Who could resist the offer of a date with a cute girl like Aoi? Even if it means attending an insect festival and delighting in insect food
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Mira is digging herself into a hole with her feelings for Miyasaka...quite literally, in fact, when she learns Naosuke helped set up Miyasaka and Aoi together for a date. Though conveniently, the next leg of their search for the key takes them to the exact same festival they're going too
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Poor Aoi. She was head-over-heels for Miyasaka from the get-go, and accidentally set up the Meet Cute between him and Mira, all the while stalkin...I mean, observing him throughout the season. She still remembers their time together working at the same hotel where she had long hair (and it looked good then!) and was a klutz of a waitress with no friends, money, or prospects...but she and Miyasaka were able to bond over their mutual love for a radio show and Miyasaka was able to help her realize how tasty eating insects can be (which he seems to have forgotten). She fell for him hard but could never work up the courage to talk to him again after that
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Things really did not go Aoi's way though. First the hotel goes bankrupt, she's left homeless, she runs out of money...and she ends up living in a park. The only good thing that happened to her was being taken in by Tasuke who saw in her the same person in need that he saw in Mira's mother. Mira's father helped her love rival because Aoi reminded him of her mom
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Aoi really putting herself out there to make Miyasaka remember her...and then of course Shoin and Mira shows up. And the gossipy old bat, as if this wasn't crazy enough
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Look, it's the rest of Astro Lodge! Including Matsubara doing an idol performance! Nice to see her get work and get cheered on by her lodgemates! Even if neither Shoin nor Aoi care for how into it Mira and Miyasaka get together
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It's time for Miyasaka to step up and eat wasps to help out Mira in an eating contest! They make an effective team! And Matsubara even goes to the trouble of helping promote their relationship while she's emceeing
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I honestly can't tell if Shoin was so thrown off by watching someone eat what he regards as his old alien classmates from school or Mira and Miyasaka working so well together. Or maybe both
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Miyasaka won! A...cardboard key which they didn't need, but hopefully the bike he gave to the old bat will keep her occupied for the foreseeable future
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Everyone is happy and sleeping...except poor Aoi who is crying herself to sleep knowing Miyasaka doesn't remember her. And the Alien Hub squid is active again
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