The Dangers in My Heart – 25 (Fin) – Their Everything

Kyoutarou most definitely ended up in quite the fix last week, but even as girl and love talk ensues, the other girls don’t suspect he’s beneath Anna’s blankets. When the lights go out, they almost kiss, but Kyou wants to talk to her about something first. This makes her leap up in bed and attract the others’ attention all over again, but thankfully one of the guys hanging outside from a sheet rope provides the perfect diversion for Kyou to escape.

The next day becomes all about finding the right time and place to actually talk to Anna, but it occurs to him: what does he want to actually say to her? He figures it out when the two end up in the middle of  tunnel made of gate arches, through which a couple will be together forever if they emerge hand-in-hand.

Anna bursts into tears, owning up to wanting to do the audition but feeling awful for not having fun on the trip. Kyou is finally able to lift his mask, revealing he’s also crying, when he confesses that he likes her out loud for the first time.

Not only that, but he wants her to keep being Anna, which means working as hard as she possibly can at what she loves, which is performing. He’s even prepared a bunch of snacks that will hold her over on the bullet train home.

They run to the station hand-in-hand, evading Kankan’s  congratulations flashmob (Hara is not so lucky, alas). Chihiro remains as oblivious as ever, showing up just when Anna is about to confess back to Kyou, but time is of the essence, so the two of them see Anna off.

When Kyou is back from Kyoto, he heed’s Anna’s invite to meet “at the usual place,” and after checking out a couple of possible locations that fit the bill, he ends up back where their romance began: in the library, with her munching on illicit snacks. She’s still in her audition clothes, looking like a picture of spring with a red top and pink skirt.

When he confessed to her, Kyou told her that he was able to figure out who he was and like himself and the world around him, all thanks to Anna. Now it’s Anna’s turn to tell him that she was able to learn the same, and learn to like herself, thanks to him. And while Kyou is willing to subordinate himself to her career, and only be “the tiniest part of her life,” that’s not enough for her. He’s the most important thing to her.

He’s the most special; her everything. She doesn’t like him, she loves him, and makes it plain as the gleaming afternoon light hits their faces just right. She takes his hands in hers and asks if he’ll go out with her. Both of his eyes visible and looking right at her, he answers in the affirmative with a sheepish nod. THEY DID IT, FOLKS. THEY’RE OFFICIALLY A COUPLE. Thank goodness! Not that I had any doubts…

While the stirring piano-and-strings theme that has ended so many episodes tended to be subdued and almost wistful, here it takes on a triumphant, even epic bombast. And when the two try to kiss on the lips and just can’t quite find the right angle, even bumping heads, they don’t fret.

They’ll figure out how to do it with practice. After giggling, Anna manages to sneak a peck on the cheek that proves a critical hit for Kyou, and then she proceeds to frolic about, feeling lighter than air, and shouts “Yippee!!” into the hall before heading out.

Kyou gathers himself and chases after her, and takes her hands in his with the jaw-droppingly gorgeous sunset as a backdrop. The dangers in both their hearts have been well and truly reckoned with, and they have chosen to love and be with one another.

It’s as perfect an ending to a romantic show as you could ask for, and even if we never see these two lovebirds again, you just know they’re going to be fine, not just because of who they are, but the friends and family they have. They love them, they love each other, and most importantly, they love themselves.

Shows this wonderful and perfect and moving just don’t come around that often. This might just be my favorite romantic series of all time. It’s been a hell of a ride, and if the creators wish to continue it and show us what new dangers come with being boyfriend and girlfriend, I won’t mind at all!

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST +
CERTIFIED GODDAMN TEARJERKEr

The Dangers in My Heart – 23 – Unmuddying the Waters

Another sports festival is upon this, the final one of junior high. When Kyoutarou thinks of how far apart he and Anna were during the last festival compared to now, he’s embarrassed by his old self. But while he and Anna are a couple now in all but name, his friend Adachi still likes Yamada, and challenges him to a duel during he festival’s mock cavalry.

Kyou takes this seriously, because he wants to win, even if he knows that winning and losing doesn’t matter: Anna likes him, not Adachi. When he encounters Anna on a walk (and talking to) her dog, she has a race with him, during much of which they’re holding hands, and which leads to her apartment, where she demonstrates the proper use of an ab roller at an extremely improper angle to Kyou!

While he’s there, she also asks him how he likes his tamagoyaki: salty or sweet. When he answers “I like them sweet” while lifting her dad’s barbell, there’s a brief break that makes it sound like he’s shouting “I like you.” The next day, Anna’s friends paint hearts on her face, while she draws something under Kyous headband, wishing him good luck in his duel.

After some fun bits with Kankan rigging the scavenger hunt to try to out them as a couple, to Anna’s parents participating, rain starts to fall when it’s time for the cavalry battle. Both Adachi and Kyou tell the teachers they’re good to go in the rain, and the battle is on. But more important than the physical part of the fight is the battle of words between the two boys.

Adachi comes out and says the obvious: he likes Anna. At the same time, he likes Kyou too and thinks he’s great and is glad to be his friend. Kyou calls him out for only liking Anna for her looks while not knowing much anything else about her, then contradicts himself by admitting Adachi loves Anna’s grown-up and hard-working nature. Adachi ends up grabbing Kyou’s headband and winning the battle, but as Anna rushes over to Kyou, he knows he’s lost the war.

Back in the nurse’s office, the setting for so many important moments in their romance, Anna presents Kyou with a lunch she worked hard to make just for him. It tastes delicious, a testament to the love she put into it and the love she has for him. When she leans in close, he feeds her some eggs, even though it was her intention only to look into his eyes.

Before leaving him to grab her own lunch, Anna turns back to tell Kyou with a bright smile that he was really cool. I’ll tell you what would be cooler: if Kyou can manage to ask her out and make them official!

The Dangers in My Heart – 12.5 (Special) – The Little Things

This compilation of web shorts cleverly titled “Bonus Dangers” serves as an delightful sampler of amuse-bouches that delivers a rapid-fire assault of romantic adorableness.

Ichikawa manages to finally say “Good Morning” to Yamada; we learn Yamada has AB blood while he and Kana have B; he has his mom buy him an oversized gym uniform in case Yamada needs to borrow it; Yamada asks if he’d be able to kill her if she turned into a zombie (yes, but he’d kill himself right afterwards!)

There are little captured moments of their evening texting; Yamada ensures she and Ichikawa order different buns so they can each try both, resulting in indirect kisses; after cleaning duty, Yamada whisks him away hand-in-hand; we learn that Yamada wouldn’t be able to kill Ichikawa even if he became a zombie.

Finally, while he’s unable to say “bye-bye”, he does manage a “see you later” that makes Yamada beam like crazy. After the credits there’s a Christmas-themed bit, as they try to see if Yamada’s red stocking will fit on her foot.

It hasn’t been long since I caught up on Dangers, but this lovely collection of heartwarming little moments only further heightens my excitement for the upcoming second season.

The Dangers in My Heart – 12 (Fin) – Showing It All

Ichikawa thought he was pretty clever, booking his first shrine visit with Yamada a half-hour after his family’s. Master planner, this guy! Except he forgot that Yamada is always super early for everything where he’s concerned. His mom is the first to spot her, and then Kana gets a look at her, looking like a girl waiting for someone she likes. Oh, she is.

There’s no way for him to weasel out of this: his family and Yamada shrine visits are now merged. Also, Kana is totally and inescapably crushing on Yamada right from the get-go, and I not only can I not blame her, I salute her. She is a gal of refined taste. That said, Kana is plenty cute herself! I love how closely her outfit resembles her brother’s here. Oh, and he’s gone full Mikasa with that scarf.

After polite introductions —I love Ichikawa’s nearly-invisible pops asking “who is this?”—Yamada hangs back to give Ichikawa a playful shove, calling him out for the double-book. Thankfully, the other Ichikawas give the couple some space to pray. When Ichikawa can’t put his hands together, she puts her hand on his and they pray together. So damn cute.

When Ichikawa’s folks head off for lunch, Kana decides to stay with her bro and track down Yamada, wanting to make better first impression. Instead, she gets a new impression of Yamada, as she’s already stuffing her face with fried food. I love this. First she got the stunning model side, then her messy glutton side. Both sides rule.

Kana is no idiot, and when she heard Yamada say (with her mouth full) that she got some food for Ichikawa, and also saw her looking in her mirror, checking her makeup and smile, it clicks for her: her brother is not on a romantic suicide mission. He’s really got a chance!

Kana invites Yamada to their house, but as soon as Yamada takes off her coat he sees she tied the dog keychain to her belt loop. To keep Kana from seeing it, he ends up making a gesture that looks like he’s slapping her hip, embarrassing everyone.

Kana serves Yamada some leftover new years soup which she loves. Ichikawa thinks how cute she looks, and then Kana vocalizes it. She also gets a hit of Yamada’s endearingly guileless ego when she says a lot of people call her cute, and Yamada is just like “Yup, they do!”

When talk turns to how Kana should address Yamada, thinking last names seem too distant, puts Ichikawa on the spot. Both she and Kana want to hear him squirm, but Yamada also really wants to hear her first name in his mouth. When he gets it out, she flashes a warm, appreciative smile.

Kana then breaks out the albums, showing Yamada a even tinier, cuter versions of her and her bro. Ichikawa thinks he looks the same in his grade school pic, but Yamada thinks he’s completely different. I tend to agree. Then Yamada accidentally treads on a sore subject when asking about the class excursion, which Ichikawa never went on.

Reading the room, Kana elegantly excuses herself, but before she leaves, she earnestly thanks Yamada in the entryway. She can tell her brother is happier, and she knows why. She’s happy for him is all.

I’m not surprised Yamada asks if she can call her onee-san, because she’s an awesome onee-san! Kana even leaves her keychain behind for her brother, having spotted the matching one on Yamada. Now he and Yamada match, and Yamada’s never gonna be mad about that.

Yamada is eager to learn more about Ichikawa, and ends up following him to his room. She finds another photo of him in the yearbook, noting that he friend Chii went to his school, “not like she was looking for him in her yearbook (she was)”.

While he’s worried about any lingering evidence of jackin’ it, she insists on sitting as close beside him on the bed as possible. When she sees what look like Ichikawa’s two friends in that photo, he says they drifted away when they went to private school.

Yamada gets up an admires various trophies won in what he calls his “glory days”, and then Yamada finds his armor: the book about murders he carries to keep others away. For a beat, he waits for her to react, but of course she reacts how you’d expect: excited, a little impressed, and eager to learn more.

Heck, she even jokes about having a double life as a murderer; how would he know? As she does so, she lies back on his bed, making herself comfortable, and spots the corner of a girly mag under his sheet. Ichikawa panics and gos for the mag, but ends up right on top of Yamada. Every second they linger in this position, the tension rises, until Yamada slowly gets back up and off the bed. Too soon for … for That!

Ichikawa is scandalized, and feels like her spotting his mag turned her off him completely, but that’s not the reason for her haste. Whatever her goals were today, she achieved them, and doesn’t want too go too far too fast. Ichikawa feels the same way.

