Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru - 9

"Promises That Come Back Are a Battlefield"

In just thirty seconds of total screentime, Masuzu managed to steal the show once again.

You do have to give Eita credit for a couple of things, and one of those is how often he's willing to go to humiliating lengths for others. Sure, he was kind of a jerk for reading someone else's notebook, especially when he knows full well how personal they can be, but at least when Ai was completely in tears about it, he sacrificed his own dignity to make her feel better. Still, if I were Ai, I don't think things would have gone that smoothly (I'd still be ridiculously embarrassed; what was with the "shit" remarks anyway?) but this is a harem, and the rules of a harem are fairly absolute, so I'll move on. In any case, I think I prefer Ai when she drops the tsundere act, but she's still kind of pushy and annoying compared to all of the other girls (except Chiwa, who is still not as interesting as I wish she were, though she's still above Ai for me). I'm not entirely sure why Ai suddenly is able to express herself so easily, though it might just be because she feels more at ease with Eita now that he knows how delusional she is.

Still, she's pretty up in the clouds if she really thinks Eita will sign the "marriage registration" even though he has a girlfriend and he barely remembers her at all. It's romantically cliche, it's true, but still, taken is taken, even if it's just a pretense. Here's where I give another tip of the hat to Eita; while he's clearly overwhelmed by the whole situation (I would be too, if someone demanded I sign that, even if I promised ten years before) he doesn't really get flustered by the fact that Ai likes him, like most harem leads would. He accepts that quite easily, though he of course doesn't reciprocate and runs for the hills once he sees the chance (it would probably have been easier to reject her very clearly, though I do suppose he did just that to some extent by refusing to sign as firmly as he did).

Still, for me the real draw of the series continues to be scheming and horrible Masuzu, whom I just find irresistibly interesting. If I knew her, I'd probably hate her with a passion, yes, but it's so rare to see a character be that bitchy and not apologize for it in the least. Normally that would make me really angry (such as with Moritani in Kotoura-san), but in Oreshura, it just works for me. Since that's the case, the little scene between her and Eita was the most enjoyable part of the episode for me ("For that long? Are you trying to get me pregnant?") if only because of how ridiculous she is and how interesting their relationship has become. I don't think I've seen a harem lead that calm when kissing someone in recent memory, even just on the cheek, and especially not when that girl is his girlfriend in name (though these two kind of do kiss a lot). It's kind of refreshing, honestly, even if Eita doesn't yet reciprocate her not-very-hidden feelings.