Nice! A Shiori-centric ep. Somehow she reminds me of both Sakura (D.C. Da Capo) and Akane (Kiminozo). Sakura probably because Shiori seems to be in the same predicament of being unable to interest Seiji simply because she's a kid. Of course having the same seiyuu (Tamura Yukari san) probably emphasized the similarities. Akane because we caught a glimpse of how babelicious Shiori can get in the years to come. Well, I was hardly impressed by Akane when she first appeared in ep 2 of Kiminozo. But 3 anime years and 12 Kiminozo eps transformed her into a fine lady and elevated Suzumiya Akane to head my favourite anime chars chart, sharing the seat with Andou Mahoro.

Ok, my petty charts aside, I had some real good laughs in this ep. The arcade-fighting scene was hilarious. With Midori as the right hand, effectively, Seiji has only 2 'fingers' for the controls. Midori might have to use her head if they had needed to press buttons A,B and C together. Interwoven with the laughs is a little backstory for Shiori. I just thot the resolution of this little backstory (essentially the reconciliation btw Shiori and her step-mom) was pretty abrupt. While I like the feel-good ending, it does knocks a few points off the depth/realism of the series. There I go again, harping on realism. Will I ever learn to remember that Seiji HAS A GIRL FOR HIS RIGHT HAND, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!