No, after snapping his yearbook pics and heading down the stairs, she tells him she looks forward to showing him her yearbooks next time. Ichikawa takes that for what it is: a enthusiastic future invitation to her house.

The morning of his first day back after winter break, Ichikawa wakes up from unpleasant dreams of his past loneliness and isolation, and finds a shirtless Cool Ichikawa standing in his room. He’s shirtless because he represents Ichikawa’s heart, which he wants to bear. Ichikawa wants to show everything he is to Yamada.

Due to his arm injury, Ichikawa’s mom drives him to school, and Kana tags along to wish his little bro well—and probably to catch a glimpse of Yamada. She gets that wish as Yamada leaps out from behind a car to greet him, then says good morning to his mom and sister.

Yamada inspects him and notices he’s missing his dog keychain. When he produces it, she attaches it to his button. The bell is about to ring and everyone else is inside, so Ichikawa deems it the perfect time to show more of himself to Yamada.

He tells her how he used to hate middle school, but that’s changed, thanks to her. While clearly very happy to hear this, Yamada tells him he should be thanking himself first and foremost. He kept coming to school, even when it was painful, and that led to him eventually talking to her.

Yamada hands him back his books, with the murder one that he used to keep people away at the top of the pile. He says “thank you,” but it’s more than just thanking her for helping with the books. It’s the words he’s wanted to tell her all along, more than “I like you.” Those words aren’t necessary here, because his feelings are clear. Yamada lets the books fall to their feet again, gathers him into a warm hug, and pats his head.

Ichikawa pulls Yamada closer and thanks her again, and they stay like that for a few more precious seconds before heading to class. On the way, Sekine greets them, and they pull away from each other so quickly, she assumes they’re bashful after having “done it.” They most certainly haven’t, but they did do a lot during the winter break to clarify both who they are and what they mean to each other.

Before joining Sekine in the classroom, Yamada hands Ichikawa a bag of shrimp crackers—an empty bag, like she did in one of their first close interactions many moons ago. Then she says “just joking”, takes the bag back, and produces a candy for him. As always, the strongest sign that Yamada Anna likes you is that she’ll share her precious snacks with you without hesitation.

I know episode 11 me wanted an actual confession in words from someone, but the series subverted my expectations to the point I still walked away satisfied with where we leave Yamada and Ichikawa. They remain on that road together, walking hand-in-hand more often than not, and far more locked in to each other’s emotions.

From family and “dark past” to his murder book and nudie mag, Yamada has seen a lot more of who Ichikawa is in very short order, and it has only endeared him to her more. It is Thanksgiving day as I write this, so I am mindful of what I am grateful for, and it’s anime like this!

I’m anticipating the second season more than any other Spring 2023 show, as while Ichikawa is the lead and POV character of the show, hopefully it will also delve deeper into who this girl Yamada Anna is, beyond what we’ve seen and heard. Also including their first kiss couldn’t hurt … just sayin’!

Hyakkano – 02 – First Kiss Conundrum

On their second day of being throuple, Hakari and Karane get Rentarou to start calling them by their first names and holding hands as they walk to school together going on about how perfect the weather is. They arrive to a harrowing scene: the perverted vice principal chasing down a boy and giving him a deep, sloppy French kiss. When Rentarou states he’s yet to kiss a girl as they’re his first girlfriends, Hakari and Karane enter into a battle for that first kiss.

Their first opportunities come up during lunch on the rooftop. Hakari starts by feeding Rentarou tamagoyaki, and a panciked Karane jams a cookie into his eye. Hakari then produces a box of Pocky (called “Bocky” here) with the hope that sharing one with him will lead to a kiss.

Karane sniffs out Hakari’s intentions and tries to get in there, but ends up poking his other eye. The two then see his two red eyes and think he might be sick, and are desperate to check him for a fever. Whenever Karane gets too close, Hakari bounces her away with her chest.

When Rentarou realizes they’ve both been trying to kiss him, but the core of their conflict is who gets to go first, he devises an extremely convoluted solution involving iPods playing “My First Kiss” on max volume and repeat, blindfolds, and sets of dice which which will sufficiently randomize the order of the kisses.

This goes pretty well…if manic hijinks were the intended result. The blindfolded Rentarou has to grope around and ends up in compromising positions with Hakari, while a cat deciding to play with the ribbon on Karane’s panties leads her to think he’s pawing her, so she clobbers him with every attempt. All of this is as hilarious as it is lovingly drawn and animated.

When this strategy fails, Hakari and Karane continue to bicker with one another, until Rentarou runs off, deciding that if the question of who gets to kiss him first causes so much strife, he’ll throw his first kiss in the trash by running in the halls and getting nabbed by the perverted vice principal.

Once again, Harane’s athleticism and wrestling acumen come in handy restraining the vice principal before her blender blade of a tongue can shoot down his gullet. Hakari also helps out by calling for an official from the education board who would get the principal fired for kissing students.

Hakari and Karane may vary differently in a great many things, but they’re alike in their deep love of Rentarou, so rather than letting him be assaulted by the vice principal, they each declare simultaneously that they’d rather the other girl kiss him first. Moved by their selflessness, Rentarou hugs them both.

The ultimate solution ends up being the simplest, and one Rentarou thought up first, but didn’t think would work because the girls were at loggerheads: they’ll simply kiss him at the exact same time. While initially reticent due to the fact they’ll also be kissing each other, Hakari and Karane agree that it’s the best solution, since at no point does either girl doubt how much the other girl loves him.

