Sukitte Ii na yo – 03 & 04
We all have our scars – from loving someone too deeply, from wanting to protect someone too badly.
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Again, sorry for not covering last week’s episode due to various birthday/graduating things going on! Sushi is busy with work stuff as well and will be joining us next week instead :3 These two episodes will tug on your heartstrings, so get your tissue boxes ready for some tearing and DAWWWing! Have I mentioned how much I love this show? |
Aiko
*miyu// Strangely, Aiko is one of those love rivals in the shoujo genre that you don’t (or at least I didn’t) inherently hate from the moment she’s introduced – I actually felt like I could really empathize with her to a certain extent. On the topic of scars, what Aiko has is physical scars – scars from dieting and losing weight so quickly that left stretch marks. In this age and time, it is a common occurrence for people to change themselves for others. A lot of people today would be able to see a little bit of themselves in her. I really like how Sukitte portrays characters in such a realistic way, and even subtly, it brings into picture many social issues prevalent in our society. The need to present yourself in a way that is socially acceptable, the need to change yourself in order to make someone love you more – it obviously exists and frankly everyone knows that it’s there. That is how society functions – we conform, we follow, we accept it as it is. Not to say that wanting to change yourself is wrong, but changing yourself just for the sake of others, I would think, is really sad. Aiko is a glaring representation of how most people act in this time and age and that’s what makes this show really relatable to many people.
Yamato
*miyu// I have to say that after these two episodes I’ve grown to like Yamato a lot. Shoujo anime and its ways of making me fall for inanimate characters that I will never find in real life ;w; His background story, whereas not particularly new or exciting, is positively believable. I understand how he would feel an obligation to help everyone around him to make up for what he didn’t do for his best friend in the past. The incident resulted in an emotional scar that affected how he interacted with others from then onwards – which is why he’s so nice to everyone now. And truth be told, Asami and Aiko have both been saved by him. Some of his decisions are still questionable – sleeping with Aiko might not have been the right thing to do during that time. But those decisions happened in, as he put it, a time of weakness. Any teenager would have been really confused and distraught after having your best friend transfer and knowing that it was partially your fault – the fact that his friend actually thanked him for talking to him must have made him even guiltier. Honestly if I was him I might have stabbed myself in guilt. What makes him so likeable is that he knows that what he did was wrong in retrospect and admits it – he admits his flaws and mistakes, but promises that nothing of the like will happen again because he has Mei to love wholeheartedly now. How—my heart—FEELINGS!!
Mei
*miyu// Mei is changing not for others, but because of others. I love seeing how she’s just a little bit more open to talking and interacting with her small circle of friends now. It impresses me that even though she’s never had friends until recently, she knows how to differentiate between real, sincere friends and well, superficial friends with “benefits”, and also how she stands up for others, even though the friends she had in the past weren’t there for her. She is the perfect embodiment of innocence and sincerity. Because of the fact that she’s been living in her own little bubble until she met Yamato, she hasn’t been affected by the outside world – the only way to interact with people, as far as she’s concerned, is through honesty. She is clean, no masks, no facades, and it’s clear why Yamato, and everyone else that gets to really know her for who she is, wants to get closer to her. The last scene in episode 4 really touched me, and that one kiss was far more significant than any of the other kisses that happened so far – Mei was the one who took the initiative and kissed Yamato’s hand – she’s not only being loved, but now she is also one who loves.
ALL THE FEELS!! I love this show, I really do. Episode 4 was my favorite episode of Sukitte so far, and I loved the theme of scars. The ending monologue by Mei was so incredibly touching and the idea of having beautiful scars – scars that have special meaning and are precious to someone, is so… BEAUTIFUL c’: With the whole surge of shoujo manga that’s in the market right now you’d think that it’d be so difficult to find some that actually go beyond the superficial layer of relationships in real life. And yet this season we’ve been treated to two lovely shoujo anime adaptations that really stand out from all the others! A shoujo lover can’t get any happier than this.
