Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage – 10 – The Wind Beneath Their Wings

Now that Hinami knows Mimimi told Tomozaki she liked him, she suggests he focus on the event map with Fuuka, since he’s technically reached his goal with Mimimi. That said, he can always work backwards with Mimimi in terms of events. He certainly has no shortage of face time with either girl! Seeing him having a lively chat with Fuuka causes Mimimi to interrupt and give him a friendly reminder that he did agree to do a comedy routine with her.

When they meet up after school, they barely discuss the routine. Instead, Mimimi wants Tomozaki to understand that she does like him, and not just the way she likes Tama. At first she felt that way, but after telling him, she realizes that this was the one person who gave her the opportunity to try to break out of her “always second place” mentality. Tomozaki owns up to not quite knowing what to do, but does insist she’s not being annoying.

I do wish Mimimi had been able to get a little more out of him, but she’s clearly worried about being a bother, even though she’s no such thing. Meanwhile, Mizusawa, Hinami, and Tama are cast as Libra, Alucia, and Kris, and Fuuka adjusts their dialogue and personalities to match. The more Tomozaki learns about the Kris character, who was only able to fly with Libra by her side, the more he realizes the character is based on Fuuka herself, who he introduced to a new world.

The one question mark is Princess Alucia, who Fuuka feels is too perfect and needs a weakness like the other two mains. But while she’s hardly a social butterfly, Fuuka doesn’t fall for Hinami’s pat answers in their interview for one second. She can tell Hinami is hiding something, and perhaps therein lies Alucia’s—and Hinami’s—weakness: an inability to show her true self to others…perhaps even not knowing who her true self is.

Tomozaki’s seen the Hinami Aoi behind the “mask” she wears at school and when hanging out with friends, but that could well be just another mask; masks under masks. He and Fuuka get permission to speak to a classmate from her middle and elementary schools.

They don’t learn much, but they do learn she once dated and dumped a prominent boy in their middle school, and while her grade school friend recalled she had multiple little sisters, her middle school classmate is positive she only has one. My first thought was a macabre one: did she lose a sister, did she blame herself, and did she vow to become perfect at playing the game of life as anyone has ever been to honor her?

That’s a lot of speculation, but it’s fun to speculate! Meanwhile, Fuuka still has an ending to write as rehearsals begin, Tomozaki still owes Mimimi more of a response to her feelings, and should probably get started on those event maps for both Fuuka and Mimimi. He’s got a lot going on!

Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage – 09 – Process and Outcome

Bless you, Mizusawa, for promptly and firmly calling Tomozaki out on his “masochistic crap”, i.e. his tendency to believe no one would ever choose him. He claims not to care whether or not Mizusawa continues his self-deprecating ways, but when he does it, he upsets people who like him … like Mimimi. Tomozaki can even recall times when Mimimi said basically the same thing Mizusawa is here: he should cut that crap out.

Hearing this harsh assessment of his unconscious defense mechanism, Tomozaki accepts that Mimimi likes him, and therefore he is worthy of being liked. It’s a big step that our boy Ichikawa in Dangers has also taken, and an important step to entering into a romance.

Hinami is glad Tomozaki has chosen two girls to pursue in Mimimi and Fuuka, and gives him what he deems to be difficult mini-goals because she knows he can pull them off if he tries. She also concedes that as his philosophy of balancing process and outcome (i.e. means and ends) has made him the top player as nanashi, he’s free to try the same method IRL.

Then Mimimi and Tomozaki meet for the first time since her confession-in-all-but-name, and they’re awkward and extremely sus, both to Hinami and Mizusawa. The latter told Tomozaki there was a possibility he could carry on with Mimimi like nothing was said, but that’s not looking so likely right now.

Mimimi really put herself out there, and if we’re honest, the ball is in Tomozaki’s court. He gets some leeway because he’s new to this romance stuff, but at some point he owes her an answer to the feelings she honestly and bravely expressed to him that afternoon.

Fuuka may be far less “aggressive” as Mimimi, but like jazz, it’s all about the things she’s not saying or doing, or the things she feels she has to qualify. Tomozaki gets the ball rolling on talking about what dating means to her, and it’s not surprising she gets her guidance from her favorite author.

A story about two people who are the only ones for one another, for whom no one else will do: it’s what she believes dating to be, and she probably sees Tomozaki that way, but like him is too scared to let herself believe she’s worthy of that scenario.

When Tomozaki and Mimimi meet again at lunch, it’s awkward again. Mimimi tries to tell him to forget about what she said in the interests of going “back to the way things were,” but she stops short of that, saying she’d rather he didn’t forget.

When they’re joined by Mizusawa and Hinami, those two are almost egging them on by talking about the rumors swirling about the two of them being a couple, while Tama is her usual lovably blunt self, giving Mimimi a couple of confused looks and declaring she’s being “weird.”

