A Condition Called Love – 03 – Unlimited Overtime

A commenter in the ANN forum on this show made a very good point that made me want to reassess the show so far: this show is clearly aware that Hananoi’s more obsessive behaviors are problematic. Fortunately, while he does loom over her at the end of last week’s episode, he ends up collapsing due to his fever from waiting in the cold for Hotaru all morning.

Hotaru calls his grandma and goes home, and feels awful for asking Hananoi to do something that means so much to him, just to see if she’d feel anything. I think she’s being a little harsh on herself, but like Hananoi, that’s something she needs to work on. She’s always thought she was just some NPC, but to him, she’s a princess.

A couple of days pass, and the day their trial run ends arrives. It’s Christmas Eve, and they were supposed to go on a date, but Hotaru assumes it’s not going to happen, either because he’s still ill or because he’s sick of her. She recalls a past instance of unintentionally hurting a friend of hers, but missing the opportunity to properly apologize and drifting apart.

When her little sister’s ice skating costume rips and she needs Hotaru to rush to the skating rink with a sewing kit, Hotaru is resigned to having the same Christmas Eve she always has with her family. But then Hananoi arrives there, having remembered her mentioning her sister’s skating. He still wants to take her out on a date, and Hotaru is surprised by how relieved she feels to see him again.

She may not be aware, but the longing she felt those past two days … well, that’s pretty much love, isn’t it? She felt bad about what went down at his place, but she also missed him. After she presents him to her family (whose jaws drop at the hottie she scored) they go out on a cute, fun, low-key date with food, shopping, light viewing, and skating.

When the lights temporarily go out, Hananoi describes all of the reasons he likes Hotaru, and points out that those things aren’t normal. Not everyone is as kind and curious and generous as she is. She’s special, and he wanted her to have a special day, because he managed to find out that Christmas Eve is also her birthday.

When she slips on her skates, she catches her in a princess carry, and the lights come back on. Hotaru is struck by how many new things she’s started to feel since her trial with Hananoi began, and isn’t ready for it to end. So after he escorts her home, she asks if they can keep the trial going. Naturally, he’s fine with her extending it indefinitely.

Hananoi felt notably less creepy this week, even if he still tries way too hard sometimes at the cost of his own well-being. But I think the more time he spends with Hotaru, the more even-keeled he’ll learn to become, just as the more time she spends with him, the more she’ll learn about what it is to love.

It’s just a shame this was not a particularly nice episode to look at. I fear I’ve been so spoiled by the likes of No-holds-barred powerhouses like Dangers in My Heart that I probably won’t be continuing with this one.

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!

The Dangers in My Heart – 14 – No Way Around but Through

After having a hot bath in a bathroom that smells like Yamada (which she sets up using a button on the wall—so cool) Ichikawa not only finds that Yamada’s gym clothes are the only ones waiting for him, but he has to go commando! When Yamada’s Corgi tries to pull his pants off, Yamada provides a key assist, while also resulting in a warm embrace.

While Yamada prepares hot pot she admits she usually eats alone before dinner, she provides a yearbook to show Ichikawa Lil’ Yamada, whom he can pick out of the photos even faster than she did with his. When he spots her piano, she says she tried it for about a year, then quit, then goes on to mention that she’s tried and quit a lot of things over the years.

She’d always quit when she got frustrated with others getting better at whatever it was than her. This leads her to start crying about becoming a burden to the great people she’s come to know. Ichikawa tells her that if people have had “enough” of her they’d be straight with her.

That leads her to bring up the two days he didn’t show up at the library as a time when he couldn’t be straight with her because he was too nice. When she starts crying even harder, Ichikawa reflexively hugs her. This is exactly what she needs, and once she has a good cry, they enjoy some hot pot together.

When she asks why she’s worrying about stuff like this when she’s always been this way, she blushes and definitely looks like she’s about to say “because I met you.” But Ichikawa suggests it’s because she’s growing up, and her parents treated her when she quit knowing she’d cheer up and keep trying new things.

When Yamada’s mom comes home, Ichikawa doesn’t want to be seen in her Yamada’s clothes, so she stashes him in her room and explains the shoes and second bowl as Chii being over. Ichikawa apologizes for making her lie, but after falling on top of him (as “payback” for when he did it to her), she says it’s fine, because as he said, she’s “grown up, now.”

The day finally arrives when Ichikawa can remove his arm cast, but something is going on with his voice. When he doesn’t greet Yamada or look at her that morning, she texts him that he could at least make eye contact, which he immediately does. Of course, he wants to talk to her, but can’t because of how weird his voice feels and sounds.

