Three episodes in, Hitomi finally joins the Photography/ Art club, talking about deliberate pacing here. Irozuku remains a show that still hasn’t totally impressed me. The main issues aren’t in the slow tempo, however. It’s more that Irozuku has a fair amount of cliche plot and predictable storytelling that it fails to grab me as much as it could. Take the Photography members and their love interests, for example. In a P.A.Works fashion there are hints of some potential pairings within this group, although whether or not the president Shou will get interested in Hitomi remains to be seen. The clue we had at the end of episode 2 when he looks at her doesn’t get any development at all this week, which I prefer it that way. Since coming to this world, Hitomi’s mind has always been occupied by the colorful drawings of Yuito, thus some distraction like a third wheel’s romance won’t bode well, narratively speaking.
The main plot of this episode 3 involving Hitomi looking for a suitable club and then assists the Photography club for their events. Due to her colorblind, she takes a wrong star sand, but she still manages to walk on water by her own magic power before her friend Kurumi reminds her so. That moment where she walks in the fog sure is breathtakingly, really, on a production level I have little to no complain. Her friend Kurumi in this episode also walks (this time figuratively) a thin line between ‘tolerable’ and ‘too much’. The big question mark will be the first appearance of her grandma Kohaku – a character whose presence always felt despite she’s currently studying abroad. If I have to guess right now I’d expect her to be airhead and pushy like Haruhi Suzumiya and it’s her who will drives the plot forward from here to the finish line. The question remains whether she’d become too dominant that she’d sweep everyone away, including Hitomi. Hitomi, this is your show, puts more effort to claim it!
After that dreadful fall (which eventually leads to the club’s cleaning pool as penalty), she reveals to Yuito about her colorblindness. He figures it out anyway since he remarks on how different she uses her color. Thus comes an understated but rewarding suggestion from him, join the photography club for monochrome projects. Based on the last event, it’s clear that Hitomi doesn’t lack magic power, it’s her inconfidence and her detachment that mainly cause it so hopefully, little by little, with the help of her friends (and grandma), she’ll come to learn to love herself and love the world around her.
