Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – 15 – Trust Her Words | The Substitute Son

This episode is cleanly split between two separate stories that focus on the members of Frieren’s party besides herself. We begin with an idyllic wagon ride as Fern nods off and falls into Frieren. We learn it’s been four years since they started their adventures, and one year since Stark joined them.

At the next village they visit, all of the inhabitants are asleep. It’s a curse, the kind of magic humans have yet to figure out, but those who practice the teachings of the Goddess—priests like Sein—know it all to well. By the time he’s determined that a monster has caused this curse and must be dealt with, Stark is already out.

The difficulty level is further heightened when on their way to the monster Fern succumbs to the curse as well. Frieren puts them in a protective barrier while she and Sein carry on. And yet before they encounter the monster, Frieren also passes out.

She does so knowing Sein can wake her up with his magic, but only for about five seconds. Before losing consciousness, she tells him to wake him up when he finds the monster; she promises she’ll defeat it. Now suddenly Sein is on his own against a subspecies of chaos flower.

Sein is not without battle magic, and attempt to use it against the plant, but it’s not quite quick enough to reach the core, as the plant’s leaves deflect it. While able to dodge the plant’s strikes, he presumably only has so many proverbial bullets in his clip.

While he initially went into battle thinking it would be impossible to get Frieren to understand what to do in the five seconds she’ll be awake, he thinks back to a lesson he got from Heiter. He told Sein that while Frieren lacked trust and mutual understanding, Sein learned to trust in her words.

Taking that lesson to heart, Sein recalls that Frieren said she’d deal with the monster if awakened. Sein chooses to believe her, and casts a reawakening spell on her. Before he can get two words out, she’s already launched a magic attack that counteracts the plant’s deflection ability.

After one-shotting the foe exactly five seconds after her eyes open and coolly declaring “I’ve got it,” the day is won. And while Sein may prefer the pretty older woman who led the village they saved, he also doesn’t mind the head pat Frieren gives him for trusting in her words.

In the second half of the episode, the party reaches the walled city of Vorig, halfway to Ausserst. Fern reports that they’re pretty much broke, and just then a noble-looking fellow inspects Stark, says “he’ll do”, and invites him to his mansion.

Frieren doesn’t recognize this particular Lord Orden, but does recognize he’s from the Orden Family, with whose predecessors she also interacted. The Ordens also happen to trace their lineage to the same village Stark is from (which is now no more), hence both he and the lord having red hair.

Orden gets down to brass tacks: his eldest son and heir Wirt has recently died in battle, and he needs to keep morale high in order to protect the northern lands. Stark, the spitting image of his departed son, is to pose as Wirt for a crucial soiree to take place in three months.

Since the party’s broke, he can’t turn it down, so the etiquette lessons begin. Orden’s butler Gabel administers the lessons, everything from dressing, standing, studying, and dancing. It wears Stark out, but he’s a tough kid, and he absorbs it all like a sponge, as demonstrated when he meets Fern in the hall, goes down to a knee and tenderly yet gallantly takes her hand. Even though Fern thinks this kind of thing doesn’t suit him, you can tell she was charmed.

It’s while learning the Orden style of swordfighting that Stark encounters the lord’s younger son, Mut. Stark naturally feels a connection to him as a fellow younger son, but unlike his father, Lord Orden acknowledges that Mut will probably become a better knight than he, for while he lacks Wirt’s natural talent, he’s a hard worker.

It’s two months in before Fern suddenly learns she’ll be accompanying “Wirt” Stark at the soiree, so she gets a crash course in Bein’ a Proper Lady. That includes getting her hand slapped for trying to snatch donuts during tea, getting subjected to corsets, and tripping and falling in spectacular fashion during dance lessons. But as she undergoes these lessons, Stark is watching.

Like Stark, Fern is incredibly hard-working, so there was never any doubt that when the day of the soiree arrived, they would do the job they’re being handsomely paid to do flawlessly. It just so happens that doing that job also means being getting to dance together, and they are just about the cutest goddamn couple of the entire Fall 2023 season as they perform an achingly gorgeous waltz to perfection.

After the soiree when Stark’s hair is back to its normal unkempt self, Lord Orden admits that he and his son Wirt were at odds when they last spoke. Indeed, he told Wirt he never wanted to see him again; he didn’t mean it, and was devastated to get that wish. He tells Stark that he always has a home in Vorig shouldn he desire it when his adventures are over.

Stark thanks Lord Orden for his kindness, but his goal is to return to Eisen and tell him the tales of those adventures. Besides, Orden still has a son in Mut, who will surely grow up to become fine heir. As Frieren takes an inordinate amount of time looking through the Orden library for a grimoire to take as a sweetener, Stark and Sein notice Orden outside with Mut, personally giving him some swordsmanship pointers.

Frieren takes a beat away from the books and simply watches Fern, Stark, and Sein, and smiles a soft, easy smile. You can tell she’s learning to properly savor the people in the party she’s in, and the vanishingly brief (at least for her) time they have together.

Kimizero – 11 – Foot On the Gas

It’s been two weeks since the festival, and things are going great … for Nicole and Sekiya. Runa and Ryuuto seem cordial, but distant, as if the chill of coming winter has infected their relationship. Their conversation is polite but comes in fits and starts. As they go their separate ways for the day, Runa looks back and sees Ryuuto isn’t smiling, and neither is she. The vibes are bad folks! I’m nervous.

Then the unthinkable happens: Nicole comes to school with eyes raw from crying all night. She’s been dumped! When asks what the frikkin’ deal is by Ryuuto, Sekiya says he could see that Nicole wanted to go all the way in short order (making up for lost time) but he felt if they did it once they’d be doing it all the time, at the cost of their exam scores and, possibly, their futures.

I know Ryuuto is a mild-mannered fellow, and I typically abhor violence, but goddamn did I want him to punch Sekiya right in his pretty face. All of his concerns could have been discussed with Nicole. She’s reasonable, other than loving only one person ever!

Dumping a girl who was pining for you for three years because you didn’t want her to waste her precious high school life? Dude, taste the knuckles, all of them. When Runa calls Nicole to cheer her up, she ends up talking about her and Ryuuto and how distant he feels.

