Sunohara decides to get a fake girlfriend to ease Mei’s worries about him and prove that he’s fine on his own. With help from Okazaki he solicits Ryou, Tomoyo, Kotomi and even Yukine to no avail. Help comes from the most unlikely place when Sanae agrees to help Sunohara in his facade, believing that she is guiding him down a better path in life by doing so.

All the while Sunohara still thinks Sanae is Nagisa’s older sister and doesn’t realize she is in fact Nagisa’s mother. Sunohara soon tells Mei that he has a ‘girlfriend’ and arranges a meeting so Mei can see how responsible he is and leave him alone. Sanae disguises herself as a student from school for the meeting, but Mei still seems to have misgivings about the situation.

Commencing perimeter search for potential girlfriend.

Target Acquired: Ryou Fujibayashi.

Sunohara: Will you be my girlfriend? You’re so much cuter than that barbarian Kyou!

…She’s right behind me, isn’t she?

I’ll keep trying!

Tomoyo: As the strongest woman, I will sew the strongest clothes for you.

Oh, it’s you again. Bug off.

I’m running out of options here!

Sunohara: Will you go out with me?
Kotomi: Umm… I have to… Wash my hair later. Sorry.

Yukine: I already have a boyfriend. He’s under the table.

Why hello there.

I must succeed!

Desperate Housewife.

Onii-chan has a girlfriend?! But he promised himself to me!

Sanae Furukawa, master of disguise.

It’s a disguise, not cosplay!

I think she’s enjoying this way too much.

How do I look?

You can see why Akio loves Sanae so much.

They actually kind of look like a good couple.

Sunohara only drinks Boss™ coffee.

The delusions of Youhei Sunohara.

Did you wait long, Youhei-kun?

Okazaki: MOE~!

I went overboard with the screencaps for this episode, but there were so many good scenes that I couldn’t help myself. The way things are panning out, I guess we’re in something of a combined Sunohara/Mei arc. The episode was funny but Sunohara’s comic elements felt overused. His bits are best when dispersed across an entire arc, rather than having them all concentrated in a single episode like this one. They just seemed to lack their usual impact to me.

Of course we’re seeing a side to Sunohara that wasn’t seen too often in the first season. A guy that puts on a tough face to mask his more vulnerable, fragile side. At times I feel bad for him as the eternal punching bag of Kyou and Tomoyo (moreso Kyou). It also seems Okazaki’s reluctance to tell Sunohara of Sanae’s real identity will cause his world to collapse on him in the next episode, as our lovable loser seems to have fallen head over heels for her.

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