Whisper Me a Love Song – 02 – Russian Blue

Yori and Himari have made a habit of sharing their time on the rooftop, and Himari is not shy about telling Yori how she loves her singing. Yori finds her thoughts of late are dominated by the painfully adorable Himari. When she pats her head, Himari blushes, but when she takes off, Yori blushes even more. She’s not sure what she’s doing, but she knows she likes Himari.

She encounters Himari waiting outside her class at lunch, and on Aki’s urging they exchange contact info. This is how Aki learns that Himari is the girl Yori is into (and we later learn that Aki is still into Yori herself). Since it’s raining, Himari meets Yori in her classroom after school, and asks her if she wants to go on a date to a cat-themed merch pop-up at the station on Sunday. Yori enthusiastically accepts, and it’s First Date Time.

Yori shows up effortlessly mature and stylish, while Himari is a tiny goddess of cuteness in her maroon dress and white blouse. Yori compliments her and Himari is glad she dressed up for the occasion. At lunch Himari feeds Yori, and the two end up holding hands to not get lost at the packed pop-up. Himari picks out matching phone straps for them to share, and Yori buys them as a gift for her.

At a music store, Himari tells Yori she wants to see “both sides” of her: the gentle solo artist on the rooftop and the snazzy frontwoman in the band. Yori decides she’ll give the band thing a try after all. Throughout the date, she’s is on cloud nine. Just being beside Himari makes her happy, and all Himari has to do is smile or praise her for that happiness to soar even higher.

When she expresses as much to Himari before they part ways, Himari laughs it off, saying being her girlfriend would be great. But as she walks away, Yori takes hold of her arm and tells her, in no uncertain terms, that she wants to go out with her, for real for real, and asks if she’ll think about it.

When Himari does so in the bath that night, she worries that her love and Yori’s are different. But then again, she also asks herself what love even is. In any case, the cat’s out of the bag and there’s no putting it back: Himari knows that Yori-senpai has feelings for her. I wonder how she’ll choose to respond to them.

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 – 24 – School Trippin’

The class trip to Nara and Kyoto is coming up, but Kyou can tell Anna is preoccupied with something. She shushes away Chi asking whether she got the part in a recent audition, and she’s checking her phone a lot. Kyou doesn’t want to pry, but he can’t deny that he might be looking forward to the trip, when just last year he was able to worm his way out of it.

Kyou’s hunky avatar tells him perhaps Anna is thinking of reenacting the kissing scene from the Kim-iro Octave manga’s 12th volume. When he sees that very volume on her bed during a video call, it adds to the intrigue, as does the fact that suddenly Anna switches her camera off, and Kyou can hear what sounds like sniffling on the other end.

Anna’s coyness continues on the train to Nara, where she’s seated right in front of him and surely resents him sitting next to and chatting with Hanzawa. But it’s Hanzawa who provides Kyou with a crucial warning: Kankan is making confettin in preparation to out a couple during the trip with a flashmob, and he and Yamada are her primary target.

Kyou may want to confess to Anna at some point, but in his own time, and certainly not surrounded by nosy classmates. So his defense is to try his best to stay away from Anna. This makes the class trip chillier than it should be, as they end up in the same group and tangled up among some hungry Nara deer, only for Kyou to slip away. He encounters Chi sitting under a pavilion, saying Anna’s “acting weird”, but acknowledging the “choice” Anna made was hers to make.

It’s clear to people as close to Anna as Chi and Kyou that something’s off with Anna, but only Chi seems to know why she’s putting on a brave front feigning enthusiasm for the class trip. That much is made all the more certain when everyone but Chi leaves Anna in the bath, and he gets a key clue when he encounters Anna and her phone slips out of her hands and into his, and he sees a calendar entry labeled “Kimi-iro Octave AD” for the day after tomorrow: June 12, 2024.

Kanzaki thwarted Kankan during the deer incident, while Adachi inadvertently thwarts her by chatting with Kyou while Anna bails. That night, while out on the balcony assuring his cool alter ego that Anna isn’t just thinking about the kissing scene, he hears her rehearsing lines from that very chapter on her balcony. After she reads out the confession, she collapses into herself, looking extremely forlorn yet still insisting she’s enjoying herself.

Kyou finally puts all the pieces together, and realizes Anna only came on this trip because she knew Kyou was looking forward to it, and also because she wanted to be with him. But by doing so, she apparently is either neglecting her practicing for an audition for the adaptation of the manga they both love, or already auditioned and fears rejection.

Whatever the case, Kyou feels bad. If Anna had told him the full story before the trip, it’s possible he’d have told her to focus on her rehearsing in order to get what could be a career-changing part. At the same time, I’m sure a part of him respects that she made a choice that was her’s to make, and the only thing he can do about it is make her sacrifice worth it.

Unfortunately, it’s already close to lights-out when he makes this realization and runs around the hotel. He manages to encounter Anna, but their teacher spots them, Anna covers his face with a towel, and the teacher, mistaking him for Chi, shoves them both into the girls’ room. It’s not the ideal secluded spot for any kind of serious conversation, not to mention a place where Kyou is strictly forbidden to be!

