This episode was playing two games at once. It made the point early on of introducing the idol trio and manager who figure into the OP and will presumably bigger players in time to come, and then followed up with ten minutes of juicy irony on umbrella theives. It’s a shame it couldn’t do both of those things at once, because that would have been one thing to add a serious spark to what is looking like a fair-sized puddle of oil this point. As it stands, while I’m enjoying the “don’t quit your day job” workplace elements of the show, I hope the show eventually evolves past a straight split between elements. If it can do that while still preserving the sad-adult feeling Goto and Masayoshi give off, it’s set for the next 6 months.

The most enjoyable aspect of this week’s episode was the late-night drinking/shop talk session Goto and Masayoshi had about umbrella theft. Naturally, that debate ended up having deeply ironic implications minutes later, when Goto’s umbrella (a keepsake from his girlfriend, no less) was swiped from under his nose. It was a twist I didn’t see coming, which led to a somewhat ridiculously loveable scene of SF chasing down a train on a bike.

Like most of his antics, that whole bike escapade ended up on niconico in no time. I’m still fresh off of Gatchaman Crowds’ extremely astute exploration of social media and heroism, so here’s hoping Hideyuki Kurata’s script can rise to that level; he’s got some high points on his resume, but most of his recent works have been notoriously easy manga adaptations.

I like what this show is starting to build, but if there’s one thing it’s lacking right now, it’s impact with the audio. The key bike chase scene was enjoyable, but the music in it didn’t pack any kind of special punch in a scene that really could use it. I suppose there’s always playing the Detective Conan theme over it, but I’d rather not resort to that on anime that last longer than the song. I’m hoping there’s more to the ost, because the current level is going to keep the show from reaching its full cheesy drama potential if it doesn’t get stepped up.