Glasslip – 02

And now it’s time for these important announcements!

This episode put a lot of cards out on the table. So was it a straight, gin, or did they get the old maid?

 

Sight and Sound

Bright and shiny

Touko has always glimpsed the future, apparently. Is this more than deja vu? She says it’s never been clear, it’s never been much, and it’s always been through glass. And she hasn’t really been able to tell it from a normal daydream, and didn’t think it’s from the future. But now Kakeru is confirming it, and that he is able to hear the future. And when the two of them are together, they both see and hear, in more clarity and completeness than before. Is this a sign of something? But even confirming it, it kind of leaves Touko in a weird place that she doesn’t know what to do about it.

An instant reaction from Sachi. What is she protecting Touko from and why?

Sachi has placed herself in an interesting position as well. Quick to rise to Touko’s aid and defense, even to put herself in possible harm’s way on Touko’s behalf. She’s also quite vehement when she says that she can’t imagine what she’d do to anyone who was to try hurt Touko. Is this another indication of a possible side of a love polygon? Sachi has been somewhat of an enigma, the one who brings up the group’s no-dating rule, the one who seems the most on the ball, but then doesn’t really seem to acknowledge Hiro’s obvious feelings for her.

Was this a threat?

Unstable Equilibrium

Hiro’s onee-san has the best part of the show so far

It was pointed out last week that the director of Glasslip, Junji Nishimura, is the same director who did True Tears. And maybe it was knowing that, or maybe it was just the way the episode played out, but it really felt similar to that show, in that there was a very uneasy steady state that existed prior to the series. People had wants, people had desires, but they didn’t do anything about them before because it would upset the apple cart. But now they’re getting to a point where those feelings, those wants, are becoming more powerful than their hesitance to rock the boat. In True Tears, those wants caused a lot of worries and false paths, and even preemptive strikes.

Yanagi sees exactly what she didn’t want to see, yet feared

And in Glasslip we’ve got a situation where there has been agreement that noone in their group will date, either within or without the group. But amongst a group of growing teenagers, this is something that is unsustainable (as pointed out by Kakeru). Members have grown close to each other, and have developed feelings for each other. Yuki towards Touko, Yanagi towards Yuki, Hiro towards Sachi (even though Hiro never really knew there was a ban). And Touko’s feeling intrigued a bit by Kakeru, even if she’s not really thinking about dating him. So her unilateral decision to rescind the dating ban, almost thoughtlessly thrown out there, is going to be the catalyst for a lot of reactions to come, with the first happening almost immediately.

The bike covers Touko’s reaction

Unfortunately, it’s the exact opposite thing that Touko, apparently completely oblivious to Yuki’s feelings (she even pushed him into it, not realizing how he felt), wanted to happen, and the very thing that Yanagi feared. It’s certain that Touko’s impetus for rescinding the ban was to help Yanagi out, and get Yuki to confess to Yanagi, but unfortunately what happened was the wrong way around. And now that there’s been one confession, what will happen to the rest? Hiro was definitely going to try to confess to Sachi, and Touko wanted Yanagi to confess to Yuki, but after seeing Yuki and Touko, I think it’ll be quite a while before she can. Will she play “the girl who’s always there for you when the others turned you down”? Or will Yanagi actually come out and make a move? And what kind of wedge will that drive between Touko and Yanagi? Will they stay as close? It’s not like Touko was actively moving in on Yanagi’s boy. And what was that look that Sachi had for Touko when she lifted the ban? Wondering what her motives were? Interested in Touko? We’ll just have to see what happens.

This whole episode had that feeling, not really of ‘dread’ but at least that something destabilizing was happening, that the boulder on top of the mountain was precariously sitting there, and you knew it would leave a changed landscape behind it wherever it went. It may have only started to fall, but the ramifications are not anything close to clear yet. This episode really kept that feeling going the whole time and it was a delicious ache. The other great thing this episode was the inclusion of Chopin’s Nocturne Op 9 No 2 in E-flat major, my second favorite after Op. 72 No 1 in E minor (maybe because I had so much trouble with the trills).