So what does Nicole do? She runs to Runa’s house to give her a hug they both need. Sekiya: don’t ever darken the frame of this show again unless it’s to apologize like you’ve never apologized before, and take Nicole the fuck back. He certainly doesn’t deserve her, but that doesn’t matter.

When Ryuuto and Maria end up crossing paths at the station again, Ryuuto is direct, saying they shouldn’t be seen alone together from now on. Maria is in full agreement, not the least of which because she doesn’t want to cause trouble for Runa. She may not be over Ryuuto, but the last couple weeks have left her realizing she likes Runa even more. She doesn’t want her and Ryuuto to break up because of her.

Before they part ways, Ryuuto tells her he may not be that experienced, but he has been in love, and the first person he felt it for was Maria. He doesn’t know how happy that makes her as she walks away in tears. Ryuuto then calls Runa, wanting to hear her voice, but they both hear a scream on Ryuuto’s end, then Runa hears him calling out to Maria and then saving her from a mugger.

Ryuuto wanted to explain why he was with Maria yet again, but Runa asks that he wait until next Saturday before his cram school, as there’s “something she needs to say too.” Uh-oh. That Saturday arrives, and Runa tells him she thinks they should break up. Surely he must agree that things aren’t working. This is a first for her, but it doesn’t make her happy.

She thanks him for dating her, as it made her so happy. He thanks her two, and the two sit there, stewing in their broken-up-ness, until they start seeing nothing but couples around them. Each one represents an experience they shared, and then they see a couple with their kid, still being lovey-dovey, representing the future.

And Ryuuto, like a real man … starts to cry. He cries his manly little eyes out. He doesn’t want to break up. Not here, not now, not ever!

Seeing him cry, Runa starts crying too. She doesn’t want to break up either, but she’s come to like him so much, it made her scared he’d start hating her. Ryuuto makes clear he would never ever hate her, and from now on she should feel free to tell him anything and everything she wants, no matter how awful or painful it is, he’ll listen, and won’t hate her.

Ryuuto gathers Runa into a hug and reminds her that they are still in high school, and it’s okay to make mistakes, as both of them have. Runa admits she was wrong, and the breakup is off. The episode title was technically accurate, but they were only broken up for about a minute! It was a minute too long, honestly.

After I breathed a huge sigh of relief, there was still a bit of pent-up tension, which is then released beautifully when Ryuuto is beaned in the back of the head with a toy car (the same Toyota Supra Ryuuto compared Runa to) by the little boy. No Truck-kun incident for Ryuuto! His parents are apologetic, but Ryuuto and Runa simply laugh heartily, tears still streaming down their faces, but now tears of joy.

Ryuuto blows off cram school (good man) and spends the rest of the day hand-in-hand with Runa. As the sun starts to set, they share a kiss to officially mark the resumption of their romance, having gone through their first trial-by-tears. Ryuuto assures Runa that she doesn’t have to worry about slowing down her feelings. To this, she wryly tells him to “buckle up!”

Ryuuto still has to apologize for not being able to help Runa with the Friendship Project anymore, as he’s no longer friends with Maria. She’s okay with that, as she really wanted to be sisters with Maria more than just friends; if only she didn’t hate her.

Ryuuto tells her that Maria doesn’t hate her at all. Maria even transferred to make her happy. When Runa brings up the fact that she gave one of her moon-and-star earrings to Maria, Ryuuto remembers Maria missing it after she was attacked. He returns to where they were, and sure enough finds the matching earring: proof positive for Runa that Maria still cares.

The next day at school, the teacher presents Maria with an English award. The class applauds, but Runa stands up and makes sure everybody knows that they’re twin sisters.

An upset Maria takes Runa by the hand and takes her into the hall to ask her what she’s thinking. Runa produces Maria’s earring, and tells her she’s only doing what she should have done a long time ago: acknowledge her as her sister to their class, give her a hug, and declare that her transferring did make her happy.

So while poor Nicole got hosed, things end well for Maria, Runa, and Ryuuto. The final short scene of the episode has Runa and Ryuuto very close in the dark together, and Runa declaring that she wants him to have her. So let there be no doubt that that one particular experience Ryuuto has yet to have with Runa will at least be addressed in the finale. We’ll see how far they go now that Runa’s taken her foot off the brakes.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – 14 – Eternal Love

Fern remembered Stark’s birthday and gave him the gift of a silver bracelet. But when Fern’s birthday arrives, Stark does not give her a gift. She is rightfully pissed, but is perhaps a bit too harsh in her protestations, leading Stark to run off. Sein, an older male, tells Fern that perhaps she should go after the young, emotional Stark. Frieren agrees.

Fern finds Stark in the town plaza, but can’t quite work up the courage to talk to him. Sein, in turn, buys Fern a birthday gift; a cute pouch with a butterfly motif, like her hairpin. Sein, an older fellow, knows that Fern would rather she and Stark get along, so he gently urges her to go to him and work things out, in her own time.

By the time Fern finally confronts Stark, he’s the first to apologize; he had actually remembered her birthday, but wanted her to pick something out for her present, as he wasn’t sure what would please her. She in turn apologizes for being too harsh on him, and actually wears a smile as she accompanies him to the market so she can pick something out.

I’m not going to say Fern and Stark are the cutest goddamn couple in all animedom. But I’m also not going to not say that. These are two young people who were so carefully honed into the demon-obliterating mage and warrior that they are that they scarcely had time for things like romance, but here they are, still trying their best.

Both Sein and Frieren observe the two from a rooftop, glad that they were able to make up on their own. Sein notes that both youths could benefit from the guidance of their elders, but he considers himself lacking in the mature adult department.

It comes as a surprise to Sein for Frieren to report that Heiter was not always the wise and dependable priest he knew. On her adventures, Heiter was drunk and/or hungover more times than not. As the years progressed, he matured, as all people tend to do.

In his older years, Heiter still looked forward to the time when his Goddess would praise him in Heaven. But until then, Frieren decided she’d be the one to praise him, with a simple head pat that meant all the world to him. In the present, she applies the same head pat to Sein, who was instrumental in getting Fern and Stark to make up.

