ORESUKI: Are you the only one who loves me?

Episode 6

The second arc of ORESUKI comes to close in a surprisingly wholesome episode focusing on Jōro's growth as a likable human (!) and Pansy opening up to a new group of friends. Sun-chan is also working towards redeeming himself (even if he'll always be dead to me). But first, we finally see yellow journalist and potential emotional abuser Asunaro get her comeuppance.

There weren't any shocking reveals her; the previous episode laid out all the clues and framework to point us toward Asunaro orchestrating Jōro's isolation from his friend group in order to monopolize his attention. Now, I know ORESUKI isn't playing its characters' bad behavior with the kind of weight I'd expect from a more serious drama but I still want to point out that what Asunaro tried to do and her defense of it are classic, real abusive behaviors. I can't understate how truly screwed up it is for her to purposefully attempt to tank Jōro's reputation and isolate him from his friend group because she "loves" him and believes he doesn't need anyone but her. If this were a crazier show, she'd be well on her way to yandere territory.

Also, she complained to the PTA about Sun-chan participating in the Flower Dance ceremony, basically lighting a fire under a bunch of homophobic parents' so they'd complain and pull him out of participating. All in hopes of taking his place. Neither Jōro and Sun-chan are truly gay, but if she'd left that alone it would have set a precedent for other students who might have actually wanted to dance with a same-sex classmate in a romance-coded event and she just burned it down. Someone please remove her from the school paper, she's obviously a hazard to the rest of the student body.

By comparison, the situation with Asunaro also shows what a good person Cosmos is that, even after piecing Asunaro's plot together, she still tries to let her save face by not confronting her in front of Jōro. Asunaro insists, perhaps thinking that Cosmos is bluffing and won't follow through if he's there but instead all of it is laid out. Man, and what a blow. Her manipulation had really worked to endear her to Jōro just to have the rug pulled out from under him. He flips into his "dark mode" to tell her off only to get called out by Cosmos too. Jōro's real personality is somewhere in between the two personas we've seen him play up and he's finally settling into a more honest "rough around the edges" guy who really cares about others. And also like tiddies, but that isn't a mark against him so long as he quits calling Himawari a slut.

The dance event takes up the last portion of the episode and reveals the status of each of Jōro's potential love interests. Himawari is no longer enamored with Sun-chan and shares that she doesn't have a crush on anyone. Cosmos, to no surprise, has jumped on the Jōro train now that she's figured out his true character. Finally, Pansy replaces Sun-chan, this time appearing as herself, i.e. no chest binding, no glasses, no braids. She restates her romantic interest while also proving that I am not a complete nut for spending that extra time researching flower language for this show. Imagine my excitement when she broke down the exact definitions of different colored pansies to communicate her feelings for Jōro. HA.

Who knows where the next arc will take us (except for you light novel readers)? Will Asunaro find redemption? Will Kimie return and apologize for accusing Jōro of being a slipper licker? Will my interest in the intimidating twin-tailed girl be fulfilled? Anything could happen!

Rating:

ORESUKI: Are you the only one who loves me? is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, FUNimation, and HIDIVE.