The sixth episode of Skip and Loafer shows the repercussions of a misunderstanding between two friends who are also on the stage of experiencing their first love, perhaps. This all gets triggered after Mitsumi receives an unexpected call from her childhood friend Fumi, and later she finds Shima absent from school.
Spoilers Ahead
Episode 6: Recap: Drizzling And Flickering
In the previous episode, it was hinted that Shima and Mitsumi are growing fonder of each other with every passing day. This episode, however, begins with Mitsumi receiving a phone call from Fumi. She drops a bomb on Mitsumi by telling her that she might have fallen in love with a guy. Mitsumi, who, if asked to describe the feelings of love, could only search for its topic in a textbook, is fascinated but also terrified of this subject.
Fumi describes her condition to Mitsumi, which includes a few classic signs of first love: attraction, inability to find the correct thing to say, and hence growing more and more willing to escape the situation while at the same time returning with increased intensity. After having this little chat with Fumi, Mitsumi goes into a bubble of her own. Her elation for her friend’s feelings continues, and she rejoices in those emotions until this wonderful flow is brutally broken by the reminder of the upcoming exams. Mitsumi resolves not to lose her focus again as it was time for the declaration of the exam’s syllabus.
She sits in the class, engrossed in the academic proceedings when her mind suddenly shifts toward a mundane fact: Shima hadn’t shown up for class that day. After she gets to know that he has called in sick, she messages him, and he sends her the exam syllabus online. Getting restless from an unknown feeling, she inquires further about Shima not showing up. One of his friends says that Shima is quite a moody guy and may have skipped school because he might not have been able to get up after partying all night. This piece of information becomes the seed that later grows into a mammoth tree of wild imagination in Mitsumi’s mind. She hallucinates seeing Shima revamped in a bad-boy avatar.
When Shima shows up the next day, things get awkward between the two. They cannot see eye to eye and things get more twisted when the teacher asks them to staple the syllabus papers and submit them to the principal. They are left alone to carry out this office duty, and Mitsumi breaks the tension by asking him about his absence. She presses him for an answer and reminds him about the importance of these final few days remaining before their exams. Shima, already in a bad mood for some reason, replies viciously that the exam may be of significance for her but is of no great importance to him. Mitsumi is heartbroken to hear this kind of tone from Shima but doesn’t show it.
When she reaches home, she studies the entire two months’ worth of interactions with Shima, trying to figure out the reason behind this vicious reply from him. Shima, on the other hand, visits his friend’s house and discusses the incident. Here we get to know that Shima feels gloomy during the end of the winter rains, and being in a bad mood, he grew irritated and perhaps used a tone with Mitsumi that he wouldn’t have used otherwise.
Misunderstandings keep escalating between the two as they refuse to converse further. Mitsumi tries to figure out the actual reason why she is unable to concentrate in Shima’s absence. Shima too isn’t able to figure out the reason behind Mitsumi’s odd behavior. He decided to do the only thing he could, which was to apologize for talking rudely. He catches Mitsumi on the stairs and apologizes for his tone. Mitsumi accepts, but she realizes something about herself.
Episode 6: Ending Explained – What Did Mitsumi Realize?
Mitsumi tries studying her own emotions like she was preparing for an exam, and after much soul-searching, she realizes that the reason she got so worked up about Shima’s absence was that she felt bored and disinterested when she didn’t find him in class. She accepts this truth about herself, albeit very awkwardly. When Shima comes to know about it, he asks about her odd behavior, and that’s when she tells him about the rumors she heard from his friend about him being a party animal. Shima tells her never to believe such rumors. When Mitsumi tries to rush past him, he holds her hand, which evokes the same feelings in Mitsumi as described by Fumi about her first love. She runs off and calls Fumi to cross-check if those feelings could also be evoked by a ‘friend.’
Episode 6: Review
The episode wonderfully fast-tracked the courting process between Shima and Mitsumi but also left it up to the viewer’s guesswork as to whether their relationship would work out or not if they ever were to take it to the next level. The moments of intimacy were nicely depicted, and Mitsumi’s conversation with Fumi about love innocently revealed Mitsumi’s inexperience with any such experience before. The upcoming episodes become much more interesting after this one, as we know enough about Mitsumi’s character to imagine her with Shima, but not so much about Shima’s character that we can predict who will receive the heartbreak or, by some miracle, whether these diametrically opposite characters will be able to weave a unique love story.