Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata Episode 5 Recap & Characters (Spoiler-Free)

Episode Summary

The Date Event of Crossing Paths

As circle work begins, Eriri Sawamura can't capture Megumi Kato's expressions, and Tomoya Aki seeks Eriri's advice for a shopping trip with Megumi. Utaha Kasumigaoka produces a dramatic past-life plot overnight, but Tomoya withholds approval without a clear reason; when Eriri tells him to write it himself, Utaha rebukes her and then reproaches Tomoya for again giving no answer. Tomoya goes on the mall date with Megumi, takes charge of the crowded opening sale, and receives glasses from her as thanks, then apologizes and rushes off somewhere.

• Expression practice and dating advice

  Eriri Sawamura struggles to draw the heroine's expressions from Megumi Kato, who can't produce any. Tomoya Aki asks Eriri how to survive shopping with a girl; she advises aiming for a draw and smiling through it, then realizes he means a date with Megumi and blows up.

• Plot and production dispute

  Inspired by the overheard talk, Utaha Kasumigaoka writes a full plot overnight, a past-life romance whose heroine was once the hero's sister. The others are ready to approve it, but Tomoya keeps it on hold for three days without being able to say why. When Eriri tells him to write it himself, Utaha rebukes her, then reproaches Tomoya for once again giving her no answer.

• Mall outing

  Megumi offers to postpone their trip, but Tomoya insists on making it a date. Overwhelmed by the opening-sale crowds at Rokutenba Mall, he recovers by planning their route like a Comiket campaign, and they hit every shop on her list. At the last shop Megumi gives him a pair of glasses as thanks for coming along, but he apologizes that he can't walk her home and rushes off.

Recent Timeline

• Proposal rejected again and Megumi joins (Episode 2)

  Tomoya Aki introduced Megumi Kato to Eriri Sawamura and Utaha Kasumigaoka as his circle's main heroine, but the two rejected his proposal again for failing to convey what he truly wanted to make, and he vowed to keep rewriting until they approved. Megumi, who reminded him they had first met at the entrance ceremony a year earlier, played dating sims at his house through the night and sleepily agreed to join his circle.

• Golden Week deadline and Megumi's performance (Episode 3)

  Eriri Sawamura slipped into Tomoya Aki's home to work on an adult manuscript for a weekend event, having fled her father's garden party; she told him to give up but let slip that she had been worried about him. Utaha Kasumigaoka came to check the work, kept the deadline unchanged, and urged him to get every member seriously involved. Megumi Kato then came back early from Hokkaido and, dressed by Eriri and coached by Utaha, acted out his ideal heroine on the hill; she asked him to make her a happy heroine, and he promised.

• Interview, circle meeting, and Keiichi encounter (Episode 4)

  Tomoya Aki interviewed Utaha Kasumigaoka at her editor's request, and after a stalled session she agreed to join his circle the following week. Eriri Sawamura joined too, and when both called his December finish and Winter Comiket debut impossible, Tomoya ended the dispute by taking on the funding himself. At the restaurant where he works he found Megumi Kato dining with her cousin Keiichi Kato and asked her not to see him until the game was done; when she mentioned their weekend trip to Rokutenba Mall, he told her to go with him instead, and she agreed.

• Dating advice and Utaha's plot (Episode 5)

  When Tomoya Aki asked how to survive shopping with a girl, Eriri Sawamura advised him to go with the flow of the conversation and smile, then realized his real worry was a date with Megumi Kato and blew up. Utaha Kasumigaoka produced a complete romance plot after staying up all night. Tomoya found it exciting and Eriri admired its calculated appeal, though Megumi questioned the sibling premise.

• Plot dispute and mall outing (Episode 5)

  After Tomoya Aki had held up approval of Utaha Kasumigaoka's plot for three days, Eriri Sawamura accused him of stalling production and told him to write it himself; Utaha rebuked her for saying that, then reproached Tomoya for again giving her no answer. When Megumi Kato offered to postpone their outing, Tomoya insisted on making it a date. At the crowded Rokutenba Mall opening sale he planned their route from her floor map and wait-time information, and at the last shop Megumi gave him glasses as thanks for coming along before he apologized and rushed off somewhere.

Character Graph

Keiichi Kato

Cousin of Megumi Kato who goes out to dinner with her.

• Megumi Kato (Family, Affinity)

  Her cousin; they go out to dinner together while their parents attend a play.

Sonoko Machida

Utaha Kasumigaoka's editor and the deputy editor at her publisher, who calls her 'Shii-chan'. She arranged Utaha's exclusive interview, brought in Tomoya Aki as interviewer through his website, and revealed that Utaha's debut series took off only after his blog featured it.

