Chio's School Road

Episode 8

Just when you think you know someone, they throw you the track and field equivalent of a curveball. Chio and Manana have gotten close enough to Yuki Hosokawa that they've started calling her by her first name, but they're still caught completely off guard when Yuki shows up in a revealing running outfit. Chio tries to quietly go with the flow, which tempts Manana into making the situation as awkward for Chio as possible. Later, Chio gets another case of game brain and uses an especially dangerous technique to scale a building. Tired of Chio's stunts, Manana goes berserk and races to confront her on the roof, but she makes one critical mistake along the way. Finally, we learn a little more about school disciplinary committee member Momo and how she ended up in her current position.

Although Chio's School Road hasn't been above the occasional dose of fanservice in the past, Yuki's skimpy track attire is mostly used as a catalyst for comedy here. The focus here is not so much on the outfit itself as it is on everyone else's reactions to it. The situation draws out some key personality traits for both Chio and Manana: Chio's aversion to attention leads her to come up with a way to anonymously muddle through their commute, while Manana's ability to read Chio like a book grants her a prime opportunity to make her best friend's life a living hell. Their back-and-forth conflict is made more amusing by Yuki's blissful ignorance of the whole thing; she's just so darn excited for her track meet that she decided to dress for the occasion ahead of time. That dynamic of Chio trying to mitigate the situation, Manana trying to escalate it, and Yuki not even noticing it is essentially this storyline's only joke, but it's delivered pretty well. Thankfully, the series is also smart enough to quit while it's ahead instead of dragging the segment out across too much screen time.

Chio's latest ascent into danger is reminiscent of the show's first episode, and the script takes advantage of that similarity to toss in a couple of self-referential jokes. The most noteworthy of these is the return of the bald window dude, who in this case is at work instead of brushing his teeth at home. It's amusing to see the same character show up to cause essentially the same problem for Chio, and the show makes just enough changes this time around to ensure that the joke can stand on its own merit. Manana's presence in the storyline is also a plus, and the revelation that she's marched her way up to the wrong rooftop is handled nicely. Overall, this segment strikes a decent balance between its callouts to previous episodes and its original material, and Chio and Manana's very different journeys to the roof hit a sweet spot where they're just ridiculous enough to be entertaining.

Bringing Momo back is an interesting choice for the series; she didn't make much of an impression in her first appearance, so I didn't necessarily expect her to return at all, much less get her own little storyline. This flashback is also a departure from the show's usual approach in that it's not really going for laughs here. Instead, we get a reasonably sincere story about an awkward girl finding a place for herself through an extracurricular activity. It helps to explain why Momo takes her role so seriously, not to mention why she has a bit of a crush on her teacher. Even if it's not the most emotionally compelling thing in the world, it is at least kind of sweet, and it fits neatly into the amount of time it's given. Considering what a change of pace it is from the rest of the episode, it works better than I would have expected it to.

The progress has been gradual, but Chio's School Road is starting to recapture its early season magic bit by bit. The first two parts of this episode hit on key elements of the show's appeal: Yuki's outfit brings out both Chio's social awkwardness and Manana's killer instincts, while the alleyway climb brings back the wonderfully idiotic stunts. The final storyline, on the other hand, is another case of the series trying out new material. While it's a far cry from what we've come to expect from Chio's School Road, it's presented well enough to be a worthwhile detour. If the show can keep these modest improvements coming for another week or two, there's nothing to stop it from having a strong second half.

Rating: B

Chio's School Road is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.