Insomniacs After School – 13 (Fin) – Something’s Different This Time

Isaki cannot contain her exuberance upon learning that Ganta will indeed be “kidnapping” her so they can go to the Mawaki Site together as planned. After making her gran’s house spotless and packing up, the two are the only ones on the bus, and the excitement of what they’ve done starts to mount. They know they’re being rebellious, but they don’t care; they’re together, damnit.

While the weather let them down at the meteor shower party, it sure as shit doesn’t here; their guile and adventurousness is rewarded with an absolutely perfect sunny day. When they finally reach the ancient landmark, which is over six millennia old, Isaki is again so excited that her feet leave the ground, and she ends up falling on top of Ganta. They stay that way, this time fully awake, and she admits she was afraid he’d go there without her.

Obviously, that was never going to happen. That the site is of one of the oldest continuously occupied settlements in all of Japan, lends a momentousness and poignancy to the achievement. The two enjoy each other’s company as the sun goes down and makes way for a stunning starry sky. Ganta opens up about an early memory of his mom holding his hand while pointing up at the same sky.

At the time, Ganta was scared; it was too big and mysterious for him. But now, with Isaki there, he’s able to say it’s pretty, just as his mom did. Even if she left, he’ll always have that memory, and now he has all these new memories with Isaki, whom he admits is also special to him. In fact, he takes her hands in his when she’s not expecting it and tells her he loves her, and will always love her, as they make more memories in the future.

Isaki collapses with pure happiness in response, and suggest they commemorate what for her is the happiest moment of her life by taking photos of one another. Doubtless even if the camera was broken, neither of them will ever forget this night.

We don’t witness Isaki’s parents picking her up, but hear from her friends that she got the stern talking to of all talking tos and then grounded until the start of the next school term. They admire both Isaki and Ganta for putting it all on the line for love. Ukegawa lets Shiromaru know that Ganta won an award for his photo at the Mawaki Site, so the Astronomy Club won’t have any trouble getting funds.

Isaki and Ganta are apart in the final scene of the episode, but only physically. In their minds and hearts they are connected via Isaki’s radio show for an audience of one: the boy she loves. Neither of them have any regrets, and look back on all the places they’ve been to and things they’ve done together, and look forward to more to come.

Isaki also says that she’s no longer having trouble sleeping out of anxiety, but out of excitement, as she and Ganta prepare to undertake their greatest adventure yet: one of love and partnership. And so the book closes on one of the gentlest and most wholesome romance stories I’ve had the pleasure to watch since the Ghibli classic Whisper of the Heart. I don’t expect anything airing this Summer to remotely match its power!

Insomniacs After School – 12 – Love is Powerful

The bad news: The next day is raining cats and dogs, with more terrible weather in the forecast, so no photography work can be done. The good news: we get to bask longer in Isaki and Ganta’s infectiously adorable domestic bliss. There are couples that burn bright and briefly, and then there’s these two soulmates, who feel so comfy and right together it’s as if they’ve already been married for years.

Far from their first kiss creating an awkward rift, these two feel even more close and comfortable just hanging out together, even in silence as they do different things. When their bare feet accidentally touch (guest storyboards by Quentin Tarantino), they draw apart, then re-touch and stay there, connected ever so lightly but profoundly. They’re not awkward, but they are still bashful! You get the feeling both of them would be perfectly content if things just stayed this way forever.

But when they run low on food and camp budget funds, they’re bailed out by the arrival of Ukegawa and the girls, armed with groceries (in Anamizu’s case, way too many bananas!) I loved the joke of Kani bringing a pouch of mysterious white powder she says will “get the party started”, and it turn out to be okonomiyaki flour, as she shows off her pro spatula skills.

After dinner, everyone get a look at Ganta’s photos are genuinely wowed. It’s a nice confidence boost for the guy. It’s a testament both to the writing and to how likable the other characters are that their presence never feels like an intrusion of the couple’s “honeymoon”. On the contrary, it’s more a validation and celebration of their relationship.

When the girls go out for a ladies-only sunset soiree, Ukegawa gets to rap with Ganta about how things are going. He can tell something’s different about his old friend, saying he’s “back to being the cool kid he was” while also seeming taller. Ganta wordlessly admits he and Isaki are pretty much an item, and Ukegawa makes clear everyone who’s come is rooting for them. Even Kani!

When Nono’s ghost story involving a lady screaming is interrupted by the call of a wild deer, it freaks the girls out and everyone ends up in a pile on the floor. After dark they light fireworks, Ukegawa breaks out his Ukelele (great name-instrument synergy), and everyone eventually joins him in a song about love and happiness. It’s not the Al Green song, but it’s a damn pretty song.

The next day, after Ganta films some video of Kani dancing and Nana blows and sketches some bubbles, the friends board the train back home, and Isaki and Ganta are alone again. Isaki describes her granmother as the lovey-dovey type who was always holding her gramps’ hand when he was still alive.

She predicts that Ganta will be a stubborn old man. When he asks her what kind of old woman she’ll be, she pauses and says she doesn’t know what the future holds. She smiles a bittersweet smile as the sun beats down, and Ganta is compelled to take her hand and not let go. He feels like if he doesn’t, Isaki might melt away in the summer heat.

While stolling about hand-in-hand, Isaki gets a call and then texts from her mom; thanks to her sister posting pics, the gig is up. Her parents know she’s alone with a boy. Her phone call is presented inaudibly, which has a more profound effect, especially as we watch her body language and fidgeting.

