Masamune-kun’s Revenge R – 12 (Fin) – C’est pour le mieux

By dumping Masamune so Yoshino can have her shot, Aki is trying to be a good friend, as well as a more self-sufficient person, making a passable tea rice bowl for herself when Yoshino is out on a date. But even when her stomach is full, it’s evident that she’s still wanting for something…or someone.

It doesn’t help matters that when the new spring term comes around, everyone’s in Class 3-E except for Aki and Masamune, who are in Class 3-A together. Kanetsugu has also decided to start wearing the girls’ uniform, while Yoshino and Neko bury the hatchet. A new year means old feuds die.

Aki is flustered by the fact Masamune sits right in front of her, and talks to her so casually she can’t help but think of when they were dating, which were happy times for her. Heck, Masamune still visits her in the storeroom to deliver a special new bread variety from the school store.

Aki understandably wants to know what Masamune’s deal is, but before he understands what she’s asking, Yoshino swoops in, gloms onto Masamune’s arm, and drags him out of the storeroom. Aki resents them flaunting their romance in front of her, but outside Yoshino ominously tells Masamune “Not yet. Just a little longer.”

Something is clearly Up with a Capital U, but Aki doesn’t suspect anything, or she wouldn’t go to a salon for the classic post-breakup haircut. Her shorter locks are adorable as all get out, but Yoshino freaks out when she see them. Aki makes clear she didn’t think she could get over Masamune without some kind of big change.

Yoshino pounds on Aki with her fists, then urges Aki to head back to school, where Masamune is waiting and will explain everything. Once there, Aki can’t find Masamune anywhere, but does find a letter addressed to her in his handwriting. Assuming it’s some kind of revenge, when she finally spots him outside, she’s poised to give him the mother of all talking-tos.

As she runs out to him, he runs up to her, resulting in them switching places. They do this once more—a nifty microcosm of their relationship thus far—before he finally manages to grab her arm, sending them both to the hallway floor. When a distraught Aki tells her to have all the fun he likes with Yoshino, Masamune unloads a bombshell: he and Yoshino aren’t dating.

He was happy when “Shisho” came all the way to Shinshu to see him and tell him she loved him, but he couldn’t return her feelings. He loved someone else. It’s only since all of the lies and misunderstandings have been cleared up that he realizes his feelings for her never changed from that day he gave her a bouquet in a dazzling field of flowers.

When Aki finally opens the letter, it simply asks if she’ll be his girlfriend. He asks her out loud, just to be clear. She tells him no…her answer isn’t no. More than once, she asks him if he’s sure he’s okay with her, but she’s the only one he’s okay with. She’s the reason he’s who he is, and the only one he could work so hard for.

It’s here, on the floor, at sunset, when the rich, beautiful, huge brat and the self-centered, self-obsessed, selfish egoist stare into each others’ eyes and then seal their intention to date again with a real, honest-to-God kiss. As far as we see, Masamune doesn’t get any hives. He even seems to introduce a bit of tongue into the kiss, but Aki ain’t havin’ it!

Fast forward to the post-culture festival bonfire. Last year both Masamune and Aki were pursued by many a girl and guy for the right to dance with them, but tonight they dance with each other. Neko and Yoshino commiserate, with Yoshino clarifying that Masamune didn’t get hives because he felt safe with his “Master.”

As for Aki and Masamune, their spirited quasi-adversarial dynamic lives on even as they’re an official couple, with each of them able to make the other blush with a word or gesture. Masamune isn’t taking the Cruel Princess’ hand for revenge, but out of respect. And as Aki takes his hand, it feels like all’s right in the world. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but our lovebirds are beyond that, for romance is a dish best served warm.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge R – 11 – Sans ennemis

Masamune has been absent for four days, and Kojuurou, Neko, and Tae are understandably concerned. When they ask Aki about him, she acts like he’s not her concern, because he isn’t anymore. When she tells everyone she broke up with Masamune, they’re all shocked, but nobody more than Yoshino, who tells her she can’t do that. Only she can, and she did, and it’s done.

Yoshino heads to Masamune’s house at once with Koju, Neko, and Tae in tow, and manage to lure Chinatsu out with fancy pudding. They learn that Masamune ran off to his grandfather’s in rural Shinshu four days ago. Their mom is devastated, wrapped in his blanket in his room crying while the chores pile up. Yoshino recalls that Masamune and Aki went on a date last weekend, just before he ran off.

