The first half of Episode Seven focuses on a molester who’s been in the area of the dorm and has been exposing himself to women. Sumiko-san tells Ritsu to not read while she’s outside because she’s unguarded when she does. After some arguing, Ritsu says she has Kazunari. Kazunari accompanies Ritsu for three days in a “play boyfriend” role. After the three days, the molester has been caught, so Ritsu returns to reading as she walks by herself.

While Ritsu is at the library, two little girls run up to Sumiko-san and Kazunari and say there’s a weird guy acting like the molester and that he went into the underground. At the same time, Ritsu is returning from the library, reading her book as she walks through the underground. A molester comes out and tries to get Ritsu’s attention, but she’s so engrossed in her book that she doesn’t notice. The molester grabs her shoulder, but Kazunari gets there and bats the molester’s hand away. The other residents of the dorm are also there and punish the molester.

The second half of the episode sees summer break hitting, and Kazunari asking Ritsu for book recommendations since he has too much free time on his hands. Sumiko-san also takes the dorm residents to a restaurant owned by a friend of hers. She also owns a Japanese café but is short on help. She really needs someone who can handle strange characters. When Sumiko-san and her friend see Kazunari interacting with the dorm residents, Sumiko-san’s friend offers him the job. He turns it down.

The next day, Sumiko-san and her friend go into Kazunari’s room and put a houseboy outfit on him. Ritsu comes in with some books for him and is very happy to see Kazunari in the outfit. After seeing Ritsu’s reaction, Kazunari ends up agreeing to work at the café.

This episode is split into two different stories rather than one story arc running throughout it. It’s happened before with this series, so it wasn’t too surprising when it happened in Episode Seven.

Both of these stories have a strong focus on Kazunari and his feelings for Ritsu. When he’s escorting Ritsu during the first story, he finds himself looking at her in a way that makes him think he’s just as bad as the molester he’s trying to protect her from. But he’s rather protective of her, and I wasn’t surprised to see him going to find Ritsu and protecting her when she’s approached by a molester.

The second story sees Kazunari approaching Ritsu about reading recommendations, and he does this in large part in order to be able to get a little closer to her. And in the restaurant scene, we learn that Kazunari had a nickname in junior high. Ritsu is amused by the story she hears about it and starts giggling. But near the end of the episode, we see a cute interaction between Ritsu and Kazunari when she sees him in the houseboy outfit.

I really enjoyed seeing Kazunari and Ritsu’s interactions in this episode, especially Ritsu’s reaction to Kazunari in the houseboy outfit. Her expression was so out of character, yet so cute, for her.

The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior is still a rather enjoyable viewing experience. Looking at the preview for Episode Eight, it looks like we’ll be seeing Kazunari working at the café. I’m curious to see how that will end up working out for him.

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