Jealously leads people to think disgusting things.
What They Say:
“PAGE.10”
At the end of her first year of high school, the main heroine, Futaba suddenly has a chance encounter with her first love, Tanaka Kou. Three years ago, he transferred schools before she was able to say how she felt about him. After meeting each other again, Futaba realizes that he has gone through many changes. He acts more cool and even had his last name changed to Mabuchi. Gradually the two rekindle their love while piecing together what had happened in the time that they were apart.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The potatoes are a metaphor, and I love metaphor. First, they lay next to the table, easy to knock over. Kou, having just woken up and in various states of tiredness, is just as vulnerable. When Futaba asks for glasses, he goes along with it, not even giving his usual snark. And when Makita comes down to help him, he’s caught off guard. The potatoes fall over and she finds the photo of his mother.
Futaba comes down to ask what’s happening and they both avert their eyes. They say nothing and head upstairs. We’re left with a shot of Futaba in the kitchen, a lone potato hiding behind the door. It’s the one feeling, the one memory, that Kou left locked up that Makita’s released.
Then Futaba comes back to Kou’s place to ask what he and Makita were talking about, she’s met with resistance and a bag of potatoes neatly put away where they can’t be knocked over. He’s built up his wall again that can’t be broken through.
Wonder what happened in the three years since Futaba saw him? He moved with his mother and then watched her wither away from a disease. Each day, as Tanaka-sensei says, she grew thinner and Kou had to go through that alone. So when he’s able to compose himself, he does. When he’s able to distance himself from everyone else, he does because he never wants to feel that again. It’s an adolescent way of thinking about things, but it’s his coping mechanism. We’ve never seen him cry but as he looks up at the stars, I can tell he’s hurt. He’s thinking about her. And maybe he’s crying.
In Summary:
I loved the interaction between Kou and Futaba as always, but especially Futaba and Makita this episode. These are two friends that said, “No hard feelings.” to each other in regards to their love and, what do you know, there are hard feelings. It’s inescapable. But they know that, deep down, even if they hate each other for just a little while, they’ll turn around. They’re not enemies, they just happen to like the same guy.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: PS3, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV