Love Lab ep10: too harsh, too dazzling, too clumsy, too wild and too misunderstood

This episode was more anecdotal than the others. It felt like I was watching one of those four-panel adaptations like Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star or Nichijou. Entertaining as it was, it felt like the plot got left on the sidelines this episode. Yes, I know this is a comedy, and usually that stuff doesn’t matter, but there are larger problems to address.

Those problems I speak of don’t necessarily involve Sayori getting a makeover, though that was pretty funny. Aside from the old gag involving the person wearing glasses being so blind that they can’t even walk straight, I enjoyed seeing her dressed in all those different outfits, and having everyone make fun of her for once in awhile. Though the best part of all this focus on Sayori was the story we got to hear about how she met her boyfriend, from the mouth of her boyfriend! We got to see how even in grade school, she was still ostracized, though a fair portion of that was her own fault. And we saw how she could have a softer side still involves extortion.

Even though it’s not one of the larger problems, we got to see a bit of Yuiko’s family. She unfortunately has a useless NEET of an older brother who is quite the pervert. He seems to be bother allergic to, and at the same time attracted to Sayori’s harsh ways. Conversely, he was a terrible brother to Yuiko, who suffered so very needlessly because her brother was an idiot who wanted to act cool by reflecting what he saw in manga and anime.

Even though it’s not one of the larger problems, it was still interesting to see how Suzu has always been so cute, that even her siblings doted and fought over her. Proving that her moe factor is indeed very strong. I was amazed at how they not only went to great lengths to please the little girl, but how far they went to rip off My Neighbour Totoro with the silliest of changes. (The dog bus is a hundred times less creepy than the cat bus.) Quite a bit of effort was put into just explaining the back story for a weird photo.

Even though it’s not one of the bigger problems, it was nice to see how the various members of the student council go about their days outside the love lab and its hijinks. “The Wild One continues to get in trouble and be a poor student, despite her best intentions. Natsuo continues to amaze her fellow students as if she were a celebrity. Yuiko continues to force her sense of judgement and responsibility (judgement desu no) on her fellow students, while all the time just trying her best to look out for everyone. And Suzu continues to be amazingly adorable and clumsy despite her best efforts. Though more than anything, it appears her large forehead is the thing that receives the most punishment for clumsy actions.

So even though this show has larger problems to focus on, I enjoyed this episode in spite of its attempts to stay away from plot related issues or hijinks. After all, I enjoy this show so much, that I could easily enjoy several more episodes of them just goofing off and screwing up. Those silly problems can wait. After all, I don’t watch anime for the problems, but for the entertainment.  Plot can wait.

Further Reading:

• Episode 8 & 9