The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of When Will Ayumu Make His Move?, "I Want to Spend Time Together, Senpai," now streaming on HIDIVE.
When Will Ayumu Make His Move? is, for the most part, a conventional romantic comedy anime series making its debut in the Summer 2022 anime season. The anime adds a few minor twists to the formula, mainly focusing on shogi and Tanaka Ayumu's plan to confess his love only after he defeats Urushi fair and square in that game.
Episode 1 focused mostly on the games of shogi and love, while the next few episodes mainly explored traditional high school anime scenarios with games of shogi thrown in. Episode 4 does the same with its Christmas adventure, and while it's a solid and heartwarming episode, it also finds time to make shogi truly relevant once again. The game isn't over yet.
Episode 4 of Ayumu focuses on the two main characters, spending only minimal time on side characters such as Takeru and Sakurako, who are doing just fine this winter season. Meanwhile, Ayumu and Urushi wax sentimental about their club and its modest storage room premises, noting that this place is already packed with fond memories that they share. They're almost reluctant to move the shogi club to a new, better room for that reason, and it shows just how close they have become. Ayumu has been a student here for only a few months, but already, he and Urushi are inseparable thanks to their shared love of shogi. And of course, Ayumu's unspoken but intense crush on Urushi gives the shogi club extra meaning for him. This is the room where he met his dream girl -- why leave it now?
Later in Episode 4, Christmas break begins, and in Japan, Christmas is like Valentine's Day -- a chilly holiday for lovers to snuggle up as the snow falls. Sure enough, Ayumu is in a romantic mood, but being the cautious kuudere he is, he struggles to actually invite Urushi on a formal Christmas date, and for once, he privately loses his cool. Ayumu fails to ask Urushi out on time, and he berates himself for that in private out of sheer frustration. Until now, Ayumu has been cool as a cucumber while Urushi was the one getting flustered over the rom-com shenanigans, but now it's Ayumu's turn. That shows how important this is to him, and between the clubroom and Christmas, he is feeling intensely romantic and sentimental. He needs a way to express it somehow before the winter break is ruined.
In Episode 4, Ayumu makes some careful, steady progress toward confessing his feelings for Urushi -- or at least, he takes some steps to lay the groundwork for that confession and get even closer to Urushi first, both in and outside the clubroom. During their last club meeting before the winter break, Ayumu and Urushi play a noteworthy shogi game, with Ayumu finally agreeing to a handicap despite his pride as a shogi player. With that handicap, Ayumu scores his first victory against Urushi, and even if it doesn't really count, it's a good feeling for both of them. This helps their friendship feel less one-sided, and it's almost like practice for Ayumu winning for real and making his confession later.
Ayumu's Christmas progress doesn't stop there. Even if he failed to ask Urushi out, he can still fix this, and he does just that on New Year's Day. Ayumu meets Urushi at the local shrine to pray for the new year, and Ayumu graciously wishes for Urushi's own wish to come true, whatever it may be. Ayumu explains this to his friend, who feels bashful but grateful for the help. Urushi wishes for great success for her fledgling shogi club, and if she and Ayumu are both praying for that, surely it will come true -- and true love may soon follow. Wishing for Urushi's wish to come true is also sure to earn Ayumu more points in Urushi's eyes, and he doesn't even have to force it. This is just how he operates.