diy episodes 3 & 4 breakdown
previously: episode 2 discussion
we're back today with a double feature covering episodes 3 and 4, because i was too busy last week to watch or write. i think watching them back-to-back actually ended up working out for the best. this is because episode 3 fell a bit flat at first for me, but then redeemed itself as the set-up for the significantly stronger fourth episode.
a key character in both episodes is jobuko, who is newly introduced in episode 3. i was initially frustrated with her in episode 3, as some aspects of her character seemed about as coherent as her english (i had to turn on subtitles for nearly all her lines in english). however, in episode 4 it becomes clear that she is destined to play an important role. much in the way that she bridges cultural and class gaps as a wealthy foreigner, she also bridges the gap between the worlds of purin and serufu, standing at the crossroads of high-tech and diy.
part of this, it is shown, is thanks to her parents. on one side, we have her mother, who is seen in a flashback in episode 3 teaching jobuko how to use a drill inside an elaborate workshop, firmly aligned with the diy side. then, near the beginning of episode 4, we find out that jobuko's father is some kind of big deal tech company guy, an "IT genius". a sordid backstory is also vaguely alluded to regarding her parents (father especially), perhaps the tensions between the parents regarding diy vs. high tech led to a falling-out like serufu and purin, but either way their influences both took hold within jobuko.
outwardly jobuko appears to lean pretty solidly towards the high tech side, but there is evidence, however, that jobuko's sympathies may actually lie more with the diy side, specifically due to the association with her mother. the flashback with her mother is portrayed as a fond, tender memory, and even in the present day, jobuko mimics her mother's "good job" and thumbs up from the memory. meanwhile we only see jobuko's father in a brief episode 4 flashback as an ominous shadow, looming in the open doorway above a distressed, pitiful jobuko. jobuko is evasive regarding both her father and the reason why she's in japan, which makes me think that perhaps they're connected.
so, when jobuko finds herself cast out from high-tech society by being denied entry to purin's school due to her mistake in mixing up the school names (high-tech society is rather intolerant of mistakes, which is unfortunate as even the genius child prodigy can make them!), she naturally seeks solace with the other outcasts, the diy club. it is a bit of a process, but she keeps finding herself drawn back to it and eventually accepts it.
now that's all fine and good, however the real question is: what has purin been up to this whole time? episode 3 is unfortunately pretty poor in purin, although we do get one scene to remind us that yes, purin is still around and lonely, having her question misinterpreted by the annoying robot in a classic alexa/siri voice command fail to represent her technological alienation. 
no need to worry though, episode 4 is basically a purin episode, and oh my what an episode it is. i am positive future critics will view it as an absolutely essential episode. it starts with another of purin's late, lonely walks home, and then brushing off some vapid affirmations from her annoying robot (that has also started begging for an os update now??) about how much of a good worker bee she's being doing extra work at school, only to gaze out the window and discover SCANDAL! JEALOUSY! ENVY! serufu has some RANDOM FOREIGNER over! then, as if to rub things in, the robot makes a reappearence to inform purin that her mom will be coming home late again.
interestingly, purin actually decides to take action in the face of this shocking development, and is next seen outside serufu's house concocting excuses to try and get inside. she is caught by serufu's mom in an incredible scene where the animators went extremely hard in animating purin's embarrassed gestures (as i said before, part of the show's charm is that they really know when to pull all the stops), but serufu's mom sees right through it all and is able to invite purin in for dinner under plausible pretenses.
at dinner, serufu introduces purin and jobuko to each other, but otherwise things are pretty awkward between purin and serufu. after dinner, when serufu asks purin if it was tasty, it takes a full five seconds for purin to respond with a vaguely affirmative noise, as she blushes and turns away. right after, there is a cut to jobuko, carefully observing the interaction. later, the conversation flows well between jobuko and purin, who are able to find common ground as fluent speakers of technobabbly (perhaps foreshadowed in episode 3, when jobuko uses the same expressions as purin to disparage the diy club), as serufu lounges on the fringe and munches the sasadango which purin originally tried to pretend she came to serufu's house for. jobuko appears to have taken quite an interest in purin, because she then insists purin stay and take a bath with her. this is the scene in which she's evasive about why she came to japan, and the conversation only gets flowing again once they return to the safe common ground of technobabble.
