After Mizuki got over her eye disease, Kaede took her and Nana to a retreat so they could meet Amano. At last, Nekonote pays a visit during her spring break while Arisa gets stumped working on the spinoff manga.
Nana learned from Kaede that Nekote is visiting Tokyo to meet with her. With that, she needs a place to stay, and well, Nana offered to. The funny thing is, they have to deal with Arisa, who is a bad influence. She is basically in a futon, looking at her phone with Takara. Funny how Mizuki pokes Arisa with a stick vacuum while thinking Arisa is being a bad influence. After all, shouldn’t she be keeping a regular schedule since she’ll be working on another series soon?
Eventually, Nekote came to Nana’s apartment. Yep, she saw Arisa acting weirdly. Nana asks how Nekote’s meeting with Kaede went, but apparently, it didn’t go so well. Given how it went when Kaede asked about the story and characters, she couldn’t think of anything, and the storyboards are not complete. Nana told her she should have shared them for feedback. After all, one isn’t going to get it perfect the first time.
That said, before Nekote came to the apartment, Arisa forced Nana to tag along with her meeting with Takizawa. She wonders what is taking Arisa so long, and Arisa said it’s because she is afraid of getting bashed and still hasn’t gotten over the fact that her series got canceled. Arisa thinks that Takizawa never got a series cancelled. However, she said that is not true as she faced cancellations despite the initial success of her first series. Takizawa felt the same way, but she eventually got back on her feet by changing her pen name and publisher. That said, she trusts Arisa can do the spinoff, which is why she chose her.
While Nekote is on the phone scheduling another meeting, Arisa talks about her current struggles with incorporating Takizawa’s character into a story she would approve of. That is despite knowing her. Of course, Takizawa rejects her storyboard and suggests that Arisa go on a date to get a feel for what actual romance is like.
Arisa basically goes on a date with Touko. Funny, when Touko gets asked out, she becomes flustered. As expected, the date went as you expected. Arisa is actually acting all shy when Touko meets her. Arisa basically falls in love with her as she wants a girlfriend like her. They basically went to the movies and to an arcade to do some claw-machine action. We see Mizuki, Nana, and Nekote following them to see how it goes. Nekote even spots a prize figure that she wants to win at the arcade.
That said, there are a lot of cute moments with Touko and Arisa, and even Arisa takes a Sakura petal from Touko’s hair. It ended with them having some sweets at a café, and Touko is happy to do it again, even if it’s not work-related. Funny how Arisa admits she loves Touko after she said it. I guess it’s for the best since Nana is kind of taken already.
With her newly found knowledge of romance, Arisa manages to finish her manuscripts. However, it doesn’t quite fit the right point of view, as Arisa isn’t working on a shounen manga but a shoujo one. The love has to come from the girl’s point of view. Basically, Takizawa forces her to redo it not once, but three times. She basically had to ask for help, and Nekonote is willing to help her out. At least they got it done, although Arisa wants to steal Nekonote for herself, but Nana won’t allow it. Still, it’s nice to see a lot of Arisa and Touko pairing action going on.
(Also known as A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace)
Nekonote unmasked filled my heart with great joy, as did her precious innocence. She must be protected and guided to greatness.
Nashida was on fire this episode. I would love to see her and Toko eventually get together for real but I’m not sure Nashida has what it takes to get serious yet. We shall see.
I agree, Nekonote is precious, but surprising how talented she is at her age.
Yes, the date between Arisa and Touko is basically the highlight of the episode. In a way, she is probably creating a love triangle between Nana and Touko.