Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!

Episode 7

Episode 7 of Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! is absurd and unrealistic in the most unexpected of ways this week: it shows a relationship change in a healthy, mature sense.

We're a long way from the oopsie-doopsie tropes of the early episodes, and I mean that in the best possible sense. This episode revolves almost entirely around Yakishio and Ayano. This kind of situation is a tough one to navigate for anyone, really but especially so for teenagers struggling to come to terms with who they are in the world. Few people can have a mature conversation around their feelings where they show vulnerability to one another without hurting one another. Even more than that, Lemon and Ayano can have this perfectly blunt conversation and retain their friendship afterward. That's very rare, in my experience anyway.

It also helps that the feelings involved are quite relatable. Ayano and Lemon did like each other, but only Lemon could articulate those feelings whereas Ayano still did not know what they meant. It's common to feel a certain way about someone long before you realize those feelings and that is doubly true for young people still learning the ways of romance and affection.

Nukumizu also made good on his friendship with everyone involved. He was supportive without getting in the way, a quiet listener when one party needed to talk, an advice-giver when it was sought—all around a good guy. It's nice seeing a lead who lives up to the expectations put on him by others in this regard, and that makes it plain why so many people trust and rely on him.

This week, the animation, direction, and music also knocked it out of the park. A half dozen or so tender moments tugged at the heartstrings and all of the elements of the visual medium came together to drive those home. Great stuff all around. The real home run sequence was Ayano and Lemon watching and narrating their younger selves growing closer over books, a real visual and emotional treat.

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Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.