note: a HUGE thank you to weekendotaku has been helping me a great deal by participating and creating these banners!
ALSO, we’re half way through the series!!
A new school year is upon our trio, and for the first time Sen is separated into another class without friends. Kaoru is still trying to keep his composure in front of Ri-chan but ends up fumbling things up between him and Sen instead; what will happen between the two?
Ah, I can’t even begin to express how beautiful the spring season is depicted. Which also causes me to wonder, with a new spring, can a new love start to bloom? Ri-chan has been pretty observant of Kaoru who is trying his hardest to keep his feelings in check, even offering up time alone between the two childhood friends. As hard as he is trying to keep things somewhat normal I cant help but notice that Ri-chan is starting to look Kaoru’s way. Is it because she’s still worried after the rejection she gave? Or is it possible she could see him in a new light?
Kaoru’s a bit harsh when it comes to telling Sen to not go out with Yurika in hopes to spare him some heartbreak since her heart belongs to someone else. With the topic of Jun having been brought up on that date and him having been the sole thing they talk about; he realizes the date has gone bad. I wonder if Sen realizes it went bad because HE himself talked about Jun too much, or if he’s starting to realize that because of her piqued interest in Jun that he’d see that she’s more interested in him. Unfortunately, I think Sen would be too dense to see the latter since he doesn’t even realize his childhood bestie is in love with him.
The beach scene trigged a memory I hadn’t thought about and some feelings that I’m currently dealing with. But, I know exactly how Kaoru felt when he started having those fears creep up inside him as he saw Seiji and Sen become friends. He felt like he was an outsider, slowly being replaced by this new kid and that he was being isolated in such a big group. I started tearing up as Kaoru ran away and told himself that he’s scared of being separated from Sen and that he was better off alone anyways. That sense of insecurity is something that really cut me deep. I’ve cut ties with people in fear of that inevitable situation a lot over the years to spare myself pain. However, while Kaoru knows his problem is rooted from moving around and being disappointed by empty promises; I’m not sure where my fear of abandonment comes from. You would think that I wouldn’t have issues with being alone considering I’m an only child; but I’ve always tended to keep people at arm’s length and really guard myself. Trying to cope and deal with it is a struggle, but it hasn’t gotten to bad to the point I completely shut people out; to be honest I think the blog and the friends I’ve made through this have somewhat helped me with those negative feelings.
Gah, Kaoru, you triggered me immensely in this episode, and now I’m being really melancholy and contemplative about things. I wasn’t ready for a show to such a chord within me. Okay, I appologize for going off on such a randomly personal downer of a tangent, but I really felt the connection to this and had to share.
I don’t like this new Seiji kid, I think he’s up to no good. Like Kaoru I just get a bad feeling about him.
This week’s episode features the song “You Don’t Know What Love Is”. Listening to the lyric’s I can feel it’s ties to this episode. Despite the comedic elements there were a lot of somber moments. Ri-chan’s reaction to Sen asking her to the beach to help with the kids. Sen’s feeling of the bad date with Yurika, and Kaoru’s recurring heartbreak the more he spends time with Ri-chan.
What did you guys think of this episode? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂
ARCHI-ANIME 
With a fresh start to school year, it is a time of growth and progress. Unfortunately for Karou, it seems as if he is backsliding quite a bit. Adding jealousy to the list of growing emotions from this series, I was a bit surprised by Karou’s outburst towards the end of the episode. At first I thought it didn’t seem fitting for his character. Upon reflection, however, this emotional burst is fitting of someone finally strained beyond their limits. Karou has had to deal with an absent mother and then father. He fell for a girl who didn’t reciprocate his feelings and now the person he has begun to lean on most, Sentaro, is “abandoning” him too?
Viewers witness an inner monologue from Karou on the bus ride home about how he is better off on his own. I hope this feeling is short lived and that he will learn to depend upon the friendships he’s made once more.
