Kashiwazaki Sena: You know you want her.
Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)
The Rinjinbu (literally "Neighbors Club") - a place where the loneliest of the lonely go to, in an attempt to make some friends. There are currently three members in the club, all of whom, although from different backgrounds, share one thing in common: the lack of friends. In a way, this premise of the story may sound lame, but for me, I can somewhat relate to it (don't get me wrong, I have friends). To me, I felt like episode was a mix of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (characters), Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (art) and your typical romantic comedy - with a harem included. The story starts off quite slow but I'll give it a few more episodes to pick up. I had been looking forward to this series for quite a while now so I don't expect that I'll drop it that easily. Anyways, a decent start overall.
The story starts off with no main dialogue but already begins to introduce some of the characters and their personalities. Our main protagonist, Hasegawa Kodoka (who reminds me of Takasu Ryuuji from Toradora!), is depicted as a lonely delinquent, while blonde ojou-sama, Kashiwazaki Sena, appears to be popular with the boys. Surprisingly, the two share similarities despite their evidently different lives. But first, Kodoka is about to meet a very interesting classmate in Mikazuki Yozora as he returns to the classroom to retrieve his gym clothes. But as he reaches the slightly opened door, he hears Yozora’s happy voice, chatting away. Since the Yozora he knows is always quiet and reserved, this behaviour puzzled Kodoka. With the light novel about a girl talking to nobody that he just finished still reading fresh in his mind, he opens the door and, to his surprise, sees no one except Yozora. Still speechless, he walks past her and, with curiosity getting the better of him, asks her about her “chat” earlier. With no excuses left, Yozora spits out the truth, explaining that she was talking to her “friend.” The two go on to converse some more and realize that they both are essentially loners with no friends. But the topic of friends soon leads to clubs and, at that point, the idea to create a club pops into Yozora’s mind. With this, she happily runs off, thanking Kodoka in the process.
Flashback to one month ago - Kodoka has just transferred to Saint Chronica Academy. After some travel issues, he ends up being late and, after entering the classroom panting, gives the wrong impression to his classmates and teacher about his personality. To top things off, after borrowing a textbook from the girl beside him, rumors start spreading about the fact that he didn’t “borrow” it, but “extorted” it from her, instead. Despite these events happening a month ago, Kodoka has still been unable to recover from them. The next day (we’re back to the present now, just in case you didn’t know), after school, Yozora surprises everyone by talking to Kodoka. Without him knowing, she had already created the Neighbors Club and submitted the paperwork for everything, including his application to be a member of the club. The two then make their way to the club room, which turns out to be a lounge in the chapel (the academy is Catholic, I believe), and begin their club activities by first brainstorming on how to get more members. The first part of their plan involves putting up crudely drawn posters, which have a “hidden message” on them, around the school campus. Not long after they do so, they get a knock on the club room door, meaning that a new member has been acquired. But upon opening the door and seeing Sena standing there, Yozora slams the door shut, claiming that it was the wrong room. However, her hate is not without reason as it turns out that Sena is essentially the perfect girl: physically, academically and socially. But when Kodoka sees the tears in Sena’s eyes as she starts hitting one of the windows of the club room, he can’t help but open it for her. It is only then that Sena is able to express her desire to have want friends, which sounded weird to me at first considering her current popularity. In the end, the two girls end up fighting with each other, thus ruining the purpose of the Rinjinbu. To add more fuel to the fire, Kodoka suggests that the two become friends, resulting in more argument. Annoyed and exasperated, he then leaves the room for some peace and quiet, reflecting on the creation of the Neighbors Club.
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