Sakamichi no Apollon – 10
Where those Jormungand guys got the idea to toss around Jonah
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A couple people commented on last week’s Apollon post that they wanted to see Sen get some kind of happy ending. If any opportunity to do as much would be next episode. More on that later. |
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Ah yes, finally, a scene we’ve been wanting to happen for about 4-5 episodes now. It’s not the manly way, but it certainly is Kaoru’s way. It’s almost a “too good to be true” situation for him once he gets a clearer understanding that Ri’ko likes him. With the bath scene and the house scene, I think all he really wanted her to do is more explicitly confirm where she stands. Have those feelings for Sentarou gone away for good? Is this alright for the both of us? The more I think about and analyze Kaoru’s character, the more I like the way he is portrayed in the anime. He exhibits some spineless-like qualities, but it’s not without defined reasoning.
There was a little bit of a tug-of-war going on between the two, and with one sentence from Ri’ko about him having a lack of confidence, she finally got through to him and put the ball in his court. “Are you going to confess to me or not?” she dared. And Kaoru stepped up like KD and was clutch in the closing moments. (No LeBron in the way to foul him)
Judging from the mentioning of seasons, I’m guessing that roughly 4 months have passed since Kaoru and Ri’ko had their moment and that nothing exciting has happened since; kind of recalls me back to the series Beck where Koyuki and Maho got together, then with a passing of time device we find out things didn’t work out between them. There’s still a string of hope for these two, but so far it would seem like Kaoru hasn’t gotten to touch her plots or backstory. Poor dude.
I’m guessing the anime cut something out of the time in between the confession scene to where we are now, but I’m gonna presume that an anime-only viewer is not missing out on much afterwards.
Sentarou is going through a real rough time right now. Yurika’s no longer around for him to fawn over, his buddy Jun taking her away from him, and now mention of his father returning home who has had, and maybe still has, some issues with alcohol.
What exactly is the show and Sentarou signaling at with him letting his “girlfriend” fly away and wanting Kaoru to take care of Ri’ko? Is he just running away? If so, doesn’t that seem a little cold to all of his siblings, especially Sachiko who has just as much fear about what their father might be like, even if he’s gotten better? I expect better out of him, so it would be disappointing if he does just up and run away from the situation.
So… how do we get a happy ending out of this? Would it have to take Kaoru and/or Ri’ko finding and saving Sen somehow? Friendship has been the most important thing of note for Sen in the series (as seen in episode 6), so that would be the “friendship conquers all” way. Maybe his dad truly has improved. I highly doubt that, but it isn’t totally outside the realm of possibility.
The way Sen brushed off his dad’s return home to Kaoru was pretty sly of him. He did it in a way that made Kaoru feel reaffirmed that they were going to play together. Though it’s a damned lie, pretty well executed on his part.
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This episode moreso than any other in the series gave me that feeling of, “wow, they are really blazing through stuff.” Thinking back on the shoujou romance shows I’ve seen, pacing like this would be jarring. While Watanabe is making tough decisions and cuts to get the whole Apollon story in the anime, one thing I like is how small the core cast of characters is. There were 5, and then after last week it dwindled down to 3, so there’s not many sources for Kaoru and others to go and mope over their troubles.
I’m really hoping for the best out of Sen’s situation, but I’m preparing myself for a bittersweet conclusion to the series (which I think is 12 episodes instead the noitaminA-standard 11).
About Jrow
Produces the MetaVerse podcast. Also plays games and watches sports of all sorts. Is an actual Pirate King.
POWUH: iLurker with 7 comments
They really didn’t cut much when compared to the manga. In the manga they showed Kaoru fainting in school – which they referred to – but not much else was cut (concerning this episode.)
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Thanks for confirming that for me. 🙂 I assumed as much.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Thanks to your post about this show last week, I decided to start watching it, and just caught up. What a nice show so far.
As for the questions posed by this one, Sentarou’s definitely leaving, but we’ll see for how long and when he comes back. The early money would be on a triumphant return at the school festival to put The Olympus in their place.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Cool stuff. Glad I could play a small role in that.
I’m hoping for the same thing you propose as the early favorite, though I would be careful myself before dropping a grand on it. The ending song is a point of interest in what the lyrics say.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Ahh, I finally caught up to the most recent episode! Man, they really are just blazing through the seasons. I can’t believe they danced around the KaoruxRi’ko relationship so much. At this point, seeing them get together was more frustrating than relieving. Kind of a “UGHH, WE REALLY WENT THROUGH ALL THIS JUST FOR THIS?!” sort of feeling. I really like this show at its best, but sometimes the convoluted love triangles make things really bog me down. It’s easy to scream at people for acting stupid when you’re just sitting on the couch and watching their lives.
I’m disappointed in Sen as well. I thought he actually trusted Kaoru enough to tell him about his problems, but I guess not. I won’t be surprised if he returns in the end for a dramatic arrival at the Festival though.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
What is your avatar of? I haven’t the slightest ideal.
I believe it’s 1968 now. I think I remember Honey & Clover celebrating a couple of Christmases in that series, though that series was 24 eps. as opposed to the 10 Apollon has been.
I’m purely guessing here, but if you took all the scenes of KaoruxRi’ko since the rejection in episode 5, it might total up to no more than a full episode maybe closer to half (or roughly one year in Apollon time). But… in that span, we’d get about 6-8 scenes worth of just them. So it’s not a lot of time for us watching, but a lot of scenes to take in.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Kusuriuri from Mononoke! I finished watching it recently and needless to say, I really liked it.
I’m not really concerned about the mathematics of exactly how many scenes they got and the ratio of KaoruxRi’ko time to everything else. It just FEELS like the switch between the rejection and getting together was long. It was long enough to make me give up on that couple and not care about what the result would be.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
It’s obvious you don’t watch a lot of romance series. I dunno how you can feel frustrated by something that only lasted a span of about 4 episodes (which you were catching up with), was interjected by the YurikaxJun couple, and had some quality scenes between them like the Sound of Music reference in episode 6 or the scene between Ritsuko/Sentarou that basically sealed the deal for the KxR romance. The only scene where I can see some frustration was in episode 9 with the park bench scene. Other than that, I took away something from each of those scenes as progression of their feelings which led to the confession moment.
You’re too anxious.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
D…don’t make fun of me >:
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Caught up with this today and I must say that I’m enjoying the slice of life waaay more than I thought I would.
From episode 1, I would have never thought that Kaoru and Ri’ko was even remotely possible to be honest, but I’m glad that it’s working out… kind of. I hope Sen has some kind of happy ending too, but yeah, I wonder what he’s thinking, leaving his younger siblings alone with his previously alcoholic father.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Ah, didn’t even know you were watching this.
I was kind of in the same boat as you for a brief moment, even after episode 6, but they found a way to hook those two up. Will it ultimately work out? Maybe not, but it is anime after all.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I just started yesterday actually xD
Yeah, as much as I want them to work out, the fact that the time skip happened isn’t really a good sign… I’m not all that optimistic about it, but I really do hope it goes well. Like you said, I’m betting on something bittersweet.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Part of me has been hoping that part of the reason for Sen running away is to get him out of the way to develop something between Kaoru and Ri’ko, because Sen is such a big personality that he kind of sucks up all the air in the room, and he seems to always be around. Maybe it’ll be something like they comfort each other about Sentarou leaving and that is what gives them the opening to really grow their feelings for each other. The only other way in the show that Kaoru has seemingly gotten any space from Sentarou is when they have an argument and Kaoru goes brooding on his own somewhere, so he is kind of an oppressive presence.