Skip and Loafer – 04 – Stop and Smell the Gyoza

Kanechika-senpai shows Mitsumi some episodes of a TV show Shima acted in when he was a kid, and gets her to agree to talk to Shima about joining the drama club. Kanechika notes that Mitsumi as an extreme pushover, but this is too important to go easy on her.

The thing is, saddling her with this task ends up distracting Mitsumi so completely that she utterly fails at every other task on what was to be a perfect day of school. She spaces out during a 15-minute quiz and ends up getting a volleyball to the face in P.E.

Shima spots her in the nurse’s office window and the two have a nice easy chat together, demonstrating once more how effortless their chemistry is. Mitsumi is able to talk about her “mission” to Shima, which lessens her mental load, and Shima is able to explain that acting isn’t his passion, it’s just something he did to make his mom happy.

He then steers their talk to Mitsumi, because he’s genuinely interested in her and her dreams. When she speaks about how underpopulated her home is and how she wanted to come to Tokyo to attack the problem at its core. When she laughs if off, he tells her she doesn’t need to, because it’s an admirable goal.

That said, Shima admits he’s not sure he’d be able to deal with all the hopes and expectations that come with such a lofty goal, all but admitting he believes Mitsumi is far more amazing than him. She goes on to say she wouldn’t be in Tokyo if it weren’t for her best friend Fumi.

When Mitsumi studied so hard for entrance exams she forgot to sleep or eat, Fumi was there to watch over her and make sure she actually did get some food in her belly. She also promised that pass or fail, they’d go out for gyoza again. Mitsumi tells Shima if he ever finds a new goal for himself, they’ll do the same and go out to eat, succeed or fail. They pinky promise, and Mitsumi’s pinky tingles even afterwards, as sign that it’s a real one.

In the second half, Mitsumi meets with Hanazono-sensei (her homeroom teacher upon whom she barfed on her first day) in the faculty lounge, worried about “losing control” of herself now that she’s in high school. Hanazono listens, but inside she’s thinking how big of a square this girl is. Her grades are excellent for someone who doesn’t go to cram school.

That said, if Mitsumi wants to know how she can develop more discipline, Hanazono points her in the direction of Takamine-senpai, the student council treasurer. Mitsumi is in awe of Takamine’s strict daily schedule and complete lack of wasted time and energy.

But like everyone on Skip & Loafer, Takamine is hardly a one-note character. To Mitsumi she may seem perfect; a badass CEO-type who is headed nowhere but up. But internally, Takamine is a surging ball of anxiety. Her intricately-detailed schedule book can be a millstone around her neck. One missed train or bus means an entire day of productivity is ruined.

It’s only when Takamine spends and afternoon with Mitsumi that Takamine begins to question whether she’s really doing things in a proper, balanced way. Mitsumi injects some much needed spaciness to Takamine’s day, such that when things go wrong or there’s a lapse in focus, it’s mitigated by something worthwhile, like a cute cat, or a gorgeous sunset.

Takamine probably often suffered from dreams in which she’s always chasing buses she’s late for, but the night after hanging out with Mitsumi, she meets a fuzzy black cat in her dream, and another bus arrives immediately, one that takes her up into the dazzling starry sky.

In addition to being particularly Ghibli-esque, it’s so lovely to see such a normally stressed out Takamine enjoying herself in her dream, embracing the “space”, i.e. spaceiness of taking the time to smell the roses or gaze at the stars.

Takamine’s dream, and Mitsumi’s example, inspire her to loosen her grip on her oppressive schedule and negelect to check her wristwatch every five minutes. When an ornery soccer club president presents his report to her, she accepts it with a warm smile that causes him to flee lest she see him blushing.

Takamine also makes sure to tell Mitsumi not to follow her example to the letter, but determine her own pace and style and way of doing things. That’s definitely something Shima wants her to do, since Mitsumi stayed up all night preparing her own oppressive schedule and has the eye bags and yawns to prove it.

She assures Shima that such condition is temporary and she’ll “get used to it”, but Takamine gives her permission not to force herself too hard. After all, days where a little time is wasted aren’t too bad in moderation.

Vinland Saga S2 – 16 – Casting Their Lots

Einar is on the move again, with Thorfinn following him. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do, just that he knows he can help Arnheid. Maybe with violence, maybe with something else, but he can’t live with himself knowing she and her unborn child could be in danger.

When they arrive at Sverkel’s house, Arnheid is doing her regular daily chores, but it doesn’t take long for Thorfinn to realize Snake and two of his men are watching from within. Arnheid is bait for Gardar, whom Snake believes is still on the run.

Saco Mayumi puts on a powerhouse of a dramatic performance as Arnheid, trapped between her lowly station as a slave, her love for her husband, her yearning to return to their blissful past, and a wish to bring her child into a better, happier world. She truly looks and sounds like she’s carrying the world on her shoulders.

When our boys draw in close, Arnheid admits to freeing Gardar’s bonds. In the moment, she was still dreaming of a possible life with her family: her, Gardar, and her new child. When she says this and weeps bitter tears, Einar makes up his mind. If she wants Gardar to escape, she’ll have to escape with him, and he’ll help them.

Thorfinn closes ranks and agrees to help too. For Einar, it’s the only choice. For Thorfinn, it’s choosing to abandon his life of pacifism before it began, but to help his friends. Awake in his bed, Sverkel tells Snake he’s not one of those people who believe “inferior” people are destined to becomes slaves; it’s just a matter of luck. Einar, Arnheid and Gardar were incredibly unlucky.

