My Tiny Senpai, Episode 9: Smol Sticky Situation!

Shiori and Shinozaki get too close for comfort when they hide from amorous coworkers. Will their relationship change?

Episode 9 — “He Wants to Talk Privately…”

Hmm.

One drawback of a romantic comedy that features a will-they-won’t-they story is how it keeps the lead characters apart until they get together. Sometimes, those delaying tactics become heavy-handed and annoying. The current Rent-a-Girlfriend reset a relationship, and it took a long time for Nisekoi to resolve itself. Or The Quintessential Quintuplets making the girls emotionally sabotage each other. So, it’s slightly disappointing to see the steady progress of Shiori and Shinozaki in My Tiny Senpai hit a cliché roadblock. The saving grace of Shinozaki’s perceived friend zone status is that Shiori still believes their closeness continues to grow.

The delaying tactic we saw in this episode also highlights how adapting manga’s narrative rhythm to anime can be challenging. An anime has twelve blocks of 21 minutes each to tell a story, so timing a manga’s beginnings and conclusions twelve times plus the season finale will naturally change which elements get more focus. Shiori and Shinozaki should reach an emotional climax at the end of the season, not the middle. So, how did My Tiny Senpai solve this?

To be continued. It padded anime time with a funny side story to reach an open-ended, hopeful conclusion in the season finale. How did you feel about the show’s decision? I side with Yutaka being impatient to get a sister-in-law.

Heh.

Dramatic prologue tease from My Tiny Senpai! How did Shiori and Shinozaki jam themselves in a locker to spy on an office affair? Let’s find out! Oh. Mr. Manager engineered our lead characters to search for something in an old storeroom. I’m sure he hoped something “extra” would happen. But tripping the hidden sex flag with two office couples? Wow! Did Mr. Manager know about Yuri-tan and Masa-tan’s regular spot? Could be! Shiori wants to watch them! And Shiori and Shinozaki pack tightly inside a locker.

Ack! Shiori has to stop a box from dropping. But why didn’t Shinozaki switch hands with Shiori? Oh, we know why. He likes feeling Shiori pressed up against him. Again, this is a poor setup from My Tiny Senpai. Shiori could have reached for her phone instead of Shinozaki if the tall man had pushed the boxes back onto the shelf. Oh well. Shinozaki has the chance of a lifetime to feel up Shiori’s smol plumpness. Mr. Manager felt a disturbance in the preciousness force. The couple can’t even celebrate finding what they were looking for, and neither can sleep after such a stimulating situation.

The eye-catchers for My Tiny Senpai show Shiori relaxing in a traditional Japanese inn and offering soft, round objects to sample.

Office Romance Advice for a Tiny Senpai

Aw. Shiori and Shinozaki struggle to make eye contact the day after. Har. Yutaka ambushed her brother again. She wants relationship details! Mr. Manager (a.k.a. Chihiro!) texted her so! Hoho. The older sister smells Shiori’s scent on his suit. She’s an ace detective! Shiori and Shinozaki have hit an awkward patch in their working relationship. Shinozaki wants to confess his feelings! It’s only My Tiny Senpai’s ninth episode. This is too soon! Way too soon for Shiori! Uh oh. The lovey-dovey couple kissing in the storeroom has faced consequences. The company reassigned “Masa-tan” to another department. But it wasn’t for the office romance. Smooching off the clock is okay. Messing around on the company’s time is a policy violation. Shiori misunderstood the policy. My Tiny Senpai lays the foundation for prolonging a new office romance.

Ha! Shiori imagines how Shinozaki’s personality would change if they became a couple. Her only reference is when he pretended to be a playboy for a Nya~Tuber. She doesn’t like him like that. But she wants to pamper him! Aiko called out Shiori’s shotacon vibes! She’s not wrong. Aw. Chinatsu can’t deny her eyes on Mr. Manager Prince Charming. Speak of the smooching devil, what does “Yuri-tan” have to contribute to the girl talk? And here comes Masa-tan. It’s okay because they’re off the clock! Oh? Shiori obsesses over becoming a baka couple in public. Here is more foundation building. Notice how My Tiny Senpai already chose the lead couple’s lovey-dovey pet names. Shiorin and Takkun will happen, but when?

Can a Demon Lord Escape the Friend Zone?

Ack! Rejection! Friend zone! Shiori kept her reasoning inside her mind instead of telling Shinozaki how public displays inside the office could separate them. She also wants to avoid a mushy pudding brain if they get together. But that’s not what Shinozaki heard. Shiorin pampering Takkun will have to wait.

The end credits are running already. Ah, fantasy interlude. I would watch Magical Girl Shiorin! Episode 1! Hahaha! Yutaka is an annoying flying mascot. Of course. It’s the regular order for the magical girl and the new demon lord to exchange business cards. Shinozaki’s alternate name is Shin Maou. Whoa. Episode 25? What happened in between? Professor Hayakawa has a backup device for Shiorin. Is there a drawback? Not to my eyes! Older magical girl shows did indeed have hotter costumes than the frilly ones we see today. Hahaha! The retired demon lord is Mr. Manager! How will Professor Hayakawa deal with him? To be continued!

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

Are you a fan of magical girls wearing tight outfits? Taimanin Asagi combined the mahou shojo genre with a ninja aesthetic. And now the hentai title has official toys! Look at what Asagi has to offer in the J-List store.

Did you enjoy the Magical Girl Shiorin interlude? Or did you hate the left turn the love story took to slow things down? Let us know in the comments below or online on Facebook, Twitter, or Discord.