoki once again ends the episode on an a-hole note with his harshest teasing yet.

Episode 5

Kotoko the Lifesaver has final exams. While attempting to study — attempting being the operative word — Kotoko and her fellow class F friends run into a roadblock. It appears they’re studying math, but one way or another they don’t get it. So Kotoko takes a problem to Naoki for help. And pretty soon, there’s an out-of-control spiral that leads to Prodigal Irie tutoring the entirety of Class F.

In the midst of all this, we’re treated to an almost tender, very nearly vulnerable moment from Naoki, who can’t seem to get his mind around why Kotoko tries so hard even though she’s doomed to fail.

As thanks, the miscreants make him a horrific effigy of Kotoko (that looks more like Jinko than her, oddly). Kotoko herself wants to thank him too, and she even gets a part-time job waitressing at a noodle shop to facilitate it, in spite of how embarrassed she’d be if Naoki found that out. Problem is, she has a lapse of brainpower and buys a weird new-age health bracelet for the stiff-shouldered Naoki. Of course he’s not too fond of it.

When Ma Irie gives her a picture frame and suggests that a picture of Kotoko and Naoki should grace it, all are surprised when he agrees. But at the last split second of this cute moment, he lets it out that he saw her working at the fast-food noodle place and the Kodak moment turns into a Francis Bacon painting.

Thoughts

If you’re a cynical type, you might think Kotoko’s being clever by cozying up to the Yuki-monster, but really she’s just dopily nice and she feels bad for such a horrible creature. Well, good for her anyways, she always ends up being the bigger person. But she proves why she’s in Class F when she falls gullibly for the freaking Q-Ray bracelet. I had a teacher in art school who wore one, and I can assure you that if it does anything at all, it proves that you’re either a new-age space cadet or certifiably batshit insane.

But in spite of herself, Kotoko is making headway. Saving Yuki’s life was one of the best things she could have done — he’s a harder, brattier nut to crack than Naoki himself. But the pattern of Naoki warming up gradually and then being a collosal dick at the end of every episode just won’t let up.

The animation still sucks, but story-wise this show is still far ahead of its nearest competitor, the more bizarre but rarely funny (IMHO) Special A. Sometimes Kotoko’s such a dunce you just wanna shake her, but she’s still a great underdog hero.