What They Say:
“Chapter 13 Child of God (Part Three) / Chapter 14 Important Things. Important Matters / Chapter 15 Teach Me How to Play Shogi”
What will Kiriyama and Takahashi talk about? Will it end well? Let’s hope the cute kitties can teach us how to play shogi!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If you thought last week’s episode was a downer, this one’s clearly the antidote. I thought the sudden appearance of Takahashi at the fast food restaurant was just a brief joke, a way of ending the episode on a somewhat lighter note, so I was a little surprised to find the show going back to that moment. It proves to be one of the best moments in the entire episode.
After a few minutes of awkward silence between the two boys, Takahashi finally breaks the silence with a surprising revelation not only to us but to Rei as well. Not so long ago, when Takahashi was deciding between using his baseball abilities to get a referral at a regular high school or going to a rural one so he’d have a chance to play in the national championship, his grandfather showed him a magazine featuring Rei. The fact that this middle school kid was able to become a professional lit a fire under Takahashi and helped him decide to fully pursue his dream of professional baseball. But this is not all, he has a question he’s been meaning to ask Rei. Why did he come back to school if he was already a professional?
Being asked in such a sincere and straightforward manner throws Rei off-balance and before he knows it he lets his mask slip and an honest answer comes to his lips: because he doesn’t want any more memories of giving up. Even when he starts to doubt himself, he can see Takahashi has understood completely and this fills him with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment he’s never felt before. I absolutely loved this scene, it seems like such a simple thing but it carries so much meaning. To someone lost in the shadows like Rei is, the fact that he was able to connect with someone, to truly communicate sincerely means the world. This is the first time I’ve ever heard Rei say he feels happy and it made me smile too.
Maybe it’s the inertia of this happiness that prompts Rei to suggest they meet again, something completely out of character but greatly needed. Little did he know Takahashi would text him later to make good on this casual promise. Rei, once again thrown off balance, invites him over to the sister’s house for dinner. What follows is mostly comedic, with the frantic dinner preparations, even though Takahashi seems like the kind of guy who could eat anything. Both Hina and Rei are nervous as hell, while Momo is just her happy little self.
What came as a surprise to me was finding out the sisters (at least the younger ones) didn’t know how big of a deal Rei was in the shogi world . Takahashi pulls out a tape (if they didn’t use cellphones I’d wonder if this was set in the 80’s), of the NHK competition and they flip out that both Nikaidou and Rei are on TV. The best part of this whole scene was seeing Rei get so irritated at Nikaidou’s comments he finally starts screaming at the TV set. This is another first for him and it indicates he is slowly but surely breaking through that barrier and in doing so, beginning to learn others will accept you for who you are, you don’t really have to try so hard. I think Takahashi’s natural and direct approach to everything has had a hand in this too.
The last segment is cute for the most part, as Hina asks Rei to teach her to play shogi. Honestly, the minute he started explaining he lost me too, my head was spinning just as much as Hina’s, but Nikaidou stepped in to help and wouldn’t you now it? He’s excellent at it. If Nikaidou ever retires he has a bright future ahead of him as a trainer, he seems to enjoy it too. It’s not just fluff, though, it was another lesson for Rei in realizing how good it feels when the people you care about are interested in you, not only out of familiarity or obligation but because they truly want to understand you and be a part of your life.
One last thing, the ending sequence is just adorable.
In Summary:
This episode left me smiling. It was so nice to see Rei finally realize how other people see him, he’s even beginning to wonder about the future, meaning there’s hope for him getting out of that stagnation he seems to be living in. Takahashi is a nice addition to the family and Nikaidou gets more endearing by the day. What I loved more about this episode is that even though the way out is never simple, Rei has begun to take little steps towards it and part of it is because he decided to take action. Asking Takashi to meet with him again may seem like such a trivial thing to do, but in someone like Rei it made a world of difference. And I think it broke something inside him, a shell that’s been holding his emotions in check.
Grade: A+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, Daisuki
