Oh, don’t mind me.
I’m just here posting weekly episodic reviews for Adashima weeks after I was actually expected to.
Now, we’ve been here before, haven’t we?
I’m gonna give you reasons for the delay, you’re gonna be understanding as always while also secretly rolling your eyes at my unprofessionalism. So, why not we just skip past all that and jump in to the meat and bones?
Yes, sir. You at the back. Thank you for voicing your approval. Let’s begin then!
Here’s the thing. For my money, Adashima is the most consistent show of 2020. It’s in fact so consistent that I find it hard to talk about week in week out, without sounding like I’m retreading on stuff I’ve talked about before. Now, that is definintely not a criticism. In fact, Adashima is currently my favorite show of the entire Fall season and arguably the most relaxing/comfy/melt-your-soul-with-its-warmth anime of the entire year. Its consistency is by no means equivalent to repetitive storytelling. Even though the events of every single episode can be summed up in two sentences, how these events happen is where the crux of the story lies. In the moments which you can’t put into words – in the comfort our two titular characters find in each other’s company, in the adorkable ways in which Adachi manages to come off as a flustered wreck whenever she’s so much as within five meters of Shimamura and in the latter’s utter cluelessness at being unable to understand how Adachi feels for her.
This is a story whose appeal almost solely hinges on the relationship between its main duo and in the gradual yet steadily incremental ways in which it’s developing. That also means that a less patient viewer may end up finding the show uninteresting or uneventful. Which is fine. Adashima made its intention clear from the premiere itself as to how it would choose to linger on quiet moments and opt for languid pacing instead of a much faster-paced narrative. If that kind of thing deters you from enjoying a story, then I’d honestly recommend that you drop the show. Like I said, this is a really consistent series. It hasn’t strayed from its choice of narrative yet and I am certain it won’t do that in the coming weeks too.
Now, after that rather long preamble, let’s talk about the actual content of the episodes this post has been written for.
Episode 4, as its titles suggests, is a laid-back episode – though, all of Adashima’s episodes are pretty laid-back in their own right. It focuses on Shimamura and gives another peek at her constant internal struggle of trying to fit into the world she inhabits, which has become a recurring theme In the story. She runs into Adachi’s mother at the swimming pool and the wrong kind of sparks fly between them. The two start pissing each other off about how one could be a good mother to their child. Clearly, that argument could only have been resolved in a ‘steamhouse resistance match’ to prove who’s right. Adachi’s mom eventually gifts Shimumura the victory but her point had been proven by then. Shimamura later invites Adachi to hang out with Nagafuji and Hino and the prospect expectedly doesn’t call for excitement on Adachi’s part but she agrees as it would allow her to spend more time with Shimamura. The four of them hang out as planned – Nagafuji and Hino are quick to welcome the newcomer into the team, Adachi is expectedly awkward and makes puppy-dog eyes towards Shimamura throughout. They sing at a Karaoke bar and later ride home together. Adachi asks to makes a pit-stop at a playground. They sit at the swings and Adachi is steadfast in her resolve to tell Shimamura exactly how she feels. She’s practiced that moment multiple times. But… it never comes. Shimamura in turn gives her a head-pat because she looks like she desperately needs one (don’t we all?) and in the moment, that’s more than enough for her.
By the time Episode 5 rolls around, Christmas is right ’round the corner! And ever since she was little, Adachi has not known what it’s truly like to have a Merry one. Because every time she’s been out on the 25th of December, she has seen sights of couples walking, snuggled up to each other; of children running, enveloped in the joy all around and of parents chasing after them, trying albeit never truly wishing, to tame their wonder. Adachi has never had any of those things. But this year, she is determined to feel just like that. To be happy like everyone else. And the only way she knows to be this happy is to be with the one person whose very name makes her feel a warmth inside her chest. But of course, this whole scenario has one minor flaw. She would actually have to muster up the courage to ask Shimamura out to be with her. And for her, that is no small task. For most of the episode, Adachi spends her time staring at her like a lost kitten but eventually gathers the strength to ask her out to spend the day together. Adachi’s approach at first takes Shimamura by surprise – “Why would she choose to ask me out like that?” Shimamura thinks to herself (Clue: SHE LIKES YOU, GENIUS). But when Adachi reveals that it’s because she didn’t want to spend another Christmas by herself, Shimamura assumes that it’s simply that Adachi just wanted to be with someone. Anyone would have sufficed. And so unburdened by the pressure of living up to be her ‘special someone’, she says yes.
Episode 6 comes along with some unexpected pairings as Adachi runs into Hino at school, who’s also unusually by herself and not with Nagafuji. Adachi asks her help in finding a Christmas present for Shimamura and the two go looking for her favorite kind of tea. Hino picks one out believing that it’s the right one though she’s not fully sure but asks to get treated to fast food for her efforts regardless. From the restaurant, the two of them catch a glance at Shimamura and Nagafuji, who are also out to shop together. That’s when Adachi realizes that even though Shimamura may be the most important person in her life, it might not be the same the other way around. On the fateful 25th, she even shows up in her maid attire because the last time she wore it, Shimamura complemented her for it. The two exchange gifts, the tea Hino helped get and the boomerang that Nagafuji recommended. Because, of course. Though, no matter weird it may be, it’s still a present from Shimamura and Adachi intends to cherish it. That’s when she chances upon the perfect moment to confess her feelings to Shimamura. For real this time. After all, it’s Christmas. The opportunate time for confessing matters of the heart (so the sappy melodramas tell us). She braces herself, looks Shimamura in the eye and… cannot say it. Because, of course.
After two failed attempts, will third time be the charm for our hopeless romantic schoolgirl/chinese action-flick star? Personally, I am rooting for her.
But we’ll only find that out in the next episode. See ya then!