Maybe she is being weird, and maybe Tomozaki is being weird right back. But this initial discomfort and awkwardness is a crucial obstacle to overcome. As I said, Mimimi has been pretty clear to Tomozaki about how she feels, and he owes her some kind of response.

This new dynamic is so compelling, I have to admit I was a little disappointed that so much of the latter quarter of the episode was given over to Tomozaki narrating the gist of Fuuka’s story. That said, I like how there are many parallels: If the dragon is Fuuka’s story, delicate and precious, then she’s Kris, who tends to the dragon, while the princess Alusia is Mimimi and Tomozaki is Libra.

Fuuka is having the same problem as Tomozaki with whom to choose as Libra’s romantic partner, not wanting to ruin the nice vibes she’s created with the three of them. However, in adapting her short story for the stage, a bit of the magic that made the characters feel real was lost in an effort to make the parts easier to play.

Tomozaki recommends that Fuuka bring back the short story versions of the characters. It will be harder to perform them, but they’ll be that much more interesting both to the performers and the audience. Fuuka accepts his advice, accepting the higher difficulty is the key to unlocking the best version of her story.

At the same time, Tomozaki needs to do some serious thinking about what dating someone means to him, and ultimately who he’s going to choose. He’s perfectly justified in finding it hard to do so, as Mimimi and Fuuka are both incredibly kind and lovely girls. Rejecting either of them would be tough, even for a higher-tier character.

Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage – 08 – The One Who Gets to Choose

Mizusawa takes Tomozaki to Gumi’s all-girl’s school festival to observe, to absorb, and if possible, to flirt. He gets things started by effortlessly acquiring the contact info of one of the first cute girls he sees. By being a little goofy, a little charming, and 100% confident, he tells Tomozaki that attractive people can make themselves even more attractive: a “hotness spiral”, if you will.

They check in with Gumi, who is as apathetic about school festivals as she is about work. She can guess why two guys came to an all-girl’s school festival, and when she learns Tomozaki doesn’t have a girlfriend, he wishes him good luck with the girls in her class. Tomozaki doesn’t feel ready for this kind of thing yet, though he does manage to get a selfie with Mizusawa in “glasses.”

His last selfie is almost as easy as Tama’s. After having so many (earned) kind words about her story, Fuuka agrees to be in a selfie with Tomozaki. When they bump shoulders they both blush and Tomozaki apologizes, but it’s fine for Fuuka. I’m sure she’s nervous and shy (and indeed would prefer if he didn’t post their photo), but it’s clear she’s excited by this sudden development in their friendship. A selfie with Tomozaki is as big a deal as a selfie with her is to him.

Hinami congratulates Tomozaki on completing his photo checklist, but asks if he really has been giving the dating goal any thought. If he’s honest, he hasn’t. But we’ve known for a while now (since the first season, in fact) the two girls he wants to get closer to most. That’s Fuuka and Mimimi. Mimimi even foreshadows a later declaration by telling Tomozaki he’s “the only straight man for me,” albeit first in the context of him being in a comedy routine with her for the festival.

As Fuuka begins the task of adapting her short story to a script, she’s still struggling with the ending, which has a direct parallel to Tomozaki’s situation. She’s not sure who among two characters will end up with the hero, and what will happen to the other one. He asks who she’d choose if it were her, but she doesn’t want her personal feelings to affect her story.

Then Fuuka asks him: if there were two special people in his life, how would he choose one from among them? His answer—that he’s not in a position to make such a choice—clearly disappoints Fuuka, and probably for more reasons than one. If she’s trying to find out if he likes her, this line of questioning didn’t work.

Perhaps she’s simply talking hypothetically, but her faces and reactions suggest otherwise. But I also don’t know if she’d have any more success if she simply asked him, “Me, or Mimimi?” All I know is, it’s the rare meeting with Fuuka that ends with both of them feeling down. Mimimi spots him after school, and can tell even from the slump of his back that something’s bothering him.

She surprises him with a hearty slap on the back, hoping to cheer him up. She asks about Gumi, then why he went to an all-girls festival, and when he puts himself down, she tries to point out that he shouldn’t do that. She then proceeds to tell him all the things she likes about him, jokes about him thinking it means she likes him “that way”, and then admits that yes, she actually does like him that way. Not that I had any doubts!

The animators took special care to make Mimimi look more lovely than ever, while her seiyu Hasegawa Ikumi knocks it out of the park with her vulnerable earnestness. There’s no “psych!” or “just joking!” after she essentially confesses to Tomozaki. She simply says “See you later” and skips off, her ears burning from what just transpired. Here’s hoping Tomozaki interprets this for what it is and doesn’t misunderstand: He’s been given a choice, and he’s going to have to make one.