So the three take each others’ hands and lock lips at the same time, cementing their status as a legit three-person polycule (and possibly summoning a UFO). But it won’t last long in this state, because when the three are in the library, Rentarou reaches for the same book as a petite blue-haired girl. When their eyes meet, she is confirmed to be his third of 100 soul mates. To which I say, Let’s freakin’ go!

Synduality: Noir – 08 – Mouth to Mouth

Ellie has a dream about laughing at something Kanata said when they were little, and him looking pained. She wakes up thinking it was an awful dream, but at least she gets to go on a date with Kanata today. Only, he kinda invited all the women he knows except Ma’am, Schnee, Dolce, and the waitress at the bar. Their destination: Satellite Aqua, a water park.

That’s right, it’s Synduality: Noir’s Pool Episode, and it wastes no time putting everyone in swimsuits. Maria, Ange, Claudia, and Flamme are determined to help Ellie succeed in snagging Kanata once and for all. To that end, they recommend she wear either a slingshot string bikini or just stickers, but she settles for a cute two-piece that he likes just fine. Meanwhile Noir, who sports a one-piece, shows off her unique, submarine-like swimming.

Kanata asks Ellie to help him swim, as he doesn’t know how, but the lesson is interrupted by a surprise concert from Ciel, who declined Kanata’s invitation because this was the errand she had to do. After her extremely popular (and profitable, at least for Tokio) show, she tells Kanata he inspired her to follow her dream and do the show. When she offers to help Ellie with his swim lesson, Ellie tells Ciel she can do it alone with him, and skulks off.

A concerned Kanata gives chase, but when he grabs her shoulder she plunges into the pool and a leg cramp keeps her under the water. Despite not knowing how to swim, Kanata dives in to rescue her, and the next thing she knows, she’s regaining consciousness after someone—apparently Kanata—gave her mouth-to-mouth. That would mean she wasn’t conscious for her first kiss.

Ellie laments that her feelings for Kanata may not be as powerful as Ciels, but her big sis tells her she shouldn’t worry about intensity, only taking advantage of opportunities to show him that she does like him. She gets than chance when Maria keeps Noir occupied, and Ellie apologizes for laughing at his dream of finding Histoire, which she knows was mean.

To her surprise, he had forgotten that she was mean to him at all, since it was so long ago, and in the years that followed, she helped him out again and again, proving her quality as a friend. When asked, he clarifies that it was Ange, not he, who gave her mouth-to-mouth, but he and Ellie end up in a position to kiss for real when Noir arrives to protect him.

All the talk of “ambushes” and “attacks” has her thinking Ellie has hostile intentions with Kanata, when in reality she simply wants to get closer to him. Considering this is a two-cour series, I’m sure she’ll get another chance or two to make her feelings clear. But since this is Kanata, she’ll have to be extremely clear.

Tomo-chan Is a Girl! – 05 – Gamer Boy

Carol invites her first two friends Tomo and Misuzu to her house—or should I say sprawling compound—and they meet her mother, who totally explains why the way she is. For one thing, she’s a hugger. For another, she’s actually sharper and more perceptive than she looks, as she sees right through Misuzu pretending to be a “bad girl” who is only friends with Carol “for the money.”

In preparation for a math exam, Misuzu deigns to serve as Tomo and Carol’s tutor in a study group, during which Tomo makes clear she wants to follow Misuzu to college since they’re best friend.. It’s here where Tomo and Misuzu learn that Carol is actually a damn math savant! She even ranks #1 over Misuzu’s #2! Tomo gets #70, which is an all-time best.

When Jun invites Tomo over to play a new video game he got, Tomo agrees without thinking about the ramifications of spending the night at Jun’s. She wants to tell him she can’t go, but Misuzu and Carol are united to their insistence that she can’t do that. Tomo only has to go next door to Jun’s, and they get through a curry dinner without any incident.

But during and after Tomo showers, things are quiet and a little awkward. Jun re-breaks the ice by suggesting they play video games, but after Tomo loses and teases Jun for being a “former gamer boy”, they roughhouse like they always did…and end up in a compromising position.

It’s clear in several moments that this is as weird and exciting for Jun as it is for Tomo, as he has to steel himself by slapping his cheeks and seems to take great joy getting smacked by Tomo’s controller. The two are adorable in their complete inability to stay up past 10 PM. As Tomo takes Jun’s bed and Jun takes the futon on the floor, they agree that they had fun.

When Jun asks if they’ll always be able to be “like this”, Tomo is poised to reaffirm her feelings for him, only for him to nod of before she can. She then notices his face and its details for the first time when he’s asleep and motionless. When she starts holding his nose for fun, he puts her in a lock in his sleep, so they’re essentially cuddling all night.

The next morning, Jun wakes up first, sees Tomo beside him, and does a backflip out of bed and straight into his desk, waking her. They say their goodbyes, and presumably reunite at the dojo later that day. The next day at school, they’re awkward, but still together, and not at all bothered by that fact. Misuzu and Carol watch the couple with great satisfaction.

With Tomo finally sort of noticing that Jun may be feeling the same things she’s feeling, only he’s doing a better job of hiding it, our athletic couple is gradually growing a little closer together. Jun’s sticking point seems to be a general worry that they might lose the good thing they have going now, but that is a common and not unreasonable worry.

The bottom line is, becoming a couple could well be a much better thing. It will take a leap of faith and a willingness to put themselves out there and risk getting hurt in order to evolve beyond platonic childhood chumminess.

More than a married couple, but not lovers. – 10 – All the different parts

As expected, Shiori was not gesturing towards the love hotel, but the beach nearby to make a sand castle. She invites Jirou to make a tunnel through it like old times, resulting in more innocently delivered double entendres as she tells him to go in deeper, etc. Akari is not amused by him acting all lovey-dovey towards Shiori. Notably, she is not acting the same way towards Minami.

