What do you think of Episode 4 of After School Insomniacs ?
One of my favorite recent tropes is two characters like a couple, everyone except the people involved see. This episode better balances the astro-club element with the blossoming romance between our two protagonists and the bond they form through insomnia. I love how Ganta and Isaki have such a close rapport with each other that you can tell the other is almost always on their minds. Whenever someone mentions Isaki’s cuteness, Ganta gets distracted and finds herself glancing at the nape of her neck, paying more attention to Isaki’s appearance. Then there was Izaki, who immediately thought of Genta’s interest when the fireworks festival was mentioned. It’s cute that these two are trying to act like they’re not as interested in each other as they actually are, but they’re still organizing dates together. I hope it doesn’t rain.
It’s all cute, but my favorite Favorite Part The main thing about this episode is seeing the insomniac from an outsider’s perspective. I like the subtle detail that Ganta is either very bright or has to study extra hard to keep going to class on the days he falls asleep at his desk. It makes sense to the audience, but to his classmates it might make him a condescending jerk on a high. Then there’s the whole scene where the teacher bluntly belittles Ganta for not being able to sleep at night. It didn’t go away like the teacher was listening to him or sympathizing with his problems. Not only does this add credibility to Isaki’s reasons for wanting to keep it a secret, but I love that Ganta is visibly and vocally disturbed by the belittlement for her sake and not his.
It emphasizes that no one is trying to understand what the other A person is going through sometimes and can only really see what they want to see. It made the bond stronger between our two leaders because they could understand the specific issues the other was going through and just wanted to find a way to fix it easily. As good as the astronomical angle is, even that is arguably something they need to do in order to function properly with other human beings, since it’s one of the only places they can sleep and feel “normal”. I really like this and I hope the show continues to be balanced.
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