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To Love Ru Pinkness 08 - The Cafe of Side Characters
An episode with no Yami or Mea, and very little Momo? As much as Darkness knows where the focal point of the season is, it's still finding time to spread the focus around to everyone fairly evenly. Having Rin, one of Saki's friends, play a major role in an episode is not something I would've seen coming even back in Motto. Much less with Mikan. Mikan's role in things since episode 00 has been kind of marginalized, but this episode should make up for it. There wasn't even that much fanservice, and what there was mostly felt incidental to the ponderous mood that overtook much of the atmosphere.
Now, if there was going to be an episode based on side characters, I would've preferred one about Mio, but that's only because I like Chiemi Chiba's voice. The cafe where she and Risa worked was a nice place. I do like how, even though Darkness feels a bit like a long epilogue after the pool confession, the aftereffects are being explored pretty thoughtfully. I know it's a cliche, but Rito being a "nice guy" is a fine reason for all these feelings to be storming around. Every girl sees something differently, and has their own reasons, and that includes Mikan. Sibling relationships seem to be a big theme of this season in general.
Oh, and that final shot of a pregnant Yui was... yeah, great little bonus there. Shots like that, even if they're purely in a character's imagination, are a-okay with me.
So, about the next episode... uh-oh. I think Mea may have succeeded. Things are about to go horribly right.
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