Masamune-kun no Revenge – 04
At least tell me I have breath that smells like summer wine! ANYTHING YOU IDIOT!
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Ah yes, the major back and forth of the romance. Will they or won’t they? Can they or can’t they? Both of them are touch dense when it comes to matters of the heart, so this might take some pain… |
Rose-eyed Steroid or Clear and Present Danger
He has a punchable face when he holds that thing…
I like how this episode began the morning after from last episode’s evening. It gives the audience a sense of continuity, so that no matter how melodramatic this thing can get…it’s all pretty normal. So it looks like Yoshino’s magic show is going to continue on and on until she get’s her satisfaction. As of right now, we don’t know the source of her wisdom or the source of her real motivation, but Makabe respects that principle well enough to keep himself at her call as his master of romance, even if that does play into a pique of misplaced jealousy in the final act. – which leads to showing us how dependent Aki is on her attendant, as well. Underscoring the romance, we see that things are proceeding at pace in their own way. Yoshino is still doing the little things for Aki; going to the convini for a late night snack binge on her behalf, but continuing to fall in step no matter the time or trouble, and being her closest friend. For his part, Makabe is researching his sister’s shoujo manga for the best way to make Aki fall in love with him. Time to be disabused of that notion, he’s usually a chapter or ten behind Yoshino anyway.
There is so much her to love!
So what follows is the unbearable feelings of the forlorn budding love that our main characters must bear. While it looks like Makabe is the driver of most of the episodes points – and playing it hot and cold isn’t exactly wrong, unless you’re this idiot – it’s really Aki’s actions which make it very watchable and interesting. We’ll learn later on that she has reasons for keeping people at extreme distances, but for right now, she’s taking a risk, she’s stepping out into the light, as it were. Now, she’s meeting this dull boy more than halfway; or it seems so on it’s face? For his part he keeps missing the mark, which is what lends the show it’s verisimilitude, and the rest of it’s thrust. Twitterpated or not, unless you’re honest with your feelings, some clues are gonna be missed and that feels very real the sense of teen romance. In that respect, we keep learning a bit more about how Aki reacts with each back and forth. From the Rosebud-esque umbrella, to Aki’s own reveries of the past, straight into her overreaction to jealousy. But the real shame, the one we know, the one she doesn’t know, is that she still only part of Makabe’s half-assed plan. He very well has every reason to have this relationship, he’s smitten and knows it, but won’t allow it. Again, Yoshino. Lucky to have her?
Dammit, I’m falling in love aren’t I?
So what does Makabe bring out in her, and what is it about her that he likes.? For the last one, it’s hard to say, save that she isn’t an unlikable person, just disagreeable in many respects. And that’s what he bringing out in her on one hand, but his simple presence is messing with her on the other hand. She’s smitten, she knows it, but just doesn’t want to admit it, for reasons. Which brings us full circle. Her horrible treatment of boys in the present, started in the past, brought on due to them being “liars” – and goodness, she’ll never stop if that the’s reason – is a defense mechanism of sorts. And it got Makabe first. But, she feels that it helps her keep her balance in a world she perceives as trying to put her off that balance, it’s her push before they get the chance to do the pushing. That can’t be effectual for long, and I think that Yoshino knows that better than anyone, and is trying to bring her out of that always on the offense-prone shell. But I cannot help but shake that Yoshino has other, more personal reasons, for doing her trouble. She is playing both fields after all. So let’s see how it all develops next week. Seems like these two are made for each other.
Oh wait, does it look like one batch of tropey tropes are going to be resolved?! Here’s another bag of them!
This week’s extra Revenge…
Just leave it to Yoshi!
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It didn’t take long before I started to feel really sorry for these two main characters. They’re both being so played by Yoshino, and they’ve willingly given up their agency to her. Neither of them really knows how to move forward, and they’ve become so dependent on her that they don’t even really try to come up with what kind of answer to make to the other one. And they don’t even try to think through about what they want to say, they give up and ask what they *should* say.
I just want to tell both of them to slow down and just think for a second about what they want.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…oh yes, that is the thing right there – and if they did slow down and think, both of their answers would be the same thing: “I don’t know what I want”. Both of them are entering new territory, they can’t tell a creek from a crack in the ground. With Yoshino, the story cranks up that uncertainty. She’s receptive to Aki, but calculated with Makabe. It mixes the signals well enough to heighten the tension. The trick to that will be the release, which they won’t do next episode if the sudden and melodramatic appearance of Next Girl tells us anything…