Hibike! seems to be putting these goggles on a lot of people.
Even I think it'd be better if that relationship was made canon, because the characters are kind of incomprehensible right now. My initial thoughts of Kumiko and Reina were that they're similar to Yuuta and Rikka in
Chuunibyou. One is all "I need to be special!" and the other is attracted by that and cheers her on. If they just added a proper romance as well, there'd be a sense of completion.
But at the same time, you gotta remember what medium you're in. Mainstream anime has precious few credible depictions of homosexual relationships, and this is the studio that did
Free!. Master baiters when it comes to showing this kind of thing.