A Sign of Affection – 12 (Fin) – Their Time in the Sun

Itsuomi leaves their first official date out together to Yuki, and she picks the most beautiful spot for it: a park absolutely bursting with blooming flowers. She loves photographing flowers, and has always found it cute how each type of flower waits its turn to have its spotlight in the sun. The parallel here is that Yuki gets to have her spotlight here, with Itsuomi having fun soaking in how much fun she’s having.

During lunch, Yuki makes a sign about taking Itsuomi to Oushi’s house as “impossible”, but he almost mistakes it for the okay to kiss her. Turns out she’s not as comfortable smooching in public, but is fine with some cuddling if he’s okay with it. Itsuomi repeats the words she told him: if it’s her, he’s okay with everything.

Itsuomi saying that makes Yuki so happy she can feel her emotions getting out of control, which isn’t helped by how shaky much their swan boat ride is. But on the packed subway home, when he’s shielding her from a bump and some girls accidentally bump him and swoon at the sight of him, she totally gets it: her guy is supes dreamy, after all. It’s just that she knows the parts about him that aren’t related to looks are just as dreamy.

Earlier in their relationship Yuki asked him why he travels so much, and he told her he’d tell her when they’re closer. Now that they’re closer, she asks him again at the park, and he writes a long form text explaining it. He’d always loved planes as a little kid, but when his fam moved to Germany, he had trouble communicating.

It wasn’t until a soccer ball rolled his way that he was able to reach out and make a connection to a German kid and made a friend. Traveling for him is not just about studying languages and cultures, but living them, and teaching the next generation the value of that. Itsuomi follows this with a string of sweet nothings to Yuki that make her cry tears of joy.

As we close the book on Sign of Affection, we learn that Oushi is going to keep up with his signing to get certified, which makes his friend Izumi happy to see him motivated and not down in the dumps. Will it mean he’ll look her way? Who can say.

As for Shin and Emma, she decides to give it a go and ask him out. I’m sure it’s new and strange, but it looks like they’re going to be just fine. Same with Kyouya and Rin, who gets a ring from Kyouya to make it official that they are, indeed, dating, and that she doesn’t have to pinch herself.

Yuki works hard, saves up, and acquires a passport, which means she can finally travel with Itsuomi and see and experience the things he does in person. You can tell they’re looking forward to sharing a world together: Yuki because she’s never been abroad, and Itsuomi because he’s never been abroad with the girl he loves.

It’s a bright, colorful, cheery, and extremely positive finale for Sign of Affection, a show I’m exceedingly grateful to for making my heart soar every week, as it highlighted the beauty and magic of making connections, forming bonds, building trust, and finding love with others.

A Sign of Affection – 11 – Sending Good Vibes

Rin has started going on dates with Kyouya, and while she’s not sure they’re boyfriend and girlfriend yet, Itsuomi isn’t shy about saying he’s glad his cousin is taking his love life more seriously. Rin is tickled pink by his words, but then takes her leave so he and Yuki can be alone.

He can tell she’s nervous about her interview, and she is, so he takes her hands in his and offers some German words of encouragement: he’ll keep his fingers crossed for her. That said, she’s also nervous about overt PDA, even if he isn’t!

The interview with Madoka’s awesome aunt goes splendidly, and Yuki has herself a job at her café. No drama at all! That happens while grocery shopping on a busy day at the store, a clerk wearing a mask checks her out, and she’s unable to understand him. She’s bailed out by Oushi, who happens to be shopping there too.

He admits he had drinks with Itsuomi, and tells her to come to him if he makes her cry or hurts her because he hates him. When Yuki tries to praise Itsuomi in sign, Oushi stops her, but then apologizes. We learn in another flashback that Oushi once saw Yuki in a crowded subway not knowing what was going on, and wanted to learn how to sign to make her world a little bit better and easier to navigate.

As it turns out, he accomplished that, as when they went to college together, his signing with her gave her a huge lift and helped keep her going. Yuki is confused by how nice he’s been lately, but he makes it clear he’s trying to be less prickly as he navigates a world where she’s involved with another guy.

While grabbing Yuki’s hand while she was signing was rude as hell, at least he apologized and made sure he didn’t hurt her. As for Shin, he’s been dreading hurting Emma by telling her Itsuomi has a girlfriend, but this week he’s finally able to do so.

He admits to her he’s telling her this not just to console her, but for his own selfish reasons. He wants her to understand that even if she can’t have Itsuomi, she has him, and always has. When she brings up that time back at school when he said he’d never fall for her “even if he died”, he shocks her by admitting he had planned to take his feelings for her to his grave.

That night, after a great day at work, Yuki is feeling a little blue about not seeing Itsuomi much lately, but he suddenly texts her asking if she’s still up, then shows up outside her house. When she can’t make out his signing in the dark and he can’t quite make out hers from her balcony, she runs outside to chase him down, stumbles, he catches her and gathers her in his arms.

