Aku no Hana – 12

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After staying up all night writing his essay to Nakamura, Kasuga tries to offer it to her while she’s walking home. She refuses to take it or speak to him, so he reads it to her as he chases her, until a car nearly hits him and she gets away. He rushes home to find Nakamura’s address, and when he goes there to drop the letter in the mail, he bumps into Nakamura’s dad, who invites him in and for dinner. Kasuga asks to use the toilet, but comes upon the door to Nakamura’s room. He turns the knob and enters…

“Girls can be difficult,” says Nakamura’s dad, who lives in a small flat, we’re assuming it’s his mother’s, who lives with him. He divorced Sawa’s mother when Sawa was just five, and he still can’t understand what’s going on in her head. Not that having a stable mother figure would have changed the way Nakamura is (daughters – and sons – are just as likely to equally “hate” both parents during their teenage years), but we’re a little relieved she doesn’t live in squalor with an abusive/drunk father. By all outward appearances, Sawa and her small family are like night and day.

Of course, like Kasuga, we still know very little about the details of Nakamura’s life, despite this introduction to her family. But assuming there’s no hidden unpleasantness, perhaps at this point it is Nakamura – Sawa – who is being backed into a corner by Kasuga, like she did to him. She pushed him so hard to be the deviant she wanted him to be he ended up disappointing those unrealistic expectations. Now he’s pressing hard to remain a presence in her life – any presence – as long as she doesn’t feel alone. Without necessarily intending to, he’s tearing down her walls of swear words and silence and scowls. And she fears those walls falling as much as he feared his.

8_great
Rating: 8 (Great)

Stray Observations:

  • The “chase scene” was pretty fun/chaotic. And having seen how fast Nakamura can run from previous episodes, we knew Kasuga wouldn’t be able to keep up, car or no.
  • Sawa’s granny is almost painfully nice.
  • That beer pour made us really want a beer, which made us wonder why they didn’t go for more product placement.
  • Another episode that ends before Kasuga walks through a door? C’mon now, Nagahama-san…you’re killin’ us!