Her parents order her to come home right away. When she tells Ganta she’s not going anywhere until they complete the camp by going to the Mawaki Site, Ganta tells her she’s being willful and selfish, as her parents are merely worried about her. They exchange insults, mostly playfully, and then her parents message her that they’re picking her up tonight.

First, Ganta tells Isaki that they should clean the place well, as they were fortunate to spend the time they did there. This makes Isaki tear up, but she agrees. Then Ganta asks Isaki to let him kidnap her, and her face lights up. He notes that they shouldn’t defy her parents, but he doesn’t have a choice. They started this training camp together, and they’ll finish it together. Let no one say Ganta can’t be a romantic guy when he wants to be!

Insomniacs After School – 11 – Invincible Peas in a Pod

An episode full of bliss begins with the worst morning of Ganta’s life, when he wakes up to find his mother has suddenly gone without a word. That feeling of abandonment must have been hard to shake for years, but the hole his mother left in his heart has gradually become filled by Isaki.

This is a little masterpiece of an episode, which never cuts away from anyone other than Ganta and Isaki, highlighting just how well they coexist together; how happy and at peace they are together; how well matched they are. When Ganta’s natural inclination to worry or eschew kicks in, Isaki is there to give him a little nudge. When he stumbles, she’s there to catch him.

I made note of two finally being able to play house after Isaki’s sister skedaddled, but I wasn’t prepared for just how beautifully Ganta and Isaki settle into a little slice of life together, whether it’s going on their little daily adventures, nightly photography sessions, or things like laundry, shopping, and cooking. It’s all presented so sweetly—so idyllically.

In the rare moments they’re alone, Ganta and Isaki are both thinking of one another, and the situation they’re in, and how far they can or should take it. Isaki is proactive in setting a “mutual boundary line” past which neither of them can cross in the night, but when the two start exchanging funny texts and hearing each other laughing through the walls, Isaki cracks the sliding door, thus bridging their artificial gap.

Having survived a night without giving in too recklessly to their steadily simmering feelings, Ganta and Isaki get right back to it the next day, having a blast photographing all of the gorgeous spots they visit. That night they break out the watermelon and spend some time in silent bliss. Ganta wishes it could stay this way forever; Isaki concurs.

Having heard Isaki’s secret about her tenuous medical past, which he knows from her sister she doesn’t just tell anyone, Ganta decides the time is right to open up about his primary source of insomnia: a crushing fear of a tomorrow that is far worse than the day before. This is the fear instilled in him since his mother left.

In bringing up such a delicate and painful topic, Ganta breaks down into tears, but in the midst of drying them, Isaki leans in close and kisses him. She then draws back and notes that her first kiss “tasted salty”, due to Ganta’s tears. Ganta is so shocked—and happy—he doesn’t know quite what to do, so he runs outside and falls into the sea.

Of course, Isaki is there to pull him out, and in ensuring he’s not hurt, the two make eye contact for the first time since their kiss…and start laughing at the fact that the eye contact feels different. The kiss was a physical affirmation of the feelings the two clearly have and have had for each other since shortly after meeting. But it also opens a door that can’t be easily closed.

Isaki says they should “leave things how they are” until they reach the finish line of their trip. This isn’t a retraction of the feelings expressed in the kiss, merely a practical suggestion. And Ganta intends to honor it. But once they do reach that finish line—the Mawaki Site—he fully intends to confess to her. To that, all I can say is Attaboy!

Rarely has a couple spending time alone together for an extended time felt so real and so immersive, and their understated yet momentous first kiss will go down in my anime watching history as one of the very best. Hopefully Ganta can seal the deal by making his feelings for Isaki plain, and Isaki can accept and return them. The times they’ve enjoyed don’t need to be a fleeting dream; they can be their reality.

Insomniacs After School – 10 – Feeling the Spark

Ganta finds himself in Isaki’s house when he and Kurashiki-sensei come to inform the parents of the training camp. That’s how he meets Haya, Isaki’s big sister. Haya immediately sets a tone by introducing herself with a ridiculous fake name and claiming that Isaki is a clone of her. But what’s not a joke is that she’s joining them on their trip as a chaperone.

Isaki and Haya’s sibling chemistry is wonderfully complex (I’m a middle child, so it’s also relatable) and beautifully performed by the voice actors. So too his Ganta’s soft-spoken father, who reveals that his wife simply walked out in the middle of the night. He also mentions a time Ganta wore shoes that were too small because he didn’t want to trouble him.

Kurashiki’s face upon learning these things is worth a thousand words. Shiromaru’s face is a lot simpler when seeing him off. It could be she’s just naturally shy and averse to eye contact, but she could also have a little crush on her “little protégé”, who she admits has quickly improved his photography skills. Her advice to Ganta is not to get too hung up on taking the perfect photo of a starry sky, but simply listen to his heart.

If and when he feels a spark, that’s when he should hit the shutter, and when he’ll create truly great photos. As he and Isaki go shopping for camp gear in Hanazawa, Ganta feels that spark whenever Isaki is in the viewfinder. And the gorgeous, loving way she’s drawn and animated, you really can’t blame him!

Haya isn’t just their chaperon on their trip, but also their driver. When they arrive at the sisters’ vacant grandmother’s house, it’s a little stuffy, but it has an engawa that opens up to the sea, and Ganta and Isaki are able to have a quiet little moment together before Haya is yelling about toilet paper. She proceeds to act as an agent of chaos throughout the evening, getting Ganta to say Isaki’s name, and drawing on Isaki’s napping face.

But there’s a method to Haya’s madness: she drew on Isaki to delay her on purpose, so she could speak to Ganta one-on-one. Growing up, Haya was constantly being neglected in favor of the smaller, younger, and far more fragile Isaki. Resentment was Haya’s constant companion.