The party ends up availing themselves of a ride aboard the wagon of a merchant to the next town. Frieren notices that the design of Fern’s bracelet, given to her by Stark, resembles a ring that Himmel once gave her. Frieren rifles through her disorganized luggage and eventually finds that ring. That very moment, the wagon is snatched up by a giant demon bird monster. That poor horse!

Frieren and Fern can both fly, but as she explains to Stark, they can’t make objects larger than themselves, i.e. the wagon, fly for long. Since there aren’t enough mages capable of flight to carry Stark, Sein, and the merchant to safety, Frieren goes with Plan B. Plan B is for Frieren to fly out on her own, behead the monster, and slow the fall of the wagon enough so that everyone else isn’t pulverized. And it works!

Everyone is fine, but the fall damages the wagon, so everyone gets to work repairing it. As they do, Fern is made aware of the fact that the particular design of the bracelet Stark gave her has a special meaning: it represents eternal love.

Neither she nor Stark knew that, so she deems Stark an idiot, but she also has no intention of allowing Stark to replace it with anything else, and is offended by the very suggestion. Needless to say, Fern and Stark are now one of my favorite couples of the season, surpassed only by Chise and Philomena in The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

As the wagon repairs progress, each night Frieren strikes out on her own, in search of the ring Himmel gave her many decades ago. While Stark didn’t know the bracelet he gave to Fern was a pronouncement of his eternal love for her, Himmel knew exactly what he was doing. We know this, because when he presented Frieren with the ring, he got on one knee as if he was proposing to her.

Frieren was moved back then, and remains moved now, by Himmel’s gesture, and so even though Himmel gave her other things, the ring she lost still carries a great deal of meaning for her. It’s fortunate then that the merchant that was giving them a ride in his wagon happens to possess a spell that allows one to locate a lost accessory.

Once she has that spell, Frieren flies up into the air, and a flash of light indicates the location of where the ring was dropped. Just as Fern’s bracelet means a lot to her, and she doesn’t mind that it had the unintended meaning of eternal love, so too is Frieren exceedingly happy to have found the ring Himmel gave her as a token of his eternal love for her.

And let me underscore that it is eternal, as Frieren herself (virtually) is. Even though Himmel has passed away, his love endures, and very time Frieren looks upon that ring, she will be reminded of that enduring love.

Yuru Camp△ Movie – Adulting Outdoors

Rather than chronicle another fun camping trip in a new place with the Outclub while they’re still in school, Yuru Camp’s first movie takes place in the not-to-distant future, when Rin, Nadeshiko, Aoi, Aki, and Ena are now full-fledged young adults with jobs (though notably no romantic partners).

They stay in touch through chat, but compared with their time at school they’re very far flung and their daily routines have changed. Rin’s at a publishing office in Nagoya, Nadeshiko works at a camping store in Tokyo, Aoi is a grade school teacher, Ena is a pet groomer, and Aki works with the local tourism department after her life in Tokyo didn’t pan out.

It’s Aki who is the catalyst that brings the five Outclub members back together with a bold proposal: take a derelict outdoors youth center with a great view of Fuji-sama and turn it into a campground. After Aki has (lots) of drinks with Rin (all drunk by her; she’s predictably now the lush of the group), she takes them to the spot, and at sunrise, Rin gets it; it’s a good spot.

The challenge, then, is how the five of them are going to navigate their day job obligations and distances and make this thing happen. Aki assigns everyone a role and wisely picks Rin as the team lead, as she’s the most experienced camper and thus perhaps the best organizer of the group.

They start small and realistically; trimming the overgrown grass and removing errant shrubs while discussing ideas for what they want on the grounds. Once a farmer friend of Aki’s shows them the proper way to to these things, and they get their hands on some machinery, the cleanup work accelerates.

It’s exciting watching the adult versions of these characters, already having eased into their new adult lives, banding together once more over something they always loved sharing with each other—camping—with the goal of now sharing that love with others so those people will share it, and so on and so forth.

It’s also comforting to know that both the chemistry and the comedic banter among the young women is still alive and well. A different movie could have had its individual members much more isolated and/or estranged (or even having families of their own) but this is rather the evolution of Cute Girls Doing Cute Things—Cute Women Doing Cool Things.

Once all the major cleanup and grading is complete, they decide to give the grounds a whirl by being the first to camp there. They find areas for improvements, and also ease back into their old dynamic of preparing a perfect campsite and cooking the perfect camp feasts.

The fact that these five young women are now old hands at camp cooking—not to mention they have a lot more cash than they did as kids—means Nadeshiko and Aki really go all out with the (still on sale!) salmon, with a light yet hearty cream soup and a full-on hot pot. The fact that these five young women are now old hands at camp cooking.

But like Yuru Camp’s first two seasons, the movie is not entirely without conflict, which comes in the form of a setback. Ena’s now-old pup Chikuwa brings her an odd piece of broken pottery, which eventually leads to a full archeological survey and excavation, which first delays and then completely nixes the campground plan. Aki, who brought everyone into this plan, has to make the call to everyone saying all their hard work may have been for naught!

And yet, because they’re adults, this isn’t the end of the world for any of them. It’s definitely disappointing, even deflating, but everyone aside rom Aki finds solace and stability in their day jobs. Rin finds out her senpai at work has been supporting her a lot behind the scenes so she could work on the campground project (both as team lead and covering it as a print and online serial for the magazine) and vows to work harder.

Aoi’s work story might be the most bittersweet, as the school where she’d started teaching just a couple years ago is closing down (possibly due to there simply not being enough kids to fill it), but gives the kids who are there all the love and attention she’s got. And I love how three high schoolers from Bizarro Yuru Camp come into Nadeshiko’s store again, looking to dip their tows into camping. Nadeshiko truly was born to get people into camping!

Those three kids’ simple but very doable plan to have a day trip with cup noodles inspires her to invite Rin to a special new spot: Rin has to endure a lot of climbing in the snow and ice, but the reward is the highest hot spring in Japan, which is tiny, but also breathtakingly beautiful, not to mention the absolute best thing after all the exertion.

