Good omens and bad omens and tickling, oh my!

(Spoilers in this review) 

The girls end up taking shelter in a rundown building due to the rain. Kon, Koume, and Nono worry about all the bad omens they’ve encountered earlier today, but Chiya tells them that they’re all together and this makes this whole experience more fun than scary or unlucky.

The second part of the episode has Nina-sensei changing their usual lecture session into a study hall session because everyone (besides Kon) failed the mole divination test. Yes, they’re reading fortunes off moles / beauty marks.

They use Kon’s body to practically apply their knowledge of mole divination (which ends with Kon running off with Koume in hot pursuit). Nina is visited by Saku and reveals she feels lonely that Nono isn’t relying on her as much. Meanwhile Chiya cheers Nono up by drawing a mole by her shoulder blades, which is supposed to signify that someone is both assertive and daring.

Thoughts On This Episode:

• It was about time we recevied some insight into Nina-sensei, who has been around since episode one yet remains relatively mysterious. So the reliable teacher-figure really dotes on her younger sister, huh? At this point, I guess every older sister with a younger sister has a bit of a sister complex, huh? Every older sister in anime, at least. By the way, I tried using the word, “doting,” in a Scrabble game back in high school (we were allowed to play the game during free time) but my fellow players didn’t recognize the word and wouldn’t let me…
• The excess fanservice continues, but belly-flashing has been traded in for “strip to check for moles” for this episode.
• I really wonder if these girls are actually doing well in their studies (well, Kon seems to be a hard-working student, but she ended up cramming in order to memorize what she needed to ace the mole divination exam). Will they even pass the mole remedial test? I mean, they spent their study hall period just goofing off. Of course, taking exams is not glamorous content (most of the time) so I guess this will be downplayed and not shown on-screen.
• Are moles actually a reliable way to determine someone’s personality? Kon’s twin set of moles on the back of her neck signifies that she’s a no-nonsense person “who is responsible and slightly stubborn,” which suits her to a T. Meanwhile Chiya was characterized as being assertive and daring, which also suits her. However, Nina-sensei has a beauty mark in the same spot as Chiya, yet I can’t see Nina being bold at all (but if she is, we know who calls the shots between her and Saku now, don’t we?)
• Chiya once again is indirectly being considered to have the talent to be an urara since she and Nina-sensei, who is a rank 5 urara, both have a mole in the same spot. And you gotta be assertive and daring if you’re a fortune teller. Otherwise you’d be too scared to actually tell people their fortunes, no? Meanwhile, Kon is very serious about being an urara, works and studies hard, and yet she probably feels unable to catch up to Chiya’s LATENT TALENT. Well, that’s just my guess as usual.
• Well, it surely was a Nono episode (it seems like the first part of every episode typically features the girls doing things together while the second part usually provides insight into a girl’s mindset). We didn’t learn much besides the fact that she still feels like she relies on Nina-sensei too much. But Nono has made a lot of progress compared to how she was back in episode one, which was acknowledged by Chiya.
• In regards to the shipping, Kon x Koume was quite prominent in this episode. Meanwhile, Nono was rather appreciative of Chiya’s attempts to cheer her up (and her tendency to cling onto Chiya was acknowledged by everyone once again). Ah, but Chiya kept calling out for Koume while she was goofing off (probably because they were closer after experiencing what happened during the second part of episode three).
• The preview for episode five has me pretty excited. It seems like Kon’s going to have a heart-to-heart with Nina-sensei (Kon has been out of focus since episode two so hooray) and Chiya is going to finally meet the black-rabbit-thing that’s in the OP and seems to be connected to her. We’re breaking the mold here, folks!