The tenth episode ofShikimori’s Not Just a Cutiereturns to a much less dramatic tone than the series has had in the past three episodes – at least at first. Continuing in the previous episodes' trend of fleshing out the series' side characters and their relationships to not just Shikimori and Izumi, but to each other.
Since the establishment of Kamiya as no longer a rival, but a friend to Shikimori and Nekozaki,Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutiesettles back into its usual brightness; however, it maintains the objective of giving emotional depth to the characters, this time focusing on the most sidelined of its side characters.
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Please, Not the Relay!
The episode begins with Shikimori’s class discussing the events of the upcoming Athletics Festival, and who will be participating in which of the two available team events. Izumi, given his clumsy disposition, is greatly opposed to doing the relay, but since the selection is down to chance, Izumi’s misfortune rears its ugly head.
The relay is an event that garners incredible amounts of anxiety, so when a classmate laments her selection for the relay, Shikimori offers to swap positions with her because she wants to be closer to Izumi. It turns out that the Shikimori group ends up being selected for the relay together, but unlike the athletic Shikimori, Nekozaki and Inuzuka;Izumi and Hachimitsu aren’t suited for thiskind of event at all.
Hachimitsu, with her stoic disposition, consistently wears a vacuous smile on her face. She is the series' resident source of various kinds of comedy, from deadpan to slapstick, and is the kind of mysterious character who can have folklore spun about her due to her demeanour. The series uses Hachimitsu for comedy, often playing on the idea that she isn’t quite normal, or quite human.
Her lack of variety in her emotional expression has also enabled the series' apparent neglect of her characterization beyond the surface level; however, in this episode, it is made evident that Hachimitsu feels a sense of distance from her peers that isn’t unlike that experienced by Kamiya and Shikimori on some level. Hachimitsu is someone who isn’t particularly energetic, and her name doesn’t necessarily invoke the idea ofeffort, aggression, determination or anything of the like. Due to their anxiety about the looming relay, Shikimori and the other athletic members hold training sessions to help build up Izumi and Hachimitsu’s morale; however, it only serves to worry them even more.
Athletics Day
The day of the event arrives and Hachimitsu’s nerves are on edge, but her friends constantly reassure her. Her first event is a comical sack toss event, which she’s surprisingly adept at despite lacking in speed and stamina.
The hoop is incredibly high, and the participants complain about the difficulty of the sack toss due to the goal’s height; however, Hachimitsu sealed a second-place finish for her class, earning high praise from her friends. Throughout the duration of the episode, Hachimitsu’s motivation to do well increases, and her level of effort and participation continues to attract the positive attention of the other members of Team Shikimori.
It becomes increasingly evident that the objective ofShikimori’s Not Just a Cutieepisode 10 is to finally give Hachimitsu some depth. Despite not being the kind of person who gets fired up from participating in something like an Athletics Festival, Hachimitsu comes to the realisation that these kinds of trials are fun because they can bring people closer. She notices herself beginning to believe thather class can win the festival, which isn’t like her at all, and developing this kind of competitive spirit and ambition becomes central to Hachimitsu’s growth as a character.
It’s Okay to Try
The relay is the final and most important event of the Athletics Festival, and the biggest worry of non-athletes like Hachimitsu and Izumi; however, it becomes more than just a sport event, as the episode sets up the relay as a kind of metaphor or allegory in the context of the development of Hachimitsu. The character’s deadpan manner of speaking, lack of expressiveness despite wearing a perpetual smile, and tendency toward humorous but slightly scathing one-liners creates the impression that all there is to know about the character is eternally evident and lacking in-depth, and that is also how Hachimitsu is evidently perceived by her peers.
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutieas an overarching narrative has largely been about certain people’s experience of living under the weight of others' perception, particularlythose who are conventionally attractive, talented, sociable or popular– Shikimori included. Hachimitsu also deals with lacking in self-esteem to some extent, masking her true feelings and thoughts behind the iron wall of a friendly but ultimately lonely smile.
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In the relay, the order of runners goes Nekozaki, to Hachimitsu, to Izumi, to Shikimori, finishing with Inuzuka. This way, the group starts and finishes strongly. Having practiced the baton pass several times before, Hachimitsu and Izumi are anxious but determined to do their part; however, during Hachimitsu’s lap, increasing exhaustion catches up with her, and she comically trips over her own feet. While downed, Hachimitsu is naturally overtaken by the other competitors, and she’s temporarily overwhelmed by her crashing failure. A vision of Izumi refusing to give up despite exhaustion during their practice bouts, as well as cheering from her team brings Hachimitsu back up to her feet. With heavy, cut up knees, Hachimitsu delivers the baton to Izumi, before literally melting in a proud Inuzuka’s arms.
Wanting to return the effort, positivity and enthusiasm of her friends and teammates, Hachimitsu put her all into her part of the relay, and her friends responded to her effort in kind. Izumi, despite being Hachimitsu’s ally on the side of the non-athletes in the friend group, had a very dependable showing in practice, and in the earlier gladiator event he participated in with Inuzuka. Izumi’s periodic dependability, and consistently positive yet healthy mindset towards the things he does prove to be inspirational to more characters as the series progresses. Hachimitsu, having lost her team so much valuable time, feels likethe chance for a dreamlike victoryhas slipped away; however, the determination of her friends to respond to the 150% Hachimitsu put into the relay enables each one to commit everything to their bout in the race, culminating in a surprise victory for their class courtesy of a Shikimori and Inuzuka masterclass.
A Real Smile Emerges
Winning the relay means that Team Shikimori gets the bragging rights, and the respect of the other classes for winning despite falling to last place at a point. The main group shares in the elation of the moment, hugging each other enthusiastically, but the pay-off of the episode arrives in a single moment at the end when Hachimitsu presents the winner’s flag.
The episode ends with Hachimitsu admitting to her friends that participating together in earnest the way that they have was truly fun, and she does something she has never done since the series began: smile truly from the bottom of her heart.
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