When she and Jirou are assigned to go buy drinks and snacks for the group, Akari leaves his sight for two seconds and she’s mobbed by beach bros wanting to know her name and number. At first Jirou thinks she knows them, but it’s clear from her body language she doesn’t like their flirting, so in the heat of the moment he pulls her into an embrace and says they’re married.

This makes Akari happy, but then Jirou ruins it by apologizing like he always does, and for assuming she hated what she did when she said no such thing. She tells him to stop apologizing all the time, because it makes her feel like a loser for “letting her heart race”. Of course, one can’t really control one’s heart from racing!

After Shiori notes Mei’s tan line on her midsection is fading by touching her there, the two go into the bath where they’re in the midst of gyaru talk. Sachi and (possibly) Natsumi are the only actual non-virgins there, but they appreciate Mei contributing to their talk, while Akari and Shiori actually connect over their mutual discomfort with love talk.

After the bath, Akari runs into Jirou, notices his sunburn, and offers to rub aloe on his back (her watermelon nails are adorable btw). She notices he’s not ticklish there, and decides to test further by grabbing his midsection from behind. She’s very upfront about how she’s felt a distance between them since they arrived and doesn’t like it. When Sachi appears, they separate, and Jirou even calls Akari “Watanabe,” causing her to schedule a one-on-one talk later that night.

Once out by the beach shop, Akari lays it all out, literally: pulling off her hoodie to reveal the skimpier bikini just for him. She tells him she was excited about going to the ocean with him, but he’s so self-conscious about how others see them, it makes her feel cold and lonely.

When Jirou says he assumed she’d be embarrassed around a plain boring guy like him, she says she choses who she hangs out with. She knows how he looks at her at their apartment, and doesn’t want that to chance just because they’re somewhere else.

When Jirou points out that Akari is talking like a jealous girlfriend would, she pushes back on that, but not all the way. That’s when Shiori and Mei show up and they have to hide in a hot cramped part of the beach shop in a very compromising position.

Again, Jirou’s main concern is “being seen” by the other girls, and even though he’s right on top of her, Akari feels like she doesn’t exist. He’s putting his concerns about what others might see or hear or think over her. Back in the simpler times she was admiring Minami, she kept a more optimistic outlook, but being close and comfortable with Jirou for months now only makes her scared about him leaving.

Even when Shiori and Mei run off, with the former worried about ghosts, the two stay in that cramped space and talk this out. He brings up how she wanted him to look at her, and she says “that was just in the moment”, but if she said that about all the things she’s said so far, why would he change his behavior? Basically, does she mean what she’s saying or not?

As expected, the cramped, overheated conditions result not only in Jirou getting hard (and Akari mistaking it for a knee) but actually fainting from heatstroke. He comes to back at the bathhouse, and when he’s feeling better, Akari is more clear about what she wants out of this. She doesn’t just want him ogling her body, but looking at all the different parts of her.

She also wants to see and know all of his different parts, seeing as how they’re still married and all. And it’s the “still” that stays with Jirou after their talk. What will they be to each other when the marriage practical is over? What do they want to be? And where do Shiori and Minami fit into that future? There’s a lot to sift through in the final two episodes, but at least these two are really looking at each other and consciously thinking about this stuff.

More than a married couple, but not lovers. – 04 – Shoulder to cry on

During P.E. class when Minami is playing basketball and generally looking like a higher form of life, both Akari and Jirou hear from their friend(s) that he and Shiori are considering staying with one another as a marriage practical couple despite making A-rank.

This news obviously puts a wrench in Akari and Jirou’s plan, leaving both feeling blue. Jirou, knowing how much Akari likes Minami, imagines he’s in a fantasy video game and Minami ends up beating the final boss and winning the hearts of both heroines.

When Jirou and Shiori cross paths, to Jirou’s credit he doesn’t pretend something isn’t bothering him, and Shiori’s known him long enough to know that something is. She says she’s not sure yet whether she and Minami are extending their time together, so Jirou starts to try to tell her he’ll work hard to attain A-rank so that they can be paired together.

Meanwhile, Akari gets cleanup duty for chatting during P.E., and ends up crossing paths with Minami. His sudden presence in the storage room startles her, and she bumps into a shelf, causing a box to start to fall. Minami rushes towards her and starts to fall, leaving them face-to-face.

Akari asks Minami what Jirou asked Shiori, and his answer is yes, he’ll stay by Shiori’s side “forever” if that’s what she wants. Throughout the whole exchange but unbeknownst to Minami, Akari’s heart is beating like a hummingbird, and when she hears what sounds like a rejection from his lips, she starts to cry. Then Minami puts his hand on her chin…

I say Jirou started to tell Shiori he wanted to pair with her, because he isn’t able to get the words out. I would have hoped Shiori would have gotten the gist but she apparently doesn’t when Jirou’s friend Kamo interrupts, having seen Akari and Minami in the storage room together.

But before Kamo can say anything, Minami and Akari exit the school, and Jirou senses a strange atmosphere. Minami and Shiori head home together chatting spiritedly about nothing in particular, while Akari acts awkward and distant towards Jirou and heads off on her own.

He later learns that Akari ditched class, and Kamo tells him he witnessed “kissing going on” between Minami and Akari. He shrugs it off as having nothing to do with him, but it’s clear that he has conflicting feelings about it, what with he and Akari getting along so well of late.

When he comes home, Akari is lying on the couch on her phone, looking morose. He sits down beside her, sarcastically apologizes for not being Minami, and she asks him upfront why he’d bring him up. That’s when, again, to his credit, Jirou doesn’t beat around the bush, but says what he heard: that she was kissing Minami after P.E.

