some more ep 10 thoughts
I posted most of them here, but rewatching has made me appreciate even more details about Tenga’s, Nico’s, and Katsuhira’s body language and his flashback to baby Noriko;-; Plus how awesome this title actually is.
- I didn’t understand what in the world Katsuhira was doing when I first watched, but a comment in /r/ anime helped me see the light. He was trying to find Noriko by her polka-dot panties!! lol, How could he have thought that was an actual feasible way to do it?? Katsuhira’s unintentional comedy is some of the best in the show, I swear.
- Nico was expecting them to walk away from her!! She was so nervous and scared and expecting the worst, and yet she still went out there with her heart on her sleeve and the best of intentions. I bet she’s been rehearsing how to approach them all summer (first, stop them!! apologies!! try to make them listen to what you have to say!!) and thinking of what she wanted to tell them (I want to be friends because I love all of you, I don’t care if I hurt!);_; She is so strong and precious!
- I forgot to mention this in the other post, but I adored that Tenga was spying on them yet didn’t know how to approach them. It shows that he would like to go to them, but he just doesn’t know how to build that bridge. And that is so realistic and relatable. Who hasn’t been in his shoes? Tenga probably doesn’t know how to apologize to Katsuhira
(which is something we better see on-screen)and to make things harder, there was Nico, too, a situation he still doesn’t know how to handle. It took a single frame to show how much Tenga wants to reach out and how lost he is about how to go about it, and I love it.
- That body language!! “Pinching the bridge of the nose indicates emotional discomfort.” It shows that “you are struggling with a decision.” [x] And this happens right before he raises his face in a determined fashion, which goes to show Nico’s courage did inspire him to go face Chidori (He says Nico is “amazing” - すげえ). I swear this show has got their body language game completely on point and it’s one of my favorite things about it.
- The way Katsuhira’s expression just opens up when he realizes that Urushii has also known him since he was a child. It never fails to do things to my heart, he looks like a lost puppy;____;
- This is another detail I loved but forgot to mention! Both Hisomu and Nico drink their coffees, but Katsuhira doesn’t even taste it. He is too worried about Noriko to do so.
- Now, the question is if everyone’s hair went white the same moment Katsuhira’s did… Or if it had already started to go white before that but Katsuhira’s didn’t until Noriko jumped off.
- Chibi! Katsuhira was so adorable!! I love how he becomes a fumbling mass of embarrassment, yet the moment he realizes Noriko is about to reply he lets out this little gasp and just looks at her in nervous expectation. And Noriko!! I love how she takes it in stride and proudly admits her love for Katsuhira;____;
- Plus!! The excitement and happiness in Shiori’s face go to show they already knew Noriko loved Katsuhira back. I bet Katsuhira was the only clueless one, I so wish we could have seen his reaction! We need a redux of this scene in the finale.
- Everyone has already made such gorgeous comments about the way Katsuhira’s world lights up with colors that I don’t have anything else to add;___; I do have to confess though that at first, I related the colors mostly to Katsuhira finally remembering the way Noriko used to be. But I was wrong.
わたしも勝平くん…
- Because by this point up here, it’s already pretty evident that Noriko was a happy child. Yet the colors bloom only when Noriko says her “だああああいいすき!” (Loooooove you!). So what hits me the most about this is that there I was, trying to be unbiased, and the show was literally showing that it was Noriko’s love for him that made those colors bloom. I give up. Okada, take the wheel.
So they really chose a good title for this episode, because a good part of it showed the different ways in which we can deal with unrequited feelings.
Nico puts her heartbreak aside because friendship is what matters the most to her; Tenga decides to face Chidori in hopes of getting closure to start to move on; Chidori puts it off and remains unable to move on and let go of her feelings just yet; and to a lesser extent, Yuta tries to reach out to Honoka, perhaps to try and maintain the status quo, but doesn’t force the issue when Honoka walks away.
And yet, this episode that tackles the painful turn that romantic feelings might take (be unrequited), ends with the opposite side of the coin: how happy it can make us when our feelings are returned, how it can literally make our world bloom with colors.
A+, Trigger.
ns 15.158.61.39da2