A Couple of Cuckoos – 19 – Onii Is as Onii Does

After sustained insistence from Nagi, Erika finally shows him the photo of the two of them when they were little kids. Only Erika claims the black-haired, blue-eyed boy isn’t Nagi, but his biological older brother, Amano Sosuke, with whom Erika grew up with before his mysterious disappearance.

Sosuke is the one Erika has been hoping to find via Insta, and now all of her interactions with Nagi since they met on that bridge are placed in the context of Nagi reminding her of her long-lost Onii-chan. Nagi takes this news relatively well as Sachi returns to the house after recovering from her fever.

While he has no reason to doubt Erika, the photo and her explanation alone are sufficient for Nagi to paint a complete picture of just what the heck happened with the Amano and Umino families, so he decides to meet with his biological father, Mr. Amano, for further insights.

As Erika explains the situation for Sachi, who now knows why Erika went out of her way to be a good big sister (because she too was a little sister), Erika’s dad doesn’t offer a whole lot to Nagi, insisting that he has not brother while confirming the authenticity of the photo.

Those two positions either mean Erika’s dad is confirming it really is Nagi in that photo, or for whatever reason is invested in maintaining his position that Sosuke never existed. Did he die early? Was he disowned? Dad’s cavalier wishy-washiness makes me question whether there was a Sosuke even though Erika insists there was one. I also can’t rule out Nagi losing his memories of growing up with Erika due to some kind of accident.

That said, one thing Mr. Amano is clear on is that he wants Nagi to marry someone. At first he believed that should be Erika, but he sees no reason why it couldn’t be Sachi (if, as I suspect, he doesn’t really care how the two people raised as blood siblings would feel about it). But I believe that’s the first time Mr. Amano has offered Nagi a choice of whom to marry, perhaps to better the odds of getting what he and the Uminos want: a united family.

Obviously the odd girl out here is Hiro, who remains Best Girl and the most logical choice for Nagi to date/eventually marry as she has no connection to either family. The episode slips her in to explain the scenario with dolls to confused kids, but she’s never felt more outside looking in than now, when it seems like fate is asking Nagi to choose one of the other girls. As for whether Sosuke actually exists, if he’s alive, and if so if we’ll ever see him … there’s five more episodes to sort that out.

A Couple of Cuckoos – 18 – Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb

When Sachi’s fever doesn’t go down, her mom takes her to the hospital, but Sachi insists they don’t tell Onii. When Erika hesitates to tell Nagi what she wanted to say, he scares her from the bushes, and she reveals that she’s been going commando. After purchasing some underwear at a nearby konbini, they complete the test of courage by arriving at a shrine.

There, the two have a really sweet moment, with Erika saying she’s glad she met Nagi, and Nagi concurring. He also wishes things “stay this way”, which Erika not wrongly asks him to elaborate. By “this way”, does he mean the two of them remaining engaged? On that note, Hiro learns the shrine is a marriage shrine, so she and Shion forfeit.

Dinner is finally addressed after the test, and it turns out Erika did buy enough ingredients for an eclectic barbecue. While Hiro missed out on being with Nagi for the test of courage, she still sneaks in an indirect kiss by eating Nagi’s ear of grilled corn (which is the best corn).

Once they’ve done everything else one can do at a study camp, the group considers actually studying, but Nagi surprises them all by suggesting they stargaze instead. Turns out he quickly agreed to the camp because the Capricornid meteor shower would be visible in Karuizawa the night they were there.

Everyone has a great time, but then Nagi gets a text from his mom saying Sachi’s in the hospital, and he catches the last train back home to visit her. She calls him an idiot for ditching his first camp with friends, but also thanks him for being there for her.

The next day Nagi regrets so impulsively ditching the others to see Sachi. While Erika says it’s “fantastic” that he has “someone to rally to” like that, both he and I sensed a little tinge of resentment in her words, as if she should be (and likely is) the same kind of “someone” to Nagi.

That’s doubly true if the truth of the past is that Nagi and Erika grew up together, at least for a couple of years. We learn that Hiro got a look at the photo, which Erika’s dad left in the vacation house as a kind of “bomb”. In doing so, he probably signals that he wants Erika and Nagi to quit reveling in their cozy little limbo and actually start to make some choices.

And it works! Hiro doesn’t know what to make of it, but I’m sure she’s eager to learn more, and considers an alliance with Shion so she can end up with Nagi (a plan probably doomed to failure). Then, in a gorgeously lit scene at the pool, Erika and Nagi exchange some splashes, Nagi makes it clear he wants to know the identity person Erika wants to contact—whom he assumes is someone to her who Sachi is to him.

When he splashes him again, it’s almost signaling that it’s him, and asks him solemnly if he’s truly prepared for what she’s going to say. If that person is Nagi, like I’m assuming and who seems to be the natural choice, and Nagi learns this for certain, the narrative momentum is poised to pick up fast.

