There’s a growing disconnect between readers of the Runway de Waratte manga and new viewers.  And that’s a shame, truly, but hardly a surprise.  The thing is, I’ll always defend the right of manga fans to be outraged at adaptation choices and be annoying about it, because I’ve been there myself.  And this is hardly the worst case I’ve seen – I remember being literally told after the (exquisite) premiere of Hourou Musuko that I hadn’t actually loved it, I only thought I had.  By comparison, Runway fans are a field of lambs.

Of course I’m glad I don’t have that baggage, because I continue to enjoy this series hugely.  Every week I fall for the protagonists more and more (it was Chiyuki on the ascendancy this time) and the irresistible momentum of the narrative keeps things robustly entertaining from OP to ED.  That part drives the manga fans crazy I know, but this is the reality in the mostly one-cour world of anime in the 2020’s.  Series like this have to make hard choices, to figure out how the give the most complete experience of a story in a space of time that’s too short to get there faithfully.  And Runway de Waratte has chosen to show its heroes in all their glory, living their dreams to the fullest (and faster than in the manga).

This episode gave us an equal balance between Ikuto and Chiyuki (for the first time in a while).  And while I like them even better together, that worked for me because they’re both great individually.  Not only that, the nature of their respective journeys is so different that it makes for an effective change of pace.  In a sense Ikuto has the easier job here, because while his age may hold him back in theory at least he’ll go as far as his talent will take him.  Chiyuki has to kick and scratch just to be given that chance in the first place.

Ikuto’s appeal as a character was more or less obvious from the beginning, but Chiyuki – while always likeable – takes more time to reveal her true depths.  The more we get to know her the more I love her.  She’s such an atypical manga teenager – comfortable in her own skin despite constantly being reminded that her stature is a supposed flaw.  Despite Ikuto’s complete lack of social status (her friends literally don’t even know his name) she’s effusive in talking about how much she admires him – how much he proves an inspiration to her.  There’s no pretense to her – just an intriguing combination of fearlessness and humility.

As for Ikuto, I love him too but there are times when his martyr syndrome gets under my skin.  Chiyuki is much more assertive about fighting for herself, and I consider that an admirable trait rather than a flaw.  It must be said in Ikuto’s defense that her family and financial situation is much different from his, and it’s a lot easier for her to be selfish than him.  Nevertheless I was pleased that Toh told him off for only spending half his materials budget on his demo design – that was dumb, and I thought so at the time.

That Ikuto was still able to make the top 3 in the preliminary round of the Geika design competition is testament to his ingenuity and sensitivity about his models.  PJs was a great idea, I have to say – and he even managed to incorporate something he learned from watching Chiyuki’s Sara collection.  I also thought it rather cruel (on both sides) to have the students judge each other’s work – but once the truth of how the competition works came out it made perfect sense.  Of course advancing to the finals means needing even more materials – and Toh’s offer to have Ikuto work for him has more than a ring of opportunism to it.  I don’t even understand how that will play out fast enough to get Ikuto the money he needs pretty much immediately – and does this mean he quits his position with Hazime Yanigada?

As for Chiyuki, she’s busy selling herself and prepping for the Paris trip she’s paying for out of her own pocket.  She has a new underling at Mille Neige to mentor, and she’s hammering out a new portfolio – one of the centerpieces of which is the outfit Ikuto made for her.  The expression on her face when she wears it is quite different than in any of the other shots, one can’t help but notice.  But new portfolio or no Chiyuki faces the usual when she blasts her C.V. out to every fashion magazine she knows – crickets.  It’s only be pure chance that she manages to connect with the right person at MODE – Niinuma-san, the petite young reporter who took such inspiration from her performance for Hazime Yanigada – and gets a chance to shop herself in person.

Chiyuki made it clear how much she respects Ikuto (I do too), but I have to say, I’ve developed a tremendous respect for her.  Think about the position she’s in – she’s constantly being rejected based on one physical attribute.  One could argue that if you want to be a model being judged on your looks is par for the course, but how hard must it be to be refused even a chance to prove yourself, over and over, because of something that isn’t in any way your fault?  But she doesn’t give in, she doesn’t lose herself to anger – she just digs her heels in and compensates for her “flaw” with outsized stubbornness and determination.  Ikuto is a great protagonist, but Chiyuki is no second fiddle – this is a great character with a great arc, and together they make for one great story.