Togashi, in the great tradition of anime protaganists, is unsurprisingly dense and unaware of Sophia’s feelings for him. As you might recall, this caused a bit of strife at the end of the previous episode. Our poor Sophia runs off in a tizzy.
Thankfully, Nibutani steps in to tell Togashi exactly what is going on (and thankfully chastises him for being an idiot and not figuring it out himself). In addition, his attention towards Sophia is upsetting his main squeeze, Rikka, who like any girl in a relationship feels as though Togashi has eyes for another. Great situation you’ve got yourself in there Togashi.
It’s clear to anyone with a brain (including Nibutani) that Sophia is trying her best but isn’t quite over Togashi yet. Nibutani visits Sophia as her alter-ego, Forest Summer in order to help her get over Togashi. She claims she must seek out and defeat her “true enemy”. Unsure who Nibutani might be referring to, she can only assume it must be Togashi himself! It seems that Rikka’s quest to awaken the dark flame dragon won’t be so easy…
In other news (forgive me for jumping around so much), Rikka is seeking the final pieces to awaken the dark flame dragon. Togashi left behind instructions on doing so in middle school which Rikka is following to a T. Togashi realizes this, chases after her, and tells her to go back, given she’s sick as a dog. The poor girl doesn’t listen and after an emotional moment, Togashi agrees to allow both Rikka and Sophia to awaken the dark flame dragon inside him.
Where do we go from here? I’m sure Rikka will attempt to strengthen their relationship to some degree, I suppose? There are really no long-lasting plot threads at this point…but honestly, I’m ok with that. The show and series has a whole has been so warm and sweet. I love it. One episode left!
