Happy Thanksgiving to all of LiA’s American readers out there. I’m off to start cooking the turkey soon enough, but wanted to try and sneak in some coverage before I do as my day is pretty much spoken for after that. And it’s nice to do so with Just Because, which was much missed during its absence. A missed episode deadline was anything but surprising given the reported behind-the-scenes chaos involved with this production – and maybe not the worst thing in the world. It certainly didn’t do Tsuki ga Kirei any harm (I apologize for continually comparing these two shows, but sometimes it’s just unavoidable).
The caveat to that, of course, is that we’re looking at a theoretical scheduling shortfall with Just Because now – so the looming threat of the finale being disc-only or something is a concern. Apart from that, though, it’s probably for the best that Pine Jam had a week to get their feet under themselves. I admire their ambition with this series, even if they’ve taken on more than they can chew – I’d rather studios and directors try and do too much and fail than settle for self-imposed mediocrity. And I’m not watching Just Because for fluid animation and slick visuals – though I must confess that I love the overall look and art design of this show.
I’ve used this word about Just Because before (as I did about Ts**i g* K**ei), but this series is most definitely naturalistic. I’ve come to believe that when it comes to stories like this one – youthful romance and slice-of-life – the flowing river is a much better narrative model than waves crashing on the beach. I always find myself caught up in the flow with this series – each episode takes a bit of time to grab me, but once it’s taken hold I lose myself in what’s happening on-screen. I don’t love every character and everything that happens, but that’s pretty true to life as well, really.
Komiya is one of those characters I don’t exactly love, and this week’s ep certainly does nothing to change that. But she has been an effective plot-driver (now she seems to want to be the plot, though). I don’t feel sorry for her for what happened with the cops – if you’re going to go around violating people’s privacy, you should expect trouble. And I wasn’t exactly thrilled that Eita rather stereotypically caved in to her self-pitying tears and gave her permission to use the illicit photo of him she snapped. He’s a nice guy, for better or worse – a “god boy”, even – and Komiya’s world revolves completely around herself. That’s a dangerous combination for the boy.
Eita’s affable nature is reflected in his relationship with Mio as well, as different as the dynamic is. Even as she’s been the main character in his life story he’s never been more than a supporting player in hers. It says something, I think, that Mio only really notices Eita when she sees Komiya hanging all over him. I’m not saying there’s nothing potentially between them, but I would argue that’s not a terribly healthy place to start. The snowy test day is another example of this, as we see Eita take it on himself to shepherd Mio to the exam site and even make sure her state of mind for the test is good, and she can barely squeeze out a tortured thank you at the end of all that.
All of this ties into the idea that Just Because – unlike that other series that shan’t be named (again) – isn’t a romance where the fated couples are necessarily destined to be together, because the point here isn’t true love but the bittersweet nature of the imperatives of youth. It’s the act of feeling unrequited love (and more generally, the fragile nature of childhood emotions) that this story is about, not the romance itself. That, and the little details of life (like the shopping district team showing up to play baseball in the snow and having a great time – that’s so totally spot-on). That’s not to say there isn’t romantic drama here – and with Komiya and Mio both finally deciding Eita means more to them than they realized, it’s kicking up big-time – but in the larger context of Just Because, that’s just one of many bends in the river.
justfun
November 23, 2017 at 4:41 pmIt was nice to get some background on Natsume and Eita and to see that they already had a certain chemistry between them in the past . And finally some development for Natsume! Although we still have to see how everything turns out, especially as we see Natsume and Eita possibly walking in different directions in the intro.
I’m surprised you didn’t say more about Komiya. Its still possible that she just wants to push Natsume forward with her question at the end. Suddenly wanting to date Eita seemed too surprising even for her character, although we are shown more and different emotions from Komiya in this episode. Hopefully her background will be explored a little bit more, with her being the only character without any friends in the show and being shown pretty lonely in this episode.
Guardian Enzo
November 23, 2017 at 7:43 pmI did not get a vibe that she was asking to spur Eita and Natsume together – I thought she was asking for herself. I guess time will tell.
Ronbb
November 23, 2017 at 8:54 pmI really like this show (more so than Ts**i g* K**ei, sorry Enzo), but Komiya is super annoying, plot-driver or not.
Guardian Enzo
November 23, 2017 at 9:01 pmAgreed on the second point, not on the first.
sonicsenryaku
November 23, 2017 at 9:43 pmBoooooooooooo….come on guys…Ena is the best character in this show XD…..but no seriously she’s the best character in this show. She’s proactive; insightful, has ambition, doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do. She’s got strength of character and just strong characterization in general even though she isn’t on screen a lot
Guardian Enzo
November 23, 2017 at 9:55 pmShe’s also obnoxious, narcissistic and rude as fuck. I get all the proactive and ambitious stuff, but I don’t think she especially cares whose life she screws with to get what she wants. I appreciate her as a part of the story, but I don’t like her, I’m afraid.
sonicsenryaku
November 23, 2017 at 10:27 pm……….. weeeeeeeeeelllllll when you put like that hahahaha; can’t really fight you there…..eh….I dont know…she comes off more as the kind pushy character who isn’t aware that her actions make those that she imposes herself on uncomfortable, rather than intentionally asserting her perspective on others because she couldn’t give two shits about theirs. She sort of reminds me of Akko from Little witch Academia…the kind of person who thinks she’s right all the time; not because she doesn’t give a fuck about people, but because she has some growing up to do. Whenever Ena is onscreen, it just feels like the character interactions get that kick in the ass they need to move forward; maybe because like you said, she’s partly meant to be an agent of chaos to the narrative. Either way, i’m interested to see where her character arc takes her and how the show plans on building upon her character for the remainder of the series
Dein
November 24, 2017 at 7:45 amI have to give a shout out to the whole text message overlay. As a bitter old man who thinks that people use their phones way too much, I wasn’t exactly excited for this narrative gimmick, but it really grew on me. Slice of life (and I feel this show is more of that than it is a true romance), can easily get lost in the tropey nature of it’s wistful background stills and silent scene transitions. And I don’t wanna sound corny, but this device really brings the collage of the beautiful backgrounds together in a rather unique way.
Dein
November 24, 2017 at 7:46 amI got lost in thought while writing my comment and forgot to add – happy Thanksgiving, Enzo!
Shame there’s no edit button.
Earthlingzing
November 25, 2017 at 8:54 amI love the art too. Its not very detailed but it somehow feels very fitting for the story.