Ritsu’s confusion about so many things sends his mind spiraling in ways that simply gets him into more trouble.
What They Say:
No episode summary provided.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After a couple of episodes where the show focused on less than interesting characters, taking its attention off of Takano and Ritsu, it’s now returned back to proper form and to the couple that’s actually interesting and fun to watch. Part of it is the setting itself as the manga publishing side has its appeal to be sure, but a lot of it comes down to the fact that these two are definitely more enjoyable to watch as they deal with each other and their work situation. Particularly with Ritsu as he’s not a high school boy or a very, very young man who isn’t sure of himself and what he wants out of life. He knew what he wanted awhile back and pushed it deep down inside him, instead focusing on work and trying to get ahead in life in general. His return to the presence of Takano, and having the two of them now fully aware of who the other is, has started to unleash these feelings again but with some internal conflict. Especially since he isn’t sure he wants to go down that path again and definitely not while at work.
As much as Ritsu tries to deny all of this, he can’t help but wonder if there’s something going on between Takano and Yokozawa, especially after Takano gives Ritsu a pretty deep kiss at work. His reaction is to push him away and to be offended, since he wants to keep the relationship to just work, but he can’t help but to wonder what the deal is with the other two. He can’t help but to keep thinking about him and he beats himself up over it, trying to figure out what it is that he’s really feeling. With his frustrations and uncertainties in the present, it’s interesting to see the flashbacks to their high school days with how he watched him from afar quite often and to see the harsher edge that Takano had back then. It’s not that he’s all soft and cuddly now, but there’s a definite different aura about him between then and now that shows that he’s grown and changed.
Ritsu ends up having problems seeing Takano with a woman as well, since there have been things going on there that he’s misinterpreted. While there’s a basic and obvious explanation to it all, watching his mental anguish over it and the way he lashes out at Takano over it when Takano forces him into a corner is a great deal of fun to watch. There’s so much outward emotion and reactions to events and confrontations that we rarely get from other shows until the last key moments that it makes this fun to watch. It may be a bit of heightened drama, but in some ways it feels more realistic than being pent up until the big climax of a series. Mixing in some of the work material to all of this as well works nicely as we get that to help balance things out and to provide some context and launching points for the character drama itself.
In Summary:
The return of the main characters to the forefront of the series is very welcome after a nearly disastrous tour with very unappealing characters. Those couple of episodes nearly had me drop the series as it went with things that really grate on me when it comes to this genre. Takano and Ritsu continue to be a lot of fun to watch, particularly as Ritsu is going through so much in his mind that he’s confusing himself and not sure where to even begin. The conflict that the two have may be over the top in some ways, but it doesn’t go as badly as some series with the outlandish sexual nature and humor. It’s more restrained in a way, but it’s also far more intense in others. The big draw is that it avoids having the whole young man angle going on since Ritsu is several years out of school and is actively living his life and working, rather than being another student or just a gadabout. Sekai Ichi Hatuskoi returns to good form here and left me feeling very happy about it.
Grade: B
Simulcast 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.
