NO. I don’t like this third wheel development at all. Obviously, this romance is going to meet heaps of obstacles along the way, but it’s better not this. Suddenly, a side character having a creepy treatment, force the plot moving forward right before the two having a date together? One thing that upset me is how Ameagari makes it pretty clear about the conduct of this character Kase. He’s anything but nice. Plain and simple. He’s manipulated and dirty and annoying. No, Ameagari. You don’t brute-force the plot to squeeze out some drama like this, and you don’t make a guy evil so that we have to root for the main duo, ever. But for what it takes, Ameagari succeeds on making me worried for Tachibana and her forced date. Although received a clear signal from Tachibana, this dude keeps on pestering her to extend the date, including forcefully grabs her hand and later kisses her. Dirty little bastard! He even goes so far to say that the romance between her and Kondou will never work. And by his behaviour I’m sure that this creep will do his best to make his claim true, whatever it takes. I’ll be honest that I don’t like this Kase dude as a character and as a role in this story. Such a pity but I consider this as Ameagari’s first major misstep so far.
That date also serves as a parallel to Kondou and Tachibana’s date, as it happens in the goddamn same place, with the same sequences: horror zombie movie first (anyone noticed the same man in suit in front of their row?), then a sip of coffee and later a walk on a bridge. Such repetitiveness is meant to highlight the differences in Tachibara’s mood and the contrast between two dates. When she’s with Kondou, a “downfall of mankind” type of film suddenly becomes entrancing, coffee feels sweeter (well, literally) and the outside background is bathed with such pink and dreamy color palette. The time feels longer (like it’s stopped) and the linger for those moments feel much stronger. Kondou, on the other hand, thinks that the date would bore her so fast (wrong!) and there is a beautiful moment when he is again taken back to his youth self with his first black coffee experience before realizing that he was the only middle-aged man with a young girl in the shop. It sure is the taste of bittersweet youth. Last week, his excuses had always been about the reception of other people and Tachibana’s own well-being, but this time it’s all about his own feeling: that he would feel uneasy seeing her youthfulness because he can’t stand the fact that he isn’t young anymore. Pretty neat development here.
This episode is light on rain, but fear not since there are a whole leg fetishes going on here. Ameagari is excellent of underlining small body movements to convey the mood of the characters and in this episode, the focus on legs not only tell you the temporary state of mind a character is in, but also the distance (or lack thereof) between Tachibana and certain characters, signifies their intimacy. Ameagari still has its chops for sensitive visual storytelling, especially the sequence on the bridge takes my breath away for its beauty and moody atmosphere, but at the same time I consider this episode my least favorite episode so far, given that it opens to another conflict that I’m not fond of. Remember Ameagari, the drama works best when it comes from the struggles within the characters themselves, not from some outside creepy force that tries to blackmail AND then spill out their romance to everyone.
I don’t really get the impression that we have to worry about Kase becoming that kind of simple villain. He’s clearly a jerk, but if they’re hinting at anything it seems to be that his motivations aren’t “let’s just be a jerk” as much as “I hate how much of myself I see in this girl.” Given the themes in this series, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in the same situation she is (and they’re trolling us pretty well so far with the themes, so it’s right up their alley).
I agree with you Hogart. He even said it: “I’m not trying to be mean”, he was truly only giving his opinion and the way he comes off could be attributed to loneliness and desperation. He got a leverage to squeeze Tachibana and went for it.
That being said, I was afraid this would happen since ep1 – he was acting suspiciously (not with Tachibana, but Kondo – he was already a jerk then). SO yes, although I agree that he won’t be an issue for the relationship, he IS an issue for this series.
The first half of this episode was painful to watch and for the wrong reasons – the crude handling of Kase’s character (not even real jerks wear smirks on dates, like come on!), his cruel behavior towards Tachibana, bordering with abuse and intimidation is far from the otherwise subtle and smooth presentation we get even later in the episode. I’ll take this as a hiccup of the source material, for now.
Well, I never really think of Kase’s role in that light, but it makes sense. What I don’t like is how the show clearly frames him as a douchebag in this episode. You don’t force a girl to go on a date with you, to grab her arm to the cafe, to even kiss… oh wait, that was how Tachibana treated Kondo as well, now that I think about it.
Well of course most people wouldn’t do that, but these kinds of people certainly do exist. And if we’re being honest, then Kase never really did much to Akira that she isn’t doing (or would have done) to Kondo. The difference is that Kase’s open about manipulating her, whereas she is being far more sly with Kondo.