She can’t hear what he’s saying as he holds her, but she can feel the vibrations of the words, which help melt away her frustration. At the swings he points out they haven’t made plans or gone anywhere since they started dating, and asks where she’d like to go. Yuki had been focusing so much on saving and getting a job, she overlooked the fact that they could still go on dates and do things less grandiose than traveling overseas together.

With Rin in a good place with Kyouya, Oushi working through his angst and trying to become less of a shit, and Shin making his feelings clearer to Emma (though I do wish their scene had been longer and ended less abruptly), the stage is set for Yuki and Itsuomi to have their first official date together as a couple, in the finale of a series I earnestly hope gets a second season*. I’m just not ready to say goodbye to these good vibes!

I’m told the source material is still being written, so if there is a second season, it’s unlikely to air anytime soon.

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 – 22 – Slowly But Surely

The good news? Anna and Kyou are back in the same class for their third year (i.e. eighth grade). Moeko, Serina, and Chihiro are also back together with Yamada. The bad news? Their tacit agreement to keep a healthy distance in public is far easier said than done.

To whit: when Kyou first enters the classroom and Anna learns they’re back together, she calls him by his first name and rushes to him, taking his hands in hers. This gets them some unwanted attention from their new classmates.

Anna’s half-hearted attempt to declare she greeted the wrong person doesn’t fool anyone. Moeko, who at this point is like us in probably thinking just go out already, is happy to cover for Anna’s indiscrection by loudly proclaiming so everyone can hear that Anna has issues with personal space.

Moeko is also happy to be in the same class as fellow gyaru-adjacents Kankan and Kanzawa, and the former earns the moniker “celebration girl” as she spearheaded a flashmob that led to a guy and gal in her previous class to start going out. She wants to know if Anna and Kyou are going out. They discuss this in the classroom after class, where Anna was giving Kyou the gift of a wallet chain for his birthday.

The two hide together in a lectern, and after the girls leave, Anna asks “are we going out?” After a pause she adds that that was what the girls were talking about. As Kyou tries to climb out, his foot catches his chain, and down go his pants, just as Moeko re-enters the room. They’re lucky it was just Moeko, too!

Kyou continues to want to ask Anna out, but has unreasonably high standards for the conditions under which he’ll do it. Surely there are other places they can go than school, which is full of students, some of whom would love to get the scoop on them, like Kankan.

When she overhears Kyou asking to see Anna’s (physical results), they smooth over her suspicion by saying they’re following the task their homeroom teacher gave them to make new friends. To that end, Anna becomes Kankan’s friend by insisting on calling her by a special nickname (Panda) and stoking her long, lustrous hair.

Kyou reports that he’s grown 5 cm since the last physical, and his voice is just about done changing. Anna wants to commemorate his growth by marking his height on the wall. Kyou gets her to compromise by only marking the inside of the bookshelves. When he sees that she marked his spot with “Kyou”, he marks her height with “Anna”, which has her blushing and twirling around, light as a feather.

Kyou once thought he never wanted to grow up, but now he wants to be “closer to” Anna, “physically.” Yes, he’s talking about height, but c’maaaahn, we know he means in the other way too. Anna pulls him closer to her inside the library curtains, and this seems like as good a time as ever for him to say what he wants to say…

But they’re interrupted by a gust of wind and the presence of Hanzawa. She pretends not to react, so Anna re-closes the curtains so Kyou can continue. But the wind opens them again, and suddenly Hanzawa is right there, almost like a horror movie! She tries to withdraw smoothly, but trips over a stool, drops her book, and bangs into the door.

When seat assignments come, Hanzawa, who is clearly rooting for them, swaps her seat with Anna so she can sit beside Kyou for the first time. It’s almost too good to be true, and certainly consigns the whole “healthy distance” plan into the dustbin for good. Kyou starts worrying about worrying so much about their closeness that they start drifting apart, which is the last thing he wants and he also seems to recognize as a bad habit of his.

When he sees Hanzawa’s book on Anna’s desk, he sees a piece of paper sticking out. It’s a handwritten letter from Anna to Hanzawa, clearing up her and Kyou’s deal. As of April 10th, she writes, they’re not going out. But Kyou is very shy, like a cat. It’s taken some time, but they’ve slowly but surely built up their friendship.

The time they’ve spent and the closeness they have is “very important to her,” so she’d rather Hanzawa and Kankan not try some kind of flashmob thing on them. Anna also states that she plans to … but Kyou stops reading, afraid of what it might say. I can hazard a guess that she’s planning to ask him out when the time is right.

I feel like at this point, with Kyou trying and failing several times this week, it’s only a matter of time before one of them asks the other out. I think Kyou wants to prove to himself he’s capable of doing such a thing, but even if he doesn’t, I don’t see any problem with Anna taking the initiative. They’ve got three whole episodes for it to happen. I’m feeling pretty optimistic!

