Demi-chan wa Kataritai – 04

Machi is shocked – SHOCKED! – at Hikari’s boldness

So the best social messages of the season are coming from the show featuring cute extra-human girls. It’s definitely the right way to go.

Feeling the Pressure

Hikari is not one to let people hurt her friends… or anyone else

As we ended last week, Yuki was overhearing the gossipy girls in the bathroom trashing her for not being more friendly and for appearing arrogant. I kind of wonder if she went to Tetsuo’s room on purpose to seek his help, or just ended up there, but either way, he encounters her in the hallway waiting for him. And Yuki’s first conversation with him underscores her discomfort with being a Yuki-onna. While Hikari and Macchi are both rather blithe with their demi nature and seemingly comfortable with themselves, it’s certainly not a stretch to realize that they are somewhat rare, not just among demi girls, but among the whole population of high school girls.

Machi wins for reactions this week

But after talking with Sakie (which we’ll get to later), Tetsuo comes up with the idea that their small community of demis (and their demi-con teacher) can be good support for each other. This might be a little obvious, especially given that Macchi and Hikari are already pretty good friends, but it’s also good to have the teachers express the focused idea that they should feel more open about talking about their issues. I think that it’s also something that helps Sakie, as she is probably as isolated from all of those around her as anyone, which is part of why she’s so gung-ho to help out (we’ll get to the other part later). It really is a good idea, having someone with that outside perspective helping the girls to see that even though they are different kind of demis, the fact that they are demis is something that connects them. The other thing that connects them is that they all have a bit of a crush on Tetsuo. While the level of it ranges from Macchi’s “He’s so dreamy” kind to Sakie’s “He’s just the kind of guy I want” to Hikari’s “This is fun and I don’t want to be left out” crush, they, like everyone else, want to feel safe and reassured and connected with other people.

Yuki works up the courage for a hug

Standing Up For Your Beliefs

“I’m doing this for me, you can decide what you want to do afterward”

I like how they handled jerk girl’s reaction: too embarrassed to even look at Hikari

But the major message this week was Hikari’s reaction to the other girls talking in the bathroom about Yuki and other people. While the catalyst is their gossip causing Yuki to cry, Hikari’s speech isn’t about Yuki, or any other girls. It’s a general statement of policy, an ideal to live up to. Hikari doesn’t want to be the kind of person who talks about other people behind their back, for reasons that I think will become clearer later in the show (and if they are going to and you know it because you’ve read ahead, don’t even mention it in the comments. Seriously, enough with the “They’ll get to that later” and “You’ll be surprised at…” stuff). She really lays into the two girls who happen to be in front of her, and it shows a lot of fortitude that she is willing to do that. And even better, she’s completely honest and reflective about why she’s doing it: For her own satisfaction. Because that’s the person she wants to be. I loved everything about her speech, from her frankness to her resisting of the deflection about Yuki to her apology for being too blunt. To the reaction she had when she finally got home and just needed some silent comfort from Himari.

Someone just wants some comforting.  Also the cross choker is kinda
funny given what Hikari said about that fashion going out in middle school

So Close!

Another person who has been doing some self-reflection is Sakie, who finally has the opportunity to talk to Tetsuo after having realized that his initial overtures to her were misunderstood by her, and after having seen his good side advocating for Machi and helping Hikari. Of course, she kinda goes overboard whenever she talks to Tetsuo, letting her attraction to him get the better of her, but I don’t know if it’s all about her crush on Tetsuo that leads her to act like that. I am starting to think that because she has to repress herself so much throughout the day, when she looses the reigns a little bit they can easily get away from her. We definitely saw her relax a lot with Machi the other day, and in this episode she really stakes out that position between the much more mature Tetsuo and the less mature high school girls. But she makes a good point, and it’s one that everyone, demi or not, would do well to remember: We evaluate others based on our own disposition. It is hard enough to see other people’s natures and motivations, but it is impossible when you filter everything through your own pre-conceived notions. Sakie has always had to rebuff people approaching her for the wrong reasons, so when someone approaches her, she assumes that it’s for the wrong reason. It takes a step back, a clearing of filters, to be able to see what’s really there. Sometimes what you then see is different from what you initially thought, even if sometimes it’s not.

Younger Sister Concerns

He was so close to acceptance, and Hikari blows it

One more topic (because man, do they get through a lot of things in an episode of this show), and that’s Himari’s suspicion of Tetsuo. This rides on the same chassis as what I just talked about: Himari doesn’t trust Tetsuo because she’s so focused on protecting her sister. Not only is she worried that he’s a demi-con, but that he has less than Hikari’s best interests in mind. So the opportunity to talk to him is actually something that sort of starts helping her believe that maybe he’s not just suspicious, especially after she bluntly asks him if Hikari’s vampire nature is the only thing that he’s interested in. His answer, that her normal girl aspects make her like a vampire, because it’s not what you’re born as that make you a particular type of person, it’s what you do with the things you are born with. This speech helps lower her hackles, to the point where she’d like her parents to hear what he said. There’s a whole lot of freight in that sentence of hers that may get unpacked later in the series, but for now she’s distracted by Hikari saying that Tetsuo hugged her. So much for trust.

Sakie Reaction Shots
(I Could Do This All Day)

Show ▼

So much to write about! It is frankly amazing that they can go so far afield in one episode of the show and still have it all tie together so well. We really didn’t get to any of Yuki’s issues this week, just that she’s concerned and uncomfortable with her demi self, but I think we’ll get to that next week. I’m still holding out hope for the time when Sakie can calmly tell Tetsuo what she really thinks about him, because I think it would take that kind of serious, on-point talk to get to a point where he could allow himself to be attracted to her because she wants him to be attracted to her, rather than him feeling like the only reason he is is because she’s a succubus, and that would make him a bad person. I want that to happen so much (just… don’t! No. This means you!).

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!