Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special” brings to mind that famous song by Haddaway. Not least of which because at least one of our trio of main characters has some serious issues around love. Issues that they desperately need hugs for. Honestly, this is already turning out to be a particularly emotional episode.

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special”: Details

Senpai is an Otokonoko NA key visual.
Alas, there’s not going to be as many smiles as there are in this key visual.

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special” is the fifth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, and Ep. 4 here) of this LGBTQ+ romantic comedy anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Pom. Project No.9 (Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Love After World Domination) is the animation studio behind this anime. Crunchyroll is the company licensing this anime in NA region.

Production Cast

Kousei Hirayama and Shigeki Awai both co-directed Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special”, with Yoriko Tomita as the writer, Zi Hao Xuan doing the storyboard, and Shōto Shinkai, Eri Ogawa, Yuta Masaki, and Haruki Moriya all claiming credit as the chief animation director. As for Senpai is an Otokonoko as a whole, Shinsuke Yanagi is the director behind the anime. Yoriko Tomita is the writer behind the same, with Yukari Hashimoto as the composer for the music you hear in that anime.

Speaking of music: the opening theme song is “Wagamama” (我がまま, “Selfishness”) by Kujira. Meanwhile, “Are ga Koi Datta no kana” (あれが恋だったのかな, “I Wonder If That Was Love”) by Kujira feat. Nishina is the ending theme song.

Voice Cast

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special” features the voices of Shūichirō Umeda as Makoto Hanaoka, Akira Sekine as Saki Aoi, and Yuma Uchida as Ryuji Taiga.

When and Where to Watch

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special” made its airing and streaming debut (read: simulcast) on August 1, 2024. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can watch the anime as a whole only on Crunchyroll due to it being an exclusive there.

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special”: Synopsis

Might be some tears incoming in the next episode, really.

Alas, Senpai is an Otokonoko is an ongoing anime series. In fact, Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special” only just premiered today as of this writing. Thus, I will present to you Crunchyroll’s official synopsis for this episode instead of a spoiler-filled plot summary. You can read that synopsis below:

Saki and Ryuji attend a basketball game that Makoto is playing in. While watching, Ryuji asks Saki if she really loves Makoto. When she asks him the same question, Ryuji says…

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special”: The Good

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 "Special" screenshot showing Saki and Ryuji leaning on an upper gallery.
The smile disappears from their faces pretty early on.

It’s definitely the story of Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special” that keeps my gaze glued to the computer monitor. Mostly because this episode has an excellence balance of light and dark going on here in this anime. On one hand, we have some nice light-hearted moments between our three main characters. All with quite a bit of silliness going on to boot.

On the other hand, we definitely have some serious drama going on in this episode. All centering on love, what it means to love someone, and whether what one feels is in fact love. I won’t go into any more details for spoiler reasons. Suffice it to say though: I sense some serious tragedy incoming in the next episode. Prepare for a tearjerker.

Aside from the story itself, still thanks to Pom, we also have the animation to thank for how great this episode is. Project No.9 prove once again that they’re committed to a pretty high level of animation quality here. It’s not quite feature-length anime film levels of quality like with Black Butler -Public School Arc-, but it’s still decently high. On par with Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF, but with slightly better food detail. That, and the extensive use of chibi animation. Some people may not like the chibi, but for me, I found them an amusing detail that helpes enhance the light-hearted bits of the story.

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special”: The Bad

Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 "Special" screenshot showing Ryuji and Makoto being embarrassed as they're pressed against each other on the train.
There’s only good things happening here.

Alas, Senpai is an Otokonoko Ep. 5 “Special” is not the episode for action junkies. In fact, apart from a brief basketball match that Makoto plays and aces in, there’s not a single bit of action in this episode. At least, not enough for those junkies. If you want high-intensity action, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, and/or The Elusive Samurai. Those anime series should have more than enough action to satisfy any junkie.