Pseudo Harem

Episode 8

This episode was just pure serotonin injected directly into my brain. After the fakeout finale last week, there was a big question regarding what the rest of the show will be about, but props to Pseudo Haram, they are actually exploring territory that most romances dare not touch! Here we are actually having our two leads…be in a proper relationship! Scandalous, I know! The episode starts with Eiji introducing Rin to his mom as his girlfriend, and they set up to see each other every week now that they're not going to school together anymore. I'm surprised at how natural everything feels, even though I don't think anyone uses the term "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" throughout the episode. It almost feels like the show is trying very hard to create something similar to what was established in the first episode while making clear that these two have come a long way since then.

While not strong, there is an overarching theme of what it means to grow up in this episode since Eiji is going off to college, which is often seen as this significant step into adulthood. Rin feels like she's lagging behind even though there's really nothing she can do outside of skipping a grade, and Eiji makes it apparent that even if their circumstances have changed, they're still going to have their childish moments. Those playful, childish moments got them together in the first place, so while the fear is justified, the show also establishes that everything will be OK.

I will say that the last bit about a classmate asking Eiji out at college felt a bit out of left field. I know it was supposed to pay off the idea that improving Eiji's fashion sense might backfire on Rin because now he might get all of this attention while she's not around, but the way it was presented felt very awkward. It almost felt like the author wanted to introduce a slight conflict and immediately backpedaled. Honestly, that part of the episode felt like it could've been cut the most. This was one of the lighter and fluffier episodes we've gotten, but I'm curious about what other avenues the show will explore in the remaining episodes.

Rating:

Pseudo Harem is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.