The four agree that all they can do is wait for him, but as they’re walking home, Yoshino accuses Neko of getting into Aki’s head and causing this whole mess in order to try to steal Masamune away. Yoshino, i.e. Minase Inori, pulls no punches in telling Neko he’ll never look her way, and Neko slaps her for it. Eventually Aki shows up to break up the argument, asking Tae to take Neko home while she has a chat with Yoshino…a real one.

After we check in on Masamune and his new simple, monastic lifestyle, even burning the White day gift Aki refused, we get right down to the dramatic heart of this episode, and the reason Aki so abruptly broke up with Masamune even though things seemed to be going so well. That is, quite simply, that she knows Yoshino likes Masamune.

She also knows that Yoshino denied and buried her own feelings for the sake of her mistress. Aki can imagine how much Yoshino has suffered all these years, and tells her she doesn’t need to be deferent to her anymore, at least not on this. Her final request to Yoshino is to go to Masamune and tell him how she really feels herself. So she does.

Tae helps cheer Neko up with some overeating and karaoke, the twin surefire balms for a girl’s broken heart. She assures Neko that no one is truly empty, as Neko said as she wept earlier. Tae even does a solid and suggests that when Neko’s ready to love again, she might want to look Koju’s way.

As Yoshino takes her solo trip to see Masamune, having obtained the address from Chinatsu, she goes through all the times she’s had with Masamune, and how the moment she first saw him all grown up in their school, she was smitten. When he said he had the most fun plotting revenge with her, she was never able to say she had fun too.

But that’s all over now; no more holding back. Meanwhile, there must’ve been something in the fumes of the burning gift wrap because Masamune has a little vision with Little Him, who is training hard as part of his revenge scheme. Masamune breaks it to the kid: Aki’s not their enemy. There are no enemies to fight…only a life to live, and live well, with those you love.

While gathering firewood in the morning, Masamune hears what he think is a tanuki rustling in the trees, but then Yoshino emerges, runs to him, leaps onto him, wraps her arms around him in an embrace, causing them both to fall to the ground. Before he can let out a full “Master?!”, she’s kissing him.

I guess his weird dream about them dating wasn’t so crazy after all, huh? This reunion is the latest dramatic, beautifully directed scenes in an episode packed with them, all backed up by a tremendous Katou Tatsuya score that gets extra big and cinematic when it needs to.

I was frustrated by the sudden dumping last week, but in hindsight it makes perfect sense. Aki, who all her life took and took and took from Yoshino, finally gave. And now I find myself firmly on Team MasaShiro.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge R – 10 – Journée noir blanc

Here I thought Yoshino would hesitate to tell Aki until the very end, but when Aki tells her she had a conversation with Neko and that she has cause to believe Masamune hates her and only got close to her for revenge, Yoshino comes out and confesses to driving Pig’s Foot off in the first place, out of fear of losing Aki.

She only pretended to help Masamune with his revenge plot, as her true goal was to help get him and Aki back together. To her shock, Aki isn’t upset about this. Instead, she praises Yoshino for working to hard, and even shields her from the snow when her umbrella flies away. Now that she knows the truth, she can trust Masamune’s feelings…and express her own.

The snow continues through the night; enough for Masamune and his sister to make a snow-Daruma doll, but not enough for a snow day. After her talk with Aki, Kojuurou asks her why she said what she said. Neko doesn’t care if Aki and Masamune think she’s a villain; she doesn’t think being hurt, pushing oneself too hard, and lying to oneself is really love.

Aki and Masamune seem fine again, eating in the storeroom like they always do. Kujouurou walks home with Neko, and tells her that he’d never despise her, because he considers her a kind, straightforward young woman. Does Neko realize how much he likes her?

As White Day approaches, Aki has Yoshino undertake a secret intel project, then calls Masamune, asks him out on a date, and asks him to let her plan everything. She also reminds him of White Day, and he realizes he has nothing planned.

After trying and failing to make decent macarons, which are extremely hard to make, especially for the first time, Masamune asks the Sweetsmaster Kojuurou for help, and they end up on a bro-date to one of the higher-end stores. Masamune finds the perfect gift: a white chocolate rabbit that looks “cheeky” like Aki.

Masamune is very confused when he arrives at what seems to be a normal drugstore that’s the next town over. When Aki arrives, she assures him they’re at the right place, because this is the only drugstore in the world where one of his former bullies works.

Aki confronts the lad while he’s stocking shelves, and once he remembers her, she shows him what has become of “Tubbymune.” She and Masamune take their leave, but not before the former bully apologizes for what went down in the past.

Later, Masamune admits that he thought he’d freak out more, but was surprisingly calm about the whole encounter, no doubt because Aki was there with him. Aki planned the whole thing to get Masamune to have more confidence in himself, and pride in how he’s changed.