As for Kanzawa, it turns out she’s not a busybody, but genuinely curious about love. Even she, with her limited experience and inability to quite grasp the concept, can see it all over Anna and Kyou. Yet when Anna asks for her LINE so she can tell her all about it (implying that she, Anna, knows exactly what love is), Kanzawa gets overly flustered and runs off. No matter, she’ll be back!

A Sign of Affection – 10 – Kiddos Should Stick to Milk

Yuki’s first sleepover at Itsuomi’s is briefly interrupted by the knowledge that Oushi tried to video call her. She’s freaked out when he apologizes via text—that’s just how much of an ass he’s been to her since they’ve known each other! She notes how the soap, shampoo, and conditioner are different from her’s at home, while Itsuomi’s room is like a cozy little museum of treasures from around the world.

They watch a movie together with no sound and subtitles—the better for Itsuomi to experience it more like Yuki, which is sweet as hell—and her friend Madoka calls with good news: she’s got a job interview lined up for her! Madoka has late-onset hearing loss, but in order to not lose her voice, she speaks and signs at the same time, and Itsuomi is impressed with the pace of two signing pros.

Yuki thinks it figures she’d get good news while she was with Itsuomi. Like the couple in the movie, he leads the way and shows her new worlds that delight her. That also includes the world of heightened physicality in the form of snuggling with your boyfriend. Yuki is tense throughout this, until they kiss and her muscles loosen slightly. That night, they sleep in the same room, but Itsuomi lets her have the bed.

Unable to sleep, she texts him if this is how “spending time together” goes. Itsuomi, also not asleep, makes it clear that can wait; he can see how tense she gets even when they just cuddle. As someone important to him, he wants to treat her right, and go at her pace. While heartened and calmed by his words, Yuki still resigns herself to a sleepless night with Itsuomi in his “treasure box” of a room.

I’d call their first sleepover an unqualified success, even if not much sleep occurs, but this episode is called “Oushi’s World”, so the jerk had to show up eventually. It happens the next day at college, when he confronts Itsuomi by signing “What are you playing at?”

Itsuomi answers that question by acting like a cat that wants to play with the mouse it’s just caught; Oushi is even wearing a mouse-gray hoodie! Itsuomi doesn’t want to fight with Oushi. Instead, he wants to get to know him. He starts by showing him a little more of himself, as someone insanely popular at college and able to converse with his friends in English and German.

They end up in the cultural exchange clubroom, where Itsuomi asks Oushi a very crucial question: What’s his favorite type of bread at the local bakery. Oushi makes clear he hates Itsuomi and has no intention of getting to know him better or telling him more about himself. He starts to leave, but Itsuomi tells him he’ll “do anything (non sexual)” if he shows up at the bar that night.

Despite himself, Oushi shows up, and the two have some beers and snacks. Itsuomi playfully introduces Oushi to Kyouya as someone in the midst of his “misanthrope arc,” which is both hilarious and accurate. Even if they just drink and don’t say much, Itsuomi is still revealing things about himself that Oushi is learning. It’s honestly great to see him be so level-headed, affable, and disarming in the face of Oushi’s frankly childish hostility.

Three beers later, Oushi passes out, but when he comes to Itsuomi is still there, ready to talk. Oushi doesn’t tell him about his history with Yuki, but he tells us through monologue. His sister first introduced her, when he didn’t even know what it meant to be deaf. Seeing Yuki’s face brighten up when his sister started signing was all it took. Oushi bought a book on signing and started learning.

The scene that preceded the opening credits and also preceded Oushi waking up from his three-beer nap is shown in its entirety. Oushi is watching the fireworks with his sister and he is not enthused, because they’re so loud and smoky. But then he sees Yuki’s face as she watches the fireworks, and as their light bounces off that face.

Yuki looks Oushi’s way, and when he signs, she keeps watching him, even though he signs “you fool” and then makes a nasty face at her. From that point on, Oushi wanted Yuki to look at him and only him, and believed learning to sign would allow him to share a secret world together, communicating with a secret code.

But now Itsuomi has done the same thing and has ended up dating Yuki. Oushi asks why her when any woman would choose him, but their choices don’t matter. Itsuomi is convinced that even if they didn’t meet at college, they’d meet somewhere, sometime, and he’d choose her and only her.

Oushi’s little private world with Yuki where, if we’re honest, he was mostly a jerk to her, has been breached. Oushi is no longer “special” in that way. He can ask Itsuomi to break up with Yuki, but breaking up is a mutual decision, and Yuki won’t be breaking up with him.

Look, it sucks to lose someone you thought only looked your way. But hopefully this encounter with Itsuomi, who is never anything but open and candid about who he is and where he stands, serves as a wakeup call for Oushi. As he cries and Itsuomi pats his head, Oushi wonders if he can change, and if he’s already started to.

Yuki might be dating Itsuomi now, but Oushi doesn’t want to let him win without  a fight. Frankly, I think that’s a waste of time, as Yuki is on cloud nine and doesn’t have the slightest idea that Oushi likes her. But if he can be decent and honest to Yuki and make his feelings known to her so she can make a choice, and he can accept if she doesn’t choose him, then I think that’s fine. Maybe then he can move on. If he can’t, he can pound sand!

