Tsuki ga Kirei’s leads took a trip to the amusement park this week, giving them a chance to sigh and fumble and generally not be sure what to do with their hands in an entirely new setting. This episode also saw the show at its most thematically focused, as basically everything here was designed to articulate one more specific and very relatable moment in adolescent love. Good stuff all around!

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.

A whole crowd of nine students heads to the amusement park

Kotarou seems troubled. There’s some distance between them here

He’s insecure about her relationship with the track dude

This Viva Dome location really emphasizes the hodgepodge nature of the show’s visual identity, unfortunately

And Akane is miffed about Kotarou getting closer with Chinatsu

Roman came down with heatstroke

Roman suggests getting lost with Akane to actually have a date, but she’s already lost with Hira, whoops

Whole lot of reasonable awkwardness in this episode

Kotarou actually declares they’re in a relationship to Hira

I like that Kotarou’s conflict is entirely unspoken here. This show could easily do an episode with no dialogue

This scene of it actually sinking in for Chinatsu is really nice

Oh man, this chorus of all of Akane’s friends responding to Hira is really great

Having Kotarou make that declaration makes them both feel much better. They’re both still kinda vague on if they’re “really” dating, and what that means, and so this is an important piece of validation

Ah, they get to have an actual date. Lovely montage here

The shifting afternoon light nicely echoes their warm feelings

“We really do look like we’re going out.” Akane articulates this episode’s key shift

And Chinatsu gets a wonderful moment with her friends

“Hold Back Nothing When Taking Love.” And the title finally comes into place. Really well-constructed episode