There, the two old friends discuss how they really have become proper adults, who can do a lot more than they used to, not just regarding camping, but life in general. Nadeshiko also notes that even adults can’t do anything, but they can do what they can. She doesn’t regret the time they spent trying to get the campground off the ground, even if it didn’t work out. Neither does Rin.

It’s fortunate, then, that the campground plan isn’t entirely dead. With help from Ena, Aki prepares a new proposal that integrates the archeological site with the campground. The video presentation shows footage of the five women working hard and also relaxing and enjoying the outdoors, and is extremely persuasive.

The council votes to approve the plan, which means the Outclub is back in business, having only lost a couple of months. They cut the grass back down, the dog run is completed, they put a coat of paint on the distinctive aviary frame, and Aoi procures all the stuff they’ll need for the kid’s area.

When Aoi brings the fancy and very professional sign made by Akari (who is now in art school) and the five mount it to the entrance, it lends an immensely satisfying feeling of completion. They adulted the hell out of shit, and weathered the challenges that came their way. They did it!

Mind you, while getting caught up in all the excitement, they forgot to post the signs leading to the campground, so their first group of campers (many of them family and friends and thus more forgiving) get lost on their way there!

Not a problem, as the women work together to communicate with Rin while she rides out (not on her gramps’ motorcycle, which is in the shop, but her old moped) to locate and guide everyone safely to their destination. Crisis averted!

Once the sun sets and everyone is settled in, the five women stand at the top of the hill and admire what they’ve accomplished. Earlier, Rin’s Gramps gave the site his blessing. The group makes plans right then and there to reunite and camp there for New Years, when the sun rises out of Fuji-san’s peak. Rin, to the surprise of the other four, says she’ll also be joining them (albeit tentatively). Of course, she told Aki she’d “think about” helping with the campground too!

As the credits go by we get snapshots of that trip, on which Rin indeed accompanies the others, while we also get snapshots of them continuing their adult lives at their jobs. Aoi’s at a new school, Nadeshiko is still being the best dang camping store clerk ever, Rin is hard at work at the magazine, Ena’s grooming pups, and Aki is sticking with the local tourism.

A planned third season of Yuru Camp will likely return us to the present when they’re all still in school. But it was great to see everyone doing so well in the future. I got the same warm, fuzzy, cozy, calming, healing feelings I got from the show, only a little more adult-y. I honestly wouldn’t mind if season 3 picked up from here!

It also had some low-key poignant commentary on the preservation and revitalization of existing things—as well as the need to preserve and occasionally revitalize one’s old friendships! What better way to do that then to go camping, when we can be one with ourselves, rely on one another, and of course indulge in lavish outdoor feasts!

3D Kanojo: Real Girl – 24 (Fin) – Better Late Than Never

The last two weeks of 3D Kanojo: Real Girl have been odd and honestly a little frustrating. First of all, with Iroha facing a potentially life-and/or-memory-threatening medical operation, Iroha and Hikari basically break up, saying their final goodbyes.

The question I had at the end was, why? Why is Iorha cutting Hikari loose now? Certainly not to spare him the pain of losing her! And why is Hikari okay with this, and not insisting on staying by her side so she doesn’t have to face this trial alone? Then, last week, without providing a satisfying answer to that question, the show simply moves on with a HUGE leap in time, after which we learn Iroha survived the operation, but her memories didn’t.

That’s all well and good, but when they broke up, neither Iroha nor Hikari knew with 100% certainty that this would be the case. Iroha could have emerged from the operation with her memories intact, allowing them to remain the loving couple they clearly wanted to be. More troubling is the possibility that even though she lost her memories post-op, she might be more likely to regain them with her lover present (another reason I questioned them breaking up when they did).

Alas, none of that happened. And that was a little strange! But hey, sometimes things don’t work out the way you expect. I’m sure Hikari is well versed in this concept early in the episode, as he ponders whether it’s time to finally forget about Iroha. Who would have thought that Iroha’s brother Chika of all people would be the one to actually make the right choice at the right time?

If he wanted, Iroha would move back to L.A. and live with him. He obviously adores her. But his love is not the kind that would deprive her of that which she needed most, just for his own benefit. So after six months of being a total dick to Hikari in high school, he pulls a 180 (seven years later, for some reason) and tells Iroha why she feels there’s a big hole in her heart she’s unable to fill: there’s a guy out there who knows and understands her better than he.

So Chika arranges for Hikari and Iroha to meet—something that should have happened ages ago, mind you—and Hikari is his usual self-flagellating self. While he’s happy beyond belief that she’s alive, he stops short of giving his name. He’s prepared to let her go all over again, content that she survived. But then Iroha sees the strap on his bag that matches hers, and she suddenly remembers Tsutsun.

Hikari was ready to let her go because he feels he didn’t deserve to have her remember him (always nailing himself to the cross, Hikari). There’s definitely a case to be made for why he didn’t fight harder to stay by her side…or even suggest it for that matter, but one can chalk that up to Hikari being a romantic naif. But that hopelessly kind side of him is what finally causes Iroha’s memories of him to surface.

Fast-forward to Takanashi and a very pregnant Ishino’s wedding, where we’re introduced to 25-year-old Itou (who’s not that different), but no Ayado (it’s as if she was written off the show!), and during which Hikari of all people accidentally catches the bouquet. That’s right about when Ishino discovers one of her wedding guests is none other than Iroha.

It goes without saying that she, Takanashi, and Itou are beyond elated to see her, and simply by reuniting with them, Iroha is able to remember bits and pieces of her old friends (which, again, if only she’d done this years ago her memories would already be back!)

At the reception, we finally learn that Ayado married someone else, and simply couldn’t make it to the wedding. After the reception, Hikari tells Iroha they should get together again sometime, even if she’s going back to L.A. That’s when Iroha tells him she’s remembered more—a lot more—about the person she was, and how she was once terrible.

At first, dating him was only about curiosity than actually caring about him, but that soon changed when she got to know him, and being with him changed her as well, for the better. She now remembers those six months with him were the happiest of her life. Hikari feels the same way, and if he ever found out she was alive again, he’d always hoped she’d fall in love with him again.

