Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage – 12 – Playing with Firelings

Helping Fuuka break out of her cage she’s built for herself isn’t something Tomozaki thinks he should do, but it is something he wants to do, because he, like me, likes Fuuka just fine the way she is, and she shouldn’t think she has to change just so she can follow in his or Hinami’s footsteps.

He utilizes the misfit Firelings from the Andi story—the only ones who didn’t befriend the Popple—to give Fuuka space to rethink her goals, which she admits she’s not entirely certain about. He also shows her an online forum of Andi fans—a whole mess of “Firelings”, to show her that she doesn’t have to choose between becoming someone else or being lonely.

Fuuka is almost relieved Tomozaki is able to verbalize what he believes to be her quandary, and really comes off as someone who simply needed someone to tell her straight-up that she really is best off being herself and not overthinking things. She even rewrites the ending of the play so Kris pursues a passion rather than fitting herself into a square hole.

Every time Mimimi sees Tomozaki interacting with Fuuka, engaged in easy yet spirited discussion, she looks forlorn and lonely. Tomozaki informs Hinami at their next meeting that he’s made his decision of who he’s going to choose. And Tomozaki tells Fuuka—not Mimimi—that there’s something he needs to talk with her about after the festival.

Mimimi likes Tomozaki enough that even on the day of the festival, when Gumi and her two friends from their festival show up to return the favor for Tomozaki and Mizusawa, she’s performatively scandalized by his flirtatious exploits, but beneath the over-acting she’s likely hiding real resentment and pain.

After all, Mimimi has pretty much come out and told Tomozaki how she feels. Her cards are on the table, and yet he’s refused to respond to her, keeping her in his friendzone. She wants to spend more time with him, but here he is, spending time with the adorable Fuuka and these cuties from another school.

One thing I was certain of was that considering their chemistry and bonhomie, Tomozaki and Mimimi were going to do a decent job with their comedy routine. They start strong, but Tomozaki suddenly freezes, wracked by the pressure of the silence filling the room around him.

Mimimi bails him out by telling a joke explaining their name that gets no laughs, and he’s able to snap out of it and get back on track. I just wish we’d have been able to see more of the routine with the crowd response … I felt shortchanged, much like Mimimi!

After the routine, the two head up to the roof to cool down after those hot lights, and both agree that they were certainly, definitely, probably pretty good up there, for amateurs! If that sounds like a lot of qualifiers, well, we are dealing with two people with inferiority issues.

When Tomozaki’s phone goes off announcing the play is about to start—the play with Fuuka—Mimimi’s smile dissipates. And just when Tomozaki is most likely about to tell her there’s something he needs to talk about after the festival (like he did with Fuuka), Mimimi interrupts him, and tells him she had fun with the comedy routine, and sends him on his way.

Once he leaves, she no longer has to act like she’s in a good mood. It’s over”, she says while stretching, talking about the routine, then looks out at the world below, as her long blue hair cascades in the wind, and says “It’s all over,” not talking about the comedy routine.

Everything this week pointed to Tomozaki asking Fuuka out, and I actually agree that Fuuka might be a slightly better match for Tomozaki, both currently and in the long run. But is that really how it’s going to go down? Who’s to say? All I know is, as long as Tomozaki chooses one of them, and not neither, I’ll be satisfied. The latter would be the ultimate cop-out.