Akari laughs it off, as in reality he was just checking her eye for dust; Kamo saw what he wanted to saw from the angle he had. Akari thinks it’s “hilarious” that Jirou thought a misunderstanding from “straight out of a manga” took place. But Jirou tells her he was ready to root for her, and it’s only fair to expect her to get some kind of return considering how hard she’s been working to get Minami to look her way.

At this, Akari’s mask of sarcasm drops, and bitter tears of frustration start to fall. Jirou is right in theory, but the reality is Minami doesn’t see her that way, and more and more seems to be content to be with Shiori, even beyond the marriage practical situation. When she realizes she’s crying in front of Jirou, she tells him to look away, and he does … kinda. He pulls her into an embrace so that his head is next to hers.

In this way, he’s technically “looking away”, but he’s also there for her, in a moment when she needs someone to be there. She needs to have a good cry without the pressure of having to hold it in to keep up appearances. At this point, Jirou knows who Watanabe Akari is more than anyone else at school, Minami included. And Akari, no doubt having that feeling of being safe and secure in Jirou’s arms, puts her arm around him and cries it out.

After this cathartic moment, Jirou feels self-conscious for overreaching, literally and figuratively, but he did the right thing, as evidenced by Akari’s mood after a cleansing shower. First, she borrows one of his t-shirts, resulting in the deceptively powerful boyfriend shirt scenario. Then she plops right down beside him, leans on him, and has some ice cream as she watches TV.

When he insists he’s no longer overwhelmed by situations like this, she puts her ear to his chest and calls him a liar, as his heart is racing. Of course, since she was worried Minami could hear her beating heart in the storage room, she can relate, which is why she’s so comfortable around Jirou now.

She also hastens to mention that she’s not so “easy” that she’d kiss Minami on a whim, and in any case, she says to him for the first time that her first kiss ever was with Jirou. Jirou sits there unresponsive as she shakes him and urges him to answer for that kiss, and as he does, he admits in his thoughts how happy he feels.

Perhaps for the first time, he’s not thinking about losing Shiori to Minami, or Akari preferring Minami to him. He and and Akari are simply sitting together on their couch, enjoying each other’s company; a cozy, caring family of two. It’s something I could honestly watch all day.

More than a married couple, but not lovers. – 03 – Starting over from zero

Akari knows Jirou is in love with Shiori, but wants to know specifically why he’s drawn to an earnest, family-oriented girl, and what he wants such a girl to do for him. He wisely says “lunch”, which sets Akari off on a homemade bento kick.

She proves to be a very good bento cook, and they gain lots of points as cook and taste-tester, but one little detail—a lack of sugar in the rolled omelet—reminds Jirou that she’s doing all of this for Minami, not him. That shouldn’t bother him, as he’s into Shiori…and yet.

Jirou also can’t help but feel a little…left out when Akari goes all out to look as cute as possible to deliver a bento to Minami at his part-time job. But then Akari asks him for another goodbye kiss as a reward for her hard work, and tells him she only wants his kiss, since it made her feel safe.

Before he can summon the guts to kiss her again, Shiori shows up with extra apple pies she made for Minami, citing his sweet tooth. When she sees Akari with Jirou and a box lunch for an apparent picnic, she leaves feeling lonely. Little does she know she caused Akari’s confidence to absolutely plummet.

She never delivers the bento, and sits on the couch with her head in her knees. Jirou tries to cheer her up, but the bottom line is, she though she could appeal to Minami with cooking, but was wrong about him not liking sweet things, and now doesn’t know what to do.

Jirou tells her she has “tons more good points”, but when put on the spot, the only things he lists are related to her looks, body, and sex appeal. When she asks if he’s ever though about her that way, he says no, but she knows he’s lying. Then she jumps on top of him.

The animation and Oonishi Saori’s voice acting do a lot of strong, heavy lifting here, as the scene strides the line between being amorous and a little forced. You can see in Akari’s face and hear in her voice that she’s just as unsure about this as Jirou is, and yet she’s trying to press forward.

Jirou pushes through his body’s urge to “graduate” from virginity and rejects Akari’s advances, saying it’s only something you do with someone you love. Leaving aside that this is false, this results in Akari getting off him and saying they should stop this whole fake marriage thing.

That’s just what they do, and at the next month-end eval, Shiori sees that they’ve fallen to 75th place while she and Minami are up to 8th. She knows something’s wrong; Jirou knows it too, and knows that he erred. When he felt Akari’s cold trembling hand, he knew that he was wrong about her: what they were doing on that couch was just as new to her as it was to him.

Shiori invites Jirou onto the school roof to talk to him about things, and really does yeoman’s work as his trusty childhood friend, albeit by subordinating her own feelings. She promises him that no matter how much he screwed up with Akari, he can make things right.

Shiori’s pep talk is just what Jirou needs to break the awkwardness stalemate and give him the courage to knock on his fake wife’s door. To his shock, she not only answers but invites him into her uber-girly room, where he proceeds to apologize, but also provides a lot of real, honest talk.

He admits the obvious, that he’s fantasized about her, but also that it wasn’t like he didn’t want to do it with her, only that he wanted to do it with more care than the spur-the-moment scenario they found themselves in when she was discouraged about cooking for Minami.

He doesn’t go so far as to “out” Akari as just as much a virgin as she is, but he almost doesn’t have to, as hearing him come out and say all these things makes her face red as a beet and has her retreating into her bedsheet. But Jirou also asserts that he doesn’t like it when things are awkward between them.