• Utaha Kasumigaoka (Colleague, Mixed)

  Presses Utaha on deadlines and reliability, and arranged her exclusive interview.

Eriri Sawamura

student · illustrator

Second-year in class G, Tomoya's childhood friend and the circle's character designer, secretly the doujin artist Kashiwagi Eri. She is struggling to draw the heroine's expressions from the impassive Megumi, blew up when Tomoya's dating questions turned out to be about Megumi, and was rebuked by Utaha for telling him to write the plot himself.

• Game role

  Designs the characters for Tomoya's game using Megumi as her model, and wants Utaha's plot approved quickly so her own work can move ahead.

• Tomoya Aki (Colleague, Mixed)

  Childhood friend she advised on 'fighting an away game' before realizing it meant a date with Megumi; she accuses him of stalling production as director.

• Utaha Kasumigaoka (Other, Colleague, Mixed)

  Senior who rebuked her for telling Tomoya to write the plot himself, calling it something a creator must never say to a director.

• Megumi Kato (Colleague, Friend, Mixed)

  Her model for the heroine design, whose flat expressions and half-hearted line reading frustrate her.

Megumi Kato

student · classmate · circle member

Tomoya's classmate and the circle's main heroine, who poses as Eriri's model but can't produce clear expressions. She offered to postpone their mall trip after the plot dispute, went when Tomoya insisted on a date, and gave him glasses as thanks before he left her to rush off somewhere.

• Beret owner

  The girl from Tomoya's spring encounter on the hill, whose white beret he picked up during spring vacation.

• Heroine role

  Tomoya wants to turn her into a main heroine who makes every player's heart race, despite her lack of distinctive traits.

• Past encounter

  Gave the beret from that day to a visiting cousin's child, deflating Tomoya's romantic view of their meeting.

• Tomoya Aki (Colleague, Friend, Affinity)

  Circle leader who turned their Rokutenba Mall trip into a date; she waited patiently while he recovered from the crowds and gave him glasses as thanks, but he left without walking her home.

• Eriri Sawamura (Colleague, Friend, Mixed)

  Illustrator who uses her as a model and grows frustrated with her flat expressions and half-hearted line delivery.

• Keiichi Kato (Family, Affinity)

  Her cousin, visiting with his family; she cancelled their weekend trip to Rokutenba Mall to go with Tomoya instead.

Tomoya Aki

student · otaku · game creator

Second-year otaku and the circle's representative, producer, and director. He has held Utaha's finished plot for three days without being able to explain what bothers him, then took Megumi on a Rokutenba Mall date, steered them through the opening-sale crowds like a Comiket veteran, and rushed off after she gave him glasses.

• Core ambition

  Wants to create a dating sim with a main heroine who makes every player's heart race, modeled on the girl he met on the hill in spring.

• Game project

  Leads the circle with Eriri Sawamura on character design and Utaha Kasumigaoka on the plot, aiming for a Winter Comiket debut; he is holding up approval of Utaha's finished plot.

• Eriri Sawamura (Colleague, Mixed)

  Childhood friend he asked for dating advice; she accuses him of stalling production and tells him to write the plot himself.

• Utaha Kasumigaoka (Colleague, Mixed)

  Senior whose plot he admires but won't approve yet; she reproaches him for once again not giving her an answer.

• Megumi Kato (Colleague, Friend, Affinity)

  Main heroine he admires for staying herself even among otaku; he insisted on making their mall trip a date and received glasses from her as thanks.

Utaha Kasumigaoka

student · writer

Third-year senior and the circle's writer, secretly the bestselling light novelist Kasumi Utako. Inspired by Tomoya's talk of a date, she wrote a dramatic past-life plot overnight; when Eriri told Tomoya to write it himself she rebuked her, then reproached Tomoya for once again giving her no answer.

• Light-novel author

  An award-winning author whose five-volume debut series sold 500,000 copies; she is launching a new series.

• Game plot

  Her plot is a past-life romance in which the heroine, once the hero's sister, recovers memories of their forbidden love and fights a centuries-old enemy at his side.

• Tomoya Aki (Colleague, Mentor, Mixed)

  Director who praises her plot but won't approve it; she reproaches him for again leaving her without an answer.

• Eriri Sawamura (Other, Colleague, Mixed)

  Illustrator she rebukes for telling Tomoya to write it himself; when Eriri protests she was pushing on Utaha's behalf, Utaha retorts that it certainly wasn't for her sake.