When he presents her with her White Day gift, it looks like these two are going to be just fine. But then she says she can’t accept it, says she now thinks it’s okay “for at least one person to pick up what you’re trying to throw away,” and says sayonara—a farewell with the finality of a dumping. And so the roller coaster continues…

Masamune-kun’s Revenge R – 09 – Déjeuner de mensonges

Even though she’s unaware Masamune just had a dream about Yoshino being his girlfriend, Neko can tell something’s still off about him, but everyone else gets caught up in a Valentine’s Day chocolate-making frenzy. Even Aki isn’t immune to this, as Yoshino convinces her to make homemade sweets for her boyfriend, and when that fails, she makes cookies. When Masamune declines to taste one of his sister’s chocolates, she warns him that won’t fly if a girlfriend puts her heart and soul into them, which Aki most certainly does.

Kojuurou keeps stepping up to the plate and striking out, disinterested as Neko is in him as a romantic partner. Masamune gets a motherlode of chocolates from various pretty admirers, including the obsessive one who still has his water bottle. But the one he wants chocolates from most is Aki, and she doesn’t disappoint. He accepts her cookies, tastes one, declares it delicious, then has another. It lifts Aki onto cloud nine, and for that alone, I’m grateful, even if he’s forcing himself to eat for her sake.

On their first date in a while, the pattern continues: Aki takes Masamune somewhere and they stuff their faces. The problem is, he can only eat so much before he’s sick, especially after eating more despite her warnings. That being said, it’s not like Masamune isn’t enjoying spending time with Aki, or even that he resents the threat to his chiseled physique. In fact, before they part ways he says he wants to go on more dates and eat more things with her. Of course Aki can’t turn that down!

Neko, desperate to know what’s going on, has lunch with Yoshino, whom she assumes is feeling lonely what with her Aki-sama being with Masamune all the time. And indeed the two are together, in the gym storage room, chowing down as usual. Masamune makes a comment about still exercising because he “doesn’t want to look like he used to” way back when. Aki’s sad smile broke my heart…moreso once Neko confronts her after school.

Neko solemnly insists that Aki break up with Masamune, because he doesn’t really love her. Aki suprises her with her response, which is that she already knows that, thanks to the revenge journal she found. There’s still that key misunderstanding keeping them from being together: she believes he’s still on his revenge scheme, when the truth is he’s put that behind him and actually does love her.

But for now, as far as Aki knows, Masamune is just doing this so that he can one day dump her. And despite knowing this, Aki loves him too damn much to let him go of her own accord. She’s noticed him not touching her and acting distant at times during their dates, which she chalks up to the fact he hates the “past and present her.”

So she believes her love for Masamune to be just as unrequited as Neko’s…the only difference is, she’s Masamune’s girlfriend, and she’s going to remain so as long as she can. Kojuurou ends up overhearing all of this when he’s out in the hall, but honestly I care a lot more about this getting straightened out!

Yes, Masamune’s hives are an issue, but they’re not a surefire sign he shouldn’t be with Aki. And yes, Aki believes Masamune hates him because of that notebook, but it wouldn’t take long to explain that the notebook was only for when he thought she turned him away. Frankly Masamune and Aki need to talk a lot more about the things they’re carrying…as does Yoshino. Until then, the beautiful mess continues.

Those Not Chosen – Summer 2023 Edition

Welcome to a new RABUJOI seasonal segment that takes a brief look at the love interests who, for whatever reason, aren’t chosen by the main character. For Summer 2023 we’re highlighting four such characters.

Fujinomiya Neko, Masamune’s Revenge R

Neko is a cute and cheerful rich girl who seems to know Masamune for some reason. But despite her bonafides and obvious interest in him, she doesn’t stand much of a chance against Masamune’s once and future true love, Adagaki Aki, no matter how messed up his relationship with her is at the moment.

Sara, Mushoku Tensei II

O Sara, we hardly knew ye. We didn’t even learn her last name! It’s three episodes and out for a a girl whose trust and affection Rudy earned by saving her life and having her back during her party’s adventures. A perfect date becomes a fiasco in Rudy’s bedroom, as his lingering post-Eris depression keeps him from performing. Their relationship is soured for good when a drunk Rudy shit-talks Sara within earshot.

Sarashina Ruka, Rent-a-Girlfriend

Ruka is a great girl, no question. And she tries her best to keep her hold on her “boyfriend” Kazuya. Kazuya, in turn, hasn’t had the guts to simply dump her yet, but it’s easy to see why: she’s such a good “girlfriend”! Alas, Kazuya’s new neighbor Mimi is trying to get Kazuya and Chizuru to realize they both have feelings for each other, so I’d suspect Ruka’s days as Kazuya’s fake squeeze are numbered.