Hikari doesn’t want her to go back to Los Angeles after all, and so does something he should have done seven frikkin’ years ago, and what he needs to to do stay by her side: he tells her not to go back. As Iroha feels the same way, she wholeheartedly agrees.

Fast-forward to another wedding, this time, that of Iroha and Hikari. Ayado is there—with long hair! Everyone’s doing the opposite length of what they had in high school, apparently—and not only that, she’s recently divorced! Itou, in his eternal awkwardness, sees this as an immediate opportunity to ask her out to dinner!

Thankfully poor Ayado is spared having to respond when the bride and groom appear. Hikari’s family is there, and even Kaoru is blushing a bit while their folks are crying tears of joy, and Chika is there too, good sport that he is—heck, Hikari and Iroha owe their joyful reunion entirely to him not being a total dick for once.

I still shrug at the point of the seven-year gap, which in hindsight seemed only to inflate the drama of the lovers’ inevitable reunion, but it happened so fast it didn’t quite land. Also in hindsight, I appreciated the ambition that went into such a development.

Let’s say Hikari and Iroha didn’t break up, and Hikari stayed by her side throughout the operation and immediate recovery. I posit there’d still be plenty of drama to be mined from the period immediately following the surgery when Hikari would have to wait and see not only if Iroha would live, but would return to being the Iroha he knew and loved. That would have been a smaller-scale denouement, but still effective.

Still, had it stayed in their high-school years we wouldn’t have witnessed their wedding, or that of Ishino and Takanashi, or their little one, or see Itou ask the recently-divorced Ayado out on a date at a wedding! So I’m content to say MEDETASHI MEDETASHI.

 

The Promised Neverland – 11 – All Or Nothing, Now Or Never

It’s heartening to learn neither Ray nor Emma had ever truly given up on escaping, but they’re out of time, so they have to implement whatever plan they have immediately. The key is to distract and misdirect Mama so all of the kids can escape, and the best way to do that is by setting the house on fire.

But Ray knows that won’t be enough, which is why he’s been planning and working his ass off to be the most valuable pieces of meat Mama has ever raised. He’ll set himself on fire so that Mama will stay fixed on trying to save him. And while he brooks no argument from Emma, we never see him actually drop the match into the fire.

Nevertheless, Mama comes out of her office smelling burnt flesh, and finds Emma kneeling before the conflagration in the dining hall, telling her Ray’s in there. She orders an evacuation while she desperately tries to save what she can of her great prize.

She also urges Emma to get out of there, but when she turns around, Emma is already gone. When she tracks her with her watch, she discovers Emma has cut off the ear containing her tracking device. She’s off the grid, and has a huge head start.

When she meets up with the others, Ray is with them, to our surprise. Turns out Emma caught the lit match in her bare hands before it could fall on the oil. She has an alternate plan for Ray that doesn’t require his sacrifice. It’s a plan Norman gave to her, and which she distributed to everyone else bit by bit.

Norman told Emma exactly what Ray would do and how to stop him, including with a pile of meats and human hair that will smell like someone burning. The whole time Emma appeared to have lost all hope and was being comforted by the little ones, she was actually muttering to them the plan that will spring them.

When Emma reaches the wall with the others and prepares to climb, the specter of a smiling Norman pats her on the back, urging her to keep going. But Ray senses somebody is missing…and somebody is. Mama manages to escape the burning house with her radio but nothing else, but she’s determined to retrieve her beloved Emma and Ray. To her surprise, she still has a hostage—with which to lure one or both of them back—in little Phil.

After so much preparation and time-biding, the escape is finally on, and there is no going back, as the home where they used to live has been destroyed. But if I know Emma, she’s not about to leave anyone behind, and that could well lead to her ruin.

3D Kanojo: Real Girl – 23 – No Way But Forward

Hikari is, understandably, a wreck post-Goodbye to Iroha. He is indeed such a wreck that he stops caring about school—or anything else, for that matter—all together. Adding insult to injury is the fact everyone thinks Iroha simply dumped him before splitting town.

After a blow-up with Takanashi, Itou meets Hikari on the roof and gets the scoop—it’s not like Iroha swore him to secrecy about it. One by one his friends and family learn about Iroha’s illness, and can then not only sympathize with him far more, but curse themselves for initially being too hard on him.

The last person to hear the truth is Hikari’s mother, who immediately delivers a swift dropkick to her firstborn. However much pain he’s in, Iroha’s in more, and his mom thinks she’d be even more sad if she knew what became of him.

Hikari fully agrees, and starts to shape up. He returns to school and studies night and day, much to the relief of his friends. When he learns he got into Tokyo U, he shows no emotion, leading the others to think he didn’t get in, and are there to support him. Turns out he did get in, but he hasn’t a clue where to go from here. Hearkening back to his last night with Iroha, Hikari remembers the final promise Iroha asks of him: “forget me.”

It’s a promise he hasn’t been able to keep, and more to the point doesn’t want to. But Iroha at the time is certain that someone as blessed as Hikari has been—with a loving family and dear friends—he’ll make so many happy new memories in the future, they’ll hardly be any for…his first love? Uhhhh…that’s wishful thinking right there, Iro-han! Still, there’s only one way, and it’s forward.

Fast-forward—seven frikkin’ years!—and Hikari is now 25 and a salaryman at a trading company on the rise. A number of female co-workers admire his combination of work ethic and humility and seem interested in him, but he always seems to dash off after work.

On this particular night, it’s to catch an anime, but not just any anime: one in which Itou did the mechanical design! He then gets a call from Takanashi inviting him out to drinks with “Arisa” and Itou in his usual Takanashi way that brooks no argument. Turns out there’s a good reason for that: Arisa and he announce that she’s going to have a baby.

Hikari, clearly far more comfortable in his 25-year-old skin, confidently picks up the check when he has to leave to fix a problem at work. His friends are impressed by how far he’s come; Takanashi even goes so far as to call him amazing!

