One sentence summary: During a classic beach episode, Ryuuji temporarily becomes a sadistic Ami’s accidental pervert, cooks a feast for our quintet of shenanigans, and, amidst a well executed sentimental moment, subtly confronts Minorin about her love life, the answer of which - that she has never loved anyone but thinks her future promises romance - gives us a better look into their character, the resulting situation being Taiga’s acknowledging that she is very comfortable with Ryuuji, all Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu-esque mystery cliffhangers notwithstanding.

More thoughts on Taiga: I liked this episode a lot for its subtleties (like her feet on his back). Behind the loud humor - it’s very loud and very enjoyable, if not clichéd but well executed - is quite an emotional and mental backdrop. We could see this with kind of quiet relationship budding between Ryuuji and Taiga. Oh it was very quiet, nearly silent, unspoken of, deafly acknowledged, but now it seems more out in the open. Taiga does confirm that she’s a bumbling fool around Kitamura, but her affirmation of Ryuuji’s significance in her life takes shape. Her most interesting phrase was near the end, in a candle-lit room; “this house is so big, yet we’re sitting so close to each other” (20:49). She blames it on Ryuuji’s cramped apartment. But a kind of remote proximity is what makes people realize how close they really are. Unlike Shinji’s unfamiliar ceilings, new surroundings are provocative, not discouraging.

Minorin: Minorin definitely speaks through actions more than words, at least to me. Again, those subtle postures, expressions, movements, they’re all delicately placed yet incredibly effective, even when used for humor. It’s quite odd, she’s a manifestation of several tropes (Horie Yui helps quite a bit), yet she simultaneously breaks those tropes and continuously reshapes them, giving them more meaning, more substance, more finesse - a lot more finesse. Ryuuji’s monologue on perception and self-structuring (via ghosts?) tells us, essentially, that life is what you make of it. Her sudden outburst “UFO?” is rather ironic, and her desire to witness the unwitnessable right in the face of Ryuuji’s sentimental downpour is a nice display of Ryuuji’s utilitarianism sharply contrasted to her own other-worldly wildness. It’s not that she was ignoring him, it’s just that words can’t contain her.

Ryuuji: I’ve never seen a man so mad for cleaning. The strange thing is that I don’t feel like Ryuuji cares at all for cleanliness [is next to godliness?]. Ryuuji always seems to take delight in the process of cleaning, and when the job is done, he wipes his brow and moves on. A rather admirable work ethic. And just how Ryuuji is a very down to earth guy, he always lives in the present. When Taiga begins a mushy catharsis and breaks off after a few words, he doesn’t care, he doesn’t need to know. This is opposed to Minorin who lives in the future, and Taiga, who possibly lives in the past (she is very into revenge). I don’t necessarily think it’s these three characters who are “lead” and that Kitamura and Ami are merely third party instigators, but these “perceptions of time” are usually crucial to character identity when they are even present.

Ami: I thought that she said, a few episodes ago, that she wouldn’t hide under her mask? With her shrewd smirking, I really have no idea what she’s up to, so that makes her relatively interesting. Is she sincere? What is she after Ryuuji for? It can’t possibly be love triangle related, since Ami would then direct her actions towards Minorin. If it’s just for ego, or just because, then, well, hmm. ←[87]