This was certainly an interesting arc and quite different from what I usually find from light novel affair. Generally in light novels the girl of the arc has her problems solved by our protagonist jumping in to either give a rousing pep talk or punch whatever is making their life hard. Thus leaving them “fixed” and with a love that will most certainly be unrequited. But this arc pretty much throws away all of that and instead we have a girl with a multifaceted problem that can’t be punched or talked down. Futaba’s problems as it were dealt with her own split in thinking with her dealing with the worry that with Sakuto and Yuuma having girlfriends that she will eventually be left behind, being confident in her body while at the same time hating it for the unwanted attention that it draws and a love for her best friend that she knows will be rejected outright if she ever conveyed her feelings.
The is no villain to defeat and Sakuto having a girlfriend means that he can’t just solve her problems with romance.(Kirito needs to take note of that) Nor is the end of this arc a definitive solution for Futaba’s problems as it’s less about changing herself and more about coming to terms that her problems are part of who she is. I really like Sakuto’s approach to this as he plays the role more of a support for Futaba, reminding her that she has people who care and will go out of their way for her as well as reassuring her that one does not necessarily require to love oneself.
For this to come from the most grounded of the cast is certainly a surprise as she shows that mentally she may not be as strong minded as her appearance may suggest. Well in spite of that she’s strong enough to speak her feelings clearly to her friend during a fireworks show, even subverting that cliche of not being able to hear a confession over fireworks by her repeating it. Got to say I was somewhat hoping that he would accept it even if it would make Futaba’s conclusion to her arc weaker. Maybe later down the line that girlfriend of his gets an arc that makes her less deplorable. I got to say that it certainly was surprising to see just how much Fubata was thrown off balance by someone on the internet starting to try and blackmail her over her twitter photos. it really showed just how dangerous things can be with playing around on the net and seeing her just get so scared that she couldn’t be alone afterwards. As a few last notes, I hate that they are pulling this thing with Mai not being allowed to date even if it is a realistic part of the industry. It’s good that Mai consulted Sakuto on it but it is a bit annoying if it leads to her screentime getting cut down.
