Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutieepisode 5 was a marked improvement on the series overall, as Shikimori and company, in the midst of their summer vacation, headed to the river as they planned in the previous episode. The episode has several high moments, but it is not without its fair share of drama.
A frequent criticism of the series thus far has beenthe overselling of Shikimorias a kind of mascot character and in a sense, a manufacturing of the supposed “Best Girl” of the series (and perhaps, of the season). However, the fifth episode ofShikimori’s Not Just a Cutiemanaged to finally achieve what the series has been trying to do all along: show the growing relationship between Shikimori and Izumi while subverting particular expectations of romantic slice of life anime.
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The River, As Promised
A slightly frustrating aspect of episode 4 ofShikimori’s Not Just a Cutiewas the fact that the episode was merely a precursor to episode 5. Invoking the age-old anime trope of the beach day, the fourth episode ended up being merely the mall run in preparation for the actual outing. In hindsight, the fourth episode existing to set up this one works better for the series, and given that they go to the river and not the beach,Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutieepisodes 4 and 5 successfully perform the series objective of subverting expectations, while also delivering a strong use of existing tropes.
The outing was eventful in terms of the actual activities the characters were getting up to, like cooking, fishing and eating together; but also in terms of the characters themselves. In this episode, Izumi’s goodwill and overall good nature turns him into the star of the show, which is an interesting move away from the series' preferred method of trying to divert any and all attention to the titular (read “mascot”) character.
The Hero Izumi
This episode was a bit of a surprise given Izumi’s pervasive influence over the series of events. It wasn’t merely a matter of Izumi being the victim of circumstance or misfortune, but focused on the character’s hunger for life despite the challenges he may face. When arriving at their site next to the river, the group divvies up duties regarding food as Izumi suggests. The first problem he solves is that of food prep: none of the others are all that good in the kitchen, and Inuzuka’s knife skills are hazardous, to say the least. Izumi takes everybody by surprise, as he deftly handles a knife, gracefully chopping up onions and other vegetables. It turns out that Izumi helps out at home, so heknows his way around the kitchen, which is something that’s very surprising to his girlfriend and his friends because of his clumsiness and propensity for accidental self-injury. Because of Izumi’s cooking abilities, the group is able to efficiently sort out their meal for the day, and to top it off, Izumi even makes them s’mores for dessert.
The display of a true kind of competence from Izumi gives him a bit more depth as a character, and while he may think that his girlfriend is really cool, she thinks the same of him, even more so after their trip. Izumi comes to prove his girlfriend’s words directed at his mother from episode 3, where she described him as someone who is extremely compassionate because he understands pain more than anyone else. When a little girl is taken by the river current, things start to look dangerous, but Izumi spots her and heads into the river to help push the girl’s floater closer to the bank.
After getting her out of the water, Izumi attempts to climb out but is impeded by a cramping foot, putting him in mortal danger. The little girl’s shouting alerts Izumi’s cohort, who panic when they notice that someone’s drowning. Shikimori doesn’t think twice before diving into the water below, saving an Izumi who had basically given up on survival. Frustrated with him, Shikimori asks why Izumi didn’t call out to her – since she’d promised his mother that she’d be around to protect him come what may. For once, Shikimori’s athleticism comes in handy not merely to make her look cool, and while she has saved his life a few times in the series already, this may have been the only time that the situation was both realistic and truly, truly dire. This time around, Shikimori’s coolness truly comes through in an episode where Izumi seemed to be the main attraction, despite her usual teasing.
When Shikimori attempts to cook something for Izumi, the presentation is gorgeous, but the taste deplorable, showing one of several interesting “imperfections” to Shikimori’s character while also being a tried and tested trope. Her bad cooking makes Izumi’s body waver, but he continues to eat it because of the effort she put into it, so Shikimori promises to one day cook something that he will find delicious. The moment is wholesome and is again an indication of the series' strength lying in the actual day-to-day interactions between Izumi and Shikimori. Their relationship has been a recurring source of the series' best moments, as they grow deeper in theiraffection for each otherand experience various milestones together, but this episode delivered several great moments between the two of them, culminating in a dramatic dive into the river to save a drowning Izumi. Overall, the episode stands as one of the best from the series thus far, due to its wholesomeness, drama and comedy, but mostly due to how much closer to the characters the viewers get afterwards.
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