Ellie, Synduality: Noir

Ellie has long kept a candle burning for her childhood friend, the MC Kanata. It’s only until recently she learned he didn’t join her drifting company not because he never applied, but because he did apply several times and failed. Nevertheless, Ellie continues to support Kanata, but now that he has contracted with a mysterious, elite Magus in the titular Noir, her romantic prospects are suddenly in jeopardy.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge R – 03 – Le deuxième enfant

Everyone’s back in Japan, and Yoshino is confined to the mansion when not at school, a punishment her sister says could have been far stricter. While at school, she meets with Masamune, and says she’ll try to smooth things over with a stress-eating Aki. Then she crosses paths with a smug Kanetsugu. Neko also notices something off with Masamune, and asks if he can accompany her somewhere after school.

That somewhere turns out to be the hospital for some routine checks, after which Neko and Masamune go for a stroll by the river. When he gives her the gist of what happened, she asks if revenge is still his goal, to which he says of course: Once Aki falls in love with him he’ll dump her. Neko decides to be bold and hug him from behind.

If he’s only pursuing Aki for revenge, it wouldn’t be cheating if he fell for Neko. The hug is interrupted by Muriel’s brother’s goons. After a brief chase, her bro pulls out not a handgun, but Muriel’s manuscript, which starts with Aki and Masamune’s story and has an original, happy ending that makes Masamune wonder why things couldn’t turn out that way.

Masamune’s sister Chinatsu greets him with a jump kick to the spine, as she suspects him of going through her laundry, having seen someone through her window. But when their mom says she was the one folding their clean laundry, Chinatsu has to recant and apologize.

Meanwhile, Aki goes to a family restaurant with Kanetsugu and her three-girl fan club, who go over the photos of Aki from Paris. When Kanetsugu says most of Aki’s free time was spent with Masamune, the girls are upset, but when they press Aki for info she lashes out, then excuses herself.

While she’s gone, we get a compressed version of the genesis of Kanetsugu’s scheme to empty the Adagaki coffers, using an official document he found among his late gramps’ stuff which he’ll use to betrothe himself (really herself) to Aki. As for the money, he primarily wants it to help his little sister, who is always in and out of the hospital.

His interactions throughout the afternoon having planted an idea in his head, Masamune arrives at the mansion to meet with Yoshino. He notes how much smaller the courtyard feels compared to when he was little. As for his idea: “Pig’s Foot” was the nickname he thought Aki gave him when she did nothing to stop the bullies from beating him up in that very courtyard.

But Aki forgot that nickname. That means the only ones who know it are him, the bullies…and a second girl in the mansion. At the time, Masamune didn’t know about her, but Aki said someone was confined to their room with Chickenpox. It now occurs to him it might not have been Aki’s voice calling him Pig’s Foot and rejecting him from the window, but that second girl: Yoshino.

The question he has for her is, how does she know that nickname? The answer is revealed in the last shot of the episode, as a young Yoshino removes a black wig. Now it’s official: she was the one who rejected Masamune back then and prevented Muriel’s happy ending from occurring. My question for Yoshino is, since what has been done cannot be undone, how willing is she to sort things out with Aki and Masamune?

Masamune-kun’s Revenge R – 01 – Terre d’amour

Masamune is still committed to making Aki fall for him so he can immediately dump her as revenge for rejecting him. To that end, he plans use the class trip to Paris to further his Dead-or-Love plan.

What he didn’t bargain for was Aki, apparently still vibing off how things ended last season, being uncharacteristically serious and direct with him about finding time to hang out and talk properly.

He also didn’t expect to bump into France’s #1 otaku, Muriel Besson, who takes one look at him and declares him her amateur rom-com manga character “Chikuwa-kun” in the flesh.

I love both Masamune and Aki’s reactions to just how much Muriel is, and how Masamune takes Aki’s arm to gently turn down Muriel’s request. But whether Muriel ran crying to her big-shot big bro or he simply has eyes on her at all times, our duo is cornered in a dark alley by his hired goons, and basically insists that they help his dear Muriel with her manga.

Masamune reports to his master Yoshino, both on his and Aki’s new duty to Muriel and the fact that Aki came to him unbidden. Yoshino, who it’s clear from their fist bump still likes Masamune herself, continues to wear the mask of trusty mentor and Dead-or-Love co-conspirator.

