So far the second season of Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang Out! has been pretty give and take. The first episode was an excellent start to the season, although it had its flaws and the second episode felt heavier in defects than strengths. This episode delivered more development than the previous one and even if it had managed to lack significant action, it was still enjoyable to watch. The episode starts during preparations for a school festival. Uzaki wants to make the rounds with Sakurai at the school festival, but he says he isn’t going. It’s not that he hates school festivals, but he just doesn’t have any compelling reasons to go, and he has a few time-sink video games to grind through. Uzaki points out how odd it is that he’s calculating the gains and losses for such an event. This is one of those instances where she has a pretty good point, and it’s actually in his best interest.
Sakaki catches them chatting and mentions how he’s helping out with the organizing committee, which is turning into a real hassle since it’s taking up so much of his time. His idea to increase attendance was a stamp lottery where you get a stamp for every booth you visit and then a lottery is drawn on the second day. Sakurai senses that Uzaki wants to attend the festival now because one of the prizes is a pricey game system, so he suggests they go. Now he has a reason and obligation to go. He’s coming around to putting her happiness first.
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A Fortune At The Festival
At the school festival, Uzaki and Sakurai visit different booths, having a pretty good time overall. Then they visit the occult club’s festival room for a fortune reading and things take a fortuitous turn. Per Sakaki’s suggestion, they visited the occult club, but they had no idea what they were getting into. After they progress through the line to the front, they enter the room, and they’re greeted by one of the black-hooded club members.
She removes her hood and viewers see that it’s none other than Ito! Oh, don’t recognize her? The show acts like she’s a side character who was already introduced, but there’s no way she was introduced to viewers before. If she was, she wasn’t very memorable. After Uzaki and Sakurai consider what they should ask for a fortune about, Ito clues them in on the fact that the fortunes are all romantic since they’re compatibility fortunes. Uzaki and Sakurai try to leave, but the other occult club members refuse to let them leave. The duo decides to just get their fortune.
Ito flips all the cards and has the nerve to mention that much of the result is based on how the couple feels like she wants no part of the blame if it’s bad fortune. Uzaki worries about the long preface before getting the fortune, only for Ito to say it’s “eye-poppingly good.” No one else she’s seen this year has been as perfect for a couple. She even asks them why they aren’t dating and mentions their sleeping in each other’s arms on campus. She might be a little out of left field, but is she really? She’s just spitting facts. They leave embarrassed.
After they’re gone, one of the other club members removes her hood and viewers see that it’s Asai. She just had to get a front seat to this action, especially since she missed it last time. The club was nice enough to let her in on it. Asai leaves to follow after the duo and calls Sakaki to give him a status report. He’s embracing his inner eraser head senpai, bundled up in a sleeping bag because he’s exhausted from helping to organize the festival. During Asai’s call with Sakaki, she lost Sakurai and Uzaki.
Face Your Feelings
Uzaki sits with Sakurai on a bench away from the main festivities, recovering from the awkwardness of the fortune. Although, she doesn’t seem to be very shaken, and he’s the one with his face buried in his hands. Uzaki asks what Sakurai thinks makes them so compatible. Unsure of how to respond, he gives a vague answer until he looks over and sees her watching him with an expression on her face that viewers have never seen from her before. It’s like a cross between genuine interest and playfully coy jest. She says she wouldn’t think about the fortune too much, and they get up to continue enjoying the festival, as she walks with a cheery demeanor.
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After the festival, Sakurai lays in his bed exhausted but still thinking about the fortune he received with Uzaki. Ito’s question about them not dating enters his thoughts. Uzaki is preparing food over by the kitchen area. Sakurai flashes back to when Uzaki asked him about their compatibility, and he thinks about the look on her face then. While Sakurai is still conflicted over the fortune and how Uzaki may be feeling about the whole situation, she’s in a bright mood, positively beaming as she preps their meal.
Emotional Bias For Days
The narrator mentions that over their relationship, Uzaki hasn’t thought much about their compatibility, but now that it got a seal of approval, she’s pretty lively. Rather than being caught up in the romantic implications of their compatibility reading, she believes that their compatibility means Sakurai needs her around. Now that’s denial. The narrator names it emotional bias and that it means we prefer and accept the information that’s most convenient for us. She goes from thinking Sakurai likes her being around to him not being able to live without her, but even then she still doesn’t think about the romantic implications. The episode ends with a comical one-two combo.
First, Uzaki gets frustrated at how air-headed Sakurai is because she wants him to comment on how much he needs her or likes having her around, but instead, he just thanks her for the food and agrees to pay for the groceries. Then, their hands touch as she passes condiments and they both get a little bashful.
This episode of Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang Out! felt more engaging than the previous episode. It was relatively light on the humor, but what it lacked in humor, it made up for in tender moments between Sakurai and Uzaki. On top of the moments between those two, it was also enjoyable to see the running joke of Asai and Sakaki’s matchmaking attempts return. The first season was characterized, in large part, by secondary and tertiary characters rooting for a romance between the leading duo just like the audience. While the second season doesn’t need to stick too closely to that formula, it’s nice to see it’s still sprinkled in.
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