My Tiny Senpai, Ep 12 [END]: Smol Happy Ending!

Aiko’s Meowtaro game inspires Shinozaki and Shiori to get closer and make plans for Golden Week.

Episode 12 — “A Story About the Tiny Senpai Where I Work”

Hmm.

Framing devices in literature through the centuries have different uses. In Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet, intentionally uses a puppet show to draw out a guilt-ridden reaction from his uncle. Meanwhile, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead employs the device farcically because the playwright, Tom Stoppard, used an absurdist and existentialist lens to expand on the backstories of Hamlet’s “best friends.” Here, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern become the puppets, struggling to remember who they are from one scene to the next. In contrast, the framing device in My Tiny Senpai happens accidentally. Aiko, the software developer, finishes the Meowtaro otome game, which features a rooftop confession closely resembling the dialogue that lands Shinozaki in Shiori’s friend zone. This scene forces a positive relationship change between coworkers, converting them from colleagues to friends in their personal lives. This shift marked a significant milestone for the adorable couple.

One fact surprised me the most: Aiko, the otome game developer, shares a last name with Yamagishi, Shinozaki’s workplace bro. Did they ever acknowledge this in the show? I don’t remember My Tiny Senpai showing these two interact as if they knew each other. Are they brother and sister? What the heck? I need a second season to solve this mystery for me!

Heh.

Ooh. Afterparty for the rookie contest. But Shiori is not ready to stop the celebration. Time for naughtiness? If you count ramen late at night as naughty. Shiori obviously means naughty in the sense of mischief instead of ecchi. Too bad, Shinozaki! Though that ramen tastes better next to Shiori, thanks to the innocent flirting she supplies. Will he always be only the tiny Senpai’s kouhai? To be determined! Oho. Supposedly, only horny, naughty adults want ramen at night. Shiori just wanted tea! People, we have a new euphemism. I want short-stack tea, too!

Oh, right. Shiori and Shinozaki aren’t the only ones who are more than friends and colleagues at the office. Blush harder, Chinatsu! Enjoy your “date.” Wow. Yamagishi enjoyed himself in Okinawa. Nice tan! He, obviously, stayed on the beach as far away from his PR department colleagues as possible. Aw. Yamagishi needed a bro like Shinozaki with him. Enough of that. Let’s call back to the My Tiny Senpai episode when Aiko revealed our main characters have no romantic experience. She finished her game, so Shinozaki needs to play it. Did I miss details in this show? I knew Shinozaki played arcade games, but was he a purported expert on visual novels? Aiko thinks so.

Pretty Boy Meowtaro

Ikemen Meowtaro’s voice actor, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, plays Kirito from Sword Art Online. Of course! Matsuoka also did Aoyagi’s voice from Yowamushi Pedal. He has the same eye-covering bangs! Aiko made an otome game where a female player needs to “conquer” Meowtaro. Oh. Would Akari like to play a Meowtaro game? Yes, but not this one. No pandering! Akari and Aiko’s argument about appealing to new audiences sounds like western controversies about comic book titles and movies. Uh oh. A rooftop confession in the game reminded Shinozaki and Shiori about their private conversation on the company’s roof. Shiori realized she messed up! Rejected before confessing! Welcome to the friend zone! Aiko reassured them the game still has a lot to tell. It’s not over yet! Thanks for saying this in the My Tiny Senpai season finale.

Smol Step Forward

Oh, finally! Shinozaki and Shiori cleared up their misunderstanding, and then Shiori wanted to extend their work relationship to their private lives. That’s outside merely being a junior and senior colleague. They’re friends now! As if they weren’t before… But this is explicit and public! Akina turns to dust from cheering on romance. Save him, Chinatsu, save him!

The eye-catchers show a happy work environment. Everyone will be paired up by the end of the story, right?

No surprises in My Tiny Senpai. Shiori and Shinozaki act like high school crushes who can’t screw up enough courage to ask to spend time with each other. Adorably frustrating! Neither have had a “friend” of the opposite sex before. Aw. Akari belongs to their group lunches now. Ooh. How about a group outing to an amusement park during Golden Week? Aiko’s experiences with her girlfriend don’t apply to virgins sexually attracted to each other. Hotel lounges, bedrooms, and open-air baths are too stimulating! Impure thoughts from the outwardly pure! Well. The amusement park part of the plan sounds appropriately enjoyable. Aim for that. Wait. Akari refuses to be disloyal to Meowtaro because she needs to design Meowtaro Land! Ooh. Yamagishi is Shinozaki’s wingman. Way to be a bro! Now Shinozaki and Shiori can go alone.

Adult Fun at the Park? How Amusing!

Date mode! Yutaka felt rumblings! A date with Shiorin! Way to go, little bro. Aw. My Tiny Senpai missed all the lovey-dovey amusement park moments. But we had a perfect punchline! Chinatsu looks mad that Yutaka and Akina get along so well. Yutaka made Shiorin-cuddling time a reality. Shinozaki spent all day with Shiori, so movement happened in their relationship. Glacial, but still progressing. The end!

My Tiny Senpai (Uchi no Kaisha no Chiisai Senpai no Hanashi) streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio and multiple language subtitles.

Our cute couple had fun at the amusement park, but what about a more adult version? Before Akari can build Meowtaro Land, check out Mizuryu Kei Land! Guests ride each other instead of boarding attractions! Both DVD volumes of Welcome to Mizuryu Land (Oideyo! Mizuryu Kei Land) (one and two) are on sale in the J-List store, so pick them up today.

Did you enjoy My Tiny Senpai? Shiori and Shinozaki appear to have many miles to travel in their relationship before they arrive at the sequel manga situation, Story of a Happy Couple. This is like The Former Teasing Master Takagi-san. You know what happens in the end. But you still want to enjoy the adorable journey. For My Tiny Senpai, the manga continues, and we’ll soon have several types of merchandise in the J-List store. Let’s hope we get a second season soon! Can you survive your impatience? Let us know in the comments below or online on Facebook, Twitter, or Discord.