Within five minutes of their next meeting with Muriel, she’s within inches of performatively kissing Masamune before Aki breaks the two up. Both Aki and Masamune can’t hide their embarrassment as they insist on teaching Muriel what real Japanese romance is like, starting with the fact that it’s a lot less loud than French romance!

There’s a lovely meta quality to Masamune and Aki agreeing (albeit under duress) to act as the ideal high school rom-com couple. On the margins, we see that Kojuurou still has a crush on Neko, Neko hasn’t given up on Masamune, and Tae is rooting for Kojuurou.

Finally, Kanetsugu is on to Yoshino and Masamune, and even has evidence as he snapped a photo of the fist bump that proves they’re in cahoots. But as he’s exposing Yoshino’s secret, he’s concealing his own: he’s actually a girl, and is binding her chest to pose as man, trying to use love to get money for her family.

There’s plenty of swirling secrets, deceptions, love triangles, and intrigue this week. In other words, it’s another season of Masamune’s Revenge, a story I’d hoped would one day get a satisfying conclusion. With this encouraging opening salvo, that hope has found solid footing.

Masamune-kun no Revenge – 12 (Fin)

Last week I predicted that Masamune would fill in for Kanetsugu in the Class-A play—a safe prediction, since that’s what came to pass. The show tries to be coy about it, what with showing Masamune arrive in the auditorium to see Aki already on the stage performing, and not immediately revealing his plan. But really, we all knew where this was going.

What I did not know was how much I would enjoy the performance scene, telegraphed as it was. Simply taking Kanetsugu’s place is no mean feat for Masamune in his ill and weakened state, but the well-rehearsed cast (which includes his master) catches on fast, as his fatigue is explained as the result of his “long journey.”

Back to another safe assumption: that Masamune would, in fact, give Aki a real kiss. I mean, how could he not, that’s what the role demands! But when Aki said the kiss would be “pretend” while waiting in her coffin, it all but confirmed to me that it wouldn’t be. It wasn’t a bad kiss at all, and it even compels Aki to do a little improvisation of her own, by decking him for stealing a kiss. Because he’s so weak, he’s out for the count.

Fast Forward to the conclusion of the festival (thankfully) as reps from both classes meet at a karaoke joint for the after-party. This is where the episode kinda stretches out and relaxes, and where it was clear, if it wasn’t in past weeks, that this whole Masamune’s Revenge thing wasn’t going to be wrapped up in just twelve episodes. The last half feels more like a self-contained OVA.

Which, yeah, makes sense. Masamune feels a lot of tension at the karaoke bar, and when his turn in the sing-off approaches, he’s hassled by Sonoka and Kikuon, warning he won’t be able to run away from humiliating himself at the mic in front of their mistress. But it’s Aki who scolds them and sends them off, taking his side. She later regrets it, as Masamune’s singing is so bad everyone looks dead by the end, and quickly clear out afterward.

At least that leaves Masamune and Aki alone together for one last scene, which is as nice way as any to close out the show. They exchange thanks and apologies, and Aki earnestly asks him what she should do as far as tokens of appreciation go. Masamune swings for the fences and asks for a kiss, and to his shock, she accepts.

Aki’s lips do come within less than an inch of Masamune’s, but she stops short and pops a baked yam (I think) in his mouth, provided by Yoshino, who just showed up to feed Aki. Aki feels they got “close enough for now,” and strides off, far more playful than aloof.

Thus, Masamune and Aki end this 12-episode run on pretty good terms. However, obstacles still exist. We know Kanetsugu is deceiving both Aki and Masamune, something Yoshino hasn’t informed her of. Neko doesn’t quite seem ready to give up now that she’s been given a new lease on life. And then there’s the whole matter of whether Masamune wants to actually exact his titular revenge and dump Aki once he’s earned her favor (eh, likely not).

I assume Masamune-kun no Revenge will be back…someday, to resolve these remaining issues. If it does, the show has earned my loyalty, so I’ll be taking a look. If it doesn’t, well…it was a nice, if incomplete, ride.

Masamune-kun no Revenge – 11

I’ll admit I am not the biggest fan of “school play” episodes, but MnR’s wasn’t just an admirably-paced example of the type, but also the most consistently funny and best episode of MnR yet. It’s a joke-laden, increasingly wacky series of unexpected events that build up to a denouement I can look forward to watching.

It all starts with Masamune worried about Class Rep Futaba’s sudden transformation into your typical overbearing director. At the same time, Kojuurou is just about sick of people treating him like a girl (even though he’s voiced by one, the great Hayami Saori), but glad that at least Neko doesn’t, leading to him kinda falling for her.

