Pseudo Harem ‒ Episode 11

Here we have the series attempt to come full circle. While I was a little concerned that we were going to sidestep the abrupt conclusion of last week’s episode, because we start this episode with a completely separate sketch, it’s clear what the message of this week’s episode is leaning into. The premise of the Pseudo Harem served multiple purposes. It acted as a cute joke that united our two leads while showing off Rin’s range as an actress. As they became closer and more intimate, we started seeing less of the different personalities she would put on over time because she didn’t need them anymore. At least, that’s what I initially thought. While she did not seem to need them to cope with her awkwardness or confidence issues, Rin still wanted to rely on them to express herself. The different aspects and intimate details of the personalities she likes to showcase are all aspects of herself.

When Eiji declared how much he wanted to prioritize her and that she didn’t need to put on the act anymore, he was being noble, but that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Rin sees any rejection of her different personalities as a partial rejection of herself. It leads to the premise of the episode where she is trying to re-win Eiji in different ways. It is probably the best use of the Pseudo Harem in the show since its original inception. The idea of Rin acting out more to get Eiji to fall even more in love with her is cute. It’s also nice to see these antics outside of the school setting.

While I like the concept, the execution is a little bit clunky. We don’t get to see all of the different personalities that Rin has accumulated when I feel like it had the real estate to do that. The pacing felt especially slow. I also think this plot point could have been built up more. If we had more appearances of the different characters Rin came up with in the past five episodes, I could perhaps understand why it would be harder to separate from them. They are still young and not the most mature duo, but this would’ve been a good episode to have Rin mature as Eiji has since entering college.

Pseudo Harem tries to say something with its premise and get the most out of it when it doesn’t need to anymore. It’s already done more than what most other romantic comedies do nowadays. Despite my complaints, the resolution and dialogue are still adorable. I hope the show doesn’t tumble as it tries to cross the finish line.

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AJ also streams regularly on Twitch as the indie Vtuber Bolts The Mechanic where they talk about and play retro media!