Haya, who is surprised when Ganta says he knows about Isaki’s heart, then asks if it’s true “what she heard” about Isaki trying to hook up with him. He answers honestly that he’s not sure he can take her words about him being “special to her” to necessarily mean romantic love. Haya is impressed by his answer, but then warns him not to get involved with her sister.

She says Isaki already knows how “different from the norm” she is and doesn’t need anyone feeling sorry for her. Ganta, turning direct and serious as he fights back his blushing, assures Haya he’s never once felt sorry for Isaki. Instead, he’s thought she was cool (which she is) and is someone who “shines very brightly” in his eyes.

Haya learns what it means for someone to shine in his eyes when Ganta invites her to look into the camera and she sees the dull podunk town she despises looking gorgeous and idyllic. Isaki then tells her sister Ganta’s pretty amazing.

The next morning, Haya is off. She says she’s going to meet up with her boyfriend, and maybe she is, but she’s also leaving because she saw and heard all she needed to know get a good measure of Ganta. That said, she still orders Isaki not to tell their folks she split, and the sisters end up waking Ganta up with their rambunctious roughhousing.

Haya doesn’t treat Isaki like this because she hates her sister; quite the contrary. As she prepares to drive off, she tells Ganta one more story: of how she watched with resentment as her shrimpy, slow sister ran in a race and was helped to the finish line by her peers. Watching her be pampered and cheered on made Haya sick.

But then Haya saw Isaki bawling her eyes out into a tree, saying “this sucks”. At no point did Isaki feel like she was being pampered, or like how she was being treated differently. So from then on, Haya vowed to be the one person in Isaki’s life who wouldn’t treat her like a pity case.

Isaki also never tells anyone about her heart problems. I doubt she’s even told her girlfriends, as close as they are. But that she told Ganta tells Haya a lot about how Isaki feels about him. There’s love, but also trust. And so in a simple little ceremony, Haya has Ganta high-five him, serving as a tag-out. She’s leaving Isaki in his care.

After Isaki appears to give Haya a curt goodbye, Haya drives off, and Isaki and Ganta are alone at last in the rural peace and quiet. Only they’re late for their bus, so they have to skip breakfast and end up in a mad scramble to gather all their stuff—an adorable little preview of their future domestic life.

Insomniacs After School – 09 – Swimsuit Dates

Summer is here, and with it oppressive heat, but at least it dries the laundry faster. We meet Isaki’s older sister (voiced by Amamiya Sora), presumably home for break and bossing Isaki around while she luxuriates on a beanbag with an ice cream bar.

Ganta has big plans for an astrophotography training camp to Noto, but the astronomy club has no track record, so it has no funding. Not wanting Isaki to dip into her New Year’s money or ask his dad, he plans to obtain a summer job so they can fund the camp.

That night, Ganta broadcasts a radio show as he uses the telescope’s astronomy software to direct it at the heavenly body of his choosing; in this case the moon. He notes how life has suddenly gotten “pretty thrilling”, and he says what Isaki would say in response to his anxiety about getting a job (“go for broke!) the same time she says it, causing her to fall of her bed head first and get yelled at by her sis.

The next day, Ganta fails his job interview and is down in the dumps, but Ukegawa cheers him up and says it’s all part of the territory. Ganta heads to the arcade to find Yui apparently collapses, but she just overslept after pulling an all-nighter for an upcoming adult gaming event. While she heads to a hot spring to wash up (Yui’s life is my goal) he straightens up the arcade to her surprise.

When he mentions how he needs funding (for what she halfway-jokes is a training camp for his and Isaki’s “secret flirty time), she asks why he can’t just go to his family, assuming he’s rich because he has a high end camera. Ganta tells her his dad always takes things to the extreme, perhaps out of guilt that his mom isn’t around anymore. Yui decides to offer him a job at the arcade, and he’s so grateful he accidentally soaks her.

Isaki and Ukegawa stop by to congratulate Ganta on his new job, but then Isaki is off to the beach with her girlfriends. Predictably, Kana is the one whose heart is set on snagging some boys (or getting their attention and rejecting them gracefully).

Everyone has cute swimsuits, but Isaki wears a big tee over hers…perhaps to hide the scars from her operations? To Kani’s disappointment, there are no hot guys biting, while Isaki, Momo and Anamizu act like a bunch of little kids. Regardless, they’re all having fun.

When Ganta reports to work that day, Yui is relaing in a kiddy pool with shade, a watermelon, and other comforts, simply Living the Goddamn Life. He tells her his planned itinerary for the camp, and she tells him that it will probably cost a lot more than he thinks. She prepares a list for him of what he’ll need so he can recalculate.

As he goes through this list in her apartment, he realizes he badly underestimated the cash needed; even his summer job might not cover it. That’s when Isaki appears seemingly out of nowhere. After her beach trip, where she had no intention of meeting a guy, she decided to pay a visit to the guy she already has!

She also reports that she was hit on for the first time, waits for his jealous reaction, then qualifies her experience: it was grade schoolers who bought her shaved ice.

When Ganta relays to her their club’s dire financial straits and the need to seriously pare down his ambitious training camp plan, she fires the bullet she’d been saving for the right time: her grandmother has a house right smack dab in the middle of Noto. They can get there by bus for cheap, stay there for free, and cook their own meals.

Isaki’s crucial input makes the training camp doable and reignites Ganta’s excitement. In celebration, the two gently put their hands together and start dancing and singing like complete and utter dorks! Like what the hell, why are they so damn cute?! Then again, I get their enthusiasm. They’re essentially going to be playing house together. It should be bliss!

