Having a father like Gendou must be really hard. He’s always getting into your business, checking the things you buy, and sometimes punches you in the face. Then, you’re expected to go to school and act like nothing’s wrong, that all these bumps and bruises came from falling down the stairs, and at the same time deal with trivial crap from your sister. On top of that, you have to fly a robot in order to protect the world and totally friendzone your childhood friend.

Yep, I’d hate my life if I was surrounded by beautiful women who beat me. Sounds like a real hell on Earth.

We find out Kirino’s life is SOOO HARD in these next two episodes, and apparently it only gets worse.

What Happened?

Kirino overhears some nerdy neckbeards talking about their 2D waifus, and then goes to do some modeling for 30-somethings to fap to while on the jon. Kirino then heads to Shinjuku to hang with her anime bros and buy some really awesome dating sim. Unfortunately, her dad finds out, then proceeds to stare at her disapprovingly until she leaves. Kyousuke makes like BK-201 (UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ) and chases after her to make her come back. Kirino then asks Kyousuke to cover for her, and he gets punched in the face.

So What’s the Deal?

Have you ever bought something behind your parent’s back? Chances are you have, I know I have. I bought the Half-life 2 collectors edition — A $130 purchase — while on a band trip. Probably one of the worst decisions in my life, considering I didn’t even own the computer that could run it at the time. My parents found out, and I had it taken from me because I couldn’t really justify buying it in the first place, beyond “I heard it was a really awesome game.”

Of course, it was a really awesome game. Game of the year at the time, in fact. However, was this something I needed? I bought it on impulse because I figured it was something I would enjoy, and I did enjoy it. So, do I regret it? I regret blowing that kind of money on a day-1 release, but I don’t regret buying the game. Similarly, everyone has their passions. Sure, passion can turn to obsession, but passions are also what make us human. They’re a part of who we are, and there is a point where no amount of falcon-punching to the face can change our minds about it. They’re a part of who we are, and if we deny them, we’re basically lying. And, as we find out in the episode after the next, people hate liars a whole lot more.

That’s down the line though. The fourth episode was much lighter.

What Happened?

Kirino tells her friends tall tales about how she doesn’t have time to hang because she’s busy studying or whatever. The episode starts off with a fairly funny reference to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (Stand by, Ready!) as well as a few other Doujin fighters. There’s one close call with Kirino’s friends which ends with Kyousuke getting to second base with his sister and trading digits with Ayase. We fast forward to Comiket, where we mostly learn that lines are really long, and people are really crazy about anime.

So What’s the Deal?

There’s a massive amount of references throughout the show, where we’re treated to “Alice+,” “QQQ,” not to mention all the posters in the background, and the awesome “Kate/stay night” car. Mostly this is referencing to a number of real Doujinshi, most of which I’m not entirely familiar with myself, but needless to say they’re pretty popular. The Comiket scenes were mostly an agreeable nod to the real thing. Mostly, this episode sets up for episode 5, seeing as it ended on a pretty massive cliffhanger.

See you all later this week! If anyone wants to take the time to explain some of those references, they have larger cajones than I do. Otherwise, post a comment below about how cool Comiket looks, and how you’d like to go there someday.