Yamada and Ichikawa end up becoming sparring partners in class when Yamada avoids everyone else due to her unusually stinky school judo suit (Hara’s reaction to smelling it had me rolling). After some playful foot-fencing, Ichikawa backs her up against a wall, asking if he only chose her because her suit smelled. But that wasn’t the only reason, and she pays him back at once by pushing him back and putting him on the ground.

As he says to Cool Ichikawa in his bedroom, Ichikawa is still under the mistaken impression that Yamada sees him as a friend who happens to be a guy, rather than a guy she likes and wants for a boyfriend. Because Yamada and Ichikawa are more alike than he originally thought, you’d think he’d think that part of the problem is that she, like him, is afraid enough of being hated to be hesitant to take that next step.

Cool Ichikawa knows better already: he’s got this, with “this” being Yamada. It’s not only the things they’ve done together, but the things she’s said to him that she’s never said to anyone else. At least Ichikawa is no longer always looking for an exit; he realizes the only way around this is through. That’s why I expect him to eventually realize he isn’t just like one of her girl friends.

When he tells her his voice must be changing, he also shows her his arms, the one in the cast being skinnier. But instead of thinking that arm got weaker, she believes his other arm simply got stronger, because he’s growing up. As she holds his arms out, she leans toward him and tells him he’d better say her name as often as possible once he gets his deeper voice. By leaning in, his hands brush against the sides of her chest, and he realizes she’s growing up too.

The Dangers in My Heart – 13 (S2 01) – Best Condition

As the new term begins, Ichikawa immediately finds himself within the orbit of Yamada’s friends, including Chihiro, who heard that his arm was broken and wants to scribble on it. She calls him a “weirdo” for wearing the doggie keychain on his collar, but behind him Hara notices that the keychain matches one on Yamada’s bag.

Yamada and Ichikawa are undeniably closer, but he doesn’t want to rely on her too much to help him with his broken arm, because it would be an undue burden. When he tells the teacher “they’re not that close”, Yamada hears it, and it rightfully upset. Ichikawa has a lot to learn; there’s nothing Yamada wants more than to take care of him when he’s injured.

At least Ichikawa stops himself from compounding the mistake by asking Hara for help, and apologizes before the day is out. When she asks him to elaborate on what he’s apologizing for, he admits that she’s the one he wants to ask for help from the most. She says she knows as she snuggles up to him, which is captured in a postcard memory.

When the boys find Yamada in a pop star magazine shoot, Ichikawa gets protective, but also curious about her work. That said, he’s not sure if she’s comfortable talking about it. Thankfully, when they pop into a konbini after school, she proudly shows him the shoot anyway. He likes how natural she looks—just like the Yamada he knows. He also says she must really like modelling, and her sunset-backlit smile is so bright he has to turn away.

Detective Hara collects more evidence that Yamada and Ichikawa are an item in home ec class, when Yamada offhandedly says she spent Christmas Eve with Ichikawa, and Ichikawa drops his dog keychain. We also learn that over the winter break Kanzaki grew his sideburns out and Hara was not okay with it!

When Yamada falls asleep while helping Ichikawa hold a book he’s reading, she feels down about not being helpful enough. Ichikawa can’t summon the courage to tell her just having her by his side is enough. Instead, he tries to cheer her up with photos of his Akita trip, but lets slip that he fell while on the phone with her, which devastates her. The bad vibes become even worse when she arrives at school to find “Akita Kentarou” is missing.

Everyone is let out of school early due to the snow, but Yamada’s friends ask Ichikawa after school if he knows why she’s been acting so off lately. He sees Hara and Kanzaki looking for it too. Ichikawa dons the scarf she gave him and sets out into the snow to search for it himself; he believes he owes her that much.

While searching, Ichikawa starts to lose hope, but Sekine provides another key assist, pointing out the way Yamada usually goes, then texting Yamada to make sure the two meet. Yamada is beside herself, and even when Ichikawa tries to comfort her she begins to sob, but that’s just when he spots the keychain hanging from a branch behind her.

He would never have found it if she wasn’t there, because he would have never looked up. Yamada continues crying, but now out of relief, holding Ichikawa’s hand tight in hers and drawing closer before taking a step back. When he sneezes, she invites him to her house, which is closer than his, to get out of the cold. Will he accept the invitation?

Dangers in My Heart comes out of the gate effortlessly proving that it remains the gold standard of teen romance. The episode is titled “We’re Searching”, but that doesn’t just refer to the keychain. They’re both searching not only for the words to say to properly express how they feel, but also the times, places, and courage to say them. I imagine as they continue to grow closer they’ll eventually find them together. And that will be a beautiful moment indeed!

P.S. The new OP features, among other things, Yamada and Ichikawa dancing together. It’s the cutest thing in the world, until they do something next week that’s even cuter.