One of the things I like about Sukitte Ii na yo 8 is that the romance is messier than the usual anime. It doesn’t have the lovers overcome some obstacle like a boss in a game that leaves them happy ever after (though shows like that can be fun too). Things linger in this show; people find it hard to forget.

We still have the moments like in other series where the characters are being unrealistically dense and you want to slap them around. Yamato, you should have told Mei flat out about going to Megumi’s apartment the first time you did it. You especially shouldn’t have gone again and again without telling her. And you, Mai, you should have told him how upset you are sooner. Because you didn’t and bottled it and just said “it’s okay” all the time he doesn’t know what to do around you anymore!
Anime characters never listen to me when I lecture them.
It leads to a downer of an episode interrupted by that guy with the hair, whom we learn (because he says it out loud for no reason in particular) that he’s moved to town and will be attending Mei’s school. He seemed sort of threatening at first (the hair?) but anyone who can express such love for a theme park can’t be all bad.

Well, they got it cleared up, sort of. We’re not sure what residual damage has been done, and that’s what I meant when I used the word “messy.” Sure, Yamato apologized (after Aiko verbally slapped him around) and they’re picking up the stones from the broken bracelet (rather a cheesy bit of symbolism, I thought), but I don’t think Mei has completely forgiven him. And Yamato still doesn’t really know how to handle her, if that’s the word, or maybe it’s handle himself, and she isn’t giving him much help. Is Aiko going to have to slap them around every time there’s another misunderstanding? Surely she has better things to do, like planning a healthy diet for herself (and not those donuts). One more thing, can we please lose the “overheard classmates” shtick? Every time the show wants to stick it to Mei they have two girls pass by talking about what a great couple Yamato and Megumi would be. It’s three episodes in a row, I think.
Space Brothers 34 starts with Hibito on the moon, skipping around like an idiot (every time I see him in that suit I think of Tintin in “Explorers of the Moon”) and seeing a little flash of light. It will be nice to see if they explained this one. They never did explain the UFO the kids saw, and I realize these oddities in space are as much driven by poetry as by plot, but part of me wants to know what that was flash he saw was. Other than that we had to put up with the highly trained astronauts talking out loud about chores they would never bother to discuss in real life for the benefit of we, the viewer. But Hibito manages to settle most of these problems by stepping in and being Hibito.
I thought it would be appropriate if the episode stayed on the moon, but instead we switch back to Mutta, his parents, and Apo. Some of it is inspiring. I liked him seeing others in his building putting up telescopes on their balconies. I liked how every item in the store is branded with the moon, or Hibito. For personal nostalgia’s sake I had hoped for space food sticks. What these scenes also did was distract us from worrying about the astronaut applications. We’re not reminded of it until Mutta starts obsessing about his luck levels in his typical, Mutta way. It’s only at the episode’s end that the atmosphere gets tense and phone calls start coming in. And guess what? We have to wait until next week. Did you expect anything else from this show?

A Rinne no Lagrange OVA has popped up called “Kamogawa Days,” which is pretty much what it is, a few weeks in the town’s off-season between the show’s two seasons. They try to stick some foreshadowing in but who cares since we know what’ll happen already. We get to spend time with everyone, but the three girls aren’t together, alas. However, Lan and Muginami do meet up at the most amusing concept of the episode, an almost complete replica of Kamogawa, Earth’s most important city. The show still won’t explain how Villa got to be king, but there he is being one and setting fashion styles for the Polyhedron. Meanwhile Madoka goes about being Madoka, even forgetting her birthday, though of course no one else does … It’s what you’d expect from a Lagrange filler episode, only a little longer.