The Dangers in My Heart – 21 – Thanatos vs. Pigman

Kyoutarou, which is what Anna has decided to call him now (and I hope he calls her Anna at some point!), wakes up to find her in his bathroom brushing her teeth. It’s like they’re already married! As is Kyoutarou’s M.O., he suspects this good fortune is some kind of a portent of doom for him.

Thus week, he finds a completely new thing to get worried about with Anna: social media, specifically a toxic fan on Twitter with the handle pig_man1209, or Pigman, who has a bit of an unhealthy obsession with Anna and is always trying to find out where she is, what she’s doing … and who she’s with. Kyou tries to tell this fan off (with the handle thanatos_moros), but gets blocked.

When Pigman learns Anna is filming in their hometown, Kyou can’t help but think like an obsessed otaku does, and fears that the fan might try to confront or hurt Anna. Sure enough, while on a video call with her as she’s sitting by the water, what looks like a shadowy figure in a hoodie seemingly pushes her into the water. The call goes dead, and Kyou is near death with worry.

Eventually he stakes out her apartment until her dad comes home, and nice guy that he is, he invites him in to warm up with some tasty soup. Anna’s dad then gets a picture message from Anna on her mom’s phone: it’s a map to Kyou’s house, and asking him to let the person who lives there know she’s okay.

Since that person is already at her place, Anna’s dad hands the phone to Kyou to call Anna himself. She’s fine and always was, it was her mother behind her, and she dropped her phone in the water. After they hang up, Anna tells her mom she likes Kyou, and Kyou tells her dad that he likes Anna. Pops’ response is to give him his monster hunt friend code.

The threat of creeps finding out where Anna is has not lifted, so when both Anna and Pigman declare they’ll be at a ramen stand of note in Mita, he rushes to her aid, only to find her with her model senpai, Nico. Anna momentarily pretends not to know Kyou, at least not too well, but when Kyou asks if he can have lunch with them, she agrees, and Nico looks annoyed.

When Nico is the person sitting precisely where Pigman said they’d sit at the ramen stand, he mutters “Pigman” to test her, and her reaction makes it clear SHE’S Pigman. He identifies himself as Thanatos, whom she blocked, and claims to be a fellow fan. After Anna finishes and steps out (this is the kind of place you need to give up your seat ASAP) Nico quietly fangirls out, declaring Anna “perfect”.

This actually comforts Kyou, who finishes his ramen next and declares he “won.” But he also won because he knows the real Anna, the very, very, imperfect Anna. An Anna just as imperfect as him, but one he cares for more than anything. To his declaration of victory, Nico simply tells him to place his empty bowl on the rail.

When Nico exits and finds Anna chatting with Kyou, she sees just a glimpse of that real Anna. It’s a face she’s never seen before, and she finds it even more adorable. When she takes her leave, Kyou follows her for a bit to warn her to stop posting Anna’s personal info, because that shit’s not cool. In response, Nico unblocks him and gives him her LINE ID, asking him to send her photos of Anna at school, which is also not cool, but regardless, Kyou now has the contact info of a famous model.

That point is driven home when the subway car home he and Anna are on is plastered with photos of Nico in cosmetics ads. Anna snuggles up to Kyou, apologizing for worrying him with her phone. He slowly separates himself from her and tells her that there are people out there who want to see “famous faces fall.”

Pigman wasn’t one of those people, but they are out there. So he asks her to be more careful what she posts, and to keep “some distance” in crowded spaces, implying that includes at least a bit of distance from him. Not wanting him to worry and wanting to “grow up” more, Anna promises to abide by those rules.

Normally, I’d say Kyou was being presumptuous in thinking her agency hadn’t already given her some kind of guidance on handling social media, but 1.) there’s no guarantee they did any such thing, and 2.) this is Space Cadet Anna we’re talking about. She’s happy Kyou has her back, and so am I. I just hope they can continue closing the distance .. when not in crowded spaces.

A Sign of Affection – 09 – Laid-Back Mini-Glamp

While still primarily a shoujo romance, this week’s Sign offered up a heaping helping of iyashikei goodness, and not just because most of it took place during a camping trip. From Rin and Yuki trying on outfits to the gang playing a word chain wishing game on the car ride, the warm, cozy vibes are infectious, and a salve for what is currently a gray, rainy Saturday (perfect weather to go see Dune: Part 2, which is definitely not iyashikei!)

Once their glamping tent is set up, Kyouya demonstrates his house husband bonafides by whipping up a delicious feast for everyone while Yuki leads the sign training. The only clouds on this otherwise bright sunny day are the fact that Rin keeps getting asked out by a guy at work she’s not interested in that way, while Yuki keeps checking her phone for word from Madoka about a job, which she sees as crucial in order to travel with Itsuomi.