Otherside Picnic – 04 – Hey Little Sister, Shotgun

Sorao’s waffling over helping Toriko find Satsuki comes to a head when Toriko leaves in the middle of a very weird lunch to search on her own, thanking Sorao for her help thus far, but implying she can’t count on it anymore and that’s fine. To be fair, Sorao has every reason to fear the Otherside: one of its inhabitants, “Space-Time Man”, warns her she’ll be stuck there if she returns.

Unable to find Toriko to apologize, Sorao visits Kozakura, who inexplicably finds a photo of Satsuki on Sorao’s phone. When three strange people knock aggressively at her door, she whips out an enormous shotgun. Turns out it’s not overkill: the lead woman’s head swells to enormous size, threatening to swallow the two up.

In fact, maybe they do, because one moment the head is there, the next moment they’re in the Otherside. This is particularly distressing to Kozakura, a hermit who doesn’t do field work and is far from dressed properly for an Otherside excursion.

While searching for Toriko, Sorao tells Kozakura about her rather checkered past, involving a parent who was swallowed up into a cult (were those the folks at the door?), then tried to abduct her, only to end up being killed before Sorao could torch them with kerosene. She talks as if this is all the most normal backstory in the world…which it isn’t.

That said, it seems Kozakura was only included so Sorao had someone with whom to talke about her past, because Sorao soon ditches her when she starts using her special eye to discern what’s real and what’s fake. She ends up chasing another version of herself to a strange modern cell where Toriko, dressed in some kind of weird cult garment, is being held.

Toriko is entranced by a figure outside she sees as her “special someone” Satsuki, but in reality is some kind of Art Nouveau monster trying to lure her to God-knows-where. Luckily, Toriko shoots the shit out of the monster with the shotgun, causing it to collapse into itself. Toriko comes out of her trance, and the two make up.

The pace remains leisurely and the runtime is peppered with “wait, what?” moments, but the atmosphere of Otherside and the haunting music accompanying it remain a strong draw. Sorao’s still threatened by Satsuki and pretty generally scared besides, but at least now seems to realize that she and Toriko need to keep sticking together in this bizarre realm.

Bloom Into You – 08 – A Friend and a Senpai

Yagate Kimi ni Naru is the finest school romance I’ve watched since Tsuki ga Kirei back in the Spring of last year, and I’ve known that for some weeks now. Both shows are wonderful to look at, but more importantly they feature some wonderfully fleshed-out characters and relationships, and the more I learn about both, the deeper I sink into the show.

It would have been so easy and expected for someone like Sayaka to launch a transparent full-scale war against Yuu once she determined she was a potential threat to her relationship with Touko. Not only did YKN not take that route, but continued to develop Sayaka as someone just as confused, frustrated, and yet still mostly happy as Yuu.

Watching Sayaka take “revenge” on her former senpai who so coldly dumped her was a thing of absolute beauty, and a perfect way to start the episode in which her and Yuu’s rivalry is laid bare (well, more bare). And how perfect was it that Touko swiftly delivered “payback” in the form of continuing to hold Sayaka’s hand?

Yuu gets the feeling that she and Sayaka have some things to talk about, and that the present chill is affecting their relay baton exchange game, so after school she invites Sayaka to join her for a repast of McDonalds. Sayaka almost immediately calls Yuu out for her “olive branch”, which could harm Sayaka’s image simply by dint of Yuu being her junior.

Yuu holds her own, saying she wouldn’t put it so “dramatically.” Still, the two come to a sort of mutual respect once they learn that neither is the person they expected: Sayaka isn’t so easygoing, and Yuu isn’t so timid and respectful. Both appreciate their directness with each other.

That directness breaks down when neither comes right out and says what they both insinuate by mincing words. Instead, Sayaka says she likes Touko very much “as a close friend” while Yuu likes her “as a senpai” … because what other possible way would they like her??? (Gee, I wonder.)

This first segment of the episode is called “Intersection,” which is fitting in many ways. First, Sayaka and Yuu find common ground and gain a bit more understanding of what makes one another tick, leading to them eventually getting the baton hand-off right.

But an intersection isn’t just a meeting, but a splitting into different directions. In the interests of being as open with Sayaka as possible regarding Touko, she expresses her hope that after the stage play Touko will be more open and “like herself”, dropping the Ms. Perfect act. Such a prospect frightens both of them, since they’re not sure what the hell they’d do in such an instance.

Would Sayaka finally confess her feelings? Would Yuu be left in the lurch? Neither has any idea what such a future holds? Regardless, I love every minute Yuu and Sayaka share the screen, especially now that they’ve reached a measure of détente.

