Nagatoro overhears it as she approaches the clubroom and gets pretty excited. After the president leaves, she bursts into the room and catches Senpai off guard, then strikes up a bit of small talk, waiting for him to ask and acting completely aloof to the situation. As Senpai nervously ponders inviting Nagatoro to the zoo, he gets nervous. Then, he thinks back to the festival, when she told him if he wants to spend time with someone, then to just invite them somewhere, and it steels his resolve.
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Hand in Hand
Senpai asks Nagatoro if she likes animals, to which she enthusiastically agrees and starts slapping his head with her noodle arms while prodding him to continue. As she admits that she doesn’t particularly like drawing, but she does draw for her art class, he imagines inviting her out in a more forceful manner than he’s used to. He immediately shakes off the idea. She points out that she’s not good at drawing and that he should teach her. He mentions going to the zoo, but when she points out how randomly he said it, he apologizes and gets a little down. She waves it off and tells him to continue.
It’s easy to see how much Nagatoro has changed since the start of the first season, with how patient she is now and how much she considers his feelings after saying something that discourages him. He invites her to go with him to the zoo on the weekend. In her excitement, she unleashes a barrage of noodle arm slaps and verbal teasing before agreeing to go. At the zoo, Senpai gives Nagatoro a sketchbook to draw and when she questions what it’s for, he asks her what else he would’ve invited her for. Realizing that it’s less of a date than she originally thought, her face goes blank, and she kicks him hard. Ouch!
Sitting on a bench a few moments later, Senpai apologizes to Nagatoro since he never told her that they’d be life drawing. He suggests that they could walk around instead if she wants. She waves it off and enthusiastically proclaims “let’s draw!” Also, she says he better teach her how to draw, hand-in-hand. Nagatoro struggles as they practice drawing, so Senpai gives her some drawing tips and as he does, he produces a pretty amazing drawing of the panda. She decides to give it a shot but reminds him that he needs to teach her hand-in-hand, literally, which makes him a little nervous when he imagines it. She teases him about being nervous, to which he argues that he can do it without it being a big deal. He hesitates to take her hand, but he finally does and continues giving her tips, as his voice cracks, and she comments on how floppy his hand is all of a sudden. With the broad strokes done, he leaves her to do the rest herself. They continue drawing different animals around the zoo and as they do, Nagatoro appreciates seeing Senpai’s focus on his craft.
After a day of drawing, they sit at the zoo café. Nagatoro minimizes her art skills, but Senpai disagrees and compliments her growth. She asks him about the trick to his skill, which makes him think back to the president’s statement about love. He explains that art skill comes from having an interest in what you’re drawing. Nagatoro goes to the bathroom and with her in the bathroom, Senpai is approached by a guy who’s on a date of his own.
Love Did Start the Fire
The guy recognizes Senpai as Nagatoro’s senpai and reminds him that they met at the park before. Senpai vaguely remembers meeting him somewhere, but doesn’t really recall him and admits to himself that he’s bad at recognizing faces. It’s hard to remember faces when they’re literally missing eyes and general details. The guy snatches Senpai and Nagatoro’s art to check them out.
The guy says Nagatoro’s drawing is pretty bad. The woman joins in, and they laugh at its quality, berating it all the while. A fire arises in Senpai’s soul as he jumps up from his seat and yells at them not to laugh at art that someone worked hard on. They’re taken aback by the sudden outburst for a few moments before the guy feels challenged and approaches Senpai daring him to repeat himself.
Nagatoro returns and claims her art, which makes the couple backtrack as they try to compliment it. Nagatoro redirects the conversation and switches to an assertive demeanor before asking if they needed anything from her senpai.
Running Scared
The scared couple switches up so quickly and races one another to compliment Senpai’s art. Nagatoro stares them down before agreeing and the couple leaves in a rush. Nagatoro teases Senpai about how much of a wimp he is, and he states that he needs to get better. Nagatoro flashes back to moments before she stole the scene, back to when she secretly saw Senpai yell at the couple for laughing at her art. She pats him on the back and says she thinks his supposed “wimpiness” is a good look for him.
With the day ending, they draw a sloth before they leave. Senpai stands up close, drawing the sloth, and wonders why Nagatoro is standing so much further back as she draws. As he watches her draw, she smiles, admiring her work with love. After they finish, she asks him to guess what she drew, which he thinks is a sloth. She admits that while it is a sloth, it’s only a very specific one that lives in Japan.
She reveals her piece, the five-fingered sloth, which is none other than Senpai, “so lazy and wimpy” that it’s about to go extinct. As he looks at her art, he thinks back to the club president’s comment about love and gets a little nervous before Nagatoro teases him about admiring her drawing for so long.
Another fun one, this episode continued the good vibes of the previous one. It was a joy to watch, and while it wasn’t as funny as the previous one, this episode was more endearing. Additionally, it never gets old watching the two of these romantic leads stand up for each other and support one another.
On a similar note, Nagatoro got to see Senpai in his element more so than when watching him draw in the clubroom, and they were able to connect through a passion that one of them holds dear. Without a doubt, there’s more goodness coming down the pipeline, but this was another “W” episode of Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro Season 2.
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