Let me just say up front, I had several issues with this episode of Runway de Waratte. I think it was always going to be hard to live up to last week’s ep in emotional terms given that Ikuto is the emotional center of the story, but it goes deeper than that. Actually I’m also highly skeptical that ending with Toh’s show is the right way to when there’s no way in Hell we’re getting a second season, but we haven’t crossed that bridge yet and Runway deserves a chance to convince me on that one.
Setting aside some of the broader issues – the generally uninteresting nature of the designs (which is mostly down to personal taste anyway) and the relative lack of buy-in to Kokoro’s arc – the whole show itself was a flawed concept. In effect, this was a showcase for the model rather than the designer. That strikes me as wrong on so many levels, most fundamentally that the Geika exhibition is supposed to be a contest for designers. If a designer has to lean on a model carrying them across the finish line, what does that prove? In effect the message being sent here is that Kokoro isn’t a good enough designer to succeed, so she has to cheat.
I hate to gnaw on this, but it goes even deeper than that. What does it say about Kokoro as a designer that she has to appear as her own model to try and make her show work? In effect I think we could say that Chiyuki hijacked Kokoro’s show to her own benefit. On some level I guess I’d say, good for her – she needs to do whatever she can to get ahead, given the prejudice she faces based on her height. But again – there’s something about all this that runs contrary to the spirit of the event. If the purpose of this was to make the narrative case for Kokoro as a designer, to me it’s a massive fail.
Indeed, my favorite moment of the episode was Ishigaki saying she had a soft spot for clothes designed with the wearer in mind (because it’s nice to have my own analysis parroted back to me a week later, ROFL). But it does work on the level of being a showcase for Chiyuki, I suppose. Obviously she’s a hell of a model to pull off what she did, and even if she took what was supposed to be a designer showcase and turned it into a model showcase the fact that she was able to pull it off speaks highly to her abilities. Not only did she have to walk almost the entire show, she had to make basically boring outfits seem interesting. Both narratively and on-screen, she comes out of this looking good.
I don’t know where this leaves is with Kokoro but frankly, I don’t really care that much. I do know that I’ll be extremely vexed if she wins the competition after that performance. I won’t be if Toh wins – frankly given the circumstances that would be entirely the most likely scenario – but I would be if he becomes the focal point of the finale. That should be Ikuto and Chiyuki. And frankly they’re both in a position to “win” this without literally winning, given that they both seized the chance to make themselves look good in a very important setting. I’m just not sure where that leaves Runway de Waratte in terms of wrapping things up, but in any case this seems to be one of those “now – go read the manga” adaptations anyway.
BlueBlue
March 21, 2020 at 6:16 pmSo, probably for the penultimate time (as I smell the “anime original ending”), I will repeat what I have already said: Anime viewers, go read the manga!
This is not about stubbornness, this is just about fact. When a series relying on character and emotion is adapted with a rythm of 6-7 chapters/episode, things will be lost. This is pure logic and I am not just talking about gorgeous runway panels but characters’ “development”.
While I have been disappointed by that epidose, that is absolutely not for the same reasons. While the staff clearly made their best with probably not so much money (runway scenes are clearly poorly adapated compared to the manga), I always felt since episode 2 that their choices to turn that series into Ikuto/Chiyuki…and a pinch of Kokoro and Toh and the “plebeians” was ruining some messages. That episode was a perfect illustration, in particular regarding Igarashi.
The relation between Kokoro and Igarashi goes waaaaaaay beyond just a suit and erasing all the things that Kokoro felt that she owned to he,r was an awful choice. Same goes for Igarashi’s background which has been totally absent from the anime since her introduction and so emphasizes the failure of that episode. Same issue with Toh who’s more than “just another bad snake” and so will certainly lower one of the next episode’s message.
Well, as I am used to disagree with you (most of the time in my inner self as before “Ahiru no sora”, I have never posted here), I am not surprised to disagree about Kokoro (cheating? c’mon, that is a reach). For the designs, as things are subjective and I know only how to sew pockets, I am not going to battle (even though as I have already said, the manga goes deeper into technical terms, even though this is not here that people will magically learn how to make clothes)
Anyway, last episode is coming. Let’s see if an anime original ending is showing up…
tsirrus
March 22, 2020 at 9:11 amI thought the episode was pretty decent, till I read your post lol.
Guardian Enzo
March 22, 2020 at 10:44 amYou aren’t wrong, ROFL. We just have a different opinion.
leongsh
March 22, 2020 at 11:47 amPersonally, I thought Kokoro’s designs were more interesting than Ikuto’s because of the flexibility of the designs that allowed mixing and matching. In terms of style, Kokoro’s designs are a bit more simple and plain compared to Ikuto’s designs (except for his last minimalist design). The gimmick of having Chiyuki modelling all the clothes *AND* changing the attire on the runway spotlighted the flexibility of the clothes and how they harmonised with each other. Chiyuki’s size and presentation also showed that the clothes Kokoro designed are designed to be flattering on average-Asian height and size.
I say I called it last episode but it feels really hollow since the show was telegraphing its intentions on a large billboard. It’s a case of knowing where the journey ends (for this competition, it’s Kokoro beating Ikuto) and hoping the journey to get to that end was interesting. In this case, it was serviceable. May turn to the manga to see what was cut out after the last episode next week. Considering how they built him up, Ayano Toh is a shoo-in for the win next episode. Expecting some avant garde designs from him.
BlueBlue
March 22, 2020 at 9:46 pmSorry if I missed it, but I was wondering: do you have any acquaintance with “fashion/sewing” field? Just a curiosity as your comments point quite often at that aspect.
leongsh
March 23, 2020 at 2:17 amI have a very passing acquaintance. My interests are in engineering, design, and architecture.
I see fashion clothes designing as an engineering skill where the materials are the various type of fabrics (including cured animal skin, i.e. leather), how they are attached and fit together, to drape over the human silhouette. Then, there are the aesthetics that are a matter of personal taste. At times, when I view clothes during window shopping, I try to take notice in how the clothes are put together.
If you are coming from the fashion angle, you can apply the same thinking towards architecture and industrial design. The materials used are mostly not fabric but fabric can be one of the materials. How they attach, support and fit together. The technical, safety and aesthetic choices made to come out with a certain design.
BlueBlue
March 23, 2020 at 7:08 pmOK. I got it. Thanks. So, you will definitely find more information in the manga and its bonus pages (even though as I said, it will not transform you in a sewing/clothing genius lol). At least, for some technical/vocabulary terms
damnt512
March 22, 2020 at 8:56 pmIIRC this also happens last episode, that the anime simplified the designs from the manga, hence why it looks so simple in the anime.