My Senpai is Annoying 08
Senpai ga Uzai Kōhai no Hanashi 08
先輩がうざい後輩の話 Episode 08

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

As the office plans to close for Golden Week, Futaba scolds Takeda for not having proper plans for the holiday. Golden Week starts, so Futaba works on cleaning her apartment. Meanwhile, Sakurai and Kazama meet up early for a date to the aquarium. Sakurai remarks on how out of the blue it was for him to ask her out like that.

Back at Futaba’s apartment, Futaba finishes cleaning. She starts watching a horror show on TV and gets scared. As such, she calls Takeda-senpai to try to calm down, but denies being upset. Takeda decides to pay her a visit, and Futaba is relieved. So they start watching a movie with a kid and a dolphin. However, when a shark attacks, Futaba freaks out.

Meanwhile, after Sakurai gets herself and Kazama a discount by claiming to be a couple, the pair enjoy their walk through the aquarium. They then go to the dolphin show, where one of the dolphins not only resembles Kazama, but has his given name of Souta as well. Afterward, the two head to the gift shop, where Sakurai takes pictures of Kazama holding a Souta stuffed animal.

Takeda and Futaba have lunch. Afterward, they head to an arcade. Futaba is enamored by one of the stuffed animals in one of the crane machines. As such, Takeda plays it until he gets her the prize. At the aquarium, Kazama has Sakurai wait outside as he rushes back in. Two guy try to pick Sakurai up, so Kazama puts an end to that. He then gives Sakurai the Souta stuffed animal. She very quietly thanks Souta (Kazama) for the day without him hearing for sure.

Thoughts/Review:

We have a pair of cute but non-progressing stories in My Senpai is Annoying 08.

Takeda x Futaba

Most of the material for this part of My Senpai is Annoying 08 is not from the manga. However, I did remember the manga having a chapter about Futaba and Takeda going out and renting a ton of movies to watch. Then they go to Futaba’s place to watch them. Takeda is the one who rented the horror movie, and Futaba only watched it to prove she was an adult. She freaks out, but then gets drunk and flirty.

With that in mind, I’m thinking this negatively clouded my view of this moment in the anime. The writers had Futaba freaking out just by having a TV on for a few moments. Takeda only comes over because he’s bored. And then they aren’t watching an actual horror movie (or so it seemed to me), but she still freaks out. It just didn’t work for me.

The crane game stuff was mostly from the manga. Futaba talking about how she and Natsumi used to go to the arcade all the time is cut. I was a bit bummed about that. Also, Futaba wanting to pay for the crane game is cut, but that part didn’t bother me. Nor did the gag of the “easy winning” being changed from Sakurai and Kazama to two randos.

Still, probably the biggest negative is that while it is fun and cute seeing Takeda and Futaba spending time together, one can tell that they aren’t going to progress beyond this point. Well, at least that’s my feeling. Ultimately, we’ll see what the anime does.

Sakurai x Kazama

I don’t remember a manga story about Sakura and Kazama going on a cliched aquarium date. Regardless, My Senpai is Annoying 08 had them in one. This too was a cute affair. I think a lot of guys watching this episode will be able to relate to Kazama. He still has a very difficult time believing that a girl as hot as Sakurai would be interested in him romantically.

Of course Sakurai is played as a typical girl. She’s interested in Kazama, but she’s not going to just come out an say it. And of course, that sucks in real life. But then Kazama could man up and state that he likes Sakurai. However, the fear of rejection is strong, isn’t it?

Still, while the date was a cliched one, at least Kazama doesn’t wimp out when Sakurai is getting hit on. And at least he did have the courage to ask Sakurai out on an actual date rather than “getting some ramen” casual stuff.

Unfortunately, here too, I suspect that the anime isn’t going to let Sakurai and Kazama progress beyond this point. There will always be hints and suggestions, but that’s as far as it will go.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In  the end, My Senpai is Annoying 08 is another cute, fun story. However, since it is about Takeda x Futaba and Kazama x Sakurai, the enjoyment is lessened by the thought that the characters will never progress their romance beyond where it is right now.