And he has, especially when you consider the pain he carries from losing his first and only love. Ezomichi pays him the first visit in ages, but despite the pain in his heart—which he carries gladly rather than face an alternate past where he never met Iroha at all—there’s really no need for her to counsel him, and she vanishes—possibly to wherever poor Ayado ended up…the show has cut her out of the circle of friends! T_T

Someone who vanished seven years earlier, on the other hand, makes a semi-triumphant return to Japan, alive and well, which is wonderful to see. Unfortunately, in exchange for her life, she’s seemingly lost all of her memories, and can’t recall anything about the family home, neighborhood, or school.

Her brother chooses this place to profess his love for, and to promise he’ll be by her side no matter where she chooses to live out her re-charged life. Not picking up on anything worth staying for, Iroha says she’s fine returning to L.A. which for seven years has been far more of a home to her.

So, is that it? Are Hikari and Iroha going in different directions, never to cross paths again? Or will a chance encounter with him be the one thing that can rouse her memories, kinda like Your Name.?

The Promised Neverland – 10 – Never Give Up, Never Surrender

With the bombshell discovery of the cliff last week, it looked like checkmate for the kids, and especially Norman, who after all was going to be shipped out the next day. That schedule is not changed, and Norman accepts his fate, much to the despair of Emma and Ray.

Norman offers them a ray of hope by noting that the complex of farms or “plants” form a hexagon, one side of which is the HQ where there’s a bridge across the cliff. But he won’t be joining them, and his mind won’t be changed. That doesn’t stop the other two from trying.

While packing for his “departure”, Norman puts only one item in his suitcase: the string telephone Ray helped Emma make years ago so she could communicate with Norman when he was sick and quarantined. Mind you, his being sick never kept Emma away, and Mama had to shoo her off more than once.

In a microcosm of the trio’s dynamic in the present, Ray’s technical know-how and Emma’s stubborn refusal to give up leads to the two ensuring Norman isn’t lonely. Norman isn’t just a friend, he’s family. Emma and Ray love the hell out of the guy. But this time there’s no string long enough to reach where he’s going.

The scene of Norman’s goodbyes is…is rough. All of the other kids are either in tears or just barely holding back, but no one is suffering his impending departure more than Emma, and she makes no attempt to hide that suffering, or to pretend she’s not going to do everything she can to stop Norman from leaving, including trying to slip him the tracking device breaker.

It takes the most explicit death threat from Mama yet (delivered chillingly quietly so only Emma can hear) for Emma to calm down and accept Norman leaving. Before they part, Norman hands her back the tracker breaker and tells her not to give up. As for Ray, he’s not even there; Norman has to come to him, and even then, Ray says nothing. They only share a parting look.

Norman and Mama’s solemn walk to the gate is another standout scene, steeped with doom, but also an odd kind of peace. Mama seems to hold Norman in genuine esteem, as the two seem to have an understanding that Emma and Ray will be treated well until the “end of the time that was decided.”

He momentarily throws Mama off when he asks her if she’s happy, but she replies that she is because she met someone like him. They reach the gate, and Mama directs him to enter a well-lit room to wait…and that’s the last we see of him. Who knows what he saw, or if it was the last thing he saw. Maybe Mama has bigger plans for him than mere food?

Emma and Ray are gutted by Norman’s loss. The three of them were inseparable, almost symbiotic, but Norman was their center; their heart; the bridge between them. The two of them don’t seem able to continue on, even with support from Don and Gilda. Ray tells them he’s “tired” and doesn’t care anymore; they can do what they like, but he’s resigned to dying there.

Emma was then the last of the trio to hold out hope and not give up, but she’s too overcome by grief to accomplish anything. Both the little kids and Mama take note of her constantly morose state, and Mama visits her in her dorm to urge her to give up, and life will be much easier. She even offers Emma a path that will allow her to become the next Mama of the house, rather than be shipped away.

Of course, Emma is never going to go back on what she promised Norman, no matter how many perks she offers (or bones she breaks). So Mama tells her fine, keep dreaming of the impossible, “writhe in agony”, and be damned.

Time passes, and the eve of Ray’s shipment date arrives. Emma wakes up and finds him singing to himself in the chapel. It’s there where both of them reveal that at least part of the way they’ve been acting around Mama, Gilda, Don, and the little ones was merely a performance; a means of lulling Mama into thinking they really did give up.

But they haven’t, as the fire in their eyes at the end of the episode proves. They seem as determined as ever, and thanks to Norman’s reconnoitering of the wall, a path to escape remains. What a fool I was to believe it was time to give up when they hadn’t; to doubt the strength of their spirit and defiance!

Mama, the demons, the system has taken so much away from these kids. It’s time to take something back from them for a change. I am here for it.

The Promised Neverland – 09 – Let’s Get Cracking

By the end of last week, four episodes of The Promised Neverland remained for the kids to escape the farm and survive the aftermath of casting aside their old lives, and all the protections and amenities therein. Even if their lives wouldn’t last much longer than if they’d  stayed put, at least they’d die free.

Alas, for all of the kids’ careful preparation up to this point, the situation has never been more dire. Any hope of Emma escaping on her own two feet has been dashed thanks to Mama’s act of appalling brutality (“clean break” indeed) while Norman is due to be shipped out in a day’s time.

Norman puts on a brave face for Emma, but when he fetches water he betrays a look of paralyzing fear and despair. And yet, once that moment has passed, there’s a decidedly defiant look on his face, like he’s decided and committed to his next move.

When he returns, Ray is with Emma, and they’ve already decided something as well. When Norman proposes they proceed with the escape plan without him once he’s gone and Emma is healed, they reject him in unison. Their counter-proposal: Norman will deactivate his tracker with the device Ray has just completed (using parts from all the various discreet rewards he got over the years), and hide out until Emma heals. Then they’ll all escape together.

Norman is fine with this plan, except for the fact that if he goes missing, they may ship Ray out in his stead. In that case, Ray says he’s willing to have his arm broken so, like Emma, he won’t be suitable for shipping. When Norman asks how Ray found out about the truth of the House, he says he’s always known, since he has memories of his life going back to when he was still in the womb.

Norman agrees to the plan, and the next morning, Norman executes his escape, running to the wall with the backup rope Don and Gilda made, while Emma and Ray stick close to Mama. The music that plays while Norman is running to freedom is epic, hopeful and triumphant.

