Aquatope of White Sand Episode 2: Working at the Aquarium

When we last left our heroines Fuuka begged Kukuru for a job at the aquarium. Did she get it?

Kukuru told Fuuka she’d ask her grandpa, the actual director of the aquarium, about her request. Grandpa not only gave her a job but allowed her to lodge with them. Kukuru’s grandparents are easygoing folks, you see. Meanwhile Fuuka tried to ditch calls from her mom till she couldn’t anymore. Kukuru was called by Karin to discuss something important at Udon’s family bar.

We got hints about something Kukuru with a hefty debt, More on that later. We also learned the beautiful fortuneteller from last time was Udon’s mom. Must be a side-job during the day because she’s a single mom who had to work double duty. That or she wanted extra cash on the side. Oh and yes, Udon inherited her mom’s sexiness.

We’re skipping ahead a bit because the bigger developments of the episode happened when Fuuka started her new job. Her first assignment was feeding penguins as a show for visitors. It was a popular attraction. Unfortunately for her the penguins weren’t very cooperative, biting and pecking her several times.

Kukuru was harsh on Fuuka who felt terrible for her failure. Fortunately it didn’t take long for her to find out why. The next day while washing the entrance some douchebags wanted to talk to the director. As Kukuru attended to them Karin paid a visit. Fuuka told her she might be fired soon. Karin told her the reason Kukuru was so serious and strict was because the aquarium was in danger of closing down. She wanted to do everything she could to raise enough money by the end of the Summer to save it. This further fueled Fuuka’s resolve to work harder.

Back to Kukuru. The douches wanted to make a deal with her, offering to lend her money to help keep the aquarium afloat but she’s like “I don’t need your help.”, smelling their shadiness a mile away. They did very little to hide their wicked intentions. Fuuka and Karin quietly saw them leave until they bumped into the cute aquarium welcome sign and broke it. Fuuka got so pissed she chased them away. Kukuru was happy she did.

After introducing Fuuka to everyone else at Udon’s bar and announcing plans to throw a welcome party for her our heroines went on an evening stroll. Now that she knew what Kukuru was fighting for she told her the truth about her situation. How she ran away to Okinawa after failing to become an idol. Why she gave up the Center spot to Ruka and the mixed responses she got from others after quitting. She knew how much Kukuru loved the aquarium and was like “My dream may be gone but I want to do all I can to help make yours come true”. At first she was fine with staying anywhere in Okinawa but now she knew it had to be at the aquarium with Kukuru. Kukuru gladly accepted her help.

Another good episode.

PS: I didn’t mention the male employee at the aquarium, Kuuya, because there wasn’t much to say. He had a “What a pain” attitude most of the time. Then we may have got some hints about something this episode. When Kukuru introduced Fuuka to him he got a little defensive. Turns out he wasn’t good around girls. After Fuuka chased the douches away Karin convinced him along to Udon’s bar. He asked Kai to come with him. When it comes to the “uncomfortable around the opposite sex” trope that doesn’t automatically mean the character is gay. However, the “open book while drunk” trope is usually more reliable. In this case Kuuya, while drunk, said he’s glad Kai came along because it’s better to drink with hot guys around. Then when Kai offered to help Kukuru at the aquarium when she said she needed guys to help with heavy lifting Kuuya was like “You’re doing it for me, right Kai!?”. Now this isn’t confirmation but the drunk trope is rarely wrong in fiction so…