Alas, Isaki’s parade is rained on when her sister announces that she’ll be “tagging along” on her little training camp, presumably as a chaperone. That said, I imagine her sister has normal sleep patterns, which mean Isaki and Ganta should still have plenty of opportunities to be alone together. And oh yeah, take pictures of the stars or whatever. Sure, why not!

Insomniacs After School – 08 – Somebody Special

The next day at school, which is the last day of the semester, Isaki asks what Ganta thought of her radio show, and he admits he fell asleep in the middle of it. But wasn’t that kinda the point? Isaki is also nervous about her and Ganta’s viewing party getting approved, but when she and her friends arrive at the student council office, he and Ukegawa report that they are good to go.

I love the little slice-of-life scenes of Isaki and her friends just goofing off over weird-flavored drinks or comparing lunches or special talents. Anamizu is even approached by a strapping senpai she likes who wants to go to the viewing party.

I also liked how since this is the start of summer break, it’s hot out, and walking around out in the sun is as grueling as coming into a nicely air-conditioned building is refreshing. Kani continues to maintain a slightly antagonistic attitude towards Ganta, protesting when he shows up ninja-like.

When Ukegawa tells the girls that Ganta used to be quite the runner, but slowed down when he grew out of his shoes, he doesn’t shame Kani for laughing by saying, for instance, Ganta’s family couldn’t afford new shoes for him…or possibly didn’t care. We see Ganta’s family life is near non-existent. That said, my heart was lifted when Isaki placed the glowing star antennae on his head.

Even if his family situation isn’t the best, at least he has a solid group of people at school who care about him in their own ways. Which is why when the night of the viewing party arrives and a huge rainstorm blows in to ruin it, he’s so crestfallen. Not only that, Ganta blames himself for this literal act of God, and runs out into the rain to make sure no one shows up at the station.

Yui and Isaki run out into the rain to find him, and Isaki finds him first, yelling across the raging river, crossing the nearest bridge to approach him, and holding an umbrella over him. They may both already be soaked, but the gesture is symbolic: she wants him to come in from the rain, and to cease his self-hatred.

The two find shelter under the bus stop—the same bus stop where they hid from a cop on their first Nightly Fun session (I miss those!). When they can’t simply talk things out, Isaki starts recording another episode of her radio show.

She acknowledges that it sucks that their viewing party they worked so hard on got cancelled, but when she hid in this bus stop with Ganta, she heard his heart racing, and then her heart started to race, that’s when she realizes that he is someone special to her.

Ganta takes this for what it is, and wants desperately to say she’s special to him too, but they’re interrupted by a passing bus. They hide again, and end up very close together again. Isaki puts her hands on Ganta’s face and shapes his mouth into a smile. Then Yui shows up, and from her perspective, it looks like they’re kissing.

The three meet up with the others at the after-party, and Ganta bows and apologizes to everyone. But they tell him he has nothing to apologize for. This wasn’t his fault, and there will be other meteor showers they can organize viewing parties for.

All he needs to do is sit down and have a nice meal with everyone, if not in celebration of a successful event, to celebrate the hard work they all put into it, which brought them closer together. Yui then swipes a shrimp head from Ukegawa’s dish, and puts it together with one of hers, making both Isaki and Ganta blush and avert their eyes.

The question is, when will they summon the courage to express how special they are to each other will an actual kiss?

Insomniacs After School – 07 – Inside a Dream

Anamizu, Kanikawa, and Momo show up to distribute flyers for Ganta and Isaki. Anamizu proves the most adept at placing them in the palms of passersby, but even she only manages to hand out half of her share. Such is the business of flyer distribution. Ganta heads into the market to hand out more, but thankfully Ukegawa is there to make sure he keeps his promise to watch the fireworks with Isaki.

Later in the evening, Ganta figures he must have nodded off and strayed into a wonderful dream. If that’s the case, that dream begins when he happens to spot Isaki on a bridge, looking desperately pretty and cute in a white ykata with purple flowers. The two proceed to have a perfectly adorable festival date.

There’s that ever-present excitement of being at school after dark as they walk through the dark hallways. Isaki learned to move quickly in the dark from when she and her friends in the hospital used to sneak out. On the way up to the roof she tries to hide and scare Ganta, but he sees her little hair tassle and spooks her instead.

Once atop the roof, Ganta tells Isaki how he used to get anxious in crowds, but feels better tonight. When Isaki jokes that it must be because he has a cute girl in a yukata sitting next to him, he says she’s right, causing her to blush. They look into each others eyes just as the first of the fireworks go off, but before they can say anything more, the others arrive.

While their romantic moment is interrupted, Ganta and Isaki proceed to have a blast on the roof with Anamizu, Kani, and Nono, and take a bunch of fun and beautiful photos. When the fireworks end, Isaki’s friends depart, while Ganta and Isaki head to the observatory.

There, Isaki opens up the telescope hatch to reveal the gorgeous starry sky and fill their clubroom with a magical blue light. While downloading photos, Ganta tells Isaki how he once used to lie in bed wondering why he was the only one suffering. But thanks to Isaki and her friends, he now realizes that everyone struggles with one problem or another.

When Isaki climbs into the hatch to get a better view, Ganta is worried she’ll fall, but she assures him “something like this” won’t kill her. She outlasted miniscule odds of survival, having been born with a heart condition that required surgery earlier in life.

