This episode marks an official appearance of Kohaku, and she is indeed brightens the screen and quickly becomes my favorite character out of this series. She’s both an interesting character in her own right (I love how she’s in merge between eccentric and act like an responsible adult), and she fits into the surrounding very well. For a show that has always been slow, she’s a necessary dynamite to blow things up a bit and drives the narrative as the series goes on. For instance, this week, because of her courage, Hitomi finally reveals to her club-mates that she comes from the future. While it’s an opportunity for the show to go all out emotionally, I don’t mind the understated way it addresses at all. Even the cast members don’t seem to be very taken aback by the reveal, which can gives of a bit strange. I really enjoy Kohaku’s little magic shown in this episode, as it feels magical, and what comes afterward, that everything blows up and everyone keeps reminding her of “don’t do anything that involve apologize letter” certainly give a smiles on my face.
There’s also some romantic potential here, chief among them Shou and Hitomi, while the other girl shows sign of one-sided crush to Shou. I’m not sure if it’s a good lake to fish since we know for certain how Hitomi is going to response. It’s pretty confirmed about the pair of glassed girl Kurumi and her underclassman Chigusa, and it’s interesting to note that Yuito shows some feeling towards Hitomi as he’s too shy to call her by her first name. While it’s P.A Works’s template that romance is bound to happen – which I’m not totally keen of – I will reserve my comment until I see how well they develop the romances at hands.
Many have noted the fact that Irozuku lacks punch. Indeed, apart from the fantastic moment at the end of episode 1, there’s little to no big payoff moments. Even in the “big moments” of this episode, namely when she reveals to her club members that she’s from the future & the magic train in the sky, are equally downplayed and mundane. Everything seems slow and understated, and to be fair Irozuku isn’t the best production when it comes to portrays subtle nuances, but it still maintains its own confident step forward. The issue with Hitomi for now is that she doesn’t has enough confident, or finding the true brilliance, in her magic. For Kohaku, she uses magic to bring smiles to people, so what will be the drive for Hitomi to fully embrace her magic?
