Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai – 13 (Fin) – On Second Thought…Screw Duty!

Tada-kun never fell in love…until he did. And just his luck, it’s someone who is not only from very far away, but whose hand is promised to another. Against as a monumental, implacable an obstacle as Teresa’s stated duty to her country, he feels lost, defeated; like nothing matters anymore—even feelings that got him on a plane.

As Alec basically lets Teresa cry it out one more night (and cries right beside her, owing to her own unrequited love) Kaoru emerges from the sidelines to encourage Tada not to give in to despair or give up on saying what he came there to say to Teresa. While messing around, Kaoru accidentally lets the royal invite Rachel slipped in Tada’s bag.

That’s all the stimulus Tada needs to spring into action, retrieving the damp envelope at all costs. He’s regained the will and the imperative to see and speak with Teresa one last time…even if he’s being a bother.

Turns out Tada is far more of a bother to Charles and Alec than Teresa, but while Alec is quick to call for Tada to leave, Charles, who puts Teresa’s happiness before his own, lets her and Tada have some more time together. Nothing he says or does can change the fact Teresa simply doesn’t love him.

It sucks, but it’s not at all unexpected when two people are arranged, basically at birth, to marry one another. Love can certainly develop in such a scenario, but in my personal view it’s definitely putting the cart before the horse, and such arrangements aren’t a match for organically developing love such as Teresa and Tada’s.

When Tada finally confesses he’s loved Teresa since they met, she accuses him of being unfair. She left Japan so she could lock away all of her feelings deep inside for all time, but all it took was him following her to her home and saying a few words to break that lock.  There’s no “last day of crying” for Teresa, as long as she’s not in a situation where she can live with the one she loves.

As the credits roll, we return to Japan, where aside from Pin-senpai graduating, is more-or-less the status quo…with one very important development: Charles broke off his engagement to Teresa, rightfully acknowledging that it wouldn’t be fair for either of them to follow through with something that was not their choice.

In a bit of a surprise, Teresa not only seems happy to be free of her engagement to Charles, but took it further by “running after” Tada back to Japan, either delaying or outright cancelling her succession to the throne.

Tada is shocked that she would all but abdicate for him, but once they’re in each others arms, the whys, wherefores, and consequences melt away, and it’s just the two of them, Teresa, and Tada, no longer having never fallen in love. Is it a bit too neat and tidy of an ending? You bet…but who cares!

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai – 12 (Not Fin) – It’s Not You, it’s the Royal We

First, I have to applaud TKnS for shedding its comfortable Japanese high school milieu for something completely different that expands the story’s boundaries a whole hemisphere’s width and lends it a sense of occasion.

Second, I applaud Mitsuyoshi for getting over his aviophobia to make the trip to Larsenburg, for he feared something far more than flying: not knowing why Teresa left, and not telling her how he truly felt about her. (Kaoru also cheers his friend on, but keeps his distance)

Larsenberg is gorgeous, as one would expect of a fictitious Germanic-sounding miniature kingdom. You can’t help but notice how different it is from the Japan he left, right down to the fact it’s now wintertime.

Mitsuyoshi arrives at the address his gramps stipulated as the place where he’d find Reiko, AKA Rachel, but has trouble gaining access, because it’s a goddamn palace, complete with a Royal Guard that won’t answer his questions…or speak at all.

Meanwhile, Teresa, Alec, and Charles are busy with the duties of a royal couple and their bodyguard…only with a little bit of palace drama mixed in. Alec reveals her lifelong love for Charles when Teresa walks into find her hugging his recently-worn jacket.

Teresa also picks up on Alec’s tell, a grabbing of the arm that signifies lying. Alec denies and denies, not because she doesn’t believe Teresa knows about her feelings (she does), but because she knows nothing good could come of her expressing her feelings for Charles; he’s supposed to marry Teresa, not her.

Before Teresa and Alec can continue their discussion, Mitsuyoshi pops in. He had the good fortune of being spotted outside the palace by Rachel, who invites him in and tells him how she used to work at his gramps’ cafe when she was in college, before moving to Larsenburg to serve the royal family.

Rachel and Charles present Mitsuyoshi to a very shocked Teresa. He apologizes for surprising her, but she knows she’s the one who needs to apologize and properly tell him what the dealio is. Their reunion came far later in the episode than I expected, and it’s almost painfully brief and cordial.

In a sumptuous gilded drawing room the two sit across from one another, Mitsuyoshi expresses his relief that she’s okay and relays Teresa the others’ regards. Then Teresa comes out with it: she’s the future queen of Larsenburg, and thus there is, in her mind, “no way she can live the life she wants”, i.e. either as an ordinary woman in Japan, or as queen, but getting to choose her man.