While the surgery was a success and she’s now able to live a normal life, she lies in bed petrified that her heart will stop in the night and she won’t see the morning sun. Then a wind blows her off balance, she falls, and Ganta catches her. In the ensuing position, Ganta can hear Isaki’s heart. She says “only half of it moves, so it sounds imperfect”, but to Ganta it must be one of the most perfect sounds he’s ever heard.

Ganta tells Isaki that she doesn’t have to suffer with her anxiety alone in bed. She can call him any time and he’ll pick up and stay with her until she feels safe enough to sleep. She embraces him and cries into his chest, his shirt absorbing her cool tears of joy and gratitude.

She only pulls away and hides her face when she gets self-conscious about the tears making her look “ugly.” The next day at school, her friends don’t seem to notice the signs she’d been crying

The only hitch in Ganta’s plan is that Isaki isn’t able to carry on a regular phone conversation with the thin walls in her house and a mom who’s strict about staying up late. Ganta finds a workaround with a broadcasting app that enables them to softly talk to one another as if they were next to each other.

They talk about a little of everything, telling each other more about themselves. And it works…for both of them. While Ganta eventually hears Isaki yawning and then sleeping and laughs gleefully, he eventually falls asleep as well. Now they know they don’t need to be snuggling together to doze off…but I’m sure they still want to anyway!

Hell, watching these two listen to each other’s voices during these quiet, cozy, tender, extraordinarily sweet moments a night made me a little drowsy, in the absolute best way. Insomniacs After School reached new heights of romantic charm, while also alleviating my worries about Isaki’s fate. After this week, I feel like these two are going to be alright. Watching their gentle love blossom is a mesmerizing delight.

Insomniacs After School – 06 – Their Circumstances

The Astronomy Club has settled into a nice routine consisting of hanging out in the observatory, even on a hot day when there’s no A/C. Isaki’s solution is to “borrow” Kurashiki-sensei’s fan, which causes the teacher to chase her with a net. Yui critiques Ganta’s beach photo as a good image of the starry sky, but says more adjustments are needed to properly capture their reflection in the ocean.

Ganta is scanning through his photos when he comes upon the one of Isaki smiling on the beach, which Ukegawa catches a glimpse of. When Ukegawa encourages him to take more, Isaki is embarrassed and shoots Ganta an angry look. When they leave the mall, she puts quite a bit of distance between them.

When Ganta follows to apologize, she asks to see the picture, and is amazed and a little embarrassed by how big a smile she has in it. They go over the details of a potential training camp, then prepare to part ways once the traffic light changes to “walk.”

While waiting, Isaki tells Ganta to take more pictures of her…to leave a trace of her behind. After showing her taking pills last week, this is another ominous detail that’s too overt for me to dismiss, and I reiterate in no uncertain terms that I will not be okay if this show kills her off.

Obviously, neither is Ganta, who wasn’t witness to the pills but does know that she used to be sickly. It’s just another thing that keeps him up all night, on top of the anxiety over organizing a proper viewing party.

Organizing that party means dusting off his social skill in order to recruit helpers. He starts by asking Isaki’s friends, and in doing so, both he and we are allowed little glimpses into their lives and circumstances. Nono is a talented and focused artist. She agrees to help if he and Isaki model for her, then she makes their dancing pose the poster for the party.

When Ganta asks Kani, she refuses outright, making clear that while she’s friends with Isaki, she’s manifestly not friends with Ganta. This, despite the fact she pays enough attention to him to want to compete with and best him in all things. Frustrated by her attitude, he returns to the observatory to find Isaki sleeping soundly in a box, and he recommits to protecting this place…their place.

The next person he aims to recruit is Anamizu, who is in the middle of softball practice. While her friends regard her as a jock, she’s kind of a disaster at softball, and Ganta watches as her coach verbally abuses her, as is probably standard practice in such situations.

She’s surprised he stuck around, and tosses him a glove so she can practice her pitches. To his credit, Ganta hangs in there as she lobs pitch after wild pitch at him, until finally landing a strike right down Broad Street. Both of them are elated by the accomplishment, and you get the feeling they’ve been through something together.

More importantly, Ganta helped Anamizu find her pitch not by yelling at her or insulting her, but simply being there for her. She was always going to help out with the viewing party, but offers perhaps even more valuable advice in telling Ganta not to asking Kani again.

Sure enough, the first viewing party organizational meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Kani, who is upset she was left out even though she turned Ganta down.

At the arcade, Ganta asks Yui to join him and Isaki on their training camp, but her face turns red and she smacks him with the broom, calling him a “philanderer.” But after she’s calmed down, she tells Ganta she has no problem with him and Isaki going together, as long as they “do it right.”

While Nono is an artist and Anamizu an athlete, Kani is a cook, having grown up in the kitchen of her family’s okonomiyaki restaurant. When the group meets there and she serves them the special (so called because she made it), her folks pop by the table to thank them for putting up with “Princess Motoko”, so-called because she’s used to being the center of attention.

In the process of recruiting help for the viewing party, Ganta’s anxiety is only compounded, since learning more about his recruit’s lives and whole deals made him realize they all have a lot going on, and he’ll be troubling them all if the even goes badly.

While outside the restaurant on his own, Kurashiki-sensei joins him (and to vape) and tells him, essentially, “flaws are just talents for which we haven’t yet found the right purpose.” The viewing party may not go perfectly, but what’s important is that he’s branching out and putting in the effort needed for a good party to take place.

I am not a fan of the little ominous moments that keep popping up threatening some kind of Isaki-related tragedy on the horizon, I still liked how this episode fleshed out her friends, who are all very different in both their interests and how to approach them.