After he attaches the rope, he holds it taut as he runs up the wall, and manages to grab hold of the top ledge and hoist himself up. A vast forest unfolds in all directions on the other side; a forest full of possibility. If they could get everyone into that forest, the adults would be hard-pressed to find them.

When Mama finally notices Norman is not around, she checks his tracking device, and her expression makes it clear it’s not working. But to Emma and Ray’s horror, she smiles and closes the device, and Norman emerges from the forest, looking like he’d just been drugged or hypnotized.

Turns out it was neither, but simply the look of utter, complete defeat. Only while atop the wall and looking over the other side could he discover the truth: there is a vast, yawning, sheer CLIFF between the wall and the forested land, of a distance they can’t hope to surmount.

Just when the kids’ spirits were at their highest, everything is cruelly snatched away, and their doom feels more inescapable than ever. What an emotional roller coaster; a symphony sorrow; a triptych of tribulation. Those poor damn kids…what are they going to do now?

The Promised Neverland – 08 – Things Never Go Smoothly

More than once, Don hopes out loud that the inspection plan goes smoothly, and whenever a character hopes something like that, chances are it won’t come to pass. Things certainly don’t go smoothly for Sister Krone! Turns out she’s not fired, she’s just been named the new Mom of Plant Four. Only there’s one thing more important to Krone than becoming a Mom, and that’s ruining Isabella.

That turns out to be her downfall, as had Krone left quietly for her new assignment, it’s possible she would have been fine. Or maybe not; when she presents her evidence to Grandma of the high-quality kids’ escape plan, it’s utterly shrugged off because the kids are still “under control.” As for Krone ever having a chance of replacing Isabella, that was never in the cards.

And so, as Krone’s life in the farm and training to become a sister flashes before her eyes, Grandma sics a demon on her, and plants the flower that causes instant death. Rest in peace, Sister Krone: you certainly never had any in life. Her last thoughts are of her hope that the kids are successful in escaping—something she could never do.

Ray isn’t aware that Krone is no longer in the picture until it’s too late and the inspection mission is already underway. Isabella, calling out his treachery, suddenly and unexpectedly terminates their arrangement, locks him in a room, and uses her tracking device to detect Norman and Emma.

When Don and Gilda see Isabella leave the house, but no sign of Ray, Don races into the house, busts down the door and frees Ray, and the three of them head to Norman and Emma’s location as quickly as they can. But as has ever been the case since even Ray first thought of resisting this system, Mama is simply too many steps ahead.

She encounters Norman and Emma and rejects their fake smiles, dropping the pretense that she’s maintained for ten years. She also makes a seemingly heartfelt (though one questions if she has a heart to feel) plea for them to stop resisting and simply accept their fates. They can live happy, full lives until their shipment days, at which time their deaths will be instant.

Even if Isabella empathizes with her livestock in knowing that the worst kind of suffering for them would be to take her up on her offer and give up, they’re too valuable to her as meat for her to ever consider entertaining their desire for freedom. One wonders if Isabella, like Krone, was once in their position, and thus has already concluded resistance is pointless.

Whatever the case, when Emma and Norman reject Isabella’s ultimatum,  Emma rushes Mama and hugs her tight so Norman can get to the rope…and Emma pays for it, big time. Mama snaps her knee like a twig, then lovingly applies a splint and carries her back to the house.

No matter how spunky and determined Emma might be, there’s no way she’ll be able to escape now; at least not on her own two legs. Oh, and just to twist the knife, Isabella informs a horrified Norman that his shipment date has been set. Far from smooth, things have gone just about as awfully as possible for our pee-wee heroes. I honestly don’t know where they go from here.

The Promised Neverland – 07 – An Uneasy Ally With One Hell Of A Creepy Doll

When Sister Krone asked the kids if they wanted to join forces, it didn’t sound much like a request…more like a threat, which the kids should imply is followed by an unspoken “…or else.” We’ve seen how crazy Sister is, so I can’t trust her as far as I can throw her, and I’m glad Emma feels the same way—both the reveal of what and where they are and Ray’s quasi-betrayal have helped her develop a healthy skepticism.

What’s interesting to learn is that Sister has a number on her neck. 12-year-old girls who meet certain criteria apparently get a choice: get shipped off with the boys, or train to become “Mamas” themselves. In exchange for not being eaten, they are given implants that stop their hearts if they ever leave the farm. In a way, they are given less freedom; some would rather be dead than never be allowed to leave.

Sister makes no bones about it: she’s willing to help them only so she can advance her career by becoming the new Mama. If the kids escape, Isabella is responsible, so helping them escape makes sense. During a late night visit, Norman and Emma get to see the tracking device monitor up close (it’s not that precise), but there’s a lot of questions Sister claims to be unable to answer. All she can say is there are humans out there not being eaten, and if they successfully escape, they’ll have to “mix in” with them.

Sister arguably gets more usable intel from the kids then they get from her; she learns that they knew about the tracking devices, where they were, and how to break them. Cut to Ray, receiving a Polaroid camera just like one I once got for Christmas, as a gift for his good service to Mama. He puts on an act about being fascinated by photography, but pointedly leaves behind the photo he took of her.

At this point I’m wondering how much Isabella suspects Ray of spying for her simply to lift any suspicion from himself, or whether she knows the camera contains parts he can use to defeat the devices. I would think so, although perhaps Ray, Norman, and Emma are the first ever truly significant threats to her control over the farm. Maybe she’s overconfident. Surely Ray knows, and will use whatever he can on that front.

As for Sister, it doesn’t take long for her to test her suspicions by searching Ray’s sleeping area. Instead of finding the camera or any other contraband, she finds a folded up note; one it would seem Ray left for her on purpose. We don’t get to read its contents, but they may be irrelevant, as Mama shows up right after she reads it with a second letter. Mama’s sayonara strongly implies it’s a letter dismissing Sister from the plant.

Did Ray play her? Will she really be gone and one less thing for the kids to worry about next week? Are there still other tactics in this chess game of their lives Isabella has yet to reveal, even to Ray? As their escape day gets moved up once again, the tension continues to mount.