We also see more of Kanetsugu treating Aki so very nicely, but then revealing to us his true intentions. Obviously, he’s not the Masamune Aki knew as a kid (that’s the thin Masamune), so who is he? A fat kid Aki’s mom mistook for Masamune, assuming he’d never lose weight.

Because Kanetsugu’s once-rich family has fallen on hard times, he’s been tasked with restoring their financial standing to go with the prestige of their name, hence Kanetsugu pretending he’s the boy Aki once knew. It immediately makes his character much better because A.) now we know what exactly his deal is and B.) he’s not perfect, like everyone else in the show.

Everyone…except Neko. Neko is perfect. I guess you could call her health imperfect, but there’s nothing wrong with her personality. Back from her life-threatening illness and surgery, Neko hasn’t skipped a beat, and despite having her heart broken, would still like to be Masamune’s dance partner should he lose to the other play.

She also notices that he’s ill and takes him to the nurse’s office to rest (he spent a chunk of the night outside in his skivvies to prove how hardy he is, then caught a cold). Masamune can’t refuse her offer, should it come to that.

How could he refuse? Fujinomiya Neko is THE BEST, and this warm, caring scene is more proof that she wouldn’t be a consolation girl. KOJUUROU knows what I’m talking about, though his attempt to assert his manliness by speaking in a weird dialect only serves to confuse, not woo, an oblivious Neko. I know it’s a bit late for his development, but I like how Koujuurou is trying to escape his typecasting…even if it’s futile.

Aki’s self-appointed “personal guard” hatches a plan to sabotage Class B’s play, in the silliest way possible: Kikuon kidnaps Masamune, ties him up in a big mattress, and imprisons him in a storeroom.

That’s…pretty lame, not to mention unsporting and even cowardly, which is exactly what Masamune tells Kikuon, who, to her credit, takes his words to heart and immediately starts to have a moral crisis about what she’s doing…until she learns from Masamune’s call to Mari (and his poor attempts to hide it) that their prince, Kanetsugu, has also been taken hostage. Masamune only knows that he’s missing from Mari, but he knows that it was Master Yoshino who nabbed him.

I like how Masamune knows this, and how he’s right that it was Yoshino. They’re operating on the same wavelength, it’s just that she thought to do it pretty much the same time as Mari (who pitches a hissyfit when she thinks she’s bested), while Masamune, who we know is a tourist in these kind of dark dealings, only of kidnapping his counterpart as a tactic once Mari mentioned it had already gone down.

Still, Masamune isn’t all brawn no brains…though Kikuon might be, as he manages to get the slip on her by pretending to leap out at least a third story window.  She leaps out to chase him down, only to fall into a pool below and somehow not break several bones, while he’s hanging onto the window sill. Call it Kikuon’s Wile E. Coyote moment.

But you know what? I’ll allow it, because Kikuon is, if nothing else, devoted to Aki, for without even knowing it, doing something that made Kikuon feel good after a tough loss to someone who cheated: Aki turned the guy down and called him a coward.

Mari and Sonoka doubtless have similar stories that lionized Aki in their eyes…but Aki didn’t ask for their loyalty and devotion; she simply has it, whether it’s in her best interest to have it or not. I say this because she, like Masamune, wanted to perform the plays and determine who would win fair and square. It’s their proxies who complicated matters by playing dirty.

Well, the show will go on for Aki, with or without Kanetsugu (she considers his sudden absence at such a crucial time to be a repeat of abandoning her when they were little kids). I feel bad that Kanetsugu is deceiving her, while loving the irony of Masamune’s extreme physical makeover actually forestalling Aki’s falling for him.

Of course, with Kanetsugu still absent and Kujuurou sick of being treated like a princess, the solution for both Class A and B would seem to be clear: pair up Masamune and Aki. I hope they finally go there (it’s the logical path) and I also hope Aki finds out about Kanetsugu, be it from his being found out or from his own mouth.

Masamune-kun no Revenge – 10

Turns out the mystery fatty isn’t some stunted clone of Masamune, but Gasou Kanetsugu, who is, at least according to an apparently genuine letter, Aki’s betrothed. For now, it appears to be just a coincidence that he looks a lot like our “Pig’s Foot” if he never lost weight (or gained height).

Aki’s household accepts Gasou’s sudden claim, and when the next term starts, he’s a transfer student at the school. Unlike the hunky baseball ace, Aki can’t contain her smitteness for the round lil’ guy, much to the shock and consternation of her fan club, which consists of Sonoka (twin tailed loli) Kikuon (tall and sporty) and Mari (serious/dark glasses).

Even more gobsmacked is Masamune, who just dosn’t understand how this could happen just when he thought the path was clear (in other news, Neko’s surgery went off without a hitch and she’s back at school, though no longer pursuing him).