In the latter case, Teresa drops a second bombshell on Mitsuyoshi: her lifelong betrothal to none other than Charles. We never see if or how he reacts to this verbally after his initial pained look; we only see the aftermath, with neither Alec nor Charles able to approach a sobbing Teresa in her darkened chambers, while Kaoru finaly reveals he followed Mitsuyoshi here, only to watch his friend crying for the first time.

And it’s about here when I was wondering “Wait, really? You’re going to end it like this, show?” But the show didn’t. MAL misled me into thinking this was the last episode, but there’s one more. Thus, there’s hope everyone can walk away with some kind of closure!

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai – 11 – Decluttering

The sudden departure of Teresa and Alec for vague “family reasons” comes as a shock to all, especially when the reality of their absence sinks in via their now-empty apartment and desks at school. But no one is hit as hard as Mitsuyoshi, who is constantly encountering things that remind her of Teresa, and of the fact he had his chance to say something to her and blew it.

I don’t think Mitsuyoshi is mad at Teresa—nor should he be—so much as he’s angry at himself. He can’t hide his change in behavior post-Teresa from his best friend Kaoru, who quickly comes to suspect Tada liked Teresa and has been shaken by her disappearance. Kaoru wants to help him, but doesn’t have enough info, and it’s too sore a subject to broach lightly.

One friend who has no compunctions about broching sore subjects is Nyanko Big, who despite lacking thumbs is able to get into his closet and rifle through the box he filled with mementos of his time with Teresa.

Mitsuyoshi goes off on his own, and senses a great emptiness from all of the spots he’d previously visited on their last day together. Like the new tenants in the apartment, everything has changed, and there’s nothing for it but to move on. Mitsuyoshi tosses his Teresa Box in the trash.

That practical and emotional “decluttering” continues in the photo club, where he unceremoniously erases Teresa and Alec’s names from the whiteboard. Then they find an extra memory card filled with all of Teresa’s photos. They’re mostly of rocks, but the greatest treasure is the sole video file of their game of photo tag.

That’s the day Teresa and Alec truly became two of the gang, and she also managed to capture Hajime and Hinako’s unspoken love. Those memories of Teresa laughing and smiling just keep rushing through Mitsuyoshi until he can’t take it and flees home to retrieve the box from the trash, only to find it’s already gone.

He sulks in his dark room until Kaoru confronts him, though not before showing him the photo he was looking for, which Hajime submitted for him, and which won an Excellence prize. In it, Teresa is beaming, her hair flowing in the wind, rainbows reflected in her eyes. It’s an absolutely gorgeous image full of love—the photographer’s love for the subject in particular. Kaoru says there’s no way such a photo could have been taken if Mitsuyoshi didn’t feel that way about her.

Mitsuyoshi finally opens up about how angry he’s been since Teresa left, and how stupid he was to stay silent and close love out of his life. All he wants is one last chance to see Teresa and talk to her so he can tell her how he feels—even if she rejects them. Gramps comes in with the un-tossed box, telling Mitsuyoshi that now that it’s “stopped raining in his heart” it’s time to search for the rainbow that comes after; i.e. Teresa.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai – 10 – The Larsenburgian Princess Makes an Irish Exit

This was a simple, quiet, beautiful episode focused mostly on Teresa and Mitsuyoshi’s date (there’s no other word for it) to the Rainbow Samurai show, which begins with the two meeting where they first met, by the gates of the Imperial Palace.

It’s an episode with a beginning and middle that will warm your heart and an ending that will break it—assuming you’re invested in these two.

It’s obvious how much fun both Mitsuyoshi and Teresa are having, but while they’re both smiling, there’s an underlying romantic tension that neither of them is bold enough to remark on with words.

Instead, they simply enjoy their time together, winning each other prizes at the cork gun stand (Teresa hitting hers thanks to an assist from the Yakuza-ish cafe regular), interact in the live show as “hostages”, and enjoy a rainbow-themed meal.

Meanwhile, in a rare cut from their date, Kaoru asks Alec if she’ll go on a date with him, expecting her to reject him for the umpteenth time…only she doesn’t! Not immediately; she gives him a chance to choose where they’ll go, but he’s too consumed in utter shock to suggest anything, and she retracts her offer.

The two encounter one another at the Tada cafe, where Alec delivered a letter to Gramps from Reiko, AKA Rachel, Teresa’s nanny, who introduced her to the Rainbow Samurai in the first place. What a weird coincidence…

When Mitsuyoshi and Terea scale the Sky Tree to the observation deck, it’s suddenly all gray and rainy, as it tends to be whenever the two meet up (or so Mitsuyoshi jokes). The weather, and the sight of a happy family beside them, reminds him of the last time he saw his parents, on a day just as gray and rainy.

