Super Cub

Episode 3

Episode 3, “Things Received”, begins as many of Koguma's days do now: she gets on her Super Cub, helmet snug on her head, and cautiously heads to school with the wind gusting by. It's as picturesque as many of the scenes in Super Cub have been, though there's a distinct air that today, things will be a little different for Koguma.

After the OP, we see Koguma and Reiko at their new lunch hangout underneath the bike shelter. Koguma proceeds to eat some very cold curry…which she's rather expressive about distinctly not liking (fair enough; cold curry isn't satisfying in the least). The scene is rather brief, but Koguma's expression is vivid enough for Reiko to pick up on her displeasure. Yet as quick as the scene is, I found myself smiling because it shows how Koguma's already grown so much over the course of three episodes. In fact, I don't think that the Koguma of episode 1 would have been so candid to another person.

After school, Reiko and Koguma head to the local supermarket to pick up some treats. This quickly leads to them heading to an office where a middle-aged man has something for Reiko: a busted motorbike that she can take her pick of parts from. Reiko has her eyes on one part in particular: a very convenient storage box that she means to give to Koguma so she can store her things while she rides around.

The girls head back to school and together they install her new handy box on the back of the Cub. Finally, Koguma's got a bit of style, not to mention the means to protect her belongings from the inevitable rainy day that's gonna come around at some point. The whole scene feels like the start of Koguma's real adventure with her bike.

We're still very much in Koguma's head in episode 3, but that's understandable. Despite exchanging greetings—Koguma's “Good morning” to Reiko's “mmm”—Reiko is still more of an acquaintance to Koguma than a friend. And while it's clear from the OP and the promo art that the friendship between these two kindred spirits is a foregone conclusion, it's still too early for that adhesion to happen. In fact, I suspect that their friendship will eventually grow into something more. Not romatically, but rather a close bond formed over their love of Cubs, and the freedom these bikes have brought each girl.

In the end, episode 3 marks a big change as Koguma smiles more frequently, evidently quite pleased with her Super Cub. She even dreams about it in a sequence that's downright beautiful. It's one of this episode's most joyful moments, second only to Koguma fawning—in her own way—over her new storage box. Little by little, Koguma's world is filling with color. I look forward to the day when her life is so satisfying that she never stops smiling.

Until that day, I'll continue to stan Super Cub because honestly…this show is so heartfelt. The music continues to be evocative and provides the perfect table setting for Koguma as her world flourishes, bit by bit. It's going to be hard not to give each episode a 5/5 every week, but honestly, episode 3 more than earned it in my book.

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Super Cub is currently streaming on Funimation.

Mercedez is a localization editor & QA, pop culture critic, and a writer who also writes & reviews at Anime Feminist and But Why Tho?. There, she gushes about idols anytime someone lets her, which is… not often enough. This anime season, she's all about Super Cub, which is great because she's also reviewing it here on ANN. When she's not writing, you can find her on her Twitter, where she's always up to something.