The second segment deals with another common school romance trope: the Rainy Day Umbrella Share. It starts with Yuu Being Yuu, which is to say being super-kind to those she cares about, even if it means getting wet. When the guy Akari likes forgets his umbrella, she nudges her in the guy’s direction, though the two were going to walk home together. Akari is deeply grateful for the gesture, and off she goes with the guy, the two already looking like a couple.

This leaves Yuu stranded at school, as the only available loaner umbrella is useless. She calls her sister, but when Rei’s boyfriend answers, she says never mind; she doesn’t want to interrupt their date. She’s also hesitant to call Touko, not just because she doesn’t want to give her the wrong idea or just because she doesn’t want to burden her. There’s a number of factors that drive her hesitation; another reflection of her character that Rei has down to a T in a brief scene with her boyfriend.

When she says Yuu is great at getting on with things once she’s dipped her toe into the water, so to speak; it’s that initial hesitation that’s her problem. Now knowing pretty clearly how much Yuu’s friend Touko likes her sister, Rei expresses her hope Yuu will find the person she needs to give her those oh-so-important nudges—much like the one Yuu gave Akari so an opportunity wouldn’t be missed.

Much to Yuu’s surprise, Touko actually called her while she was on the phone with Rei, and shows up with an umbrella just when Yuu was about to call her. They walk together with Touko holding the umbrella, but once Yuu sees that Touko’s shoulder is getting soaked she insists on taking it; they compromise by holding it together.

When they take a rest under an awning, Yuu proceeds to dry Touko off with a towel, in a very warm and delicate scene. Yuu’s “pampering” makes Touko happy, but she’s worried she’s taking advantage of Yuu’s kindness and that resentment will build up in Yuu and curdle into hatred.

It’s a perfectly plausible scenario from Touko’s perspective, since she still believes Yuu when she says her feelings are still just one-sided. Of course, that certainly doesn’t seem to be the case, as Yuu betrays when she blushingly tells Touko how happy she was to be rescued by her and her umbrella.

Yuu quickly corrects by saying she “meant nothing weird” about it, and Touko thinks to herself “that’s more the Yuu I know.” But that’s the whole point: she doesn’t know the Whole Yuu…nor the Whole Sayaka. Both girls have acknowledged and accepted each others’ existences. Now comes the hard part: acknowledging and expressing Touko is much more to them than the words “friend” or “senpai” alone can express.

P.S. The piece of music that plays during particularly dramatic scenes reminds me of Uematsu’s “A Secret Sleeping in the Deep Sea,” one of my all-time favorite video game audio tracks. 

Bloom Into You – 07 – Plenty for Right Now

In middle school, a girl confessed to Sayaka. Sayaka thought it was weird, but went with it, and got very much into it, such that when she and the other girl were apart for a long time, her longing only grew. That made it particularly painful when they reunited and the other girl was just, suddenly…done with her. She laughs off what they did to be “what kids do”, and “just a phase.” But Sayaka’s heart was broken that day.

She decided to push the experience to the back of her head, and focus on her studies, enrolling at a co-ed high school where she imagined a boy would fall for and confess to her (or vice versa). But the heartbreak still stung so much she couldn’t quite focus enough to score the top grades of the class. So the role of freshman rep went instead to one Nanami Touko.

Whoever this Nanami was, Sayaka resolved to surpass her. But then she caught a look at her face and heard her voice, and she ended up never surpassing her, and moreover stopped caring about trying to. Despite never wanting to fall for another girl again, Sayaka fell for Touko.

Of course, Sayaka could never admit that to anyone, most of all Touko, because she could tell the burdens Touko bore even without knowing about the tragedy of her older sister. Touko was friendly and kind and approachable to all, but only to a point; she’d keep everyone, including Sayaka, at a certain distane to avoid exposing the old, flawed Nanami Touko she was hiding from everyone with her flawless facade.

Sayaka never thought she was special for detecting that other side, and so never seriously considered crossing that boundary to get closer to Touko, however much she might want to. Touko, in her words, belonged to no one. Rather, Sayaka carved out the role Touko’s right hand; her sidekick; her rock. Thus she could be pretty much closer than anyone else.

Touko is aware of this, and to the episodes credit, it takes time away from Sayaka’s head to spend some in Touko’s. Touko knows Sayaka is aware of “the other Touko,” but never oversteps any boundaries. Sayaka is only ever asking Touko to keep up that perfect version of herself while also supporting her in that effort. That’s the way things have been, that’s the way Sayaka likes it, and that’s the way Sayaka wants things to stay.

But now there’s a threat to that status quo named Koito Yuu. Sayaka didn’t consider Yuu a threat at first, and perhaps she still doesn’t; after all, Yuu hasn’t known Touko as long as she has. But at much as Sayaka prides herself on knowing Touko more than anyone, Touko and Yuu continue a gentle dance that is drawing them closer together. It frustrates Sayaka to no end that Yuu seems willing to so blithely cross the boundaries Sayaka established for herself…but still thinks she’ll fail, due to her “Touko belongs to no one” theory.