The signing training doesn’t go on long, as the true goal of this trip is for these four to have fun together, but also for these two couples—one official, one potential—to split of and get some alone time together. Yuki wades into the river with Itsuomi, but her feet get cold fast, so he lifts her up and carries her back to shore. He asks if something’s troubling her, and when he learns it’s about a job, he apologizes if he only added to the pressure. Then he uses the signal they talked about to apply pressure from his lips to her cheek.

They seem poised to smooch a bit more, but are interrupted by Kyouya and Rin, who twisted her ankle. In their time together, she gets a call from the guy, and decides to be clear and direct to him she’s not interested, because she has feelings for someone else. Kyouya overhears some of the call, and admits to her the “childishly stupid” side of him didn’t like it. He decides to be clear too when asked, admitting that while he considers the whole dating game in general is a hassle, if it’s Rin, he’d make an exception.

It sucks for that confession to be followed up by Rin taking a bad step on a rock, twisting her ankle, but it’s okay if the trip is cut short, because it’s mission accomplished: Rin and Kyouya are now seeing eye-to-eye on what’s happening with them. They drop Yuki and Itsuomi off, and after having dinner at an izekaya, they head to his place, where he showers, she dons the girlfriend hoodie, and is brought to tears when she sees his thorough notes in the signing guide she made for him.

Yuki texts home that she’ll be staying at Rin’s, but it looks more like she’ll be spending the night at Itsuomi’s. That said, he tells her not to get nervous, as they’re simply spending time together. However further they get that night, or in general, is reliant on her comfort level. It’s thoughtful, respectful BF behavior, and I’m here for it.

Meanwhile, Oushi’s friend Izumi, who is clearly down bad for him, reports that she saw Yuki go into an Izakaya with a silver-haired guy who looked like her boyfriend. Not only that, the other guy was signing. Oushi looks up from his game like “But that’s MY thing!” He tries not to react, but Izumi can see right through him, telling him he should be more upfront with his feelings, because the way he is now is “painful for [her] to watch”.

Oushi at least seems to be quite aware of how pathetic and petulant he’s being. This week was a win for Rin and Kyouya, while Yuki Itsuomi are humming along nicely. It was inevitable we’d dive into Oushi’s history with Yuki, and it looks like that’s happening next week, along with Oushi-Itsuomi interaction in the present. Hopefully he’ll accept that he missed his chance with Yuki, that missing it was his fault, and he can start moving on with his life.

The Dangers in My Heart – 20 – Birthday Wishes

We begin with a White Day misunderstanding, as under his gyaru mom’s orders, Adachi tosses thank you cookies into Moeko’s shoe locker a little too nonchalantly, and they fall out. Just as Yamada and Moeko are rounding the corner, they see Ichikawa putting the cookies … into Yamada’s shoe locker by mistake.

Adachi manages to actually make Moeko look somewhat serious bless him, but when he leaves she still thinks they’re for Yamada from Ichikawa. When Yamada reads the lovey-dovey note, her face goes beet-red and her eyes do that tight-spiraly thing.

As the day the classes change nears, Chihiro tries some reverse psychology on the teacher, urging him not to put her in a class with Yamada, Moeko, and Serina. Unfortunately she just might get her wish! Ichikawa stays behind, feeling nostalgic about the classroom, when he gets a text from Yamada.

She’s still there too, and invites him to the gym for a one-on-one basketball game. While she’s got the length, she’s go to touch to her shot, and ends up scoring on a rebound from Ichikawa’s jumper. Ichikawa was going to ask her out if his shot went in, but instead Yamada claims the win and asks if it’s okay to call him “Kyou”.

Thing is, he didn’t need to make a shot to ask her out, he could just do it and she’d say yes. Oh well! At least when his birthday rolls around and he’s resigned to a quiet evening with fam, she sends him a photo of her fresh off a shoot looking super-cute by the sakura trees.

They meet up at the station, and on their way home, he notices she’s still calling him “Ichikawa.” Like him, she’s still very nervous about it. Then he senses someone following them, and he shields Yamada like her gallant knight. Turns out it’s just his dad!

When Pops tells Yamada it’s Ichikawa’s birthday, she’s invited to join the family for dinner, which Kana is super-hyped about, such that she gets all dolled up. When she learns Yamada is an honest-to-God pro model she feels silly and embarrassed, but she shouldn’t; her style rocks!

After a dinner of sukiyaki where Yamada only has a few bites (her saying she’s a “light eater” may just be the biggest lie she’s ever told), Ichikawa’s mom turns out the lights and brings the cake, humming the wedding march, definitely a subconscious slip-up with her son’s pretty friend present.

Yamada starts singing “Happy Birthday” and everyone joins in. After he blows out the candles, Yamada quietly whispers “Happy Birthday, Kyou” in his ear, leaving no room to mistake about whether she said “today.” Girl wants to call him by his first name. He’d do well to reciprocate!

Kana urges Yamada to spend the night, and she gets permission from her mom because she’s staying at a girl’s house. Yamada leaves out the fact it’s also Ichikawa’s house! Yamada has a bath first, and Kana gives Ichikawa some girl’s clothes and undies for Yamada to wear, then falls asleep.

