The seventh episode of Skip and Loafer finds Mitsumi in seventh heaven as her friendship with Shima Sousuke begins to take on a different, more affectionate turn. Her interaction with Takamine however doesn’t go smoothly as she tries to cheer her up.
Spoilers Ahead
Episode 7: Recap: Hectic And Hot Stuff
Who doesn’t remember their first love: the elation of it and the rosy point of view that the new lover looks with at the world? Similar feelings were emerging in our academic superstar Mitsumi. She managed to do the impossible which was not to worry about her grades. You see, the term-end exams were over and students could breathe a sigh of relief. Mitsumi however was relaxed due to the friendship with Shima.
Selected as the Secretary of the Student Council, her goals were being met one after the other. It wasn’t the case with everybody around her. Some dreams were also getting shattered while hers were getting fulfilled. The disciplined Takamine, Mitsumi’s senior schoolmate, and mentor, had really gotten her heart broken. It wasn’t because of some fling that had ended. Takamine wasn’t the kind to venture into that territory. What happened was that after the election of students to the various posts, Takamine lost the president’s post to a complete slacker, Hiroto Kazakami. At the roundtable held by the Tsubame Society, Takamine is seen rather upset by being at the Vice-President’s post.
Takamine was once the Treasurer and when the elections were held, she lost to Hiroto. It wouldn’t have been such an upset if the candidate was someone of the caliber of Takamine or even had the time to file for nomination way before the last date, to respect the election procedure. She thought her way to become the president was clear as she had no competition but as soon as she said it, Hiroto’s nomination came in. The feelings of celebrating too soon morphed into embarrassment and were surely mixed in with the feelings of loss.
Mitsumi longs for more social skills just for these situations. A mentor felt dejected and she just wanted to change her mood but nothing seemed to help. Kanechika, the drama club member and a colorful character comes in handy in a unique way.
Mitsumi asked Kanechika what could be done to cheer Takamine up. Kanechika who understood the assignment rightly read the situation as the problem of losing out the confidence that was so thoroughly cultivated since a young age. Takamine had a whole booklet that contained only the tips for the president but even after being so diligent she lost the election to someone whose only claim to the position was his popularity. So, what did Kanechika do when asked for help by Mitsumi? He put himself on the line and staged a screening for his amateur fifth-grade movie. The movie, which was clearly unsatisfactory to say the least, still had a passionate Kanechika helming it as the lead actor. This did wonders for Takamine’s self-esteem and fostered a change of attitude. Instead of cribbing about the last-minute nomination or Hiroto’s reputation for being a slacker, she realized that her dedication could be honored in a much better way if she could just continue to do her duties with passion like Kanechika had in his badly made film. She got out of her pitiful state of taking herself too seriously. Seeing Kanechika being so open and vulnerable was exactly the thing that could have freed her up.
It finally happened. Mitsumi’s mission was accomplished. Her favorite senior had got her focus back on track and overcome all the negative feelings attached to the loss. But had Mitsumi managed to deal with her feelings for Shima Sousuke given that their friendship was probably on the verge of a deeper bond? She was so filled with rapture that when she is alone with Shima, she asks him to go with him to go see a movie.
Episode 7: Ending Explained – Did Shima Say Yes To Mitsumi’s Proposition?
Mitsumi got too excited when Shima was seen discussing an outing with other classmates, the hidden emotions in her got the better of her rational mind and she blurted out the question to Shima. If one has ever had a crush, one would know that asking a question like that is like a kiss of death. To Mitsumi’s surprise, Shima says yes but poor Mitsumi is left almost traumatized as she fixates on the fact that how could she have said something along the lines of a date!
Episode 7: Review
The seventh episode was a good one as far as the furthering of Mitsumi and Shima’s relationship was concerned but it felt as if a big chunk of the time period was skipped. Mitsumi’s election into the Tsubame Society was never shown, and the flashback technique to show Takamine’s loss in the president’s election feels quite contrary to the show’s simple and effective linear technique. The cliffhanger was the most exciting part but it was too little too late a move to engage the audience. The episode is now streaming on Crunchyroll.