Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutiereturns with a strong seventh episode on the onset of scheduling changes due to an outbreak of COVID-19 at studio Doga Kobo. The episode features a slice of life anime staple, an event that usually presents a set of special conflicts, trials and triumphs – the school festival.
Continuing on with the strong form it was showing going into the schedule changes,Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutieepisode 7 also saw the return of a character last seen in the early stages of the series, during the sports festival of the second episode. Kamiya, a character once presented as Shikimori’s rival, plays an important role in the episode, as she asks Izumi a vital question: how exactly did he and Shikimori start dating?
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Festivities
Over the course of two days, the high school hosts scores of people during the Cultural Festival, a celebration that features as part of the major events of the Japanese school year. Izumi’s class is doing a play, and Izumi is part of the group responsible for the creation of the costumes, so it’s again emphasized that Izumi is quite dexterous when it comes to delicate tasks. Shikimori, who was in the same group as Izumi the previous year, is in the group responsible for the stage and props, so they don’t get to talk as much as they did the previous year. One of the major elements of the episode is the “Couple Numbers” event that is directed by the Student Council. The idea is that every single student is presented with a heart-shaped card upon entry at the school gates. The card, which has a number written on it, is one of a pair, the other being with another student.
The idea is that once a student finds their numerical counterpart, they are to take a photo together to seal the deal – ensuring that the couple is never to be separated. Shikimori is disappointed to find out that she and Izumi don’t have the same number. The event is later revealed in the episode by Izumi to have been the catalyst for their relationship as girlfriend and boyfriend – this occurs during a confrontation with a character whohasn’t featured since the second episode: Kamiya.
Memories
The episode begins with an emphasis on how different things are in this year’s festival compared to last year’s, and this in the context of the series' central relationship. Izumi being in a different group to Shikimori is only the minor separation, as Shikimori feels very strongly about the fact that she and Izumi don’t have matching numbers in the Couple Numbers game this year, unlike last year. The feeling of separation is fairly strong for her, and she fears what could happen if Izumi were to meet the person with whom he has a matching number and take a photo with her, like they did the year before. The thing about them is that they went through all kinds of trials just to earn the right to have that photo taken and cement the groundwork for Izumi’s confession of romantic feelings for Shikimori towards the latter stages of the previous year’s festival. Izumi arrives at school and receives the number 44, commenting on how ominous it is, because the number 4 is considered to be unlucky, meaning that the misfortune is doubled. It turns out that the person with whom Izumi has a matching number is none other than Shikimori’s rival during the sports festival in the second episode.
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Kamiya and Izumi’s relationship turns out to go back to the previous year too, during which Izumi had library duties like he does this year. He and Kamiya hit it off immediately due to the latter’s charisma and overall charm, but she was largely someone who kept to herself. Izumi is surprised at how much more Kamiya speaks to him this year compared to last year, and her questions are largely about his relationship with Shikimori, particularly how he and Shikimori came to establish themselves as girlfriend and boyfriend. Izumi tells the story of how he and Shikimori were pleasantly surprised that luck had bound them like that. However,Izumi’s tendency towards misfortune reared its head, and he lost the card proving his connection to Shikimori via the Couple Numbers game.
Izumi, feeling dejected and blaming himself for the situation, was ready to give up; however, Shikimori was determined to search for the missing card and have their picture taken – no matter what. They were unable to find it, but they decided to attempt to plead their case to the Student Council members in charge. They were initially rejected, but eventually the Student Council president was moved by something in Izumi, and wrote them a brand-new card number 212, enabling them to take their picture together. Izumi recounts his anxious confession to Shikimori behind the gym later that day.
Rivals?
While Izumi saw his card number 44 as a bad omen, his match may not have had such opinions of her luck. Izumi and Kamiya coincidentally had library duty together the previous year and so in this year that is so different to that of the previous, Kamiya is a welcome companion for Izumi. However, she grows increasingly curious of Izumi’s relationship with Shikimori, but her intentions are not quite clear. Whether she is asking out of interest in Shikimori, or out of a concern for Izumi is unknown, but one thing has been established about Kamiya’s relationship with Shikimori is a strange kind of rivalry. It’s possible that Kamiya’s concern and interest were driven not by an interest in Shikimori, but in Izumi himself.
Overall, episode 7 ofShikimori’s Not Just a Cutiewas great: it hada good premise and conclusion, the pay-off was incredible as viewers got to see the anticipated confession with the twist of it being in retrospect. The series' strongest element is the central relationship between Izumi and Shikimori, and with every passing episode, it develops further in ways that are anticipated but still finding ways to create light subversions of expectations. At this point, the series is in a different realm to what it had been trying to achieve in the early stages of the relationship.