Clearly Kana always intended to give Ichikawa and Yamada a chance to have a sleepover, once again demonstrating what a superb big sis she is. When Ichikawa pops into the laundry room to leave Yamada her clothes, the two are very aware that they’re talking while she’s naked in the bath, separated by a thin door.

When Ichikawa prepares to leave her rubber band by that door, Yamada opens it to make the exchange directly. The resulting postcard memory is so pretty it looks like a Renaissance painting.

Yamada is set up on the sectional in the living room, and when Ichikawa comes down “to get a drink of water” he sees her reading a script for a film she’s in that shoots in two days. She admits she’s having trouble being the rebellious girl because she never had a rebellion.

Ichikawa admits he did, but it wasn’t because he didn’t like his clearly very nice parents. Instead, he was mad about not letting himself be himself, and worried about not being a good kid. When Yamada hears this, she takes him by the shoulder and draws him into her chest, to wordlessly say “it’s alright” and “you are a good kid.”

The two remain seated together at the foot the couch all night, or at least until Yamada nods off. Ichikawa draws ever so close to her ear, perhaps planning to either kiss her goodnight or say her first name, but he draws back, tucks her in, and bids her goodnight before returning to his room.

Yamada, who was actually awake the whole time, opens her eyes, blushes, and smiles ever so softly as that trademark heart-soaring, often tear-inducing piano and strings plays them off. I daresay she wanted a kiss and to be called Anna. Hopefully Ichikawa, or should I say Kyou, musters the courage soon.

The episode ends with a gag, as Ichikawa realizes that since Kana’s undies are still in the laundry room and Yamada’s are still in the wash, Yamada is and has been going commando since her bath. Encouragement from the black-winged manifestation of his libido aside, he’d better not do anything with this information!

A Sign of Affection – 08 – Waiting for Right Now to Pass

When Itsuomi introduces Yuki as his girlfriend, he’s shocked. Not because Yuki can’t hear, or isn’t a foreigner from Itsuomi’s frequent travels, but because it means Emma has to be told Itsuomi is officially off the market. It also means that Shin can pursue her without worrying about hurting Itsuomi. The only problem is, after all these years, Shin finds himself firmly embedded in the Friendzone where Emma is concerned.

It gives Shin no pleasure to be the one to break the news to Emma, he just thinks she’ll take it slightly better coming from him. And yet, when he meets her at his salon after hours, he can’t do it. He should have known he couldn’t, because he loves her to much to hurt her like that. Emma, meanwhile, is totally oblivious, because Shin won’t tell her what needs to be said.

While sitting in the styling chair, Emma asks if Shin remembers him putting up her hair back in high school. It’s a silly question; he’ll never forget that moment, or the day he first saw Emma’s beautiful hair flowing in the hall. Unfortunately, even then, it was flowing because she was running to tell a friend about the new hot guy, Nagi Itsuomi.

Itsuomi and Shin kind of organically became friends, while Shin and Emma started to interact in part because Emma was looking for Itsuomi in places where Shin happened to be. Especially in high school, that can often be how friendships are forged. Shin and Emma sharing headphones, and her giving him a CD of lovely piano music, are memories Shin cherishes to this day.

Touyama Nao is so perfectly cast as Emma’s seiyu. Her voice is so often a ray of sunshine, but as seen with her work as Honami in Classroom of the Elite she can do dark clouds too. Here, Emma is Shin’s sun. He can’t keep his eyes off her, and she might be the first person he tells about his dream of styling hair, not to mention putting her hair up in a classy braid.

Whether due to her own good looks or her ongoing crush on Itsuomi, Emma is ostracized by her girl friends, and she and Shin and Itsuomi become a tight-knit triad and a classic love triangle. Emma declares, without hesitation, she loves Itsuomi “lots”. Yet Itsuomi rejects her again and again, as he isn’t interested in romance “right now.”

Shin tries to find love in one of the girls who asks him out (lest we forget, he’s hot too) but it goes about as well as you’d expect: she starts to pick up on his unrequited love for Emma, and calls him out on it on the rooftop with Emma present. That’s when Shin loudly proclaims “he’ll never fall for Emma as long as he lives.”

Of course, that’s a complete lie, as he was in love with her as he said those words, and has been ever since. Back in the present, Emma’s hair is done, and she praises Shin for being “the one who makes her pretty”. But it’s not Shin’s hairstyling, it’s her love for Itsuomi that makes her more beautiful. Recall how Rin could tell Yuki was in love the same way.

If Shin tells her Itsuomi has a girlfriend, it will break her heart, and the sunshine in her eyes will be clouded. So he doesn’t. Instead, he asks if she loves Itsuomi. the reply is still the same as it was in high school, and just as instant: “Yup, I love him lots!” The thing is, Emma is going to find out sooner or later.

As Kyouya assures him, there’s still hope for Shin and Emma, but the first miles of that road will be arduous. I came away from this episode empathizing a lot more with Emma, who has suffered with loving someone who doesn’t love her that way back for so long, as well as with Shin, who is in the same boat. I’m rooting for these two attractive losers to get together!

