Between my computer randomly breaking down and school being school, I didn't have time to get last week's post out. So this week is a double post instead! Thankfully, both of these episodes deal with a similar theme...love! Also, a free internet to whoever correctly guesses what I'm referencing in the title.
Episode 6
When Kayo was first introduced last season, I wasn't sure where this relationship would end up. The show is still a bit ambiguous about her age (personally, I guessing she's in her mid-twenties), but this episode made it clear that she is old enough for it to make a difference in how she sees Yuki. She treats him like a friend and is clearly aware of his crush... but leaves it at that.
This episode also makes it vague whether she returns his feelings or not, but either way, I liked how she handled the situation. She knows that Yuki's life is just beginning, and that a lot of things change once you leave high school. She's got her life to live and he'll have his own soon enough. I found it sweet that she cared about him enough to try and teach him about how life changes, regardless of whether or not she likes him back.
Two episodes ago, I complained a lot about Yuki's laziness. Because of that episode, he's now my least favorite of the bunch. I don't find his lack of motivation funny like I did in the last season. Now it's just boring. However, the fact that this season has made a big deal out of Yuki's laziness up until this point worked in this episode's favor. He finally does something!
I was pleasantly surprised that when he heard the news that his crush won't be working at the school anymore he didn't become even more apathetic. Instead, he put himself to work to get her the plate that he'd been working towards all this time. If only he could be like this more often... Well, they do say that love can bring out the best in us. Overall, this was a pretty sweet episode despite focusing on an unrequited crush.
Episode 7
This episode had a lot more going on in it, particularly because the show has been building up to this moment for a while. I was honestly expecting that Chizuru's confession to Mary would happen towards the end of the season, if at all, but once again I'm pleasantly surprised. The setup for this episode was pretty similar to what we've seen before, but I had a much easier time empathizing with Mary than I have in the past.
However, a lot of that has to do with her reaction to Chizuru. She's definitely been softening up to him throughout this season, although she didn't answer his confession. She's been crushing on Shun for a while, so it's going to take some time to work her feelings out. I found it interesting that her "revelation" for the episode was that she hadn't thought about Shun rejecting her before. Up until this point, it had always appeared to me that Mary's actions (and sometimes inaction) were fueled by the fear of rejection. Now that it's been established that she acted that way without even really understanding why... well, maybe I've been a little too hard on Mary. This paints her more as someone who's slowly learning how to deal with a new emotion (love), which is something that I can relate to.
As for the other characters... Chizuru was absolutely adorable in this episode, and I'm really happy for him that he was able to confess his feelings. Even better, he doesn't seem to expect anything by saying it; he's just happy that he was able to say it. Of course, I hope that Mary does eventually return his feelings, but this is far more progress than I expected, so I'll take it as it is. Also, the scene where he ran away yelling was pure gold. I challenge the next rom-com anime I watch to top that.
I was also really surprised that Shun got confessed to, but I guess I should've seen something like that coming with the episode's focus on Mary and Valentine's Day. I thought that some sort of misunderstanding would happen, but nope. She really did confess to him. And Shun let her down in a really nice way too. What a gentleman (even though the show doesn't regularly treat him as such...).
Anyway, I am extremely happy that Kimi to Boku has gone back to what it does best, romantic relationships. Hopefully it will stick with this subject for the rest of the season, since there are plenty of characters whose love subplots have yet to be resolved (*cough*Kaname*cough*). I'm still specifically hoping for a reconciliation between Yuta and his former girlfriend since she showed up in this episode, but honestly I'll take anything on the level of these two episodes. Don't let me down, Kimi to Boku!
Current tally: Five (5) Episode(s) without Shun in drag, four (4) consecutive, one (1) where he does not appear at all.
Images from Crunchyroll.com.
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