Summary
An adorable episode that shows us another side of Tomo and Jun’s relationship and another side to her friends.
We recap the Crunchyroll anime series Tomo-Chan Is a Girl! Season 1 Episode 5, “The Girls of the Olsten Family/A Feeling I Won’t Give Up/Heart-Pounding! A Gaming Overnighter,” which contains spoilers.
In the last few episodes, Tomo’s (Rie Takahashi) probably learned more about Jun (Kaito Ishikawa) and Misuzu (voiced by Rina Hidaka) than she ever wanted to know. Viewers would think with the air cleared, things would get easier for Tomo, but she can’t seem to fully let the idea of Jun and Misuzu go. Meanwhile, Jun still can’t seem to figure out what he’s feeling at all. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is how much Jun seems to have Tomo’s back. While Tomo hasn’t quite figured out that Jun came to her defense in Episode 4, it will be interesting to see how she reacts if and when she does find out.
Tomo-Chan is a Girl! Season 1 Episode 5 Recap
The episode opens with Carol inviting Tomo and Misuzu to hang out on their next day off. They show up at a large, fenced-in home when a blond woman walks up to ask what they are doing in front of her home. She mistakes Tomo for a boy before realizing she is, in fact, a girl and invites them inside. Seeing them embrace, we learn this is Carol’s mother. Carol hugs Tomo and attempts to do the same to Misuzu, who refuses.
Why is Carol’s mother following Mizusu?
Upon seeing her bedroom, Tomo is surprised to find out how wealthy Carol actually is. Misuzu leaves to use the bathroom, running into Caorl’s mom along the way. She asks why the woman is following her, to which Carol’s mother replies that she did not like the way Misuzu was treating Carol earlier. She wonders if Misuzu is a mean girl but quickly begins giggling when Misuzu tries to pretend she’s only friends with Carol for her money.
After losing to Carol in several games of Othello, Tomo, and Misuzu finally leave, but not without receiving hugs from Carol’s mother first.
Why is Tomo freaking out?
With midterms the following day, Tomo begins freaking out as she realizes she forgot them. Misuzu suggests a study group, which Carol asks to join just before Jun comes up and offers to be Tomo’s tutor. However, because she ranked higher than Jun in their old exams, Misuzu says she will take over.
The group heads to Misuzu’s to study. Carol is surprised to hear that Tomo hasn’t been to Misuzu’s house in years, only to find out she was banned for constantly breaking things as a child. After a brief introduction to Misuzu’s mother, who seems very similar to her daughter, they head to Misuzu’s room to study.
Is Carol a genius?
While studying, Carol reveals that she is actually quite talented when it comes to math, easily solving problems in her head and causing the girls to wonder if she is a genius. Although shocked and confused by how she did it, they are impressed. Misuzu warns that Carol will need to show their work, however.
After taking their tests, Tomo ranks higher than she ever has before. To their surprise, Carol ranks number one in the class, even above Misuzu.
Jun’s Invitation
Jun approaches Tomo, telling her he has recently purchased a game he thought she’d be interested in playing. He invites her to come to play and even spend the night since they do not have school the next day. She quickly agrees but later begins to panic at the thought of spending the night with her crush. She considers telling Jun no, but Misuzu and Carol won’t let her.
Tomo tries to find ways out of it, telling her parents and clearly expecting them to say no. However, her mother begins talking about grandchildren while her father simply tells her not to be a burden.
Tomo and Jun get some alone time
Tomo shows up at Jun’s house with a gift for his mother, prompting him to tell her that they are alone for the night. Although nervous at first, the air seems to relax between them over dinner, but it quickly grows uncomfortable again after Tomo bathes. She wonders how to fix it while drying her hair. However, once she finishes, Jun is so excited about gaming that things quickly turn back to normal.
The pair trade wins and losses, teasing one another when Jun finds himself in a compromising position above Tomo. Both flustered, they return to gaming before realizing it is past 9:00 p.m. Tomo wonders if they should stay up later, saying she once stayed up until 11:30. Jun immediately one-ups her, revealing he’s stayed up past midnight before. They attempt to stay up later but soon grow tired and decide to go to bed.
Tomo-Chan is a Girl! Season 1 Episode 5 Ending Explained
Lying awake in Jun’s room, he begins to ask Tomo a question about them but falls asleep before he can finish. Tomo is surprised to see what Jun looks like while sleeping and begins pinching his face. Still asleep, Jun grabs her and pulls her into his arms. They end up sleeping in that position throughout the night.
Jun finds himself quite flustered when he wakes up and remains awkward even as he says bye to Tomo. On her walk home, Tomo thinks about how much she enjoyed herself until remembering she woke up in Jun’s futon with him. She ends the episode by saying things were weird between them after that, and remained that way for about a week.
Despite how many compromising positions Tomo and Jun seem to find themselves in, it’s always funny to see how innocent they are at the end of the day. It’s cute and keeps their relationship from feeling too forced. It can be hard trying to navigate the change from friends to, and this show handles that aspect well.
I appreciate that they’re fleshing out the side characters. Carol and Misuzu don’t feel like afterthoughts, and their relationship with Tomo offers a lot of good insight into her character as well. Overall, this was a fun episode with several quality jokes and adorable moments between Tomo and Jun.
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