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I'm going to give it an 8, only because the villain ended up being rather disappointing. But a good ep overall-- Chigusa holding that fire extinguisher was hilarious. And it really is fitting that Shana would set the food on fire. Willhelmina getting all jealous of Chigusa and then trying to learn how to cook herself was also a nice treat.
They dealt okay with the triangle in this ep; I thought. Nothing over the top. Yuuji thought about refusing the bento; I think an American guy should definitely do that, but in Japan, I wouldn't be surprised if it'd be just too rude, which was essentially Ike's point. And then the poor guy felt obligated to eat both lunches.
Some points for Yuuji for figuring out the connection between Shana missing training and his bento; nice to see the usually sharp male lead be a little less oblivious to the love-interest. And judging by Yuuji's enthusiastic reception of Shana's bento, Yoshida really doesn't have a chance.
The Shana/Yoshida interactions in this episode were also interesting. Shana trying to use fighting as an excuse for Yoshida to stop bringing her bento, and Yoshida (good for her!) calling that out for what it was--a bs excuse. And then Shana actually meeting Yoshida halfway--I guess they'll just both bring half-bentos now. And I get the feeling Shana's jealous of how frankly Yoshida can express her feelings; look at her reaction to Yoshida tucking Yuuji in at the end--sorta-of a "I wish I could do that, but am too proud and embarrassed to do so" look to her face.
I for one actually like how over the course of the series, Yoshida has actually grown a spine, while Shana has become less over-the-top jealous and possessive. It's not that I think that Shana is now willing to "share" Yuuji with Yoshida; it's just that I think she realizes now whether or not she likes it, Yoshida's going to be a part of Yuuji's life, as long at least as they stay in the city. Compare that to Shana's over-reaction to seeing Yuuji with Yoshida during the festival arc, or worse yet, the early ep. where she went psycho on Yuuji for calling her "just a classmate" to Chigusa.
Watching the ep, as opposed to screen-caps, it does now seem very unclear who this look-a-like Hecate is. It also looks like we should be moving away from the triangle a bit; I think that's working so far, but I also don't want them to flog it either.
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