It doesn’t look like we’ll be getting into that next week, as Itsuomi proposes a sign language boot camp with Yuki, Rin, and Kyouya. It’s geared toward helping Rin learn more signing so she can better communicate with her dear friend. It’s also another double date opportunity for Rin to ask Kyouya out, or vice versa. Me, I’m looking forward to some warm and cozy Laid-Back Sign Camp!

The Dangers in My Heart – 19 – Gotta Be Brave

He may not realize it, but Kana is right: her brother’s cool-as-hell speech from the heart may well make him more popular, such that he doesn’t have to creep around when the basketball clubs (boys and girls) invite Yamada to karaoke. Three third-years spot him and invite him in, but all it takes is a “What are you doing here” from Chihiro for him to immediately flee.

However, there’s no true escape for him, because Yamada already saw him. She joins him in the otherwise empty booth next door, and admits even she feels a little out of place with the others because she quit the club. She then has Ichikawa confirm he heard her say she likes someone, and tells him she’s been acting weird because she’s been so worked up.

That gives Ichikawa the courage to say he followed her to karaoke because he got worked up. Anna starts playfully poking at his back just when the third-year girls spot them alone together, and ultimately bring them back to the party where Ichikawa not only sings, but sings the dang theme song to the show!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: Ichikawa and Yamada like each other, but they’re not officially going out. They’re both shocked to hear that’s also the case with Hara and Kanzaki, when they invite the two of them out for a double date. Because they’re all new to double dates, Ichikawa and Hara end up meeting on the same train by chance.

Because it’s White Day and Ichikawa doesn’t have a gift, Hara helps shop for something appropriate. Just when she tries on a hat and he says “that would look cute” (as in, on Yamada), Yamada and Kanzaki appear. Both are clearly jealous, and not that subtle about it, though Yamada is more subtle by dint of not being surrounded by miasma.

It’s an imbalance and unforced error that could have been avoided if Hara and Kanzaki, not to mention Ichikawa and Yamada, met up with each other first. As usual, an sumptuous buffet lunch repairs Yamada’s mood, but introduces another complication: Kanzaki wants Hara to eat her fill.

We know Hara is trying to diet, and that she’s not doing it for Kanzaki, but for herself, to challenge and change herself. It’s her business! Yes, Kanzaki’s a good guy who doesn’t care whether she’s fat or skinny, but he’d probably prefer her as plump as possible, so he’s not an impartial party here! It’s Ichikawa who checks Kanzaki, telling him not to force his opinion on Hara, and Kanzaki acknowledges this.

When Ichikawa learns that like him and Hara, Kanzaki and Yamada ended up meeting by chance and did a little shopping (she helped him pick out the cutlery he gave Hara as a White Day gift), a surge of jealousy overcomes Ichikawa. He even goes so far as to declare “Yamada is mine!” which Yamada overhears, and her face instantly turns radioactive.

While Ichikawa decries him and Yamada as “hilarious”, Kanzaki tells him he might actually be a good fit for her. Hara and Yamada then set things up so Yamada “gets lost” and they have to “split up” to find her. Naturally Kanzaki goes with Hara, while Ichikawa goes off on his own, and is quickly scooped up by Yamada.

Yamada comes out and says that just because they hang out alone all the time with someone doesn’t mean they don’t want to keep doing it. She qualifies it by saying she’s talking about Hara and Kanzaki, but she’s fooling precisely no one. Then she asks what they should do next, Ichikawa retreats and says they should just go home.

He’s stuck in the feedback loop of constantly comparing himself unfavorably to others like Kanzaki. But while they’re initially separated on the crowded train home from Harajuku, when there’s a bump in the track Yamada finds her way to him, observing that it looks like he’s protecting something in his backpack.

Ichikawa asks if she has time once they’re off the train, and they go to the park as the sun starts to set, sitting at the same bench where Yamada gave him a homemade chocolate muffin for Valentine’s. He remembers how brave Yamada had to be, and sees all his comparing and jealousy for what it is: layers of protection against being hurt.

He decides then and there to stop thinking about all that, and think about Yamada instead. He gives her a muffin, also homemade, and she’s so happy she starts scarfing it down right there. He asks her to slow down, and she finds a little plastic pouch with something inside: a delicate chain bracelet with a bone (no doubt a nod to their matching dog keychains).

Suddenly worried that giving her jewelry was “weird’ somehow and starting to run off, Yamada easily catches up to him (longer legs), and asks him to  put it on for her. He does, and as her face lights up with joy she asks him how she looks, and he tells the truth: she’s so cute he could die.

This causes Yamada to tear up, but they’re not the same tears as when she talked about her past troubles with committing to things. Bully for him for recognizing the difference, and offering her a comforting arm. Just like he said in his ad-libbed speech, he has seen the light—and it is glorious.

There are only six episodes left. It doesn’t feel like enough. I want a third season, one in which these two are an established couple.