To his surprise, even his master Yoshino is at a loss regarding Aki’s new squeeze, and feels like she’s let her apprentice down, even though he doesn’t blame her.

There’s a tension that runs throughout this episode, once once accepts the suddenness and coincidence of Kanetsugu’s appearance. On the one hand, I can’t deny I’m on Masamune’s side, even though I know he only wants to win Aki’s heart so he can immediately break it.

Kanetsugu is a huge obstacle to that, but I can’t help but admire Aki not abiding by the typical norms of attraction, confused friends, fans and suitors be damned. Kanetsugu is a good kid, too. When Neko first showed up, I felt like she was hiding a secret, which turned out to be nothing evil.

But Kanetsugu doesn’t give off that vibe. There’s no ulterior motive here, beyond fulfilling his obligation as 17th-gen-whatever. In fact, he holds Aki in such high regard he dare not even entertain the possibility of getting romantic with her, either in the present or the future. He thinks he’s too far beneath her; in reality, she’d be just fine with that!

In any case, though she’s mistaking Kanetsugu for the younger, fatter Masamune, the fact is Aki likes what she sees, and her betrothed seems to have completely usurped thin Masamune from her thoughts. Her fan club, who gets a lot of screen time, also ends up allying themselves with Kanetsugu when he promises he has no intention of touching their goddess.

That alliance is somewhat undermined by Class Rep Futaba, who insists her class put on a performance of Snow White with Masamune and Kojuurou as the prince and princess, respectively. Mari, fan club member, and her class are putting on a Snow White of their own, only with Aki and Kanetsugu.

Masamune helps the two warring classes come to a compromise: both performances will be held, and the school will get to vote for the one they like best. It will also determine which “prince”; which Masamune gets to dance with Aki (though she herself isn’t informed of this wager).

If the pro-BL caucus propels our Masamune to victory in the drama battle, what then? How will he be able to wrest Aki from Kanetsugu’s pudgy clutches?

Masamune-kun no Revenge – 09

Whether due to her suspicions about him going to Neko’s place, or the fact that Neko being missing takes precedence, Aki completely ignores the fact Masamune said he “chose” her and rejected Neko. The girls (and Kojuurou) pile into the car to go look for Neko, and there isn’t room for him.

And yet, after nothing comes of searching the immediate vicinity of Neko’s apartment, Masamune and Aki both end up at school. There, Aki tells Masamune she doesn’t want Neko wallowing in despair. She feels bad that he rejected her…which is pretty rich, considering she did the same thing to Masamune years back, which leads him to bring up “pig’s foot” to her.

That conversation is curtailed by the re-enactment of a scene in the manga Masamune owns which Neko also started reading, in which a girl turns her unrequited love letters into paper airplanes. Only when they finds her on the roof, it isn’t long before she collapses from exhaustion. Clearly Neko is frailer than Masamune ever imagined.

While recovering in hospital, Neko asks to speak to Aki alone. After that, she has Masamune brought in to talk to him alone, and reveals her plan to him to fall in love before undergoing a risky operation that could improve her condition (or not).

She says he was chosen at random to be her suitor, but a later flashback indicates the two did meet little kids, and were thought by his family to be a good match. Alas, Masamune only ever had feelings for Aki. She thanks him for giving her “lovely memories,” then excuses him.

Neko’s talk with Masamune about not walking the “same path” as her through an uncertain fog, and he redoubles his efforts to block out “unnecessary thoughts” and recommit himself to his goal: to make Aki fall for him and then “throw her away in the best way possible.” He’s not thinking about what happens after.

We thankfully also get Neko’s frank talk with Aki. Neko was soundly rejected, so now she sees no good reason why Aki should keep acting tough and denying the love Masamune has for her.

Neko is conceding defeat, and Aki can’t dance around the fact that she feels something…but interestingly, she thinks back to the fat Masamune of her childhood as her ideal of love. After all, Masamune has only showed us his version of their relationship. It’s not a great leap to assume she teased him because she liked him…he was just to thick to realize that.

As for what happens in the end, with a fat little guy who looks like Masamune showing up in Aki’s garden…I don’t know what to think. Did she fall asleep beside the fountain and is simply dreaming? Or is she mistaking this random kid for the real Masamune?

It was a very bizarre and confusing—if mildly intriguing—way to end another solid, earnest, emotional episode.

Masamune-kun no Revenge – 08

I was right at the edge with Masamune-kun no Revenge, and with the gang planning to hang at the pool, it looked like we were in for another color-by-numbers harem outing. Instead, things got a little more serious…all because Masamune’s photo is gone, and he suspects Neko of taking it—which she did.

