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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge – 08

Ohta is injured, so Tanaka must fend for himself! In theory, of course. In reality, Tanaka can’t quit his dependance on help cold turkey, and asks (kinda demands?) Echizen help him instead.

Because Echizen is a kind and decent person, she agrees to direct Tanaka to her neighbor Ohta’s house, and while she carries her usual unpleasant demeanor, it doesn’t change the fact that she helps him nonetheless.

She’s clearly also helped out a bunch of other people, as evidenced by the numerous times she’s stopped on the way home by people thanking her for helping them.

Even when Echizen successfully gets Tanaka to Ohta’s, she sees how happy Ohta is that Tanaka made it there “himself” that she hides so Tanaka can take the credit. This begs the question, for Tanaka as well as me: Why exactly is Echizen a delinquent? Does she, in fact, only dress like one? It sure seems like it, but that contradiction makes her only more endearing.

The next day Ohta returns to school, but is limited due to an injured foot. Tanaka tries to abandon his listlessness that he might be Ohta’s “conveyance” the way Ohta is his most of the time, but to no avail. He has the will; he just doesn’t have the way.

That being said, Tanaka does let Ohta put some of his weight on him on the walks to classes, where Ohta imagines how great it would be if the floors, stairs, and doors were all automatic. With his injury, Ohta is being given a taste of the difficulties moving Tanaka deals with everyday, so it’s only logical that he’d start thinking of ways to make life easier.

Tanaka seems to do Ohta a solid by purchasing his usual sweet pan for lunch, but he gets tired on the way back, remembers that sugar can help with energy, and eat’s Ohta’s pan, leaving Ohta with Tanaka’s savory sandwich. Tanaka’s “various reasons” rationale (complete with face covered in crumbs) is hilarious. And who’s there to bail both out but but Echizen, adding to the mystery of why she’s a delinquent.

The day is more energy-draining than usual, making it hard for Tanaka to stay awake during unsupervised self-study, during which he must complete an English worksheet. He half-assedly puts down answers in Romaji letters (not English), then wonders why, if only about 80 countries speak English, they couldn’t “reform” them and make Japanese a global language.

Note there’s no megalomaniacal ambitions or malice here; Tanaka is just thinking of the most complicated way possible of eliminating English classwork so he can sleep more. The cut to the various people he could potentially ask for help was a wonderful sequence of unique personalities, none of them useful to his immediate needs.

The day ends with a fire drill that demonstrates how Tanaka’s dependence on Ohta could be hazardous to his health, as two classmates help Ohta out but Tanaka gets lost in the school during the evacuation, so used to being carried by Ohta that he is. It’s a similar problem as taking the bus or taxi or Uber someplace all the time, but never driving or walking there yourself – writ small.

When the day ends (with scenes of the town at sunset as gorgeous and tranquil as any show airing today), Tanaka thanks Ohta for everything, even going so far as to name a day after him, which, combined with his “Tanaka Antoinette” line, suggests he considers listlessness a kind of oblesse noblige or higher calling.

The next morning, he gives Ohta an Ohta’s Day gift: a booklet of coupons enabling Tanaka to walk by himself between classes. Tanaka’s attempts to be magnanimous again goes awry because his ability can’t quite match up to his good intentions, and Ohta must swoop Tanaka up and dash to class before the bell rings.

Clearly, Ohta needs to find a more useful way of reciprocating Ohta’s kindness, but at the end of the day, Ohta is simply happy that Tanaka is trying. It’s the thought that counts…but hey, some light physical training wouldn’t hurt, right?