Pulling back the sheet from her head like a bride’s vail, he declares that he wants them to be a married couple again. When he realizes he left out “for the practical” and stumbles all over his words, it evokes a hearty laugh from Akari, who attempts to save face by mocking him for being so desperate.

But she also ends up telling him—in just as disarmed a way as he just said all those embarrassing but true things—that she “likes him quite a lot”, even calling him by his first name. She laughs it off, but later on her balcony she covers her mouth with her hands in shock over having “said it.”

She says it in a way that could mean she’s been meaning to say it for a while. In any case, they’re giving this marriage another go, but this time they both have a deeper understanding of the kind of people the two of them actually are. That new understanding definitely has the potential to make them more attracted to one another as partners.

Love Flops – 01 (First Impressions) – Five Uneasy Pieces

Kashiwagi Asahi lives in a spacious apartment with an AI assistant Lovelin (Nanachi again), and while listening to the morning news, his birthday of October 8 (just four days ago!) happens to be the luckiest for today. The mysterious fortune teller then lists off a series of “lucky words” that don’t make any sense until he starts his commute to school.

The first word, corner, refers to a rushing girl with purple hair and glasses colliding with  him when they meet at a blind corner. They end up in a risqué position, but he promises he didn’t “see anything” as a result of that position, and they part ways relatively amicably.

Then comes train, when he boards a completely empty car only for a busty green-haired woman in a chinese dress sits right next to him, falls asleep, clings to him, then nearly kicks his head off when he starts her awake.

The next “lucky” word is staircase, when a third beautiful girl stumbles down a flight of steps and she’s launched crotch-first into Asahi’s face. She mistakes the plastic banana holder in his pocket for being happy to see her, and smacks it before running off. So far, Asahi can hardly be blamed for these situations.

Next up is robotic cleaner, when he encounters said robot cleaner in a park trying to dispose of a diminutive redhead’s bra, then the girl herself. This girl accuses Asahi of hacking the robot into stealing her unmentionables. It then chases her away.

Next up is dog, as a silver-haired fellow is being humped by a very big and assertive pooch. To this, Asahi turns about and pretends not to see what is going on, rather than attempt to save the waifish lad and incur the dog’s wrath. It isn’t until he arrives in his newly reorganized class that Asahi learns that everyone he encountered is in his class.

The purple-haired girl with glasses is Izumisawa Aoi (Itou Miku), a transfer student; he short-haired girl is Karin Istel (Kouno Marika), from Germany;  the redhead is Amelia Irving (Taketatsu Ayana) from the USA; the silver-haired boy is Ilya Ilyukhin (Takahashi Rie) from Bulgaria; and the green-haired well-endowed lady from the train is his new teacher, Bai Mongfa, from China (Kanemoto Hisako).

Asahi can’t believe his rotten luck, even as he learns what the last lucky word, letter, referred to a love letter in his locker inviting him to meet after school. His contractually assigned friend Ijuuin Yoshio assures him he’s hit the jackpot; he has the pick of these three beautiful girls, one beautiful woman, and one beautiful guy. I’ll give Yoshio this: he’s refreshingly progressive!

As the rest of the episode unfolds, Asahi has second encounters with each of these potential suitors, in which he attempts to correct the misunderstandings that occurred in their first meetings. He and Aoi almost collide around a corner again, but don’t. Alas, when he fishes through his pockets for what he believed to be her dropped handkerchief, he instead produces Amelia’s bra, scandalizing Aoi and earning him a slap.

This encounter makes him late to order lunch, and there’s nothing left for sale, but he’s not alone; Karin was also too late, and is clearly very hungry. Because Asahi’s a decent guy, he offers her the banana he brought for lunch (this guy really likes bananas, having toasted one for breakfast), while also pointing out that its holder was what she mistook for his manhood. She meekly thanks him for the food.

Asahi then gets another chance to rescue Ilya from becoming unmarriable all over again, albeit not necessarily by choice. Ilya hides behind him, and the randy dog  targets him, even managing to somehow get his pants off. Asahi blacks out, but when he comes to, it’s looking up at a very grateful Ilya.

The dog also managed to bite him, which would normally mean he should probably get tested and treated for rabies, but since this is a goofy anime some alcohol and spray-on bandage will suffice. He receives this treatment from Mongfa-sensei, who doubles as school nurse, and apologizes for their earlier awkward interaction.

No sooner does she leave than Amelia Irving arrives with a very specific ailment: chafing in the chestal area. Fortunately for her, Asahi saved her bra from the trash robot. He returns it to her, and she apologizes for jumping to the earlier conclusion that he hacked the robot, having later realized that was…unlikely.

Having repaired four of the five new relationships he’s built on this most auspicious day, all that’s left is checking out what the final lucky word letter portends. Responding to the love letter, he arrives at a giant blossoming cherry tree he doesn’t remember being there (he has several memory gaps in this episode, though it’s never explained).

There, waiting for him, is none other than the first girl he ran into, Aoi. She’s there to confess her love to him, but because it’s so breezy, her skirt flips up and reveals to him that she’s been going commando ever since their first encounter. The item she dropped was not a handkerchief, but side-tying underwear. For once, Asahi is lucky here, as Aoi doesn’t realize what the wind is doing and the moment isn’t spoiled.

Love Flops thus introduces its lead and his harem of potential girlfriends by resorting to all of the shameless, risqué, fanservice-y clichés but the Bluetooth-enabled kitchen sink. While at times it seems like a very over-the-top satire of harem rom-coms, the fact that it may actually be a genuine and un-ironic contribution to the form almost makes it more amazing. It’s pure tasteless trash … and yet I couldn’t look away.

