Note: This episode was originally reviewed alongside Episodes 9, 10, and 11. However, my thoughts on each episode was divided into separate sections so I later decided to make them separate posts.
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It’s snowing so the Stile gang decides to take a trip to a skiing resort. For the most part, this episode is all about the cast having fun before the show comes to a close and I quite enjoyed what I watched. It’s astonishing that Dino can snowboard really well; for once, the manager is actually great at something! There’s all sorts of fun visual gags as well from Miu taking “notes” at the resort to Hideri deliberately falling in the snow in a futile attempt to get men swooning over him. Also, Maika and Kaho are seriously rocking those braided twin tails.
The key moment in this episode is Dino finally giving an earnest confession to Maika. Unfortunately for him (and much to the chagrin of everyone else), Maika is asleep during all this. She does vaguely recall the confession from a dream though she responds by saying she loves everyone at Stile. I suppose I expected Blend S to go the “Ha ha, not yet” route but at this point, I think Maika is up there with Nozaki from Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun for most oblivious love interest ever. I suppose progress is sort of made though. As clueless as Maika can be, she is picking up the clues bit by bit and she certainly does get very flustered around Dino at one point. Who knows, maybe with time, the ship will finally sail.
After the trip, the gang celebrate Christmas Eve together with some cake. Oddly enough, it’s during this final scene where you find out how the Stile staff came together prior to Maika joining them. Turns out, Akizuki and Kaho were pretty polite and modest (that faded away quickly) and unsurprisingly, Mafuyu pressed the panic button when she first met Dino. Not only is it fun to hear these stories, this interaction allows for Maika to reflect on her own time at Stile. This café may be a whacky place to work at but it’s here where Maika gained a ton of new friends. Realizing how thankful she is, Maika tells everybody that she loves them; a notion that was played for laughs earlier but is now a perfect way to end this show.
And that concludes Blend S! I’m normally pretty content with a single cour for every cute girls doing cute things anime I watch but I’d like to see another season of this show. Simply put, it is a lot of fun and it even has its fair share of clever jokes. Sequels are always a wild card with anime but I seriously hope that this isn’t the last time I’ve seen of Stile and its charming staff.
Watch Blend S on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and VRV.
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