Don't worry, we'll be doing something all day, if you catch my drift.

Summary:

After escaping the evil wrath of the pulsating overlord, which we know as “the sight of Kosuda’s genitalia,” Yamada escapes and tells Takeshita about the unfortunate events that had occurred. As a result, in order to atone for her mistakes, Takeshita invites Yamada and Kosuda to go to the beach with her and her boyfriend. Kosuda, of course, accepts, and is rather pleased by Yamada’s choice of bathing suits.

And that, fellow gamers, is how you KO people without even touching them.

What he’s not pleased by, however, is the fact that Yamada loves to go on water slides. Kosuda, being a little momma’s boy, is afraid of heights, and as they go down the slide, Kosuda grabs Yamada out of pure fear. Yamada, of course, misinterprets his actions as him taking the initiative and thus goes down the slide over and over and over again. Much to her dismay, she later finds out the truth; and alas, nothing can do to cheer her up. Thankfully for Kosuda, a festival featuring fireworks happens to be scheduled the same day they go to the pool, and both Takeshita and Yamada dress up in their yukatas. Though initially blundering, Kosuda embraces Yamada from behind, and both quickly make up–so much so, in fact, that Yamada’s ready to take the next step. And, as we all know, that means one thing: time to stock up on some good ol’ contraceptives.

Presenting the newest act from the Ringling Bros.: Yamada's Condomnation!

But just when Yamada prepares for the touchdown pass, an unexpected opponent appears. Enter Mayu, a ditzy, airheaded, and F-cupped megane who seems to be the only other girl besides Yamada who talks to Kosuda. (Oh, and did I mention that she could cook well?) Well, as expected, Yamada’s taken aback quite a bit, and the two stalk her to see exactly who she is.

It turns out that Mayu is Kosuda’s childhood friend and neighbor. They’ve been going to the same school since their elementary years, and Mayu [naturally] has a crush on Kosuda; Kosuda, however, is completely oblivious. Still, the clouds of their relationship possibilities loom over Yamada’s head, and so she decides to take the initiative and force her into submission–only to end up as Mayu’s love support.

It’s gonna be an uphill battle for miss can’t-say-no Yamada.

Not even girls can resist other girls' puppy eyes.

Reaction:

Before I continue, I have three words: What is this?

In my previous post, I had defined B Gata H Kei as not only a romantic comedy but first and foremost as a coming-of-age journey. I had expected the series to stay true to the roots it had sunk from the first episode; that is, not focus on the romance part but rather on Yamada’s exploration of her own sexuality.

What I got instead was a half-assed romance with only traces of the coming-of-age parts I held so dearly from the first episode. Sure, Yamada’s crazy, non-stop sexual jokes persisted throughout the episode. However, even after two episodes, these jokes start to feel jaded. Example: Yamada’s expedition for condoms is relentless; we saw her (in the first episode) craving for these contraceptions. The second time around, the joke seems much less funny, as we know what’s coming. Moreover, some jokes simply seem to be inserted randomly instead of fitting into the general timeline. Of course, there were some comedic moments worth mentioning, albeit very few. However, such a number was pale in comparison to the first episode. (Perhaps such is to be expected: the first episode was meant to hook the viewer; and as such, the jokes may not be as good or as abundant as they were in the previous one.)

As previously explained, the focus from the previous episode to this one seemed to shift from Yamada’s coming-of-age story to the development of the relationship between Yamada and Kosuda. Although their relationship does need development, Yamada and Kosuda end up feuding and reconciling like any other canon couple. Yamada’s “tsundere” syndrome is certainly typical of girls her age, but the whole first half of the episode was played out in a rather cliche manner.

Matching sizes doesn't necessarily just apply to clothes, y'know.

The second part was an even bigger disappointment. I mean, really: could anything be more expected? If I could predict the weather like I could predict the events in this episode, I might just be the best meteorologist in the world. Perhaps that was the whole point of the episode: to poke fun at the cliches in romantic comedies. However, the fact still remains: the comedy fell flat on its face, and no amount of romance could make up for that.

Perhaps I’m being a bit too harsh on this episode; maybe the series gets better and this episode should be ignored. Maybe I’m looking much too shallow or much too deeply; maybe I should accept it for what it is. Yet, while the first episode certainly created the standard of expectations, the second episode clearly failed to reach it.

I rest my case.

Sadly, one of the only great scenes of this episode.