While Kisa is glad to be in a relationship, he has nothing but fears about it.
What They Say:
Kisa is starting to feel unsure about his relationship with Yukina. They do not get to spend much time together and Yukina doesn’t seem to mind. Can Kisa juggle his professional and personal life…?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After a few good episodes involving Onodera and Takano, the show shifts gears to focus on the relationship between Kisa and Yukina. The two are definitely of the fun variety since they have made progress in their relationship and aren’t in the whole will they or won’t they stage, particularly with the overplayed bit about being unsure that one of them isn’t even sure they want to be involved in a male/male relationship. Just the fact that the two of them are actively going out and are up front about it with each other is a huge plus. But there are still uncertainties to be had as there are in any relationship, especially one where you have someone like Kisa who is very nervous in general.
Unfortunately, the first half of the episode is dominated by the way Kisa overthinks everything. The two are spending very relaxed, comfortable time with each other at home but there’s an undercurrent of unease on Kisa’s part because of how he isn’t sure what to think about Kisa spending time with some other woman. They go through their usual routine and there are moments of affection, but it’s the comfort level that’s a positive when you get down to it. Seeing this unfold you can’t help but to want to shake Kisa because of how he’s acting and overthinking. It’s not a surprise though, considering his personality, and how he seems to take everything the wrong way. But he doesn’t do it outwardly, it’s all an internal sense of angst and anger that permeates him as he worries about the relationship.
There are some positives that come out of it, even as Kisa struggles with some work issues that Onodera gets involved with briefly, as he realizes primarily that he’s not been forward enough with Yukina when it comes to asking him about things. It’s not much of a surprise when you consider how much he internalizes and then fails to externalize, so when he does actually go and do so, it hits the obvious series of snags from work getting in the way, phone problems and so forth. And of course, it also has Takano getting involved briefly in an almost comical way. There aren’t any surprises here, but I liked the honest of emotion that comes out throughout it.
In Summary:
Kisa and Yukina aren’t exactly fan favorites of the series, but they’re definitely the ones I prefer over a certain other pair that I just want to slap silly. Kisa’s issues are understandable and why he acts like he does is fairly standard fare for a lot of real people, though you often don’t see it laid out so clearly in anime form in normal boy/girl relationships. While it’s not as amusing as some of the other relationships or as intense, it’s the kind of different story that I do want to see in the series and this episode certainly puts Kisa through his paces. Hopefully we’ll see more things from Yukina’s point of view as that’s just as important to telling a good story.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
