Sukitte Ii na yo – 08-09
Even a close relationship will have its cracks, but with care and time, things can be fixed.
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Wow, I sound so strangely deep in that opening line. *shot* Life is busy wuzzy with another anime convention coming up in Singapore this Sunday (EOY fest)! I’ll probably be covering it too, so stay tuned for more cosplay/otaku goodness :3 |
These two episodes have really demonstrated how a lack of communication can ruin relationships. Mei has an inability to accept and express her true feelings of jealously and insecurity, while Yamato has failed to be entirely truthful with Mei (such as how he goes to Megumi’s house for dinner every night after modeling). While subconsciously keeping secrets and hiding things from each other, they had broken the trust that they had worked so hard to build up. On Yamato’s part, I have to admit that his obliviousness to Mei’s problems was annoying – there were obvious signs of her being uncomfortable with the whole modeling thing, and he should’ve known that being Mei, she wouldn’t be the kind of person to outright tell him that she’s feeling left out and hurt. I guess this is another learning point for Mei, that expressing yourself, even those ugly feelings that you’d rather keep in a deep dark corner of your heart isn’t always a bad thing.
It’s actually really nice to see them overcome different obstacles and difficulties together as a couple. Sure, Yamato’s been doing this and that with other girls, but he hasn’t encountered true love until Mei. And Mei, needless to say, is completely new to all of this. They’re both beginners at love – unfamiliar to all these strange feelings of love, and the troubles that come with them – insecurity, worry, jealously, it’s all part and parcel of a relationship. Again, I think that Sukitte is very effective in portraying and conveying emotions to its viewers. One thing though, is that I wished they would’ve expanded more on the process of dissolving the misunderstanding. A guy going to a girl’s house in the middle of the night on quite a regular basis is not a good thing at all, and Mei was strangely okay with not much reason whatsoever on Yamato’s part. No girl would allow that kind of thing to happen and just be satisfied with a half-hearted explanation. Maybe they were caught up in the feelings of the moment, but she couldn’t have just forgotten about it like that : Anyway, that’s just my opinion.
Megumi’s definitely not giving up anytime soon either. It’s quite sad actually, how she obviously doesn’t have any friends. Characters in Sukitte actually share really similar experiences or characteristics – Megumi is like Yamato in the past, having surface interactions with a lot of people, but not really getting close or forming bonds with anyone in particular. And on another hand, Megumi is like Mei in the past – she doesn’t really know how to make real friends just yet. She just deals with it in a different way, choosing to bait others with the privileges she has from being a model to keep a lot of people around of her and keep up the pretense of being really accepted and loved by everyone. In reality, I think this is only going to hurt her in the end – her so-called “friends” will just ditch her after using her in every way they can. She’s probably also suffered some form of emotional trauma in the past which resulted in her behavior today, since the whole scarred-and-changed thing seems to be what Sukitte is going for in all of the characters so far. I don’t think that she actually likes likes Yamato, but she more of sees him as a pretty object to get her hands on – or maybe she wants him as a boyfriend because she sees how accepting he can be with people, how he sees beyond their appearances like he did with Mei, and she wants someone to be able to be that sincere and accepting of her too. Either way, I think there’s still much more to come from her.
Kai’s been formally introduced now, and of course there had to be the reappearance of the bullied childhood friend from Yamato’s past. Again, it’s sad how he was so caught up in the whole bullying thing when the bully had already forgotten all about it – how disappointed and lost he must feel after wasting all those years solely focused on getting revenge. That’s why revenge is scary you see – you get so lost in it that you lose track of everything else that’s important even though others may already have moved on. Although it may be cliché or excessive for a male third wheel to join the party considering that there’s already Megumi, perhaps it is necessary in order to make Yamato realize how truly important Mei is to him. Mei’s already had her fair share of love troubles, so it’s only right that Yamato does too, right? And looking at Kai’s bold confession to liking someone’s girlfriend, it looks like he’s gonna go all out to snatch Mei away from him. Yamato’s in for a buuuumpy ride.
As usual, Sukitte gave me a lot of FEELS these two weeks. I dunno, maybe it’s because of how realistic it is in many ways, especially about the raw emotions that Yamato and Mei are going through as a couple. Although I understand that the whole modeling thing/Kai being Yamato’s childhood friend who came back to get revenge doesn’t really happen in real life, but oh well, this is anime, and I choose to accept it as it is.