The detailed animation of Nana’s drawing, Anamizu’s pitching, and Kani’s cooking was top-notch, as was the newest batch of adorable Isaki poses and expressions. The music is also doing a great job contributing to the lush, cozy feel of the show. I truly can’t wait for the next episode to air.

Insomniacs After School – 05 – Gray Skies are Going to Clear Up

All Ganta wants to do is meet Isaki on the beach on a starry night, but the first day of the camping trip is cloudy and gray. Ganta goes through a number of trials, most of them involving enduring the presence of the well-meaning but irritating-as-hell loudmouth Haida Rui.

Kudos for presenting the “rowdy school friend” in such a nuanced way that we can see he’s just trying to involve Ganta but fundamentally doesn’t understand Ganta’s deal. All attempts to sleep fail, and the physical and emotional effects of all that lost sleep are cumulative.

The next morning, Hakui-sensei makes everyone run laps on the beach. He considers Ganta’s lack of energy to be self-inflicted and urges him to expend all his energy. When the class activities are called off due to rain, Ganta again spends lights-out utterly exhausted but completely unable to sleep. I’ve been there; I’m sure many of us watching have: every little sound and thought is torture. Then Ganta emerges around 1 AM to find that the rain has stopped and the clouds have vanished.

He quietly dresses, packs his camera, and heads to the beach, where of course Isaki is there waiting for him. After bumping fists, she takes hold of his hand and runs laughing through the water as the dazzling stars twinkle above them.

Rarely have I seen a scene of such innocent, unbridled joy. Every shot and movement of Isaki is infused with so much love. If, like me, you watched Vinland Saga earlier this evening, this provided a much-needed emotional salve.

After having an absolutely terrible time on the camping trip, everything worked out. Ganta sets up the camera to take a 2-hour shot, which means he and Isaki have to figure out what to do for two hours. Isaki says she can tell Ganta hasn’t been sleeping.

She confides in him how anxiety grips her when she tries to sleep in her bed, but how snuggling up to him has given her her best sleep in ages. He tells her it’s the same with him, so they agree to sleep together right there. She listens to his heart, and laughs upon learning it’s beating faster than the other day.

All the same, she goes out like a light shortly after snuggling with him, and he soon follows suit, noting first how “warm and tickly” it is to have someone sleeping right beside you. His alarm wakes him up at 5 AM. The camera shot seems to have worked out, but the two of them need to hurry back before they’re spotted.

Even so, as Isaki walks on the beach ahead of him, Ganta can’t help but ask if he can snap some pictures of her. While she’s a little bashful, she’s totally fine with that, and produces some absolutely adorable poses in front of a truly heavenly sunrise.

I’m not worried about them getting caught or into trouble. I’m not even worried (yet) about the pills the episode really wanted us to see Isaki taking earlier. Taking us from the depths of insomniac despair to the highest summits of bliss, this is why I watch anime. This was one of the most beautiful and poignant portrayals of blooming young love, comfort, and closeness I’ve come upon in a long while. When these two are together, all’s right in the world.

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Insomniacs After School – 04 – Chemical Reaction

This week’s IAS features both Isaki and Ganta hanging out with their friends and separately realizing that that they feel a certain way about each other. When Nono tells Isaki how the upcoming fireworks festival would make for a perfect date, Isaki’s response makes it sound to Nono like she already has someone in mind (because she does). There’s a realism to the interactions and banter between the friends that matches the naturalism of the visuals.

Ukegawa has also caught on to how much time Ganta has been spending with Isaki and only Isaki, and uses it to distract Ganta so he can beat him at shogi and hava Ganta buy him ramen. Afterwards the boys cross paths with the girls, and while Isaki and Ganta can only make out the tiniest sounds of greeting before Ganta pedals off, it’s clear as a starry sky to Ukegawa that Ganta likes Isaki, and it’s not a stretch to believe she feels similarly about Ganta.

Ukegawa tags along with Ganta to Yui’s so she can critique the night photos he’s taken so far. She’s strict, but that’s the way Ganta wants it, as he wants to do it right. When he climbs into the tent he set up as practice for the class’ seaside camping trip, Yui heads off to work, and Ukegawa makes a tactical retreat. You see, Isaki has arrived and he doesn’t want to be a third wheel.

It’s Isaki who greets Ganta when he emerges from the tent, and for the first time since they met, the two are nervous and self-conscious around each other, owing to all the talk about dates and such. Ganta still manages to ask Isaki out to the fireworks festival, but he unfortunately qualifies it as saying its for astronomy club work. C’mon, man, she’d have said yes even if you said it was a date! Hopefully it will end up being one anyway.

For the next few days Ganta is unable to practice his photograpy since the weather is too bad. He also gets grouped up with Haida, a guy he calls a “joker” who just rubs him the wrong way. During home ec, we see that Kani is eager to beat Ganta at something, be it a test or an apron. Is she simply being competitive, or is there more to it? I guess we’ll see!

As for Haida, he mentions to Ganta that he spotted him out late at night. He’s not going to snitch since that would incriminate him too, but that happens anyway because their teacher Hakui-sensei is also in the bathroom. The two bow and apologizes, but when Hakui tells them to take steps to get better sleep because people who can’t are “messed up”, Ganta takes it as an insult to Isaki and calls his teacher an asshole.

While that probably endears him to the ne’er-do-well Haida, it puts him in the teacher’s doghouse, which combined with the shit weather, his slow progress with camerawork, and the fact he’s forbidden from taking pictures on the camping trip leads him to say that nothing’s going right. He says this while Isaki is hanging teru teru bozus around the observatory, which he tells her is futile; the forecast says it will rain the whole trip.

