The beeping has reached Team A.

—-

Following the escalating stress levels building up in episode sixteen, things appear to get worse for Team A as the beeping at night that has been a cause of stress for Team B has reached them. Once again, Mutta is on the ball as to who may be the potential suspect as his observational skills single out Furuya. Though easy enough to figure out, Mutta is left curious as to why he would be behind it all and what his motivations are. Much like Fukuda, Mutta gives Furuya the benefit of the doubt and works to figure out why the two have done what they’ve done. He knows there isn’t any ill-intent behind their actions, but he wishes to understand why they’re doing it and the fact that he keeps it to himself rather than sharing it with the rest of Team A shows what kind of character he has. 

Eventually, Mutta does figure out why the two have done what they’ve done thanks to his trip to NASA to visit Hibito. He instantly remembers Jennifer, who explains what is happening during one of Hibito’s training exercises. Mutta puts two and two together, figuring out that both Fukuda and Furuya have been given green cards with secret orders to add stress to the team as part of the exam. With this realization under his belt, Mutta is able to fully take in what’s happening and knows now that both Fukuda and Furuya are just under secret orders to which he shouldn’t be angry with them about. With that knowledge, he’s able to calmly face them and acknowledge their actions without making a big fuss about it and boldly proclaim that there are no bad people in Team A. With his words, he’s able to bring down the tension level for his team and bring them back to a level close to what they were experiencing before as friends. 

With two issues out of the way for Team A, for the time being, there’s still the other that Serika brought to attention last episode, which is the food shortage. Unlike the clock and the beeper, this is one issue that Team A won’t be able to fix, but so much as to endure it. With perfect timing and coincidence, Mutta is the first person Serika shares this revelation with and due to this new found discovery of the green cards, he mistakes Serika’s abundance of cooking as secret orders to create a food shortage. In a hilarious manner, he forgives her for her actions and shifts the blame to JAXA and though she doesn’t understand, the feeling of complete trust in her stirs something inside Serika.

The episode ends on a feel good note as Serika and Mutta shake hands, and you can tell a budding romance is growing between them, if not a more intimate friendship. The feel good nature of the episode is just so uplifting and stands out as the second best episode of the series thus far. The exam is just days away from completion and Team A still has a food shortage to sort out so how they resolve it is definitely something to watch out for. 

GO Rating: 4/5

The happy atmosphere returns to Mutta, Serika and the rest of Team A