Thank you for sharing your personal story, Zel. It is scary to put ourselves out there and even more painful when you realize that you care for people who don’t return the same level of feelings for you (in terms of friendship). I’ve also lost a lot of people I’ve cared for over the years, people I felt meant the world to me. As much as we like to distance ourselves from emotional connections, they seem to find a way in our lives all the same. Even as I write this, I think of the ani bloggers in our “circle,” those who I would be worried about if I didn’t hear from for awhile. I had no intention of feeling so connected to people I’ve never met, yet here we are 🙂
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I was wondering if Kaoru’s sense of loneliness would make a return. We hadn’t seen it since halfway through ep 1 when Sen just barged his way into Kaoru’s thoughts.
I thought Kaoru was being quite immature, but at the same time I can understand how he feels. He grew a heavy dependence on Sen’s friendship without realizing it, and the thought of losing that was too much for him to take. It sent him right back into that shell that Ritsuko and Sen broke him out of.
This is a well timed episode to go into these deep rooted problems that Kaoru has, as the tension of the romantic struggles is starting to wane. Kaoru seems more or less ok with being friend A to Ritsuko, but Sen is something that can’t be easily replaced.
It sounds like his feeling this episode resonated with you a lot. I appreciate you sharing your story, because this is where anime really works its magic. Along with making friends though this blog, maybe Kaoru’s journey will help you with your own struggles to let others in.
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Well, I guess I can say that this episode pretty much did the same things to me as well. I can honestly say that I don’t have a lot of really close friends, but the ones that I do have are gold for me. And it scares me a lot at times, thinking they might maybe one day be gone. Making attachments to people and letting them in so to speak, to give some personal things about yourself, is scary. The closer you get to people, the more they have the ability to hurt you. That goes both ways. You can be there for someone a lot, especially if they are hurting, but if that same person is not there for you when you need them most, that can really be painful.
So yeah sometimes it can be good to cut ties with people at times. On the other hand, if you cut too many ties, you might lose the chance to meet some wonderful people. Being human is part of that. Nobody can do things alone, no matter how strong you are. Everybody needs friends in their life, without them things can become incredibly dull and lonely. So that is why I could truly understand Kaoru’s feelings. He felt that he was losing something that was precious to him, and before it could get even more painful he cut it off. It was sad, really really sad.
Back to your post, there really is no need for an apology at all. Things can sometimes get to you a lot. A couple of weeks back I saw Forrest Gump again, and it really hit me on a very personal level. Because there were so many things in that movie that I could relate to, most notably unanswered love. It is, in my opinion, very courageous of you to share such a personal story, and I can only give you a compliment for it. Like you I have met a lot of great people through blogging, and ofcourse you are one of them. I would not have wanted to miss this for the world. So in other words, keep hanging in there. As both Kimmiekawaii and Weekendotaku mentioned, this blogging community is awesome, and even though we might never meet in real life, we are all there for each other. And that, is pretty much a thing of magic 😊
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Okay, going a bit off topic here, but simply out of concern: is everything okay? I miss seeing posts from you, so just checking in to see if you are doing okay 😊
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hi hi hi! Sorry, I know, I went off the grid for a bit. I’ve been busy with stuff at home and work…and feeling exhausted. I inadvertently stopped watching anime – doing blog related things…I’m trying to get back into it, but stuff keeps on coming up preventing me from posting..haha! I swear I’ll be back on top of things soon! ❤ thanks for checking in Michel! I appreciate it a lot and it makes me smile a bit that you miss my content!
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It’s really not a problem at all. I know how busy life can get at times, but I was a bit concerned that maybe something might have happened or something. And you are also right, I just really enjoy reading your posts, but blogging always comes second to real life which is as it should be. As mentioned: just glad you are okay, so please take your time to get back into things: we will all be here 😀
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aww, seriously thanks for the concern! 🙂 That means a lot! 😀 I’ll be back soon..need to finish this series as well. lol. ❤
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