Isaki walks up to him, puts her hands on his face, and pushes his cheeks up, turning his hangdog frown into a smile. She says they should hope for it to clear up at least one night, and make a promise that if it does, they’ll meet on the beach under the starry sky.

Not only does this cheer Ganta up, but it also calms him down to the point he can fall asleep. Isaki again approaches him, curls up next to him, and places her head on his back. His heartbeat, which she states is “the best”, lulls her to sleep. I love these doggone cute kids so much!

Insomniacs After School – 03 – Laid-Back Astronomy Camp

By signing their names to a sheet, Ganta and Isaki bring the Astronomy Club back to life, but as cool as Kurashiki-sensei has been about all this, she warns them the form is not just a formality. As president, Ganta will have to attend the school club budgetary meeting and not only report on legitimate club activities, but compete for school funding.

While Kurashiki is happy to serve as club advisor, she has nothing to advise on the day-to-day activities of the astronomy club. However, she does point Ganta and Isaki to someone who does: Shiromaru Yui, an alumnus and the last member of the astronomy club before it was shut down. Ganta and Isaki take a train out to rural Wakuraonsen and traverse seemingly endless rice paddies to find this Shiromaru.

When they finally find her workplace, it’s an arcade with a deafening din. At first, Yui asks these two minors what they’re doing there after school, but she then recognizes their Kuyo High uniforms and deduces that Kurashiki-sensei sent them, and that they’re seeking her council.

Yui invites the pair to her cargo container converted into a pretty awesome apartment, and even treats them to some carbonara (and a brief look at her unmentionables). Yui looks through Ganta’s camera and determines that he still needs to learn the basics of night photography (she also sees photos Ganta took of Isaki, which are informative in another way).

After dinner, Yui takes the kids out, where it’s now dark and a new moon, perfect for shooting pics of stars. She shows Ganta how to use manual focus and adjust the f-stop and ISO levels. These pointers result in him taking his very first in-focus photo of stars, and he and Isaki are so jazzed that Yui herself can’t help but smile. While she’s been a loner for a long time and may even prefer it, she’s clearly a kind, sweet, and generous individual.

That’s confirmed when Yui takes an active interest in these kids’ resurrection of the astronomy club by paying a visit to the observatory. When Isaki arrives after swimming practice with a bad case of the yawns, she’s revitalized not just by the presence of Yui, but of a tent in the observatory. It, along with a camp chair and other comforts, are crucial for a successfull night photography session.

Ganta and Isaki head home that night extremely excited at the prospect of planning a Perseid meteor shower viewing party in August. Ganta is less confident of not embarrassing himself by submitting an entry for a national astrophotography contest, but as Kurashiki says, it’s a small price to pay for the potential reward of prestige—and more funds from the school.

Later that night, Yui pulls a Shima Rin and engages in a full-bore iyashikei late night photography session, even bringing along her awesome cat Rollo. As her camera takes a long-exposure shot of a torii gate, she makes a fluffy pancake with her camp stove. The resulting shot is so pretty, she can’t resist wanting to send it to Ganta and Isaki, but hesitates since it’s pushing 2 AM.

Of course, we know Ganta and Isaki are most likely wide awake at home around that time, and apparently so does Rollo, as he nudges Yui’s finger so it presses the send button. She freaks out, but only for a few moments, as she gets immediate, enthusiastic replies from her two kohai, who are clearly night owls.

As I said, it’s clear Shiromaru Yui has adopted a number of tools that enable her to not just survive but thrive in her somewhat monastic life of solitude. But it’s clear from the numerous cute expressions she makes throughout the episode that she’s hardly opposed to social interaction.

In fact, she was eager to share the beauty of the night sky with others, since sharing it only enhanced her enjoyment. It’s a triumphant introduction of another endearing addition to the cast, voiced with a wonderful humanity and nuance by Tomatsu Haruka. Between her and Kurashiki-sensei, Ganta and Isaki are in good hands!

Insomniacs After School – 02 – Going Legit

After waking up and making himself and his dad lunch, Ganta arrives to find Isaki’s friends wrapping her in the classroom curtains. When she suddenly emerges, she looks like a perfect princess. Ganta desperately wants to say good morning, and she prepares to do the same, but he gives her the cold shoulder.

It’s not that he suddenly doesn’t like Isaki—far from it. He explains through texts that it’s in both their best interests not to draw too much attention to their sudden buddying up. Rumors could spread like wildfire, both about them, their hideout, and their insomnia. Isaki agrees, and everything stays their little secret.

The two agree that the observatory could be comfier, however, so Isaki brings a bunch of games and toys and such that will create an environment conducive to sleep. On the physical comfort level, they luck out when a cushy red leather chair and couch are due to be tossed. They start with lugging the chair up to the observatory, which proves so taxing they don’t bother with the couch.

Of course, that means playing rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets the chair first. Isaki wins, and immediately wants for a leg rest. As gunta is pulling a table towards her, she playfully rests her legs on his back, briefly using him as an ottoman. He protests, but methinks he doth protest too much. If a girl is comfortable enough to rest her legs on you, you’re doing something right!

When they hear the door to the observatory creak, they hide behind the chair, wondering if it’s an intruder (or a ghost), but it turns out to be a bicolor cat who has been wandering the school grounds. It makes itself at home on the chair, and Isaki draws close to admire one of the “grandmasters of sleep”. My own cat was in a nearly identical sleeping position not three feet from me as I was watching this.

Isaki buys ice cream for herself and Ganta at the school store, but while she’s gone, the cat returns to the observatory with a piece of lettuce … from Kurashiki-sensei’s sandwich. That brings her to the door that Ganta is currently repairing, and just like that, they’re discovered.

