Subculture Anime Blog

Boku explosions and cameos. What more could you ask for?

Summary:

Yuu/Nagi/Yuuko:

When Yuuko meets Yuu in town, she has him have lunch with her. Yuuko starts to wonder about Yuu’s reasons for not typically eating lunch when he mentions the fact, so he simply credits this to his lack of money. All of his funds have been going towards university. Yuuko believes that Yuu is amazing for being able to look so high, but he simply implies that there is nothing else that he can do. This brings Yuuko to wonder if he will no longer draw, and although Yuu believes that this is Akira’s meddling, Yuuko states that she truly liked his drawings when they were children. Yuuko decides that she will not eat if Yuu doesn’t, but this leads Yuu to order something out of guilt.

While sightseeing with her later, Yuu finally wonders if Yuuko plans on continuing to ignore the abuse she is getting by acting as if she doesn’t care. In response, Yuuko states that she is fine since she is having fun. When Yuuko then mentions that she was able to go on a date with him because of the previous events, Yuu can only disagree that they are doing such a thing. Yuuko suggests that it is too late since she already believes that they are on the date, however, then describing how special it is for both of them to both be on their first date together.

The two next visit the church that they spent their childhood at, and when Yuuko wonders if she has upset Yuu by choosing this area to go to, he denies the statement. After noticing the current state of the building, Yuu and Yuuko further recall how they would always break the rules by leaving the church to do things. Entering the church, the two are surprised to see Akira inside. Yuu wonders if Akira is a Christian, but Akira denies by revealing that it is actually his younger sister that is. Yuu throws a ball he found outside at Akira when he implies that there is a relationship between he and Yuuko, but Akira turns to use this ball to have Yuuko leave the area for a moment. Within this time frame, Akira tells Yuu that he should be prepared if he plans on becoming involved with Yuuko. Akira leaves as Yuuko returns to Yuu’s side, and Yuu takes the chance to reveal his surprise about Yuuko being a Christian afterwards. Yuuko states that this is wrong, however, as it was actually Akira’s true sister that held the religion. Akira was like Yuu, in that he lost his little sister during an accident in the past.

While returning home alone later, Yuu runs into Nagi. Yuu wonders why Nagi is wearing her school uniform even though it is not a school day, so she implies that she does not wear anything else. Yuu then wonders what Nagi does when she gets in the bath, so she reveals that she does not wear anything as she goes to bed. This conversation eventually leads Yuu to recalling that Nagi has a younger brother, so she confirms that she lives with both him and her father. Nagi then mentions that Akira had visited her house earlier to see her father, and that he said that Yuu and Yuuko were out on a date. Nagi expresses her interest in this, but Yuu suggests that the two of them were only out buying things. Yuu further wonders why Nagi would be concerned with such a meaningless thing, but this makes her walk off with a bit of frustration.

Looking at his broken watch that night, Yuu recalls when he had bought this item for his sister. Yuu had noticed Akane looking at it in the city one day, and although she denied that she actually wanted it, he had bought it for her anyways. As the siblings were very close, Akane one night went to Yuu’s bed for warmth. Seeing that he was awake, she guessed that Yuu was going to start drawing. Although he denied this, Akane reminded him how much she liked his drawings. Later in the night, an earthquake caused some of the items in the children’s house to start a fire. Yuu had searched for Akane in panic, but her desperate cries were the last he heard from her. In her own home elsewhere, Yuuko takes something froma drawer without Akira’s knowledge.

Kuze/Mizuki:

In his house after the previous events, a troubled Kuze turns to drinking to keep his mind off things. After Mizuki had saved Kuze’s violin, she had asked for a reward. When Kuze visits the Aso household the next day, he learns that Mizuki is sick in bed. He goes to check on her after presenting Renji with some cake, but when Kuze hears Mizuki mumbling the words “save me” as he starts to leave her room, he returns to grasp her hands. Mizuki takes this chance to share a kiss with Kuze, describing this as her reward for earlier. Kuze later visits Yuu in the church, easily guessing that it was he who tipped Mizuki off earlier. However, Yuu truthfully suggests that Mizuki moved through her own will. When Kuze returns to his house with Yuu, he requests a calender. Putting on one of his masks, Kuze expresses the fear he has for the current situation he is in with a bit of laughter.

