I'm just gonna...ignore the mismatched tone for a bit, cause I think this is a great chance to talk about Mrs. Mitani as a character.
Early in the series, Mrs. Mitani (Hanamura) was introduced as something of a trendchaser. She's always the one who knows the latest ins around Ginza, and isn't shown to have that sensitive of a palate. In modern parlance, she might be what you'd call a 'normie'.
Yamaoka has shown, time and again, that he does not like 'normies'. He's very disparaging against people who chase trends or simply take magazine reviews as gospel. Yet despite all this, he never seems to treat Mrs. Mitani with the same disdain. He goes along with her choices, and is even willing to shut his mouth for her sake (sometimes). There is an understated friendship between the two, one that is very clearly platonic in a way that feels 'real'. When Kurita isn't around, Mrs. Mitani takes on the role of keeping Yamaoka in check. This is a relationship I don't see in manga very often, so it's always a treat when I do.
It is unfortunate then, that Mrs. Mitani's relationship with Kurita feels much less substantial. Kurita is seemingly grouped with the other two ladies simply because 'girls gotta stick together', but there's barely any chemistry between them. In this, I see Kariya's weakness as a writer, that he doesn't know what women talk about amongst themselves. Given the time period, perhaps I should be forgiving of this shortcoming. But how far can we go before I start feeling actually frustrated by their antics?
......Stay tuned for future developments that will further inform how I feel about these ladies.