About Miyu
A stressed-out jyoushi kousei doubling as Metanorn's loli with a soft spot for sappy romance animanga. She will watch anything with bishies in it. :3
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
These episodes… so good… almost can’t breathe… I think that it’s maybe just a little far fetched that Mei is so comfortable with herself, that she can speak up in situations like the one with Aiko and Hayakawa, or that she can stand up to a guy like Hayakawa or even slap Yamato like she does. But I definitely prefer that to the total shrinking violet that we too often get in a show like this. They did a pretty good job softening Aiko up this episode, at the expense of Hayakawa, although I wish we would see more of Nakanishi and Asami in the show, and see more building of their friendships, rather than just ‘let’s make new friends that we never see again in the show’.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Mei is rather comfortable with herself, and it does seem a bit far fetched, but really, I don’t see it as too far fetched or anything. Getting used to people and speaking up to people isn’t something you do bit by bit. I know, since I had to do it. Shy people have to take big risks when they have a strong feeling inside, and they have to feel brave. Bit-by-bit doesn’t lead anywhere with satisfactory results in the necessary time frame. I did it mostly bit by bit, and now I wish I had started earlier. And generally I’m comfortable with myself, at least on the outside.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
Maybe one reason for why kids didn’t like Mei when she was younger was because she was much like she is now? I could see other children not liking her for being precocious.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 47 comments
I love this anime! 😀 You don’t get this much character development oriented shoujo/romance series, it’s usually just superficial shallow romance -,-
I read manga too and I can’t wait for others to show up 😀 You don’t see show with human characters like these every day. 😀
I was glad to see that Aiko’s hostility towards Mei doesn’t revolve solely around the fact she’s dating Yamato but not her, she was annoyed mainly because Mei got to be with Yamato without putting any effort for it to happen, while she gathered strength to make big changes just for him. I like her character because of that. 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I actually think that’s a lot of what attracts Yamato to Mei: that she is who she is, without work, without faking, without changing. Wasn’t that even what he said to Aiko in his memory when she came to him distraught over her other boyfriend cheating on her? That she is pretty without needing to change? It’s possible I’m remembering this wrong, but it was definitely something about being pretty the way she is. And then what did she do immediately after that? Goes and tries to change herself into what she thought Yamato would want, and then is confused why he doesn’t continue to respond favorably. Not that there was likely too much mutual attraction there in the first place, he seems to know he didn’t love Aiko in any sense and wrongly took advantage of her.
And with Mei, she’s not really changing to try to suit him. Yes, she’s changing a bit, but not really in great amounts, and not trying to blame / use him as the reason. While she may not be entirely comfortable with who she is, she isn’t afraid to be who she is. And in doing so, she seems to allow Yamato to find something in himself.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 47 comments
Yes he did say something like that to her, that she’s prettier without make-up and all other things she was doing to be perfect girl for her boyfriend at that time.
Even if she did lose weight to look better for Yamato, she did it without trying to be someone who she isn’t but to be best herself she could be…But not for herself initially… ^^; 🙂
I guess not being in contact with other people for such long period of time is what enabled her to stay herself when she started letting other people in her life. Luckily it was the right kind of people ^__^ While interacting with others Mei will surely grow as character and while doing so by being honest person she is, others around her will too~ They definitely are ^__^
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Akio is not my most character in Sukitte but she’s okay. I’m waiting for the delinquent. Seriously. :3
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
You mean Kai? He looks like a delinquent, with his goofy hair, but he isn’t really much of a delinquent. XD
But yeah, he’s wonderful. I can’t wait to see what the anime does with him.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Yep, I meant him. He’s so unruly yet awesome. :3
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
I’m a little bit bothered by the lack of seriously animating things, but these people are doing really well with the adaptation. They did soften up Aiko and what she was doing, although I’m glad they kept the weight thing, as a reminder that aiming for results quickly will have side effects.
As for Mei, she’s retained her somewhat philosophic demeanor of looking at other people, and her bursts of courage and bravery to speak up when she knows something’s wrong. She’s seen so much as an outsider, seeing the “fake” and “real” friends, and now she gets the chance to tell people that she doesn’t need them.
Although Yamato didn’t explain that he knew something was wrong with Mei because she didn’t eat all her food. I was waiting for that. -__- That had been such a funny line to read in the manga, and then they cut it out for slowing down and dramatizing other things. Well, can’t have everything…
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
Yamato’s past makes him less creepy now, though I still can’t see him as a nice normal guy only. However, I’m impressive at how attentive he is when it comes to Mei. When am I going to get a boyfriend like that
I thought the anime is going to take a dramatic turn when Aiko said that she won’t give up on Yamato, but I’m glad nothing excessively dramatic happened. Did the anime skip some part though? It feels weird to have Aiko saying stuff like “I won’t let it happen!” then have her giving up on the next episode. Why do I have a feeling that the anime is skipping and taking out lots of things?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I kind of thought that Aiko’s “psh, whatever” reaction to Mei’s interjection and explanation was more of a realization on Aiko’s part that there’s far more to Mei than she thought. Mei definitely comes across to people who just see her walking around as a mousy, shy, easily bullied girl. And she most definitely is not. And there’s also the fact that in the interaction between Hayakawa and Yamato, Aiko sees the real difference between what she had with Yamato and what Yamato feels for Mei, and what he’s willing to do for Mei.
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
i love yamato and nei..i just hope yamato will not hurt mei because of megu….she’s really mean…and selfish..