Ganta at first takes full responsibility, saying he acted alone, but when Isaki happily returns with the ice cream, Kurashiki-sensei not unreasonably asks if they’ve been having sex up there. Ganta tells her the truth: this is the only place the both of them can get proper rest.

But even if their intentions and actions are totally innocent and Kurashiki-sensei agrees it’s a hell of a hideout, it’s still her job to report this to the faculty and their parents. Absolutely crestfallen, the two eat their melted ice cream in silence, with Isaki unable to hold back tears.

So that’s it, right? After just two episodes, the dream is over, right? Well…not quite. When Kurashiki-sensei mentioned that the school was considering reviving the observatory for astronomic purposes, Gunta is quick to offer to join the astronomy club. But she questions his motives, and the next day he and Isaki are called to the faculty lounge fearing the worst.

Luckily for them, Kurashiki-sensei is cool. She told her higher-ups that the two of them offered to revive the astronomy club, which is exactly what those higher-ups wanted to hear. The vice principal also remarks that this will put to rest rumors about the student who died haunting the observatory…ya know, the rumors Isaki started.

The news that they’ll still have their palace of seclusion causes such a release of stress and tension that as soon as the two leave the lounge, they start running down the hall smiling and laughing their asses off. It’s a testament to the character design, quality of animation, writing and voice acting working in unity that after so little time I am totally invested in these two adorkable kids and would glad fight a war for them.

That said, they actually will have to do astronomy stuff, so Ganta obtains a basic toy telescope and assembles it on the roof to observe the moon. Isaki repeats her earlier praise for Ganta’s affinity for mechanical stuff, but wait till she learns the guy’s a great cook too!

Once the telescope is assembled, Ganta and Isaki take turns looking at the moon, even bumping heads due to lack of coordination. But when it’s Ganta’s turn to look Isaki aligns herself so the moonlight hits her just right, and she’s a magical princess again, this time telling Ganta “If I end up on the moon, then I’ll wave down to you.”

Ganta at first thinks she’s joking about the ghost again, but Isaki shoots him a far more serious and earnest face than he was expecting. I gotta say, it was the first time I worried this show might eventually enter Your Lie in April territory with Isaki, but I prefer to be more optimistic and upbeat with these too. After all, they fought the law and won!

Insomniacs After School – 01 (First Impressions) – Our Time

Nakami Ganta can’t sleep. We’ve all been there, but this guy is an Edward Norton in Fight Club insomniac. There is no relief in the darkness, and there is no manual boring enough to help him doze off. He simply lies there in his bed, waiting for the sun to rise and the next day of despair to begin. At school, he gets flak from classmates for being a lazy grouch.

But while off on an errand to procure more boxes for what looks like his class’ cultural festival exhibition, he decides to explore the school’s observatory, once headquarters for the astronomy club but now used as a warehouse. But once he’s there, Ganta finds it the perfect place to nap and refresh. Only problem is, someone beat him to the punch: Magari Isaki.

At first, the two are repelled from one another due to a lack of familiarity. But once they realize that they’re each dealing with someone with the exact same problem as they have and searching for a good place to rest, they lower their armor, and end up falling asleep while huddled close together like an old married couple.

There’s a magic to watching two kindred spirits finally find each other after so much aimless wandering and suffering. When Ganta’s trustworthy friend lets them out (when Ganta closed the door he locked himself and Isaki in) Isaki promptly gives Ganta the code to the lock on the door. After they clean up the place a bit, she opens the observatory’s roof and declares the establishment of the Nightly Fun Society, with a membership of two.

One night, Ganta and Isaki sneak out for their first official society meet-up, and they have the entire sleepy town to themselves as the explore together. While this isn’t presented as stylishly or stylistically as Call of the Night, and neither of them are vampires, I still got that nice goosebump-like feeling you get in the dark that makes it more fun and exciting.

When Ganta spots a cop on patrol, he and Isaki hide inside an enclosure, and Isaki gets so close to Ganta she can hear his heartbeat. It’s soothing enough that for a moment she drifts right off, as if Ganta is the key to solving her insomnia and vice-versa. When she comes back to, the coast is clear, Ganta mentions how his heart is racing, and Isaki knows, because not only did she hear it, but hers is racing too.

In case they encountered a policeman, Ganta brought a camera so he could say they’re with the photography club. Even if he says it’s an excuse, the beautiful nighttime sky beckons, and he snaps some shots of the moonlit clouds, as well as Isaki goofing off, showing that even though she was frail and hospitalized as a kid, she’s all better now…aside from the whole not sleeping thing!

The two watch the sun rise at the waterside, then Ganta walks Isaki home and they exchange contact info. As they do, Ganta wonders what kind of relationship they’ve started. Just days ago, they ‘d never even spoken to each other, and Isaki assumed he was a scary jerk. But now they’re exploring the town at night, have each other’s numbers, and have started a club of just the two of them.

I’m going to not go out on a limb and call this the sweetest premiere of the Spring. Ganta and Isaki aren’t just adorable, they feel like real people with a real, relatable, and basic problem: sleeping. By meeting, they have stumbled onto a way to not only possibly improve their sleep patterns, but make the time they are awake much more enjoyable.

I couldn’t help but wear a big goofy smile throughout the episode, and by no would I dismiss anyone for whom this isn’t their cup of tea a cynical grouch who needs more sleep ;) This just feels to me like Laid-Back Camp: warm, fuzzy, charming and inviting. So I’ll be sticking around.