Skip And Loafer – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap & Review

Drizzling and Flickering

Before leaving for school, Mitsumi speaks to Fumi over video call. Fumi informs her about how she likes a boy. Thereafter, Mitsumi inquires as to what being in love is like. Fumi describes that she becomes overly anxious when speaking to him and obsesses over not saying inappropriate things.

That afternoon, Mitsumi as well as her classmates find out about their scheduled tests. Mitsumi is committed to doing well because she wants to attend a reputable university.

Shortly after, Mitsumi learns that Shima didn’t show up to school that day. Thereafter, she hears rumors that he frequently skips class and doesn’t take academics too seriously. Mitsumi has nightmares about this because she worries that he is going to stop attending school.

The following day, Shima arrives very late to school and justifies his tardiness in front of the class. Mitsumi is still very worried about him in the interim. The two eventually start talking when the teacher instructs them to stay in class for a while so they can put a few papers together.

Mitsumi expresses her worries but finds it difficult to control her feelings. Shima informs Mitsumi of the fact that not everybody cares as much about school grades as she does as she goes on and on concerning grades. Mitsumi simply runs away when he uses an icy tone.

Later on that day, Shima opens up with a friend regarding his guilt and describes the situation. In the meantime, Mitsumi has trouble sleeping because she believes that she is to blame for Shima’s behavior.

The next day, Mitsumi asks Mika for advice. Mika then tells Mitsumi that as long as she made her case clearly, it is okay to stick with what she said. Mitsumi comes to the realization that she actually had no idea what she actually wanted to say to Shima. This causes a great deal of introspection and self-criticism.

Mitsumi meets Shima after giving the incident serious thought so they can communicate about it. Both of them appear to be puzzled. However, Shima is wise enough to put their differences aside and he apologizes to Mitsumi for being rude the day before. He then begins to walk away since he is in a bit of a hurry.

He is stopped by Mitsumi, who admits that the only reason she acted that way was to get Shima to attend class more frequently since it was dull without him. Following that, she gets ashamed and tries to escape.

Shima, in a fascinating turn of events, stops her and goes on to explain that his family is largely detached. As a consequence, he frequently spends the evening at his friend’s home. In addition, he also says that throughout the third year of cram school, he was constantly staying out late.

Shima goes on to reassure Mitsumi that he really isn’t quite the mess she possibly thinks he is. He eventually says that he was more upset because she believed the rumors that the students had spread regarding him. Shima continues by telling Mitsumi that while he is okay with people spreading rumors about him, he certainly doesn’t want her to take them seriously.

Shima erupts in laughter after the friends have reconciled because everything appeared quite dramatic when they eventually opened up. Mitsumi could hardly help but keep staring at him because she suddenly feels exposed.

When she leaves, and on her way back home, after thinking about Fumi’s reasoning about love, Mitsumi decides that she must give her childhood companion a call right away.

The Episode Review

Drama is frequently created by characters who don’t take the chance and communicate with each other across many forms of entertainment, from literature to movies. It occurs so frequently in stories that, in the best case, it is considered a trope, and in, the worst case scenario, it frustrates character development.

This episode provides a breath of fresh air because it completely avoids this trope and instead gives us characters that are learning from each other and are self-assured enough to deal with their misunderstandings by communicating with a degree of truth.

Mitsumi and Shima end up taking a step back from each other in an effort to understand what the latter might have meant when he spoke to the former.

In the meantime, Mitsumi tries to figure out the reason why she got so upset about Shima skipping school in the first place. The extent of lightheartedness and simplicity that the show centers on is something the audiences may not have seen coming. That, however, is what makes it such a beautiful piece of storytelling because it shows how conflicts can be addressed with patience and empathy instead of feeling compelled to spread them out over several episodes.