While meeting Akagaki at a family restaurant so she can give him back luggage he left at her villa, the photo distracts Masamune to the point where Adagaki is insulted by his distance and leaves. The minute she leaves (without paying for the four sundaes she ate) Masamune gets a call from Neko, which leads to him asking if they can meet so he can somehow bring up the photo she stole.

It’s here where things get hot and heavy in a hurry, and very unexpectedly so. Neko doesn’t jump his bones like a cat in heat, no; in fact, it’s Masamune who sneaks into her room to look for the photo, then comes across the same romance novel she saw at his house.

Neko catches him snooping, but thinks nothing of it, and before long owns up to the theft of the photo, saying the young him—not the young Adagaki—was just too cute for her to resist. His self-image poisoned by his interactions with Adagaki and others, Masamune never once considered himself cute, but Neko means it.

So what if he was fat? Well, the fact he was once fat means everything to Masamune, both in terms of his present obsession with fitness and his vendetta with Adagaki.

Masamune is so messed up, to the end he believes Neko is working some other angle, some ulterior motive he’s on the cusp of discovering. So when she advances on him, he questions whether she really likes him, then takes the photo and leaves, telling her choosing Adagaki is his…revenge.

After he leaves, Neko doesn’t seem like her plan had failed. She looks heartbroken, and says as much. For his part, Masamune is pretty messed up too – he just had his first kiss with a girl, and having rejected her out of hand, his stomach hurts something fierce. He’s just not sure whether he did the right thing, only that he can’t get Adagaki off his mind.

The pool party is an afterthought, both narratively (because the Neko incident takes precedence) and practically (there’s no animation, just a bunch of panning stills). But that’s okay; what matters isn’t what happened at the pool, but who didn’t attend: Neko told Futaba she wasn’t feeling well. And again, Masamune feels frustratingly far away to Adagaki.

While everyone is leaving the pool, Neko’s attendant pulls up, asking what Masamue did to her, as she’s now missing and without her meds. That’s right: Neko isn’t just some vitamin junkie; she’s a very sickly young woman and a seizure risk. Masamune was wrong. So he tells the truth – he went to Neko’s to tell her he couldn’t go out with her because he was choosing Adagaki.

The episode ends there, with us wondering how much those words may have affected Adagaki, and knowing that with Neko who-knows-where without vital meds, this isn’t a game or test of courage. They’ve gotta find her first, then deal with the romantic ramifications.

Masamune-kun no Revenge – 07

Masamune-kun no Revenge got off to a halfway clever start, but in the last few weeks has been leaning heavily on overused rom-com tropes. This episode is no different, combining three such tropes: The Beach Trip, The Test of Courage, and the Man-Hating Older Woman (MHOW). As such, it’s an adequate but unexceptional outing.

In an attempt to add stakes, while on the yacht to the island where the Adagaki beach manse is located Koiwai warns Masamune that if he doesn’t make progress on this trip, she’ll spill the beans to her master – all of them.

It spooks Masamune into taking risks, like telling the trip chaperone—Adagaki’s dad’s secretary Yuisaki Midori (the MHOW)—that he’s Adagaki’s boyfriend. He knows Adagaki cares greatly about appearances where other women are concerned, and it pays off…just.

We know the reason why: on some level, Adagaki wouldn’t mind actually dating Masamune. She’s keeping up appearances, both by allowing the lie and making sure Neko stays away from her man, but also because she doesn’t want Neko sniffing around Masamune anyway.

Masamune later goes to Yuisaki for suggestions on what to do that’s good for a dating pair, and she suggests the dreaded Test of Courage (I like how she considers it childish, but the still pretty childish Masamune is fine with it).

He rigs it so he’ll have to save Adagaki when she’s trembling in fear, and we get another one of his far-fetched fantasies where she says and does things the really Adagaki never would, at least not yet.

But because Yusaki hates men, and wants Adagaki to become like her, she tries to dispose of Masamune by trying to scare him. Instead, Koiwai (whom Masamune sent in first so she could brandish a chainsaw) ends up scaring Yuisaki, who hits her head and has to be carried home by Masamune. Yuisaki learns that the dating is a lie, but also learns that Masamune is actually a good guy and she feels bad for prejudging him.

I never thought for a second Koiwai was going to spill the beans, so there wasn’t really much in the way of stakes this week. He doesn’t make much in the way of progress, nor do we learn anything more of Neko (oddly we now know more about Yuisaki than her). Here’s hoping the show is troped out and will do something a little more interesting next week.