Remember how I said that part of the reason I like Manabe is that he doesn’t do the whole “I’m not in love with her, even though I obviously am” thing? Yeah, that’s what he did this episode. The first half involved Kotoura being sick, which led to an interesting plot point where it appears that she has lost her mind reading powers, at least for the moment. It hasn’t really gone anywhere except a few jokes where Manabe thinks perverted thoughts and is surprised when Kotoura doesn’t react,

Justifiable with thoughts like these (Queen’s Blade reference #1)

But it was a solid premise and we got some character development. The second half involved Kotoura and Manabe going on a date together and once again we get some okay jokes, but it was pretty solid overall.

Queen’s Blade Reference #2

Jeez, with all this happiness, we might finally see the characters getting better! Its so nice to see that they won’t have to deal with anymore drama

GODDAMNIT

Yes, the drama is coming back with a vengeance; the next episode preview makes it seem as though we’re going to see an investigation of a murder and the reappearance of Kotoura’s mother. I have to say, I was not expecting this; maybe a confrontation with the mother or something, but not a murder mystery. It will be interesting to see how Kotoura pulls it off. This episode seemed to be filler, but this is the good kind of filler: one where we get some good character moments and funny jokes as well as give a little break from the drama of the show.