Welcome everyone, to another (late) week of His and Her Circumstances! There’s a fair amount to talk about this week, most of it concerning, but worth the time regardless. That warning given, lets dive into the episode!
Starting with the production, this week is actually an improvement. The same way being punched in the stomach is an improvement over being kicked in the balls. Sure, there are no more paper cutouts overlaid onto real life future, and things have progressed beyond sketches. But at the same time you can count the frames in most scenes, and most of the characters simply look… off. It’s like all of their designs and models got downscaled to 240p. They lack small details and proportions are off, making them look like completely different characters half the time. And with Anno gone the interesting and engaging direction that made these still screens actually work has left with him. It’s a shame really. Circumstances started off so strong visually, yet here it is falling apart like the very definition of production melt. At least the narrative can salvage it… right?
With that, lets dive into episode 20, “14 Days, Part 2”. This episode was primarily a flashback, with Circumstances taking time to try and establish Takefumi’s character. The problems of introducing a new character so suddenly this close to the finale aside, this was… fine. I think had he been introduced earlier in the series, I would have accepted it. But at this point I’ve begun to get tired of the sad histories and retroactively adding new characters to everyone’s existing backstories. I’m talking giving Arima a new acquaintance in middle school, despite previously establishing he only really had Tsubasa. Or how its another bullying loner story. I get that these are kind of Circumstances thing, it’s shtick. But I would rather it spend time developing our leads this close to the finale rather than a new one
The second half of the episode meanwhile was all about his plan to get back at Tsubaki for her years of bullying. Again, this was fine. I was actually kind of hoping Circumstances would play this straight for once, give us a legitimate “villain” to end the series on, even a petty one. Instead, it seems like Circumstances is gearing up for some kind of… romance between the two? The two canonically gay characters, what with Tsubaki clearly being into girls and Takefumi into Arima/guys? If it wasn’t for that then I could call it standard, boring, and move on. But that added tidbit about possibly forcing clearly gay characters into a heterosexual relationship cause Shoujo just feels really bad to me. Maybe I’m completely misreading this and Circumstances will dodge it, or better yet turn them into platonic friends. But for the moment, color me concerned.
And that’s really it for the episode! I could go into more detail about Takefumi and Tsubaki’s relationship, about how the teacher only made her protect him, etc. But the simple fact of the matter is that, at this point in Circumstances run, I just kind of don’t care about anything other than our lead couple, who got very little screen time this week. The only issue with that however is that Circumstances has kind of already skipped to the good stuff with them “making love”. Where does it go with their relationship with the time it has left? It sort of feels to me that Circumstances peaked in episode 18, and doesn’t really know what it wants to do since that climax, both literal and figurative. Maybe it’ll figure something out with this play and Takefumi, but aside from some small relationship moments, there wasn’t anything very interesting here.
This brings us to episode 21 which is, unsurprisingly, named “14 Days, Part 3”. This one does what I wanted, which is take us back to our leads and focus in on them. It does this by bringing Takefumi along and introducing them to him, but enough good stuff came out of this that I’m ok with it. Take for instance Arima’s growing jealousy towards Takefumi’s relationship with Miyazawa. Their growing camaraderie and his feelings of competition. This would normally lead to some classic “You’re cheating on me” bullshit drama, but Circumstances once again deftly sidesteps the typical romance bullshit in favor of two emotionally healthy leads capable of talking things out. Miyazawa straight up calling Arima on his feelings, but rather than getting upset, she accepts his insecurities and then reinforces their relationship. It’s great! This is what Circumstances is best at! Give me more of this!
As for Miyazawa’s aforementioned friendship with Takefumi, this was kind of cute to. I’m still not a big fan of the way Takefumi has taken over the narrative, but I understand why he and Miyazawa bonded. They both have this deep seated hatred for their “true” selves, or in Takefumi’s case who he used to be. It’s not healthy, even if they channel that dislike/distaste towards positive pursuits such as fitness and grades. The outside world may see those and say they have their shit together. But as omnipresent audience members, we can clearly see that both of them are struggling with some pretty heavy self-loathing. Personally, I think this is a far more interesting rout to explore than Takefumi’s revenge plot against Tsubaki. Maybe Circumstances will surprise me and pivot to this, or at least make it equal in statue. But judging by our next topic I’m not hopeful.
That topic would be the play. The other grand finale plot point that Circumstances has introduced, on top of Takefumi. I have no idea where this is going to go. Miyazawa and Arima have a healthy enough relationship that there isn’t any need for some big public affirmation of love on stage. Everybody already knows they are dating after all, it isn’t a secret. So what is Circumstances planning to use it for? Takefumi and Tsubaki? It has to link into them somehow since we only have 5 episodes left, right? And if it doesn’t… well lets just say I don’t think it looks good for Circumstances. It feels like it’s started to split it’s focus, or begun an arc much larger than it has the time to complete in a satisfactory manner. Hopefully it can prove me wrong, but again, I’m not terribly hopeful.
So yeah, all in all this was a concerning set of episodes with some good parts squeezed in there. Anytime Circumstances is focusing on Arima and Miyazawa, it’s a good show. These two’s relationship is fantastic. Some rough edges here and there, but the emotional maturity they display and the way Circumstances has them actually talk about their feelings is always a treat. But it’s introducing a lot of new stuff for a series with only 5 episodes left and no, as of the time of this post, sequel in production. It makes me very concerned for the kind of ending we are going to get. Especially when I already know that the original manga continues on past this point. Can it do something good? Obviously. But it’s making life very difficult for itself at this point.