He tells Teresa how he blames himself for not telling his father his true feelings; delaying them just a little could have prevented the accident. This is something he knows is ridiculous, but he’s always felt that way regardless, and hasn’t been able to tell anyone…until Teresa.

As the clouds part to reveal a humongous double rainbow, Teresa tells him if he regrets not sharing his feelings in the past, simply try to share them from now on. If that’s meant to be a hint, Mitsuyoshi doesn’t take it.

After that, the two part ways at the cafe, and Teresa can barely hold back tears when thanking Mitsuyoshi for their wonderful day together, for a souvenir he got her, and for the photo of them posing with the Rainbow Samurai. He asks if she wants some coffee, and she shakes her head and returns to her hotel next door.

The next morning at school, the teacher announces that Teresa and Alec have returned to Larsenburg for “family reasons.” Mitsuyoshi and Kaoru are stunned. His entire day with Teresa turned out to be the last they’d spend together, and he didn’t even know it.

There were ample chances for Mitsuyoshi to take Teresa’s advice and share his feelings. On the other hand, every time she shared hers, it was through muttered words he never quite heard, and followed with “oh, it’s nothing at all.”

I would’ve gone a different way than basically ripping off a relationship like a band-aid, but ultimately it was her choice to decide how to say goodbye to Mitsuyoshi. Perhaps anything more would have only made it harder for her to leave at all…and she has to leave, for he good of her country.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai – 03 – A Day in the Life of Nyanko Big

Much of this week’s story is told by the Tada family cat, Nyanko Big, who is over ten years old and hence not only knows a few things about life and the Tada family, but has a very deep voice that commands respect. But he’s also a fat-ass glutton, and so cannot leap nearly as far as he thinks he can. The cat-POV premise is a bit twee/hokey, but never offensively so; it’s mostly just charming.

Nyanko Big observes Mitsuyoshi with Teresa and Alec, two human women even he can see are pretty special, but he knows the boy who saved him ten years ago has never been that into women. The universe seems committed to changing that, both by having Teresa and Alec live right next door to his home and family cafe, but have then help out at the cafe while his gramps is out.

We encounter both newcomers in a young nervous couple and regulars like an elderly couple and someone who gives off a hitman vibe but shares Teresa’s love for the Rainbow Shogun, and also has the reflexes to catch a pitcher of water Teresa nearly drops.

The group takes a break, during which time Mitsu makes everyone coffee, while Teresa provides “hot chocolate spoons” to dip in their cups. Mitsu nonchalantly takes a taste from Teresa’s cup, making it an unspoken indirect kiss, but he doesn’t seem to realize it.

Later, the photography club gathers at Hibiya Park for some Spring-themed photos, and not only does Ijuuin remember when Mitsuyoshi saved him from a “kappa” the river years ago, but Teresa remembers when Alec saved her after Teresa jumped in to retrieve the crown of flowers Alec made for her.

Nyanko Big, who had finished his patrol and was lounging in the park, encounters and falls in love with the local salon cat, Cherry, but once again his leap is far shorter than he’d like, and he ends up in the drink, then quickly up a tree.

But when he slips and falls, Teresa is there to catch him…and Mitsuyoshi is there to catch her. So far their romance has been extremely quiet and low-key, with no words at all said about it…save those of a cat. Whatever there is between Teresa and Mitsu, it’s clearly going to take some time.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai – 02 – Photography Club Can Be a Hoot

Between TKS and 3DK, Tada-kun takes round two. While we only took the tiniest step further in the ostensible romance between Tada and Teresa, we’re introduced to the rest of the crew and…I kinda like all of them?

On Teresa and Alec’s first day they’re the toast of the school, and bespectacled Class Rep Hasegawa asks if they’d like a tour to determine what club they’d like to join (they have to join something). 

That leads them to the photography club, where Teresa and Alec are reunited with Tada and Ijuuin, and upon inspecting a shrine of the club president Sugimoto’s favorite gravure idol HINA, Alec suddenly realizes that class rep Hasegawa is HINA.

Honestly, Tada and Teresa kinda chill in the background of most of this; the stars that shine brightest are Hasegawa, Sugimoto, and the trusty junior member Yamashita, nicknamed “dog” because he comes when Tada calls him.

When Teresa voices interest in joining the club, Sugimoto decides to hold a traditional photo-snapping contest to begin their trial period. The group splits in to, and they turn out to be inspired combinations.

Ijuuin ends up with Alec, with whom he clearly didn’t get off on the right foot, while Sugimoto and Hasegawa round out the 4-person Team B. Once the clock starts, they take turns running around the school trying to get good pictures of the other team, who doesn’t make it easy on them.

Tada, Teresa, and Yamashita make up Team A—a new couple and their pet dog—and the episode takes on a breathless, exciting energy as the club runs around the school with abandon, enjoying their youth.

In the midst of the competition, Yamashita reveals his excellent sense of smell, while Alec shows off her kunoichi skills (again adding fuel to my little princess’ bodyguard fire). We also get a lot of interesting interactions between Sugimoto and Hasegawa. She calls him “-chan”, so I wager they’re childhood friends.

But as Sugimoto falls for Yamashita’s “Look behind you, it’s HINA!”, it’s possible he’s unaware his friend is his favorite idol…and she’s fine keeping it that way. Still, gestures like Sugimoto shielding her from a bucket of water suggest that regardless of whether he knows, he definitely cares a great deal about Hasegawa.

Teresa and Tada thought they’d gotten the best shot of the contest by snapping a surprised Sugimoto and Hasegawa (cameras are good at picking up love between two people), it’s Ninja Alec who swoops in and snaps a picture of Teresa and Tada laughing, which ultimately wins.

So the two had a lot of fun together, and it looks like we have one long-standing couple and a pairing of opposites that just might work given time. And hey, even Yamashita has an admirer in Tada’s sister, Yui. Teresa and Alec join, and when Hasegawa takes her leave, Sugimoto stops her and invites her to join them in celebrating, since she’s part of the club too. All in all, a great ensemble effort.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai – 01 – Meet Cutes and Coincidences (First Impressions)

“Oh Hai! I’m not weirded out by you taking my picture AT ALL!”

There are three basic kinds of anime rom-coms: those that do something totally unique and/or unexpected, those that hew close to the well-worn conventions of the genre, and those that stride the two extremes. From the moment Tada Mitsuyoshi catches his love interest Teresa Wagner in his viewfinder, it’s clear we’re dealing with the well-worn variety.

That means it’s up to things like the execution of the romance, the quality of the comedy, the likability of the characters, and the technical aspects that determine whether I’ll watch it. And if I do, I’m still looking for surprises somewhere to liven up an otherwise boilerplate affair. So let’s see what TKS has going for it, and what it doesn’t.

“We meet AGAIN? It’s almost like we’re supposed to be in the same anime!”

Regarding execution of romance, the title says it all: “Tada doesn’t fall in love.” That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t, can’t, or won’t, mind you; it just means he usually/typically/classically…doesn’t. But it’s almost immediately clear from the Imperial Palace Sakura Photo Meet Cute that Mitsuyoshi is struck by Teresa’s beauty, if nothing else. First impressions matter, and can make the difference between “doesn’t” and “could.”

Mitsuyoshi is most likely someone who has never fallen in love because a.) he’s young,  b.) hasn’t found the right person, and/or c.) he’s focused on photography and school. I’m glad he doesn’t fall head-over-heels for Teresa from the start—he knows next to nothing about her—but at the very least, the air-headed foreigner is an intriguing  new presence in his life.

Alec kicks the overcaffeinated sidekick (THANK you…)

As coincidences continue to pile up that bring the two together, Mitsuyoshi brings Teresa before his whole family, consisting of his cafe-running grandfather (who likes the same old samurai tv show as Teresa) and little sister/waitress Yui (obligatory Minasi Inori presence). The shrine in the Tada residence indicates the loss of one or both Tada parents, one of whom was a photog like Mitsuyoshi.

Before long, Mitsu’s best mate and self-professed “Adonis” Ijuuin Kaoru shows up and tries to put the moves on Teresa as soon as Mitsu tells him she’s not his gf, but he’s quickly thwarted, not just from the cafe cat Nyanko Big (who amusingly resembles a friend’s cat), but by Teresa’s traveling companion, Alexandra “Alec” Magritte, who assumes Kaoru is attacking Teresa and swiftly deploys her itchy trigger leg.

Alec and Kaoru look like a dead ringer for the “opposites attract” trope, but while I appreciate what Miyano Mamoru does with his voice at times, his performance as Kaoru feels a few notches too extreme for this milieu (which is probably intentional).

If you were surprised by this development, you don’t watch many anime rom-coms

Why, do you ask, do two Luxembourgish women in Teresa and Alec have perfect command of Japanese? I imagine it’s the same reason Teresa almost gives another surname other than “Wagner”, and why Alec is so well-versed in martial arts and is protective of Teresa: it’s likely she’s royalty, and Alec is her bodyguard/valet.

She’s come to Japan, likely her favorite foreign country, to soak it all in. That means transferring to Mitsu and Kaoru’s school, and even their class. Ye gods, the coincidences…

Of course, they don’t want to broadcast that fact, but it will be interesting if a.) I’m right about this and b.) it creates a conflict with Mitsu, because at this point, there are no conflicts beyond Mitsu’s general normalness and heretofore non-existent love drive. Maybe she has a betrothed? In any case, this was an establish and introduce episode, and for the most part I’m on board.