Love Lab – 12
Riko’s having too much fun to remember what she’s supposed to tell Maki
Riko has been riding the ragged edge of being caught out for not being truthful with Maki and the rest. Is this the week she’s finally exposed as a big fraud?
A New Set of Accomplices
This is what happens when she remembers
The issue of how to report the findings of their love research has been a question, but the Newspaper Association has come up with a plan: write the results as narratives in the underground newspaper. Plus, they’ll even give them a new office to work more closely with them. It’s a good plan but it’s almost certain that it’ll come back to be a problem. With only one other episode this season, it’s unlikely to be that quick, tho.
Nagi’s too nice to give up Riko, and Yan’s too preoccupied with himself
But Riko’s other problem isn’t going away, just getting more complicated. And the further it goes, the more it’s her own fault. She just can’t bring herself to tell Maki. At least she acknowledges that it’s her own cowardice that’s preventing her from saying that she’s a complete novice in love. And because Maki misunderstands it, Yan and Nagi are both roped into it, even before Riko can ask them to preserve her lie.
The Longer Poison Works, the More Deadly It Becomes
Just a bad guy, isn’t he
At almost every turn now, Riko is faced with the fact that she’s been lying to Maki. And no matter how many times she tells herself she’s going to confess the truth, she never does. And noone else is giving her away either, among the people who know the truth. Well, Yan tries, but goes too far and convinces Maki that he’s just a mean-spirited person (which he is) who will say whatever he thinks is most effective.
They’re shocked!
Sayo even floats a trial balloon with Suzu and Eno, to see what they’d think if all of Riko’s experience turned out to be a lie. The differences in those three are interesting, also, because it’s not like Sayo actually knew that Riko was unpopular. It was just her cynical side that viewed what Riko said about her experience with doubt, which turned out to be true. On the other side, Suzu and Eno always believed in Riko, even without her trying that hard to make it believable. And they really don’t want to believe that Riko is lying, questioning why Sayo would even think that.
Riko finally confesses… if only for a second
Riko does finally get over her cowardice and confesses to Maki… for an instant. And then she walks it back with a “What would you think if that were true?” And even as she’s trying to contradict THAT, she gets in trouble again. But the cat’s out of the bag when Maki overhears Riko being questioned by her friend Miko about whether she’s the person to give out love advice. And even though Maki passes it off as not overhearing, it’s pretty obvious she did.
Maki puts on a fake smile
How will Maki take the truth? Is her faith in Riko shattered, especially so close after she declared that she wanted to be friends forever? Will Riko lose her closest friend? And how about her reputation with the others? That’s sure to take a hit. I don’t think anyone needs to be told what the moral of this series has been, given that they’ve beaten us repeatedly with it. But seeing Riko’s growing sense of desperation, yet inability to overcome her cowardice has been quite amusing and cringeworthy at the same time.
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!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I think Maki will try to pretend it never happened, only to have an issue of trust come up; like that Chekhov’s Bullet the Newspaper Association handily loaded will turn it into a storm of the love lab, teachers, friends.
Or Maki could just run around in .gif worthy flair….
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This is what happens when a lie is left unchecked. It gets out of control and can cause damage that could be beyond repair.
Unfortunately, Riko isn’t getting the truth out like she should because she’s continually getting stonewalled by Miss Fantasy. Maki’s delusions make things unnecessarily difficult and she can’t bear risking her friendship if the truth taken the wrong way. She’s so consumed that there’s no way for her to seperate truth from fiction. I guess in Riko’s mind, she’s pegged Maki as type who’d never want to speak to her again if she feels betrayed and that’s why the cowardice always gets the best of her.
Given how Maki tends to let most things slide, I doubt it will be that big of an issue when she’s finally set straight. She’s never the type to hold a grudge so Riko will probably get a moderate backlash for her deception.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t know if Maki’s that forgiving. She held a grudge against Sayo and Eno for a while, especially when they started making hassles for her. But she was fairly quick to embrace them when they hammered out their differences.
I think Riko owns probably 90% of the blame for not setting the record straight. Yeah, there are times that Maki distracts her or goes off on a tangent, but if Riko really wanted to deal with it, she could. I think Riko’s biggest problem is that she never wants to appear weak or wrong.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 22 comments
Held a grudge ? Did you even watch the anime in question ?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yes. She wasn’t keen to let either of them anywhere near the Student Council after she had run them both off. And they were in a low-level war until they had to cooperate to get out of the jam they had all ended up in (mostly due to Eno’s incompetence). Maybe you’d call it something different, but that’s close enough to a grudge for me.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive!”
Like many liars, Riko’s getting caught in her own tangled web of deceit. It’s clear that Maki is hurt when she learns the truth, but she’s the type who’ll forgive Riko when Riko finally comes clean and doesn’t try to walk it back this time. Not coming clean is what would permanently damage their friendship.
My favorite part this episode was how Maki’s smile kept getting bigger and bigger as sensei became more and more amazed at how far along she was. Take that, Yan! He needed to be knocked down a few pegs after the way he dissed her.