Domestic na Kanojo – 04 – This Is How It Should Be…Right?

Deciding they can’t just hole up at Natsuo’s friend’s house, Natsuo and Rui spend the better part of half this episode stalking Hina, but coming up with absolutely nothing. They even steal her phone while she’s in the bath so Rui can try to imitate her sister’s voice and break up with Shuu. It all fails. But then something fortuitous happens: Hina and Shuu come to them, at the very cafe where Natsuo’s friend works and where Natsuo and Rui are discussing their next steps.

Things accelerate quickly, as Natsuo comes right out and demands Shuu end it. Shuu is non-committal, and when he tells Hina he still needs more time before he can divorce his wife, Rui throws a glass of water in Shuu’s face and runs off. Natsuo catches up to her, to be a shoulder to cry on. This whole process of confronting Hina’s affair has definitely brought Natsuo and Rui closer together. Neither of them are happy with how things turned out, and both are in agreement that they want Shuu out of the picture.

Ultimately, however, it’s up to Hina to make the choice. Shuu seems fine with the status quo being maintained indefinitely, where he’s with both women and doesn’t have to take responsibility one way or the other. The next morning, Rui’s eyes are puffy from crying all night, and doesn’t speak to Hina when she suggests they go shopping together for a birthday gift for their mom.

Natsuo, meanwhile, is off to visit his mother’s grave. We get a flashback to ten years ago: Natsuo was in first grade, and a crybaby. Worried about, well, worrying his mom once she passes away, he resolves not to cry, even at the funeral where it’s expected. He wishes she were still alive, and wonders how life would be if that were so.

Then he’s surprised to find Hina and Rui join him at the grave. They’ve come to formally introduce themselves to his mom and give offerings. Hina also informs Natsuo that she’s broken up with Shuu. Natsuo is delighted, and Rui is beaming. Hina even says she’s been thinking about doing it anyway due to Shuu’s half-year-long reluctance to leave his wife.

What stopped her from leaving him was her genuine love for him…but ultimately family came first. She couldn’t go on with Shuu knowing it made them so unhappy. The show seems to be taking Natsuo and Rui’s side in this instance, but will things really be that simple as Hina pulling the plug? And what of Shuu’s observation that Hina doesn’t seem to treat Natsuo like a kid? I forsee more potholes on the road of familial bliss. This is a drama, after all—not…some kind of…“constantly happy times-having” show…

Domestic na Kanojo – 03 – The Scary Realm of Adults

Natsuo visits his best friend at the cafe where he works, and describes the incident with Hina and her boyfriend last night. His friend diagnoses Natsuo as jealous, and he can relate. He observes women stuck in non-ideal or flat-out bad relationships at the cafe all the time, and jokingly(?) wishes they’d just break up and date him. Like the young “office lady” who is in an affair with a married man. His friend later spots that woman outside, and to Natsuo’s shock, it’s Hina.

Not only is Hina doing something morally questionable by sleeping with someone else’s husband, but she’s doing something contrary to Natsuo’s perfect ideal of her up to that point. Like catching her crying on the rooftop and then watching her drink herself to sleep, it’s another crack in that facade.

When he confronts her at home, she kindly tells him to stay out of her business, as she dwells within the world of adults where kids like him shouldn’t set foot, and that’s basically that. Then Natsuo kisses her, she shoves him back, slaps him, then kisses him back.

Before Natsuo knows it, he’s being pushed onto the bed by Hina, but she stops when she sees his eyes, which she immediately detects as those of a child. He may have thought his stolen kiss was bold and cool, but she can sense his fear now that she’s responded to it.

With that, she gets off of him and shows him the door. It may have been harsh, but Hina is right that her business is her own, and she gave him fair warning not to stray into it. Also, Natsuo initiated with the kiss. That being said, she doesn’t feel good about having but Natsuo in his place. Indeed, she feels like shit/

The next day Natsuo’s father finds a note from him saying he’s gone to his friend’s house for a couple days. Pops and his wife quickly assume it’s a move protesting the marriage, but Rui knows better why Natsuo left, and Hina’s not great at hiding from Rui that she knows as well.

Natsuo moulders away in his friend’s room, not even moving for the entirety of a cafe shift. But as luck would have it, Natsuo is looking out the window when Rui walks past, clearly looking for someone. They meet eyes and he meets her downstairs, and his friend’s mom invites them in.

Rui isn’t copying Natsuo, she’s simply “boycotting” Hina’s affair, much like Natsuo, if for different reasons. One reason they share is that they both had a higher idea of who Hina is, and she’s letting them down with her adultery, and if she wants her little sister and stepbrother in her life, she’ll have to make a difficult choice.

After a strategy session with Natsuo’s friend , he and Rui return to a dark house where their folks are considering signing divorce papers. Such is the result of Natsuo and Rui not telling their folks what’s actually troubling them; they make the most obvious assumption based on the little they’ve been given.

Natsuo and Rui reassure their folks they don’t oppose the marriage, but don’t tell them why they ran away from home. They’re back now, and willing to endure one more awkward day with Hina until they set their plan into motion. We’ll see if the show leans more toward their side, even as it’s offered little hints that explain, if not entirely justify, Hina’s behavior.

She likes this guy, wants to be with him, and wants to make it legit by having him divorce. She feels things neither Rui nor Natsuo have ever felt, and thus dismisses their concerns out of hand in addition to looking down on them as simple kids. I wonder if some compromise or middle ground can be found.

Musings:

• Natsuo’s pal puts the pieces together pretty fast that Hina’s affair is what triggered Rui into sleeping with Natsuo. Rui doesn’t really mind Natsuo telling his friend, as he doesn’t attend their school.
• I like how we get a little snapshot of Natsuo’s friend’s family life. Everyone wears glasses there, his mom is really nice, and his sister is eager to see him with a girlfriend.
• That said, Natsuo’s friend’s boss at the cafe was…uh…something.
• Speaking of parents, Natsuo’s pops and Rui’s mom really are kind and generous people who’d put their happiness aside for their kids’ sake.
• Who else thought Hina was going to take it further after ripping Natsuo’s shirt open? Yikesy…