Ao Haru Ride – 07

Decisions, decisions…

One big decision down, but another bigger decision to go. And no, I’m not talking about Futaba’s choice of shampoo

So I Love Him, Now What?

I liked the way this episode picked right up where the previous episode left, with Futaba and Kou at the train station still. So we get to see Futaba’s worry about all sorts of things now that she’s admitting she likes Kou, things like regretting her “boorish facade” and indirect kisses. And her happiness at Kou saying that the way she smells is nice. But she’s working herself up to telling Yuuri the truth, and accepting what would happen when she runs into an old friend from middle school.

This is not the confession that Futaba wanted to hear

At just the wrong time, her (ex?) friend Yumi tells her why she finally stopped talking to her in middle school, even though Yumi was one of the last ones to abandon Futaba when the girls started stabbing her in the back because of the guys. And the reason is awfully topical: Yumi liked Naitou, and at some point became convinced that Futaba liked Naitou also, so she got mad at her and stopped talking to her. And even worse, it’s because Futaba liked Kou that she was even looking at Naitou, who was his friend. But it’s not the lesson that Futaba wants to learn: When you fall in love with your friend’s crush, they hate you.

That’s not the look of someone who hates you, tho

Relationships Aren’t One Direction

Knowing that Kou notices she changed her shampoo may be the final straw

Even watching Yuuri be happy about Kou talking with her starts to make Futaba feel jealous, and then feel like a creep because she’s being terrible and not telling Yuuri. So she starts distancing herself from Yuuri, because she feels bad about moving in on Kou. But you can’t do something like that and expect the other person to not notice. So Yuuri starts wondering if she’s done something to drive Futaba away (awww, she’s so adorable). And Futaba is trying to convince herself to just stay away from Kou… yeah right. She changes small things to even interest him a little bit. So she can’t do that. And Yuuri’s not going to let it go, grabbing the bull by the horns to ask Futaba to the donut shop after school. She’s going to have it out and get the truth whether it hurts her or not.

Never give up, Yuuri! Ganbatte!

I really like this core of steel that Yuuri has had the entire show. She wasn’t destroyed by other people sniping at her, just kept being herself. And now when it seems that Futaba is pulling away from her, she’s not going to just let her go, like Futaba did with Yumi-chan in middle school. And she even asks with a giant smile on her face. And even though it took all episode, I liked the last line of Futaba’s as she decides to go with Yuuri and tell her the truth: “Today might be the day that I lose a very important friend.”

This show has really been hitting those last lines of episodes. They’ve been getting the episodes just right to end on a great emotional wave. Yuuri confessing her love for Kou to Futaba, Futaba confessing her love for Kou to herself, and now Futaba realizing that she might lose her friend, but she has to tell her now. I think we all figure that Yuuri’s not going to abandon Futaba like Yumi did, and this show’s pretty much on rails with the OTP, but it’s still been a great internal battle to watch for Futaba.

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!