While I was taking a very long and luxurious bath, suddenly some very serious romantic drama broke out. Will this all end in fireworks? We’ll see.
What They Say:
Episode 08: “Wash It All Away on a Stormy Night”
Upon inducing a case of “Puberty Syndrome” where two copies of herself exists, Rio ends up staying at Sakuta’s house for the time being. Meanwhile, “the other Rio” has been busy posting various unexpected photos on social media. After being informed about these activities by his classmate, Saki Kamisato, Sakuta decides to have a chat with “the other Rio.” As he learns more about each of the Rio-s in hopes of discovering the reason for “the other Rio’s” actions and possibly a cure for her “Puberty Syndrome,” Sakuta begins to realize the troubles each of them carries…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If there is something that I have come to appreciate about the Seishun Buta Yarou series, it is that while one might question how realistic the teenage characters are in terms of the maturity level and depth of perception of themselves and others that they seem to exhibit, at least the show does not deliberately attempt to insult the audience’s intelligence in many of the ways that so many typical anime high school romantic comedies or dramas do. This arc has focused extensively on Sakuta’s friend Rio Futaba and her love of baths…no, wait, that’s not quite it.
We actually get a deeper dive into Rio’s psyche and what has led to her physical split. To make things easier, I’m going to refer to Rio with her hair up (in a ponytail) as “Up” Rio and Rio with her hair down as “Down” Rio. There is a perfectly good reason for this difference (and if you are a real physics nerd, you might even spot how this is tenuously connected to quantum physics…if you so wish). Where we left off last time was with “Up” Rio posting revealing pictures of herself on a sharing site of some sort. When Sakuta talks to “Down” Rio about it, she wishes that her opposite would stop doing so, but she falls short of asking Sakuta to do anything about it. Of course, Sakuta being Sakuta, he does do something about it. He talks to “Up” Rio, who at first isn’t interesting in stopping, since Rio (here, I refer to both, the core of her being) has a very specific need that the pictures and the attention they garner (Futaba is a quite attractive girl, so of course the pictures got attention) fulfills: it props up her self-esteem. As one of the Rios explains to Sakuta, she was an early developer in school, so she received quite a lot of negative blowback from most other girls, but quite a lot of attention from boys (part of why the girls treated her poorly, no doubt). Things change, however, when someone gets a bit too interested in Rio and begins pressing her for a real life meeting (no doubt a man seeking an easy score, thinking she must be a “loose” girl). This frightens “Up” Rio into wanting to close the account immediately. She is so frightened, she demands that Sakuta stay with her that night at her house.
Now, we can see some of the strengths which this series has which many others lack. Yes, we have Rio in the Bath again, but notice how not a single time have we even had the idiotic “lucky pervert” trope rear its ugly head. Nor does Sakuta attempt to peek in on Rio, either of them. Sure, we get witty banter about wanting to see her naked, but it is nothing more than that: mere witty banter. Further, there is no needless sexual tension in the relationship between Rio, Sakuta, and Kunimi. But there is a deep bond. While Rio worries about what either of the boys think of her, Sakuta shows her what they really feel. After all, he is there with her (“Up” Rio, for those keeping score at home) even though he has a girlfriend (a wonderful one) and he calls Kunimi in the middle of the night and he comes as if it were a family member in trouble. The three then just waste the night hanging out. It’s simple moments like these which show us their closeness. We do not need to be told about it.
The all-night frivolity ends with the three of them promising to go the summer fireworks show coming up. After Sakuta returns home, he hands over to “Down” Rio her phone, which “Up” Rio has given to Sakuta. There is a picture of the trio’s late-night fun…though of course “Down” Rio was left out.
And that was the major problem facing “Down” Rio, what separates the two. “Up” Rio is the one who is more confident in her relations with her friends and more outgoing in general. “Down” Rio is the one who wants to hide away from the world and reacts in a “down” fashion to everything (instead of seeing the picture and thinking “I have good friends” she sees it and feels left out, abandoned). Her fear of isolation and not having the attention of anyone is what drove her to post revealing pictures. It drives her to run away from Sakuta’s house during a hurricane (the timing of weather events is a bit convenient in fiction, isn’t it? But…). It leads her to holing up in the school, wishing to disappear, leaving the “better” version of herself, “Up” Rio, to take her place. Here is the final denouement, which ends in Sakuta getting “Down” Rio to take an important step forward, one that resolves the entire situation.
It’s actually a bit refreshing to see a trio of high school students in an anime who are not in a romantic triangle. It’s nice that these three really do care about each other without it being about getting into each other’s pants. It’s also good that these three are stand up individuals when push comes to shove (the more one learns about Kunimi, the more one realizes that he is the very antithesis of so many handsome jock characters in anime). So, another adolescent problem solved, another one on deck.
In Summary:
Rio Futaba has had a deep-seated fear of isolation and abandonment, being ignored by the world at large. We learn that is even what led her to being friends with Sakuta–his seeming lack of care about being ostracized in school. Her fears, however, are what led to her being split into two versions thanks to Adolescence Syndrome. Resolving those fears are what bring her back together. Witty banter and genuine friendship are what power this show.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll (also at Hulu and FunimationNow)
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra
