Seiren – 07

This is my kind of arcade

One more episode before the finale of Tooru’s arc. Will they make some good progress?

Groups Always Break Up.

Good Afternoon, Tooru

So with the fuukiinchou (that’s the Disciplinary Committee chairwoman) on the warpath against students at the arcade, and Araki and Ikuo stuck in rabbit warrens, and Tooru skipping school because she stayed up all night playing GusGal, it looks like things are cooled down for the group… until Tooru invites Shouichi over by himself to play games with her. Well, now, if this ain’t quite the development. Well, kinda sorta. Shouichi shows his dorky side by liking one of the stuffed animals that Tooru made, and then they have a bit of a discussion about why they can’t all play as a group anymore, and that leads to Tooru’s worries about the past resurfacing.

Mikan is totally vindicated!

Tooru’s amazing dexterity

Shouichi had already heard about it from Hikari, that Tooru hadn’t really been mindful of things like boys and girls, and in the process broke a lot of boys’ hearts and hopes. Ruthless in video games, uninterested in romance, she left a trail of both boys and girls behind her and ended up out of the group. That lasted until she was able to meet Tomoe and Shiori in high school, and finally have some girl friends. Shouichi is also able to meet Tooru’s brother Souta (who we also know as the summer school teacher), and learn that he’s the reason that Tooru got into video games, as well as that he’s a bit of an idiot.

We’re Not Kids Anymore

“Not only are we not playing with our friends, it looks like I took you away from them”

But I think we finally hit a little bit of the crisis of this arc, such as it might be, with Tooru realizing that 1) no matter what the reason, she is once again not able to play with the group, and 2) that with Shouichi there by himself, it seems like she has once again split up a group of boy friends, taking Shouichi away from Araki and Ikuo. Even if she’s not too cognizant of it at the time, you can’t say that she hasn’t learned something from her prior experience. But Shouichi won’t take no for an answer, even as she tries to push him back towards the other two. There certainly have been times where she’s seemed interested in him, so I wonder if she’s worried that she would take him away completely from the other two, and they would be upset about it. But I think that high school and middle school are very different from that aspect. Middle school is still, mostly, about boys vs girls and socializing with your own group. But getting into high school, and I think everyone realizes that it’s ok for those middle school groups to break up a little bit, as individuals start finding other people to be interested in.

I like how Tooru is able to relax talking to Shouichi here

Not as relaxed when asking him out, tho

Shouichi’s help getting Tooru past this worry leads to her wanting him to join her at Comic Market, even though she’s mainly going because Shiori has been pestering her. And because Shouichi brought it up, they’ve also got a date planned afterward. And it’s a good sign that now Tooru kinda realizes what it’s like to like someone, since she’s been able to connect that kind of embarrassed and anxious feeling that she had convincing Shouichi to help her to the idea of having a date and or a crush.

Agh, don’t say that!

This is a good drawing

Probably some more fanservice as Tooru cosplays next week, and hopefully we’ll get a better end to this arc than the previous one, as far as a couple goes. It certainly seems farther along than the last one, given that they’ve agreed to go on not just one date, but two, and also that Tooru seems to recognize both her own feelings and Shouichi’s. We’ll see how it goes, but they seem significantly farther along that path, and maybe we’ll see something more than a goodbye kiss on the cheek.

About Highway

Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!