Touko’s reactions to calling Yuu “Yuu”—not to mention Yuu calling her “Touko-senpai”—make Yuu want to be more “aggressive;” to see how far she can make Touko go. Maybe, just maybe, if and when she does, Yuu will finally feel something as strongly as Touko does.

Like Sayaka, Yuu always thought it was puerile, weird or somehow not right for girls to like other girls. And it’s true that even in 2018 the LGBTQ community in Japan has it pretty rough, at least relative to other developed countries.

So it’s most gratifying that the show introduces a serious adult same-sex relationship in the form of the Japanese teacher Hakozaki Riko and her girlfriend, who owns the cafe where Touko, Sayaka and Yuu meet with Koyomi on writing the script for the stage play.

Hakozaki-sensei conceals this from her students when they ask how she knows the cafe owner, but like the intimacy of a first-name basis, the way the owner first greets Hakozaki before either of them are aware her students are there betrays the fact she’s hiding the true extent of her relationship. Ever the observer of human behavior, Sayaka also notices it in the way Hakozaki drinks her coffee at the counter.

While the other students are oblivious, Sayaka can tell something’s up, and her “suspicions” are confirmed when we see Hakozaki staying at her girlfriend’s place and kissing each other goodnight. It shouldn’t be such a big deal (again, this is 2018)…but it still feels like one. It’s not just what kids do. It’s not just a phase.

Sayaka’s isolation only intensifies when she hears Touko calling Yuu by her first name like it’s nothing. She stages a passive-aggressive protest, to no avail. Then, the next day, she visits the coffee shop and strikes up a chat with the cafe owner. She asks, as carefully as she dares, what her relationship is to Hakozaki-sensei. The owner states clearly and unequivocally that she’s her girlfriend.

Sayaka wasn’t prepared for such a frank, unambiguous response, but it’s something for which she’s greatly appreciative. It’s also liberating for her, and she opens up about her own feelings for another girl, even after having her heart broken by another (Touko’s name is left out of it, of course). It goes without saying (though Sayaka does mention it), but she really really needed to talk to someone about this, especially with someone who, like her, thought she should keep it a secret when she was younger.

When asked why she doesn’t simply confess, Sayaka lays out the reasons: there’s no room in Touko’s heart to accept the feelings of others; it would only be a source of stress for her; it could disrupt or even ruin what they have now, something Sayaka couldn’t bear. She asks the cafe owner if it’s okay to hide one’s feelings for someone in order to stay by her side…or is that just selfishness or cowardice?

The owner responds by giving Sayaka another coffee on the house…for being such a kind soul. Because that’s what she deems Sayaka to be. Someone who keeps her feelings hidden for the sake of her friend, who carries a lot of stress so their friend won’t have to, is very kind, in her book. Confessing wouldn’t be wrong…but neither is staying the course.

The truth is, Sayaka isn’t ready for things to change one way or another, so staying the course is the right path. Does Yuu get on her nerves? Absol-friggin’-lutely. Could it become more of a problem if Yuu and Touko get ever closer together? Of course. But as Touko makes it clear—almost as if she sensed Sayaka needed some reassuring on that particular day—is that she’s glad Sayaka is a part of her life.

If she weren’t, things would be too easy, and Touko would slack off. Standing in front of Sayaka helps her be the ideal person she strives for (which, as we know, is the person her late sister was). Wherever Yuu falls in the equation in the future, Touko will keep relying on Sayaka, which is, for Sayaka, plenty for right now.

Bloom Into You – 06 – Flawless Performance

With midterms over, the council is full speed ahead on the cultural festival stage play…although they don’t yet have a scriptwriter. Yuu thinks she knows the perfect one in Koyomi, whose novel was so interesting she read it twice before handing it back with her endorsement.

But Yuu still isn’t 100% in on even having a play, and if circumstances such as having no scriptwriter means there won’t be one, well…better that than having to worry about Touko working too hard.

This is the week Sayaka’s silk gloves come off, as she takes every opportunity to lay into Yuu on stepping the fuck off her turf. Sayaka knows the “real” Touko just as Yuu does, and deems herself the one, only, and best person to look after her.

She also gives Yuu a clue to start digging into why she’s adopted the “perfect” girl persona so far from who she really is. Her sleuthing leads her to learning that seven years ago Touko’s sister Mio was StuCo President, but before the stage play she was killed by a traffic accident.

It’s pretty clear to Yuu now why Touko is so gung-ho about the play, and about continuing to put on a “flawless performance:” since she was ten and badgered by everyone around her to do so, she’s always been committed to being just like her sister. Someone beloved, praised, and relied upon. Even if it’s all an act, she’s not going to stop…not even for Yuu.

