What They Say:
“Hachiken Howls”
Content: (Please note that the content portion of a review may contain spoilers)
“Grief for cheese can only be assuaged by more cheese.” This is Nakajima’s declaration as he enlists Hachiken and Aki to assist him making more cheese to replace the stock eaten at the school festival. What proceeds is several zen-like minutes (broken up by humor, of course) of Nakajima leading the students through the production of cheese, as they create the whey, and remove the lactose. It’s actually a pretty informative scene, and also brings Hachiken another mini epiphany, that agriculture can be so interesting when you look at it in different ways like cheese-making being like chemistry (and also, that agriculture is super delicious).
The peaceful opening is needed as a cushion, as the episode quickly takes a more depressing turn. Ayame shows up, announcing that she wants to enroll in the school now that there’s an opening — which is how the news breaks that Komaba will be dropping out. As it turns out, the baseball tournament Ezonoo lost last episode was his last ditch effort to make it to Nationals and get a pro gig. His family debts finally became too much, and now his mother has to close the business. And in order to climb out of debt, Komaba takes it on himself to get a job and start paying everything off. This also solves the mystery of what’s been bothering Aki since episode one of the season: she was the only one who knew what Komaba was going through. In another twists, Komaba reveals that the Mikage family cosigned the loan his father took out before he died, so if Komaba doesn’t start paying off the debt, Aki’s family will be hurt, too.
Komaba, Aki, and the other students are all despondent about the situation, but Hachiken is the only one outraged by the situation. “Just like that? His dream’s over?” he shouts at his classmates. For the entire show, Hachiken’s found inspiration in everyone’s big dreams, and Komaba’s was the biggest of all. Now that it’s been snuffed out, he seems desperate to find a way to make it right, but everyone just wants to let it go and move on. This only makes him angrier — he knows they’re upset, that they’re “boiling over”, but they act so calm. When Aki tells him, for what feels like the hundredth time this season, not to worry about something that doesn’t concern him, he has to make a decision: to “let go of the reins”, like Aki told him to do, so everyone can come to terms and move on, or to make his friends drag him into their problems so he can help them at least express what they really feel.
In Summary:
Despite the quiet opening, the later half of the episode gets heavy quick, with only a smattering of humor to lighten the load. Moments with both Aki and Komaba from earlier in the season tie in here, and we, along with Hachiken, are finally allowed in on the secret that’s been making Aki so depressed, and Komaba so determined. Many of the characters manage to trick you out of becoming actually depressed about the situation, with their seemingly mature “that’s life” attitude, but luckily we have Hachiken to remind us that what’s happening is horrible, a big deal, and you’ve got to express some kind of emotion about the whole thing. It’s unclear if he still believes he can fix anything, and his attempt to help may wind up making people angry at him — but at least they’ll finally show their emotions.
Grade: A-
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 13″ Apple Macbook set to 720p