• Megumi Kato (Colleague, Neutral)

  Heroine whose lines she wrote and whose performance she coached strictly.

World Memo

• Tomoya's game circle

  Tomoya Aki is the representative, producer, and director of the doujin circle he formed to make 'the ultimate dating sim'. Eriri Sawamura handles character design and art, Utaha Kasumigaoka the plot and scenario, and his classmate Megumi Kato is the model for the main heroine.

• Schedule and budget

  The game is to be finished in December and debut at Winter Comiket. Tomoya Aki has taken on the production costs, several hundred thousand to a million yen, by himself and is working several part-time jobs to cover them.

• The game's plot

  Utaha Kasumigaoka's plot for the game is a past-life romance: the heroine, once the hero's sister, recovers memories of their forbidden love and fights a centuries-old enemy. Tomoya, as director, has yet to approve it.

• Comiket and doujin circles

  Comiket is a huge convention where doujin circles present works they make themselves, such as doujinshi and doujin games. Eriri Sawamura also runs her own circle as Kashiwagi Eri.

• Doujin artist Kashiwagi Eri

  Eriri Sawamura, Tomoya's childhood friend, is a second-year and the Art Club ace. Though she hides it at school, she is secretly the popular adult doujin artist Kashiwagi Eri.

• Light novelist Kasumi Utako

  Third-year Utaha Kasumigaoka, top of her year since enrolling, is secretly the bestselling light novelist Kasumi Utako. Her five-volume debut series sold 500,000 copies, she is now preparing a new series, and her editor is Sonoko Machida.

• Otaku blogger Tomoya Aki

  Tomoya Aki is a second-year otaku known for his anime and light-novel blog, counted among the school's three most famous students for bringing light novels into the library and holding anime screenings at the school festival. Kasumi Utako's debut series only took off after his blog featured it.

Clue Board

• A childhood friend who keeps her distance at school (Episode 1)

  Eriri Sawamura is Tomoya Aki's childhood friend, yet she insists he not talk to her at school and won't let him bring up her work as a doujin artist there. Why two people who have known each other since childhood keep their distance at school has not been explained.

• Disputed childhood promise (Episode 1)

  A flashback shows a childhood promise that Tomoya Aki would found a game company and hire Eriri Sawamura as its artist. Eriri denies ever making such an implausibly specific promise, so whether it really happened remains in dispute.

• An 'impossible' December schedule (Episode 4)

  Tomoya Aki plans to finish the game in December and debut it at Winter Comiket, but Eriri Sawamura protests that the schedule is impossible alongside her art club and her own circle. Tomoya must also raise the production costs, several hundred thousand to a million yen, alone through part-time work, so whether the schedule can hold is still unknown.

• Why Tomoya won't approve the plot (Episode 5)

  Tomoya Aki calls the plot Utaha Kasumigaoka wrote overnight exciting, yet has held off approving it for three days. He says only that it would stop being his own work, and cannot explain what actually bothers him.

• Tomoya's sudden exit after the date (Episode 5)

  At the end of their Rokutenba Mall date, Tomoya Aki says he has somewhere he must go right away and rushes off without walking Megumi Kato home. Where he is going, and why, is not revealed.

• Utaha's 'once again' (Episode 5)

  Utaha Kasumigaoka reproaches Tomoya Aki for once again giving her no answer as he holds up her plot. He seems to have left her without an answer before, but what happened has not yet been revealed.

Season Summary

Season 1 — Season 1

Episodes 1–5

Convinced a spring encounter on a cherry-blossom hill was destiny, Tomoya Aki sets out to make the ultimate dating sim, only to learn the girl was his unremarkable classmate Megumi Kato. He recruits Megumi as his circle's main heroine, and her heroine performance on the hill finally draws in his childhood friend Eriri Sawamura, secretly a popular doujin artist, and senior Utaha Kasumigaoka, a bestselling light novelist, who had kept rejecting his proposals.

After a stilted magazine interview Tomoya conducts for her editor, Utaha joins, Eriri follows, and the circle aims to finish by December and debut at Winter Comiket, with Tomoya covering the costs. When he finds Megumi out with her cousin Keiichi, he asks her to go to Rokutenba Mall with him instead.

As work begins, Eriri struggles to capture Megumi's expressions and Utaha writes a dramatic past-life plot overnight. Tomoya withholds approval without being able to explain why; Utaha rebukes Eriri for telling him to write it himself and reproaches him for again giving no answer. At the end of their mall date Megumi gives him glasses as thanks, but he leaves her to rush off somewhere.

Music Releases

• Kimiiro Signal (OP)
• Colorful. (ED)