What Yuu leaves unsaid when she confronts Touko with what she knows and asks if she’d reconsider not doing the play is that she’s coming close to falling in love with Touko. Not “Perfect” Touko, but “Weak” Touko, who you could also call “Real Touko.”

Yuu wants Touko to be who Yuu deems to be “her true self,” but it’s ultimately not her call, and she knows that. But it pains her to wonder who she’ll ever love if she can’t ever fall for the Touko she’s been dealt; one who detests the very idea of giving up on being like Mio to everyone else.

As her self-proclaimed guardian, Sayaka seems to be fine with the status quo, and doesn’t want Yuu mucking it up. But when Yuu holds back what she should say in order to maintain her comfortable limbo with Touko, it seems like a seed that could grow into something unpleasant.

Add to that the post-credit sequence, which repeats Yuu and Touko’s evening walk while holding hands but switches from Yuu’s to Touko’s head. In Yuu’s head, we can hear her desire to change…specifically into someone who can fall in love with Touko.

But here’s Touko telling her to never change. Why’s that? Touko believes words like love to be “shackles”, and that if Yuu changes she might become someone Touko won’t love anymore, leaving her alone again (clearly, Sayaka doesn’t do much for her).

It’s a reasonable position for a little sister who was essentially treated as a spare by her family and utterly lost in the dazzling glare of her big sister, only for that light to suddenly go out. Touko filled the vacuum by transforming. It wasn’t just obligation; it was fear of loneliness.

Bloom Into You – 05 – Nice to Be Chosen; Nicer to Choose

Yuu likes working at her family’s bookstore, because it lends her some insight into her friends via the kid of literature they purchase. She’s primed to excoriate Touko when she shows up during her shift to buy a raunchy yuri novel, but it turns out she doesn’t know the story takes such a turn until later, and then she’s contrite.

I was mistaken about what Koyomi was working on; it wasn’t a love letter, but a novel, something she took on and didn’t let things like fatigue or looming midterms to keep her from finishing it. She lends it to Yuu to read, but Yuu is focused on midterms first and foremost. She’s also constantly telling herself that Maki is wrong. He must be.

He may claim to see affection for Touko in Yuu’s behavior, but she’d insist she’d worry about anyone she deemed fragile and in need of someone for support—even if it wasn’t Touko. She’d be “happy with anyone,” to which I say, isn’t she assuming a lot, not tomention missing the forest for the trees?

When Maki slickly declines studying with Yuu in the library the moment Touko comes up from behind her, Yuu ends up in a series of study sessions with a senpai with a crush on her, and that crush is only intensifying. The first time, Yuu isn’t sure how to repay Touko for tutoring her, but Touko simply says she did it because she wanted to, and Yuu will “just have get used to it”.

Again, Yuu insists to herself (and us) that she’d be happy studying with anyone; that she didn’t choose Touko. Still, she admits she doesn’t hate being chosen. There’s anyone, and there’s the person in front of you. Yuu may say she’d be fine with anyone, but the fact remains, she’s fine with Touko, and so not opposed at all to “getting used” to being around her.

To that end, when the library is completely full, it is Yuu who invites Touko to her place to study, not t’other way round. Indeed, of the two of them only Yuu is clear-headed (and bold) enough to suggest they continue their studying in private.

This is not, then, a matter of will, only intensity for Yuu. Touko is desperately and adorably nervous alone in Yuu’s room as she prepares tea. She’s delighted to meet Yuu’s mom, older sister Rei, and Rei’s boyfriend (who “jokes” that Touko might be Yuu’s girlfriend). She’s elated to learn more about Yuu, who talks about herself so infrequently at school.

It isn’t until Touko’s longing eyes meet Yuu’s that Yuu asks her if anything’s wrong or if she’s not feeling well or too hot. Reading Touko’s blushing face finally clues Yuu in on what’s going on, and she confirms it by taking Touko’s hand and reading her very quick pulse. Touko is taken aback by Yuu’s boldness, but that boldness is tempered by the fact she’s not acting out of lust, but pure logic.

And that logic is the barrier Yuu must cross. If she “waits for her heart” to tell her she likes Touko, she’ll be waiting forever. She has to move beyond the probability that someone, anyone else could make her happy when there’s already someone right there, and their being there isn’t just a matter of coincidence or convenience. Yuu is overthinking and over-analyzing things. She was alone. Now she’s not. Go with that.

Meanwhile, as she’s leaving Yuu’s house, Touko is a completely, helplessly open book to Rei and boyfriend. Touko is bashful when Rei tells her to “take care” of Yuu; and Touko is way too eager to learn the recipe for the cheesecake Yuu likes so much. That’s why, in addition to the recipe, Rei sends Touko a photo of Yuu sleeping on the floor.

