The Eminence in Shadow – 28 – Unleash the Dragon

With the Currency arc concluded, this week omits Cid entirely, which I’m honestly okay with as I’m still mad at him for the mess he made. Instead we follow Skel and Po as they find six VIP passes to the grand opening of the ultra-exclusive Mitsugoshi Hot Springs Land. Eager to go on a date with hot chicks, they stop by Mitsugoshi and end up on Nu’s bad side … until they mention Cid’s name.

Nu takes this to mean Cid called the Seven Shadows to assemble. At the meeting of the seven, Alpha presumes he has some purpose in mind for which a group date is a cover. It may even have something to do with the “Dragon’s Tears”, something he babbled on about when they were younger and led to them discovering the hot spring in the first place.

The only thing is, there are only three passes for seven Shadows. As all of them are eager to join Cid, they engage in a fierce battle … of rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets to go.

The victors are Beta, Delta, and the rarely-seen Zeta, who are unenthusiastic to say the least upon seeing that Cid isn’t with Skel and Po. Still, the boys, led by the teachings of Count Virgin Boy and his World’s Best Love Tips series assure them he’s just running late. (Elizabeth and Mary, however, are also attending the grand opening)

Somewhat placated, the girls get changed into their cute swimsuits, and we learn that Alpha, Gamma, Epsilon, and Eta are also there to observe, with lesser members of Garden serving as staff. In their intense cat-dog volleyball fight, Zeta and Delta soon dispatch Skel and Po.

As the day rolls on and Cid fails to show, Alpha ponders whether he isn’t coming on purpose, and that his true intention was for the Shadows to simply kick back and have fun at the hot springs after so many long and punishing battles.

That said, she doesn’t claim to be able to ever fully comprehend Lord Shadow’s thoughts. We do get a nice shadow puppet play directed by Lambda that tells the tale of a princess that befriends a dragon; a tale that may carry within it the secret to what their lord truly seeks.

Once Skel and Po regain consciousness, they continue to follow Count Virgin Boy, who assures them that the girls only ditched them to determine who gets who, and that custom demands that they try to peep on them when they’re in the girls’ only bath.

When Eta’s anti-peeping system blinds the boys, one of their tears falls into the water and has an effect. When Eta turns the system against Beta and she sheds a tear, it has an even greater effect. The entire complex gleams with golden light, and a great water dragon emerges from the water.

With the apparent purpose of Shadow’s summons now clear, the Seven Shadows transform into their work clothes, albeit swapping their usual dark colors for white, red, and gold in order to maintain separation between Garden and Mitsugoshi.

The Seven Shadows dance among the water, Gamma trips and bonks her nose, and Alpha delivers a coup-de-grace to the dragon, which briefly re-appears before Beta in its golden form. Apparently the dragon’s soul had been trapped in the hot springs, and Shadow wanted them to rescue it.

While they may well have interpreted all of this out of thin air—there’s little to no indication Cid knows or cares about any of this and likely forgot what he said about Dragon’s Tears when he was younger—the Shadows believe their work for the day is done, which means getting back to the serious business of relaxing and having fun.

As for Skel and Po, they end up forgotten by their dates and don’t even clearly recall themselves exactly what happened on their date, only that they’re not ready to give up. Their faith in Count Virgin Boy, just as the Shadows’ faith in their lord, remains ironclad and unswerving.

The Dangers in My Heart – 06 – Realizing the Obvious

After they miss their train, Yamada starts to cry. Ichikawa wrongly assumes she’s embarrassed to be there just with him. He says they’ll just get the next train. He buys her the milk tea she likes. But what ends up cheering her up is his regret he didn’t loudly declare to the group that he was going to the restroom.

Worried bystanders might think he made her cry to begin with (which he admits he might have), and also worried that people recognize her as a model, Ichikawa keeps his distance on the platform and again on the train. But Yamada doesn’t want distance. She grabs the handle of his backpack and hugs it tightly so they don’t become separated.

After getting Ichikawa to admit he had fun, Yamada brings up Hara and Kanzaki, and how crazy it is dating someone in your class. She admits it might be more fun keeping things secret, then asks him what he thinks. Her tone and the camerawork suggests she’s trying to assess his vibes regarding such situations.

When they reunite with the rest of the group, Yamada and Chihiro apologize to one another, making way bigger a deal than it needs to be. But what is most certainly a big deal is that Ichikawa is starting to enjoy school a lot more since he started interacting more with Yamada.