Also Kase’s been established as a “probable playboy” rather than “an innocent teen in love”, so of course we’re going to think the worst of him compared to her. But if you look past her big puppy dog eyes and bold statement to Kondo about her love vs society, why does she care whether Kase tells others about her silly little doodle (she asked him to keep a secret before he threatened her)?
It seems she’s not as innocent as she lets on, or it at least finally realizing how she’s manipulating Kondo, since Kase openly did it to her. Would she have kissed Kondo if Kase hadn’t stolen a kiss on her cheek earlier? Is her pursuit of Kondo really any different than Kase’s “I’ll make you mine” image?
Those subtle clues are (so far) what keeps this series from being a shlock dime-store romance. Whether they explore the themes more overtly or just dance around the issues, only time will tell. Unfortunately by then the series may lose most of the people who aren’t interested in seeing a realistic exploration of these issues that isn’t boiled down to an SNL sketch or after-school special.
Just like the ep, I’ll start on the negative:
– Kase has his own issues I’m sure, but they pale in comparison with the stupidity of how the show injects his character into the Tachibana-Kondo dynamics – as an antagonistic force to scare us that Tachibana or her “pure” love would be sullied or taken away.
– Obvious contrast is obvious. The parallels between Kase’s and Kondo’ date make no sense and don’t pass my lowest storytelling standards. It was mostly a waste of time, the movie scenes weren’t very meaningful and being featured twice – overstayed their welcome.
– I think the director or whoever was aware of the issues here, but was/were hoping a good presentation will be enough to elevate the material. Nope. I’ve already been warned about some date thing, so I guess this is it.
– How many times did we get to admire the girl’s nail polish? Also, that scene after her date arranging phone call, when she was jumping in joy – I’ll never get tired of it. I’m experiencing a mental meltdown.
– As much as I hate Kase now, the way he tricked her into the kiss was clever and had certain honesty there. Tachibana’s repulsive reactions throughout were also – cute. I love this girl, she has the spunk. Those eyes!
– Good voice acting on Kondo’s character. His stuttering with the d-d-dato was cute too.
– Tachibana’s fantasizing on the train station gave me heart attack, when I realized she is only standing there, observing. I watch this realistic portrayal in melancholy.
– Yep. Why would that guy watch the same stupid movie twice! Alone! And be surprised for the second time!
– @SuperMario: Tachibana admits she was depressed. Good call last week! Just like me calling her out on “fixating” on things to get through it. These were obvious I guess, but I like the show is aware of these too! Even the characters are! Good.
>The parallels between Kase’s and Kondo’ date make no sense and don’t pass my lowest storytelling standards.
The devil is in the details. If Kase hadn’t shown her what it was like to go on a date because someone manipulated you into it, would she have done things differently during her date with the manager? Her kiss fantasy implies that she probably would have, if Kase hadn’t shown her how it might feel to Kondo.
The storytelling is just too subtle or vague about Akira’s state of mind, so it takes effort to look past all the red herrings (like the businessman watching the movie twice and big sparkly eyes) and see the more important signs about Akira. So I don’t blame anyone who just sees it as a useless “let’s make Akira and Kondo look better by contrasting them with a real piece of shit” tactic. Heck, it might even end up just being that, but the story definitely is hinting at more than that mundane intent.
> I love this girl, she has the spunk. Those eyes!
All the better to pull the wool over our eyes about how “innocent” she is, so we give her a pass for her own emotional manipulation of Kondo. After all, she’s just a lovestruck bird with a broken wing… she doesn’t know better, unlike that “playboy” or that “pathetic” manager. Except of course, that she clearly knows that it’s wrong to reveal her love for the manager, despite saying it doesn’t matter what society thinks. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been manipulated into a date herself over a silly doodle, would she?
Hope they make good on that angle.
Hm.
I say, thinking that the first date was featured to show how Tachibana would change her behavior is stretching it. The first date already had several thematic threads running thought it, I find an existence of another (purposefully obscured) theme improbable, I’m willing to give you room for interpretation though as Tachibana’s eyes could in theory hide (anything, or,) more than her bubbly feelings. In the end, I think what you are suggesting is slightly outside of the show’s style.
The two date’s situations are also dissimilar. The manipulation in Kase’s case is clear blackmail, while in Tachibana’s a mere persistence. Kondo has is very easy compared with her.
I’m glad you or anyone else is reading into these ideas, but perhaps you are giving the show too much credit? It’s not that good! Right? Paradoxically, I feel like I still hold it in higher regard than you (forgive my presumption).
Whether you are right or not, I find your angles (in)valuable, so feel free to continue with this exchange.