Episode 6 is a surprisingly down-to-earth excursion into the world of teenage friendship and heartbreak.

The team seems to have found the right balance between melodrama and relatable events this week. Every story goes over the top for dramatic effect, and romance is no exception. MachineineThe main eccentricities of in this regard revolve around Nukuzimu being at the center of all these relationships. But the actual events of this week all feel appropriately mundane and sensible, which makes the relationships and situations more palatable in terms of realism.

Lemon’s confession is a good example of this duality. She makes this over-the-top confession through a Freudian slip that she actually loves Mitsuki, and runs away from it all. She retreats to spend time with her grandmother in the mountains, which prompts the gang to take a friendly trip to visit her. The gang grows closer in the process and has a lot of perfectly normal fun that kids should have! They take silly photos, play with river crabs, fool around, and generally have a good time. The impromptu slumber party is a fun twist, the kind of thing that happens without any over-the-top scenes in between. There’s an underlying teenage melancholy about lost romances and missed signals, but that helps provide a nice contrast to the insignificant fun of the gang trip beforehand.

The only real downside to the episode remains Chihaya’s behavior. I know she’s the vessel for much of the melodrama, but I’m having trouble understanding her motivation. Does she want to fight for Mitsuki, or does she want to give up entirely? It’s hard to reconcile her actions from scene to scene, and while you could chalk that up to teenage insecurities and the erratic behavior of young people… It makes for a very, er, functional character, shall we say. Chihaya feels like an inconsistent character because she serves purely mechanical narrative purposes: one minute she’s meek, the next daring, one scene scheming, the next passive. It’s a bit much for me.

Evaluation:

Grant is co-host of the podcasts Blade Licking Thieves and Super Senpai Podcast.

Makeine: Too many heroines lose! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.