The secrets have been spilling out in dribs and drabs in  Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai.  And while I still wouldn’t exactly say that’s turned into a flood, we most definitely have an increase in flow.  There are things that Teresa still isn’t telling Tada-kun of course – and she’s not the only one – but for the audience most of the puzzle pieces are slotted into place now.  The couple that are still outstanding are mighty important ones though, there’s no denying that…

While a lot of interesting stuff happened on-screen this week, what was implied was just as interesting.  I don’t think there’s any question that Alec engineered the date between Teresa and Tada – the Rainbow Shogun event at “Startree“.  Why?  Well, certainly in part because at long last, she admitted that Teresa needed the chance to spend some alone time with him, but also because she had an important errand she had to complete herself.  As it turned out. it seems inescapable that she also let this happen because she knew it was going to a last hurrah for the two of them.  Maybe Teresa insisted, who knows – but it seems more likely to me that Alec was the one driving things forward.

While the title of the series has already been put to the lie (I’m amazed that there are some who still refuse to accept that), Tada-kun is no doubt a few steps behind Teresa in how he views the situation.  For her, this is 100% a date – living out a fantasy maybe (the Rainbow connection only enhances that) but a dream just the same.  This is Teresa’s chance to dream, to experience a lightning flash of what a different life could have been like (there’s even a suggestion that she’s imagined Tada coming back to Larsenburg with her).  For Tada it’s something a little different – an immersion in emotions he’s never felt before.  But when the Rainbow Shogun “hero show” attendant referred to Teresa as Tada-kun’s girlfriend, their reactions were exactly the same.

The revelation about “Rachel” was the most interesting one of the episode from an information standpoint.  OK, Teresa’s nanny was Japanese – that in itself would explain certain things.  But Alec bringing Reiko’s letter to Shouzo-san ups that ante considerably.  What’s the direct connection between Reiko and the Tada family, and just how does it tie in to the death of Tada’s parents?  The surface reasons why Teresa tells Tada that he’s not to blame for his parents’ accident certainly ring true.  But her conviction in saying it strongly implies that there is blame to be parceled out – just not to him.

I was actually hoping we might see a tiny bit of development on the Alec-Kaoru front too, but that was mostly just a feint.  She did finally acknowledge some amusement at his antics – and, I think, a grudging admiration for his loyalty to Tada-kun.  But again, this is kind of a last hurrah – Alec knows this is the last time she’ll be seeing Kaoru, so she wants to leave things on an upbeat note.  There are romantic threads that have the potential to be tied in this series (Pin-sempai and Class Rep, Nyanko-big and Cherry-chan) but I don’t think this is one of them.

I’ve long wondered just how much Tada’s grandfather knows that he hasn’t told him, and the departure of Teresa and Alec puts the onus on him to rectify that.  There’s too much invested in the main relationship for things to end the way they are – there will be a reunion and closure.  But it may not be the closure many viewers would like to see.  I won’t drop Roman Holiday spoilers here, and I don’t think Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai is necessarily bound to parrot that story even though it openly pays homage to it.  Who knows, Tada-kun may drop an ending that’s as surprising as Roman Holiday’s was at the time – the question is, just what would be the surprise ending here?