Episode Nine is split into two vignettes. The first vignette focuses on Mayumi being upset and frustrated because one of the older ladies at the office that she works at got a boyfriend, and now everyone feels like they have to tiptoe around her. She’s sitting on Shirosaki’s shoulders and beating up on him in order to be able to look down on the others. Sumiko-san finds a guitar that belongs to Mayumi. After Sayaka says something that upsets Mayumi, she climbs up on the roof with her guitar and begins singing.

For the most part, I was rather annoyed by this vignette, because it focused so much on Mayumi whining and feeling sorry for herself. The only good thing to come out of it was the fact that it caused Kazunari to talk to Ritsu, and the two of them learn what each other’s home life was like before they came to the Kawai Complex.

The second vignette sees Ritsu freaking out one night because a caterpillar falls onto a book that she’s reading. The noise and chaos Ritsu creates wakes everyone up except for Sayaka. It turns out that Sumiko-san is gone, so it’s up to Kazunari, Shirosaki, Ritsu, and Mayumi to try to find the caterpillar and do something about it. The search for the caterpillar is the source of hijinks, and it also ends up serving as another way for Kazunari and Ritsu to get a little closer.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the majority of either one of the vignettes, although I have to say that the caterpillar one was a little better than the one that focused on Mayumi. To me, the best part of both vignettes was the fact that at the end of each one, we got to see a little bit of character development for Kazunari and Ritsu.

Overall, though, I have to say that this was probably one of the weakest episodes I’ve seen for The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior. I’m hoping that Episode 10 will return to having an overarching story for the episode and that the story is more relevant to the overall series than Episode Nine was.

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