This episode captures that specific middle school feeling — when your heart is breaking but you still have to pass a note in class and pretend everything’s fine. The raw phone call with her dad? The drawing of Ojichan as an anime hero? Yeah, I’m not okay.
6/6 PEN15 isn’t a comedy with sad moments. It’s a drama wearing a silly middle-school disguise. “Ojichan” proves it.
One of the most underrated episodes of the season. It’s PEN15 at its best: raunchy and silly one minute, quietly shattering the next.
Episode 3 of PEN15 (“Ojichan”) is the one where Maya’s inner world collides with real life. On the surface: she and Anna try to start an anime club to impress a boy (hi, Gabe 👋). Under the surface: Maya is grieving her grandfather (Ojichan) and doesn’t know how to say it. PEN15 - Season 1- Episode 3
3/6 Anna trying SO hard to be supportive but accidentally being dismissive? That’s the messiness of 7th grade friendship.
The way this episode went from “let’s make an anime club” to me sobbing in 22 minutes… 😭📼
Here’s a social media / blog-style post developed for PEN15 Season 1, Episode 3, titled — balancing humor, heart, and the cringe of middle school. Post Title: PEN15 Season 1, Episode 3 (“Ojichan”): The One Where Anime, Grief, and Growing Up Collide This episode captures that specific middle school feeling
1/6 This episode starts with Maya trying to start an anime club to impress a boy. Ends with me weeping into my cereal.
4/6 Also: the scene where Maya imagines Ojichan as an anime mentor while she fights a shadow monster? Brilliant visual metaphor for grief.
🎧 Best moment: Maya alone, listening to the answering machine message from Ojichan over and over. 💔 Most cringe: Trying to turn grief into a school club pitch. Yeah, I’m not okay
5/6 No one saves the day. Maya just… cries. And Anna leaves a message. And that’s enough.
Also, Anna trying so hard to be supportive but having no idea what Maya is going through? Peak friendship. Peak awkwardness. Peak PEN15 .
PEN15 S1E3 “Ojichan”: The Quiet Genius of Letting a 13-Year-Old Grieve Like a 13-Year-Old
#PEN15 #Ojichan #MiddleSchoolWasWeird #Hulu