“Sena's over the top histrionic reactions do much to bring out the humour in the situations instead of the nastiness.” myReviewer.com Review for Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends
In this episode, the Neighbors Club continues their quest to understand social norms and make friends. Sena Kashiwazaki decides she needs to learn how to swim to impress "Natsumi"—a character from a dating sim game—and enlists Kodaka Hasegawa to give her lessons at a public pool. Critical Review Highlights
: The title refers to "romance flags" in dating simulators. The episode explores the irony of characters trying to trigger these "flags" in real life, only to find that reality is far more awkward and unpredictable. Community Perspectives
: A highlight of the episode for some viewers was seeing a "strong and powerful" side of Kodaka when he protects Sena from obnoxious guys at the pool, a departure from the "wimp" archetype often seen in the genre.
“I am just shocked that I am actually not put off by this series and enjoy it quite a bit. The rest of the episode also managed to bring some character development into the story.” WordPress.com · 14 years ago (Dub) 3 : There Are No Flags at the Swimming Pool
Reviewers generally describe this as a quintessential "fan-service" episode that manages to balance its comedic tropes with meaningful character development.