Kuze goes out with Mizuki the next day, stopping to have his violin repaired while they walk together. Kuze later lays on Mizuki’s lap, and although Mizuki wonders if they cannot become a couple, Kuze only reminds her that his eventual death is not a joke. Kuze then describes all of the preparations he has made already, such as cutting off his relations with people and distributing his belongings. The violin was the last of these. Mizuki finally takes the chance to ask if Kuze had a lover in the past, which he confirms. Even after marriage involvements, he was forced to cut his ties with her. Hearing this, Mizuki is put to tears as she apologizes to Kuze.

When Yuu finds Kuze asleep in Mizuki’s lap later, he expresses that this is the first time he has seen him with his guard so down. As the two begin discussing Kuze’s illness, Yuu mentions that he may have already become used to people dying. Mizuki wonders if he is not afraid because of this, but he suggests that it is quite the opposite. Before Yuu parts with her, Mizuki has him perform a priest-like blessing for her. After dozing off, Mizuki is later waken by Kuze. Kuze takes the chance to ask what Mizuki wants to be in the future, and although she is unsure, she states that she would like to be happy. Kuze finally states that he also likes Mizuki, but because of this, he cannot answer her feelings. With this, he suggests that they go home. After doing so, he hopes that she would never show herself to him again. When Kuze returns home, he circles on his new calender the date he is planned to die on.

Hiro/Miyako/Nagi

Running out of time during one of his manga deadlines, Hiro is forced to call his older sister to help. Nagi is extremely fast with pages when she arrives at Hiro’s house, but she is then forced to hurry her brother who insists on doing several of the pages himself. Nagi reminds Hiro that she must leave for Australia soon, but before doing so, she recalls how Hiro had abandoned several expectations to become a manga author. Hiro apologizes, but Nagi suggests that this was actually a good choice because he has made his own decisions. Hiro soon receives a text message from Miyako, spending her time on the school rooftop as usual. Yuuko sees that Miyako is fine as she stands there with her, and Miyako confirms that she is no longer lonely. Yuuko further notices that Miyako has become strong, and she credits this to having a place to return to. Looking to the rooftop key she has in her hands, Miyako wonders if she no longer needs this item. Miyako then prepares a meal for Hiro, and when she reaches his apartment, she simply leaves this to Nagi to care of for her.

Impression:

Even though it seemed like there wasn’t much that happened this week, I was really psyched about seeing Hiro and Miyako again. This was probably to be expected after seeing Chihiro last week, but seeing the older Nagi definitely went against my predictions (in a good way). Seeing Miyako in non psycho form was a pretty nice change of pace, and it definitely gave off a feeling similar to the one I got from seeing a cured Chihiro. It’s like when we see a supposedly dead character return after the time skip in mecha anime. It’s just epic.

As far as the arc dealing with Yuu’s teenage years go, I appreciated learning more about Akane and how exactly she lost her life. Akira’s similarity to Yuu is interesting as well, and his meeting with the others in the church may have been a hint towards the future (with Yuu and Yuuko always hanging out in the church in the first season). I was very (very boku) glad to see Nagi too, though it was extremely predictable that she would start getting jealous over Yuu spending time with Yuuko again. I also laughed at the suggestion that she walks around the house naked because her family of artists aren’t effected by it. Yuuko’s side of the story more or less filled in the gaps dealing with the time she spent with and away with Yuu.

Kuze’s emo adventure wasn’t as interesting this week when compared to the last, but it was nice to see more of his inner thoughts about the situation he is in. I can only imagine that there would be several different thoughts for someone who knows when they are going to die. Some would probably give up on anything they are trying to accomplish, while others might try to enjoy what time they have left. Kuze’s trying to erase everything about his life from existence reminded me a bit of Nabari no Ou’s Yoite from the past two seasons (What? Nobody watched this show?), but I could easily see the same thing happening in a real situation. It looks like Mizuki is going to have to fight a situation similar to the one Chihiro and Renji did, and we have still yet to see what the meaning is behind the dying flowers she sees in her dreams is.

Side Note:

Ugh, I’m going to be honest. As much as I appreciate this show, writing for it can sometimes be a chore. Reviewing each post each week, it always seems like I’m actually covering two or three shows at once. Because of that, my impression always ends up being more of a cluster of my trying to gather thoughts rather than an actual opinion. With that in mind though, I’ll try harder to write something more interesting than a recollection of events from here on. No promises though, since we all know I’m a total sell-out.