Bloom Into You – 04 – The Spectator

Yuu’s friend Koyomi is distracted from after-school study since she’s busy writing what I’m guessing is a love letter. She doesn’t reveal this fact to Yuu, preferring to keep it secret, as such things should be, at least until you have a better handle on how it will go. Yuu doesn’t have time to give her friend’s reaction too much thought, because new Student Council President Nanami Touko has arrived to pick her up to go to the council office. Touko also introduces the fifth and newest member, a first-year boy, Doujima Suguru.

Touko lays out the general areas when they’ll be busiest, no more so than the cultural festival. She wants to bring back the StuCo stage play, in which they’ll fill performing roles while the various creative clubs provide script, costumes, sets, etc., in lieu of a theater club (which the school doesn’t have). Touko is enthusiastic about the idea (obviously; it’s hers), as is Doujima. VP Sayaka can be counted on to go along with whatever Touko wants, as always.

The two holdouts are Yuu and Maki Seiji. Yuu doesn’t like big crowds (she did quite well with her speech, but that doesn’t mean she enjoyed it), while Maki prefers to work “in the background” in a support role, as he did in the past in sports clubs. Ironically, it was that speech that inspired Doujima to join; Yuu seemed so fired up about joining in that moment!

After a long day of council work, much of it organizing the mess of files of the previous administration, everyone heads out except for Touko and Yuu. Yuu was going to leave too, but gets a Look from Touko that keeps her there. The fact she stays, and for no reason other than to keep Touko company…that innate kindness of Yuu gets Touko all hot and bothered.

She wants to kiss Yuu…badly. Yuu brings up how she made it clear ‘she can’t return the same feelings so why is Touko coming on to her’. But it’s Yuu letting Touko love her that makes Touko love her that much more. That same kind Yuu doesn’t exactly hate being kissed, and if she said she “wasn’t interested”, she’d be lying. So they kiss. And as they kiss, Maki comes back to grab his pencil case…and sees them. But they don’t see him.

The next day, Maki acts naturally with Yuu, which is to say, they have a good working relationship as student council colleagues. Yuu brings him the pencil case he couldn’t grab. We don’t know Maki all that well, except that we know that “the background” is his wheelhouse; he likes to help out, not stand out. To that end, him spreading rumors isn’t something he’d do.

All I can say is, thank God it wasn’t Doujima who spotted Yuu and Touko, or it might already have spread to the whole school. Maybe that’s not being entirely fair to Doujima, whom I also barely know, but from what we gather in his interaction with a distracted-looking Maki, we can glean that he’s a more “conventional” high school boy; he has a specific type of girl he’s into and asks Maki what his type is (to which he says he has none).

The more he observes Touko and Yuu, the more he learns and realizes about them. He also observes Sayaka, who he can tell feels threatened by Yuu, and she isn’t even that good at hiding it, saying, in effect, Touko’s first-year obsession “will pass” which is clearly wishful thinking on her part. That outcome serves her, but she’s not really thinking about what Touko wants, is she now?

When Maki heads back to the school from the office, Yuu accompanies him, and on the way. They talk about her and Touko, and he informs her that he saw them kiss, asking if they’re dating. Yuu is petrified; not knowing who Maki is, she envisions her version of the worst-case scenario: word spreads, and it hurts Touko.

But again, Maki isn’t going to use what he knows for anything malicious; it’s just not who he is. Touko and Yuu didn’t do anything to him; why would he do something to hurt them? It does nothing for him. What does do something for him, on the other hand, is knowing they’re a couple, and specifically being the only one who knows.

You see, Maki is not your normal high school kid either. He’s not interested in getting into or being in a relationship; only observing them from a comfortable place. It doesn’t matter if it’s a girl and a guy, or two guys or two girls; as long as he’s a spectator and not a participant (the closest to anger we see him exhibit is when he himself was confessed to in the past, shattering his “fourth wall.”

Somehow, some way, this doesn’t come off as creepy. Perhaps it’s because the way he expresses it felt so innocent to me. I’m not saying it’s a healthy or unhealthy way to live your life, and neither does the show judge him either way.

What matters to Yuu is that Maki discretely told her, alone, in a prompt fashion. So when he says he won’t tell anyone—not even Touko—both Yuu and I trust him.

Maki’s passive way of navigating the tempestuous seas of high school affords him unique insights that more active participants will often overlook. For instance: he can tell Touko is special to Yuu, because without even thinking Yuu put Touko’s wellfare before her own vis-a-vis their secret.

Maki doesn’t hate love, he just wants to be above the fray and watch it…one more reason he won’t mess with Yuu and Touko. To do so would be as unthinkable as standing up in the middle of a play and interrupting the actors on the stage (assuming, of course, it’s a non-interactive play).

And so for the first time, Yuu is flustered by someone other than Touko on the subject of her feelings for her. What she thought to be “normal” may actually be the “special”-ness she thought she’d never achieve. This changes everything.