The good news is that I’m still not indifferent about Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo., but the bad news is that my feelings towards it are starting to tilt in the wrong direction. This is a problem for me with Okada Mari series in general – her raw talent as a writer tends to draw you in for the first few episodes, and then her self-indulgence starts to push you away. And to be honest, Okada writing about sexual politics was a prospect fraught with peril from the beginning – it’s not her best side as a writer generally speaking, especially when the material she’s adapting is her own.
The focus of this episode was mostly on Hongou-san, and for the most part that’s not a bad thing as she’s a pretty amusing character and rather distinctive (thanks in part to Kurosawa Tomoyo’s quite singular performance). But her behavior started to get kind of disturbing here. I did love when she said “Bad-bye” to Sonezaki-san when she stormed out of the bookstore, because when I was a kid we used to drop that line on each other all the time. But things get squirrely from there – first a decision to hook up IRL with her virtual sex partner, and then blackmail. For Okada, I guess blackmail is par for the course – I’m half-expecting Sugawara to drop it on Izumi at any moment.
The whole Milo/Yamagishi-sensei thing is a tough nut to crack. It’s easy to assume the worst, but the fact is we have no reason to believe he knew the person he was having virtual sex with was in high school – I mean, he didn’t know but presumably that’s one of the reasons why people do that sort of thing. It’s also worth noting that it was Hongou that proposed the face-to-face (among other things) meeting, not Yamagishi-san (who I assumed was a sempai when we met him last week). So to be blackmailed into being the club advisor… I get the sense we’re supposed to find it a mix of throwaway comedy and “he had it coming”, but instead it’s just kind of distasteful and depressing, and reflects badly on Hitoha-san. And this is a problem with Okada generally – a line she crosses far too often in far too cavalier a fashion.
The biggest problem I’ve having at this point, though, is Kazusa. It wasn’t a great start to the Kazusa-Izumi wing of the story when Sugawara refused to delete the video she had no right to take in the first place, preferring to leave it hanging over Izumi’s head. But it’s Kazusa-san that’s the real problem here, because while I get that she’s supposed to be an adolescent in turmoil her behavior is just frankly really annoying. First time – grab the ketchup and get the fuck out. Second time – don’t keep sneaking into Izumi-kun’s room uninvited. And stop acting like a victim when the stuff you see that you’re not supposed to see freaks you out.
If there is a victim here, it’s Izumi-kun, who still hasn’t done anything remotely wrong and continues to be tormented constantly. In fact the more we learn about his character the stronger the impression that he’s always trying to do the right thing by Kazusa-san, even if he doesn’t always get it right. Is there a double-standard as it applies to girls and boys thinking about sex – with the former it’s expected, but with the latter it’s distasteful? Of course – and fair deuce to Okada for calling it out. But that still doesn’t justify Kazusa’s behavior here, no matter how scattered she might be.
So in sum, this series is kind of at a crossroads for me. Given that Kazusa’s current unhinged state as a result of her burgeoning sexuality is a central theme (maybe the central theme) of Araburu her behavior fits the mold. But when these sort of characters are protagonists the danger is that they become totally unlikeable, and that’s a hard bridge to cross when it comes to maintaining engagement with a series. We haven’t reached that stage yet here, but I don’t think we’re far away from it – and among a number of concerns that manifested this week, that’s the one that gives me the most pause.
Simone
July 20, 2019 at 6:21 pmThe blackmail stuff is the kind of thing that of course would be kinda iffy IRL, but here I assume it’s probably going to end well. Sure, it’s not really the sensei’s fault, but I don’t think we’re supposed to feel it is? It was just his rotten luck, and Hongou is being devious, but that would hardly be the first time a comedy milks some laughs out of behavior that would be objectionable outside of fiction… as for Kazusa, sure, she keeps screwing up, but it doesn’t strike me as an *unbelievable* kind of screwing up. And Izumi is certainly represented as the victim here, the poor boy doesn’t get any slack. But if this goes in the direction it seems like it’s going, it’ll probably end up all clarified sooner or later. I don’t see all this reason for alarm.
elianthos80
July 20, 2019 at 10:35 pmIzumi the possible schadenfreude magnet? Teacher shady-chatting and blackmailed by student who also happen to be his online sweetheart of sort? A I had a feeling as I watched you wouldn’t like this episode Enzo.
I am more in Simone’s camp so far and for all my unfavourable track record with Okada-san’s works she is nailing the girls’ side (be afraid ! XD ). I knew the type(s) growing up and even the situations. The spying thing? Actually happened in junior high to a couple of my classmates, hydrangea screening bushes included (!). Just there weren’t cellphones around back then 😛 .
Kazusa is an extra special mess right now too but her all-over-the-place love logic is so consistent I could see her actions and reactions miles way (the bus vs train specifics admittedly was a cute bonus to her getting all sentimental & insightful [?] over her past image of him and his recent ‘shocking’ one into an integrated whole. Congrats yong lady, people have layers, especially those you think you have figured out/familiar/harmless XDDD ). It’s ‘only’ a question of the trespassing – where her intention was to fix the earlier one mind you – becoming a pattern for her or staying a couple love-panic blunders.
Simone
July 21, 2019 at 5:50 amYeah, there always were extenuating circumstances for her trespassing – she’s not a stalker or anything. In this episode in particular it was mostly Izumi’s mom, sending her to pick the ketchup was a big no-no (though she couldn’t imagine how… loaded that room was for Kazusa XD).
Guardian Enzo
July 21, 2019 at 8:49 amSending her to get the ketchup was fine. Opening the BD box (and then stealing it) were the no-nos.
Simone
July 21, 2019 at 4:34 pmDunno, Izumi got angry at his mother for sending another person in his room, and that was what created the occasion. Opening the BD in itself was a pretty innocent gesture, she didn’t obviously expect it to be anything different than the cover said, the stealing of course was the wrong part but by that point she was so flustered and confused she basically didn’t know WHY she was doing it herself.
I wouldn’t feel too bad about it all. For all the tribulations he’s going through, I think this story will end up having a happy ending for Izumi – if you know what I mean.
pompoms
July 22, 2019 at 7:00 amI also feel like, having been childhood friends, that Kazusa must have a level of comfort in Izumi’s house and room that is only now being challenged and which kind of explains her behavior. Even when she opened the BD, she was thinking about childhood memories of watching knock-off Totoro.
At least she tried to return it when she processed that she had stolen it. Maybe she could have gone directly to him with it and explained what happened, but I think that’s demanding a level of maturity that hardly any teenagers have.
leongsh
July 21, 2019 at 12:22 pmMixed feelings about this show so far. Some good but a bit more that’s questionnable. This episode’s questionnable parts are those that you raised as well. The moment the teacher was identified, I expected the blackmail to force him to be the club’s teacher adviser. Sure enough, it happened.
Kazusa searching Izumi’s room for the porn and eventually stealing of the porn Blu-Ray disc, and then trespassing to return it? To rub salt into it by not being forthright, giving mixed signals, and expecting the boy to read your mind? Ending the episide with the way it implied that it’s all the boy’s fault? Ugh… I have no sympathy nor patience for Kazusa.