On a side note, I really enjoyed how they placed so much significance on such a simple thing as matching keychains/rings/bracelets, because isn’t that just the sweetest thing ever? (sorry inner romanticist is singing for joy) I liked how much Mei treasures the bracelet to the point that when it accidentally broke it really caused her to break down, and that she spent time slowly and carefully fixing it back. The message is clear – relationships may have their cracking points, but it’s never too late to mend things back, even if slowly and gradually.
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
I don’t quite get what you’re saying about Asami in the 3rd paragraph. Did you actually mean Megumi for this paragraph? Asami seems in a good spot: now friendly with Mei and Aiko, happily boyfriend / girlfriend with Nakanishi. I can see Megumi not giving up on Yamato, but so far I’m still trusting him.
More to say, but after lunch. 🙂
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
Ahahaha you bet me to it Highway, so fast in pointing that out XD Yeah, with the way Miyu described it, it’s Megu-tan she’s describing, not Asami.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ and Vocaloid Fangirl with 363 comments
Oh gosh!!! Yeah I was just testing you guys. *coughs discreetly* Haha but thanks, edited! 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Of course exceptional circumstances happen in anime. Otherwise people wouldn’t watch it, cause normal lives are pretty dull. 🙂
Kai might like Mei, but Mei being interested in him? Unless he really changes a lot, that’s not going to happen at all. I think the biggest thing that got Mei interested in Yamato was his innocent depth, that despite his reputation and popularity, he does seem like a fairly innocent boy. It really seems like so much of his reputation as a ladies man and womanizer was projected on him by the other students in the school. He’s tall, handsome, and he is a smooth guy, but he never really seems to use that to get his way. And all of the ‘transgressions’ we have seen him make have been reactionary: Aiko begging him to have sex with her to validate her self-image, Megumi asking him to eat dinner with her after photo shoots. He seems like a guy who has a soft spot for girls, and is easily swayed. So I think it’s good when he tells Megu that he’s not going to model anymore, even though she pouts and complains tries to make him feel bad. That’s a lot of growth on his part.
And I have another comment caught in the spam filter. 🙁
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Ah, it got saved while I was posting that one! Thanks!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
Megu-tan in my opinion only ‘believes’ she likes Yamato because she wishes for that close relationship. Something she’s never had being a model and all. She might act friendly with others, but whether they are just ‘fans’ or actual ‘friends’ can be interpreted in whatever way you guys want (I think they’re just fans). So really, Megu-tan is still lonely and wishing for the comfort of friendship but is confused when seeing how happy and close Mei and Yamato is that she wishes to grasp that same happiness Mei has for herself. She’ll definitely try to do something as well as Kai. Maybe we’ll come across some bigger misunderstandings?
Like you Miyu (did that just rhyme? :D), I find Sukitte more and more adorable; filled with such raw emotions that you can relate to in a way. It’s a beautiful serious romance that touches on mostly the hardships of being in a relationship but also the indescribable benefits that completely outweighs said hardships in the end ;D
PS: Gotta love that near sex scene OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! Although I’d had thought Mei would retaliate a little bit more :\
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
“Retaliate”? Or maybe reciprocate? I thought it did a good job conveying the internal “I want to / I don’t want to / I don’t know what I want” feeling and look that Mei had (especially with the little end card talking by Marshmallow the cat). On the other hand, I think anime in general does the guys in those scenes a little bit of disservice, especially with the dominance-implying posture and camera angles. To me it makes everything seem a bit too rapey.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
Yeah the look she had displayed mixed emotions but i kinda meant like slight verbal retaliation like “H-hey, what are you-” instead of being thrown to the ground without even a tiny cry of surprise.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, I’m trying to give Yamato a bit of the benefit of doubt, in that he wasn’t just pushing her over, that it was also a bit of Mei falling back on her own volition.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
I’m generally pleased with this adaptation, overall. They cut out quite a bit of things Aiko did that weren’t super necessary, although they also cut out one part that I thought had been funny that happens early on in the manga. Although I might be getting my shoujo mangas mixed up. (Basically they got rid of the risky stuff.)
I can’t wait to see how they work out the next arc, considering it’s still not quite closed up in the manga even.