His sister Kana can tell, because he repeats the same story about the workplace trip two straight days. Her smirk also suggests she probably knows why he’s enjoying school more. That said, Ichikawa still thinks Yamada and her friends are just messing with him, and if he takes things too seriously, he’ll end up hurt.

He thinks this is confirmed when he sees Yamada at the school gate, clearly waiting for someone to arrive. But rather than let him pass, she grabs the back of his bike—the same place she sat when he gave her a ride—and says good morning.

The cutesy shoujo manga Ichikawa thought Yamada was joking about with Chihiro? She’s brought it for him to read. She’s so excited for him to read it, she accidentally spoils a couple plot points. She tells him she won’t be at the library since she’s leaving early.

When she continues to follow him, he asks her whether she was waiting for someone at the gate, and she responds in the affirmative. What she doesn’t say is that she was waiting for him, and considering how slow he is on the uptake, she probably should have.

The palette of the scene outside is cool, to match the cold, somewhat awkward interaction, but that’s replaced by the warm colors of the library, where Yamada surprises him by stopping by before leaving, presumably for modeling work. When she sees he’s not reading the manga she lent him, she grabs the horror encyclopedia he’s reading, loses her balance, and ends up pressing herself into him.

They separate and apologize in unison. Ichikawa is so flustered he freezes up, and Yamada starts to go. But then he calls out to her, without knowing why or what he was going to say. He asks if she’ll be back tomorrow, and her eyes soften, and she assures him she shall “without doubt” library. You can tell after a couple of awkward interactions, hearing him ask about her made her afternoon.

That night, Ichikawa tries to start the manga, but first tries to imagine what position Yamada read it in. He gets his answer when he opens it above his face and a rain of crumbs falls from the pages. I love what a messy eater she is!

The next day she is indeed back, and the two have a lively little conversation in the hall, which Adachi notices. He confronts Ichikawa on the stairs, and Ichikawa thinks he’s about to be bullied. But Adachi just wants to open up to someone about his crush on Yamada.

The qualities of Yamada he lists are all physical, which angers Ichikawa even more than before he started hanging out with her. He’ll be the first to admit he’s admired her, but now he knows her better and that there’s more to her than her stunning looks. That said, he can’t deny Adachi’s critique of her legs when they’re resting right there on his desk!

One day an ominous new sign appears on the library bulletin board declaring that there is no eating or drinking allowed there. This concerns Yamada, so she and Ichikawa ask the librarian, who said a lozenge wrapper was found. Despite that being a small thing, “sometimes people don’t realize the obvious until we spell  it out for them.”

I couldn’t help but see the parallel between that and Ichikawa’s burgeoning feelings for Yamada. But when she pops open a box of chocolate almonds in blatant contempt for the rules and Ichikawa spots the librarian coming around the bookshelf, he acts without thinking and the obvious comes to light.

Specifically, he lunges towards her, covers her box of chocolates with his horror book (which is really hiding her manga he’s actually reading), and covers her hand with his, hiding the chocolate in it. This is the most beautifully animated scene to date in a show full of beautiful, detailed, and subtle animation, and it kicks absolute ass. The heavenly light pouring through the window, the flowing hair, the dazzling eyes…it’s all here.

Rather than getting kicked out of the library for eating, which Ichikawa did not want because he likes Yamada, the librarian simply clears her throat as a signal for the two students grasping hands to knock if off. When he does let go, Yamada’s hands remains motionless until she opens it to reveal the chocolate has melted.

Ichikawa sees her body language and assumes he went too far, especially when she says “go away” when he tells her to wash her hands (she licks the chocolate off instead). After telling her she should probably lay off the snacks, Ichikawa exits the library believing It’s All Over; after grabbing her hand like that there’s no way Yamada will come back to the library, or talk to him, ever again.

Of course, that’s all codswallop, as Yamada is back the very next morning, warmly greeting him and telling him she’s doing some homework. Only the notebook she has is blank, and underneath it is more chocolate almonds. She insists she is laying off snacks … but only a third of them.

Ichikawa can’t deny it any more: he likes Yamada Anna, and wants to keep hanging out with her in the library. I’m sure a part of him still fears she’s making fun of him, and that he’s destined to be hurt, but if the alternative is not having her around, he’s decided to take that risk. That means he has more than a fighting chance to someday achieve what he currently deems impossible: actually going out with her.