Recovery can make us all do weird things matter. While my mother was recovering from her brain injury, she developed a temporary hatred of chipmunks (“It’s disturbing what they can cram into a cheek”). It may not be surprising that Nishimura begged Takada to be by her side during her high fever because she was lonely, but it was completely out of character for her – she had learned not to admit her emotions in front of others, not only in front of Takada, but also in Adachi And the demands and acknowledgments made before Hino were huge. It’s a rare moment of vulnerability for her, and even if it’s made while she’s having a fever, it’s important because it shows her growing comfort and dependence on her best friend. In this episode, Kasahara was also able to admit a few things. She’s recovering from being a mean girl, and I really like that it’s not a case of instant reform for her. She realizes in episode nine that she’s behaving inappropriately and hurting herself, and she still does. When she heard her two friends make fun of Nishimura’s white coat, she bowed her head and remained silent, not participating in the cruelty. She wasn’t ready to blame them – she commented under her breath what she thought they were Those cripples, not Nishimura, can’t speak loud enough for them to hear. But her thinking about it, and speaking out further, shows that she’s starting to get ready for real change. Kasahara visibly struggles with her feelings every time Nishimura treats her nicely or compliments her. She’s been mean and bad-behaved long enough that she can’t put aside an understanding of what she’s done. Honestly, it shouldn’t be; being in the Nishimura position, I can tell you that the damage done by words and actions like Kasahara’s will never go away, although it sometimes does. But the bottom line here is that Kasahara is preparing for change. Even if we can’t see it, it’s important to know that she has started this journey. Twice because Kitamura doesn’t seem to realize he’s a bully and jerk. He’s also Takata’s unwitting wingman, giving him the chance to reverse the cruel words and compliment Nishimura with praise, but that’s only partially helpful. However, it is clear that Takata knows what Kitamura and his cronies have done to Nishimura. When he walks in to his sister and says she just can’t help making fun of Nishimura, he freaks out and raises his voice to tell Yukiko she can’t be mean to his friend. The genuine concern and agitation in his voice and body language shows that he knows people treat Nishimura badly, and while he clearly believes she’s inherently great, he may also be actively twisting their words to help her. Does it all go back to the moment he learned of his mother’s death? perhaps. But more importantly, he’s not as clueless as he originally was (or at least when he first appeared), suggesting that, like Kasahara and Nishimura, he’s becoming more sane. While this is yet another piecemeal episode, there are many short, tangentially relevant fragments, but it still manages to hold on not only to the landing, but to all the little moments leading up to it. Nishimura’s nervous excitement about having friends over, her father’s quiet help, two cute scenes of Nishimura and Takada holding hands (one is the best blindfold scene ever), and even Hino’s weird vest dream all come together to give a sense of We show why the show not only understands its themes, it loves its characters too. Rating: Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