Snake’s not in the mood for the old man’s philosophizing. Gardar killed five of his men, he must die, period. He says he can’t sit there, holding his sword, crying himself to sleep about his unavenged men. Sverkel then says she should put his sword down; his land and farm is Snake’s if he wants it, as thanks for reading the bible to him.

Snake declines the offer. He isn’t interested in working the land or growing anything. There’s a lot we still don’t know about Snake, aside from the fact he’s not Norse and has a very unusual sword. He’s also extremely sharp, so I was almost surprised when he and both his men rode after Einar in a cloak, believing him to be a fleeing Gardar.

His absence allows Thorfinn to get Gardar out from under Sverkel’s bed (he helped Arnheid when she asked) and into a cart, where the three of them will head to the border where Snake and his men can’t easily operate. But Snake eventually realizes “Gardar” was running too fast, and returned to the house, not on his horse but on foot. There, he gives Thorfinn an ultimatum: give up Gardar, or die.

Having already cast his lot with both Arnheid and Einar, Thorfinn can’t turn back now. The only way he will be able to get everyone out of this is with violence, something he was once—and still is—extremely good at. Askeladd appears beside him and places his fist on his shoulder.

He tells Thorfinn that it’s okay to fight if it’s to help people who matter to you. As long as he understands that Snake probably has a good reason to fight too…likely beyond the money Ketil is paying him.

Snake advances, and even unarmed, Thorfinn is able to knock him back and dodge his incredibly quick and complex sword swing. Askeladd then scoffs at Thorfinn, telling him he’s not going to survive a fight against Snake if he’s “half-asleep.”

If he’s in this, he’s gotta be in this all the way. So he puts up his dukes, as if he were holding his twin daggers. Snake realizes what the stance is about, and prepares for a fight. This is for all the marbles.

Insomniacs After School – 03 – Laid-Back Astronomy Camp

By signing their names to a sheet, Ganta and Isaki bring the Astronomy Club back to life, but as cool as Kurashiki-sensei has been about all this, she warns them the form is not just a formality. As president, Ganta will have to attend the school club budgetary meeting and not only report on legitimate club activities, but compete for school funding.

While Kurashiki is happy to serve as club advisor, she has nothing to advise on the day-to-day activities of the astronomy club. However, she does point Ganta and Isaki to someone who does: Shiromaru Yui, an alumnus and the last member of the astronomy club before it was shut down. Ganta and Isaki take a train out to rural Wakuraonsen and traverse seemingly endless rice paddies to find this Shiromaru.

When they finally find her workplace, it’s an arcade with a deafening din. At first, Yui asks these two minors what they’re doing there after school, but she then recognizes their Kuyo High uniforms and deduces that Kurashiki-sensei sent them, and that they’re seeking her council.

Yui invites the pair to her cargo container converted into a pretty awesome apartment, and even treats them to some carbonara (and a brief look at her unmentionables). Yui looks through Ganta’s camera and determines that he still needs to learn the basics of night photography (she also sees photos Ganta took of Isaki, which are informative in another way).

After dinner, Yui takes the kids out, where it’s now dark and a new moon, perfect for shooting pics of stars. She shows Ganta how to use manual focus and adjust the f-stop and ISO levels. These pointers result in him taking his very first in-focus photo of stars, and he and Isaki are so jazzed that Yui herself can’t help but smile. While she’s been a loner for a long time and may even prefer it, she’s clearly a kind, sweet, and generous individual.

That’s confirmed when Yui takes an active interest in these kids’ resurrection of the astronomy club by paying a visit to the observatory. When Isaki arrives after swimming practice with a bad case of the yawns, she’s revitalized not just by the presence of Yui, but of a tent in the observatory. It, along with a camp chair and other comforts, are crucial for a successfull night photography session.

Ganta and Isaki head home that night extremely excited at the prospect of planning a Perseid meteor shower viewing party in August. Ganta is less confident of not embarrassing himself by submitting an entry for a national astrophotography contest, but as Kurashiki says, it’s a small price to pay for the potential reward of prestige—and more funds from the school.

Later that night, Yui pulls a Shima Rin and engages in a full-bore iyashikei late night photography session, even bringing along her awesome cat Rollo. As her camera takes a long-exposure shot of a torii gate, she makes a fluffy pancake with her camp stove. The resulting shot is so pretty, she can’t resist wanting to send it to Ganta and Isaki, but hesitates since it’s pushing 2 AM.

Of course, we know Ganta and Isaki are most likely wide awake at home around that time, and apparently so does Rollo, as he nudges Yui’s finger so it presses the send button. She freaks out, but only for a few moments, as she gets immediate, enthusiastic replies from her two kohai, who are clearly night owls.

As I said, it’s clear Shiromaru Yui has adopted a number of tools that enable her to not just survive but thrive in her somewhat monastic life of solitude. But it’s clear from the numerous cute expressions she makes throughout the episode that she’s hardly opposed to social interaction.

In fact, she was eager to share the beauty of the night sky with others, since sharing it only enhanced her enjoyment. It’s a triumphant introduction of another endearing addition to the cast, voiced with a wonderful humanity and nuance by Tomatsu Haruka. Between her and Kurashiki-sensei, Ganta and Isaki are in good hands!