There’s an explanation for this.

——

Shirokuma Cafe followed up on last week’s tease by using the entire 13th episode to further explore the possibility of a Handa x Sasako romance. Currently, it’s a one-sided affair, but the result seems inevitable.

It was Tanabata season — a summer festival celebrated by writing wishes on a small paper and hanging it on bamboo —  at Shirokuma Cafe and the crew was in full-fledged prep mode. While the preparation spanned the entire episode, it was only secondary to the somewhat blossoming relationship between the show’s two main human characters. At this point, Handa has fallen head-over-heels for Sasako — who is quite oblivious at the moment — and it’s been pretty difficult to contain his emotions. And yet, since he’s the very shy type who was more interested in cleaning his bathroom than looking for companionship, confessing his feelings is naturally a mighty tall order.

That is until Panda accidentally and hilariously catches wind of his feelings. He obliges in keeping it a secret but he still wants to help his friend Handa find happiness in love for once, and the episode results in another sweet moment for the series.

The show really works well when it focuses on a single main narrative throughout the duration of an episode instead of breaking that episode into two separate ones. It does that with episode 13, and it once again provides a cohesive experience.

While I would love to see other side animal characters get some screen time, I don’t mind following Handa’s path to love. His character, as well as Sasako’s character, are ones you root for immensely, and seeing them on the road to happiness is worth the trip. It was also great to see Handa step up just a bit in the end, which was more than Penguin — who’s taken steps back — has done in 13 episodes.

Another good episode packed with some odd, over-the-top, yet amusing reaction shots (1, 2, 3, 4) from Handa.

GO Rating: 3.5/5

So close yet so far away.