A Couple of Cuckoos – 23 – Breaking Bad

Having come up with butkis in the search for Sousuke, it’s time for the crew to head home. But just as Erika and Sachi pile into their car, Hiro takes Nagi’s sleeve and declares that they’ll be taking the train home instead. On the ride home Erika tells Sachi about how Hiro said she wanted to “have” Nagi, and neither they nor their driver are convinced they’re not concerned.

As for Hiro, one reason for staying behind with Nagi is to visit a local shrine and collect another shrine stamp (naturally both these stamp nerds have their books on them). While Nagi prays for academic success with the occasional smidged of romance, Hiro admits to not praying for anything in particular, only expressing her gratitude that they made it there.

She could also be grateful for simply having Nagi to herself, a time that heavy winds and rain extend when the station is closed. With no buses home and a taxi too expensive, the two decide to spend the night in an inn. Sachi and Erika panic when they see Nagi’s text to this effect.

Nagi is a little out of his element too. It’s clear he and Hiro are being bad here, not just because they’re both engaged, but because they lie about being 22-year-old newlyweds (much to the delight of the inn staff). That said, youth is the time for being bad and testing boundaries.

This episode is replete with cute Hiro faces and poses, as she is in particularly playful mood, no doubt out of the aforementioned gratitude and contentment that comes with being all alone with the boy she likes. After the two bathe (in separate baths) and change into warm robes, they play the word chain.

Then a lizard (or gecko?) appears in their room and Nagi wigs out. Hiro moves towards it but trips on her robe, and the two end up in a very amorous position. Not only that, a flushed Hiro weaves her fingers into Nagi’s and asks him if, after a day of doing bad things, why shouldn’t they…keep going?

Nagi locks up, and Hiro then waves away the proposition by saying she wanted to go buy liquor, having placed a 1000-yen bill in Nagi’s hand. Nagi is scandalized, but understands Hiro’s desire to break free of her Model Student binds on occasion. That said, he’d rather they not get tore up. Hiro compromises and says she just wants sake.

Then a firm knock at the door comes, someone calls “POLICE!”, and Nagi indeed sees a Police badge through the peephole. Turns out it’s Erika and Sachi in sexy cop cosplay, complete with Sobasshi ID and pink cuffs. This is as Nagi was starting to change in preparation to make a run for it. I won’t linger on the questionable logistics of how the girls got there so damn fast.

Suffice it to say, their arrival prevented Nagi and Hiro from getting up to any more no good than they actually did, and on the ride home Nagi passes out after barely getting any sleep the night before. Erika asks Hiro what they did, and Hiro replies “just…stuff”, and cryptically declares that Nagi “really is a boy”.

Regardless of her lack of detail, Erika and Sachi now know Hiro is serious about Nagi. We’ll see if this spurs any action in them in the final episode, or if we’ll have to wait for another cour for any kind of break in the logjam.

Isekai Ojisan – 06 – Skipping Karaage Night

Ojisan continues to show Takafumi and Fujimiya his torturous first days in another world, where his captors try to sell him but end up making forty times more bronze coins selling a used scoring pad, adding insult to injury. Ojisan is imprisoned for seven days, but thanks to his translation ability is able to communicate with the world’s spirit of light.

He reaches out to the beam of moonlight in his cell, and it becomes a solid sword in his hands. He uses that to break out of jail and release all the cute little creatures imprisoned there, but they turn out to be vicious monsters and he spends the rest of the night slaughtering them.

This, to Ojisan, represents being “off to a good start.” Fujimiya gets a text from home; it’s fried chicken night, but she’s eager to learn more about how he saved Elf from the vemon dragon. She later regrets passing on the chicken as the dragon fight is over in five seconds. Ojisan makes the right first move by offering the half-naked Elf his hoodie, but she temporarily “glitches” from the sudden urge to kill the orc-looking man before him.

She checks herself and stows her dagger in the transdimensional inventory, but to Ojisan it looks like she’s stabbing herself, and lifts up the hoodie expecting to find a gaping wound. Needless to say, it’s not the best first impression to expose a girl’s nudity right after covering it, so in this instance Elf’s berating of Ojisan is justified. But he’d only ever interpret that verbal abuse as contempt, when really the opposite is true.

That’s proven to be the case when Ojisan fast-forwards to the night he was frozen by Mabel, as he wakes up with both Elf and Mabel sleeping on top of him, perhaps to hasten his thawing but also because at least in Elf’s case she has a thing for the guy despite herself (and his looks).

Elf’s monopoly on Ojisan is disrupted by Mabel, who talks in her sleep about not wanting to work. Ojisan suggests that after sleeping in a bit, they go out for breakfast. Mabel and Elf formally introduce themselves and their goals (Mabel wants to explore, Elf wants to find ancient relics, and Ojisan, AKA “Wolfgunblood”, wants to find a way home. “Wolf”, as Mabel starts calling him for short, plans to scout out a dungeon where the storied Hero known as the “Shining Crusader” apparently is.

For now, though, it’s late, and Fujimiya is starving from skipping dinner. Ojisan in his magnanimity offers to treat her and Takafumi to ramen. Even though Takafumi ends up being a few yen short and Fujimiya has to pay after all, the three slurp with great abandon, as watching Ojisan’s adventures clearly worked up an appetite.

I imagine next week will pick up on the part of Ojisan’s story where he currently has two ostensible party members and seems poised to gain a third. I bet the “Hero” mentioned is the third female character in the OP and promo art, voiced by Toyosaki Aki.

Considering what entertaining characters Elf and Mabel are, I’m looking forward to her introduction and seeing how she bounces off the others…not to mention how Takafumi and Fujimiya react and comment on her arrival in Ojisan’s life.