then later, as purin heads home, a familiar pattern emerges yet again: serufu invites purin to stay the night, which purin rejects in no uncertain terms with her old line about having a "serufu allergy" that serufu accepts without pushing back. 
this time, though, i think it's even more clear that purin secretly wants serufu to push harder through her face-saving rejections, as she mutters "baka" in response to serufu's airheaded acceptance of her rejection. while purin's footsteps are heard echoing down the corridor, serufu is left staring at the door with a somewhat disheartened expression, all of which jobuko takes notice of. then of course purin collapses into her bed at home, alone and dejected, bothered once again by the useless robot nagging her about the freaking os update.
when purin wakes up the next morning, she finds that jobuko has moved in with her. suddenly, jobuko's role becomes clear: with a foot in both worlds, she is in the perfect position to lure purin over towards the diy club, speaking soothing honeyed technobabble while bamboozling purin into partaking in, oh the horror, diy projects! and of course, bringing purin into the diy club fold will be another step towards completing perhaps the show's grandest project, mending the relationship between purin and serufu. evidently, through her careful observations the previous evening, jobuko leaned on her prior experience with technological alienation to recognize purin's predicament and realized that she was in the perfect position to step in.
immediately upon being confronted by purin, jobuko demonstrates that all of the technology surrounding purin that purin was forced to yield to can actually be conquered and bent to one's will. the fancy front door security system and computer password, easily neutralized. 
the useless annoying robot, subdued under jobuko's control (literally dancing to her tune) and carrying out her commands effectively. a flock of delivery drones, now enlisted in delivering a pile of diy supplies. then jobuko gets right to work putting together her room, using an electronic tablet thing that looks like a wooden clipboard, once again demonstrating how she bridges the domains of technology and diy. purin is so dazzled by the technological component that jobuko is effortlessly able to enlist her in a gasp diy project of sewing together a hammock and otherwise putting together the new room. incidentally, within the ensuing montage where purin, serufu, and jobuko work together on the room is almost certainly the most we've seen purin smile so far in the series.
after purin's mom finally makes her first appearance (in a pantsuit, of course, i knew she had some high-powered job) and is surprisingly chill (you have to wonder how purin ended up so unchill with a mom like her), we get a glimpse of diy projects past and future. 
ah yes, it turns out purin dabbled in diy back in the day and made the jellyfish windchime hanging in her window, one of the only pieces of ornamentation in her otherwise sterile room. i went back and checked, and yes indeed it's hanging right there next to purin when she talks to purin out the window in the first episode. really, i shouldn't be expecting them to slip up this easily. it's also revealed that there were actually TWO jellyfish windchimes, and serufu got the other one, which is nowhere to be found in serufu's room in the present day. maybe some sort of incident with the windchime is the lurid purin-serufu break-up backstory i've been anticipating, or maybe serufu just put it away after their relationship soured.
then, the future diy project is proposed by purin of all people and transmitted to the diy club members via the self-appointed diy club diplomatic envoy to purin (jobuko), a treehouse inspired by the childhood memory involving the windchimes. i previously predicted it would be the bench, but this really does seem like a project big enough to occupy the diy club for the rest of the season and cap it off by being completed. it's almost hard to believe the show's only a third over now, because it already feels somehow like so much has already happened. maybe this is because i'm going back and overanalyzing everything. in any case it certainly feels like there's still plenty of time for them to put in an anti-tech revolution plotline to finish off the show, the kind of plot development that would immediately catapult the show into the ranks of legend and ensure it would be remembered for all eternity. but of course that is only because such a thing would never happen...