On the subject of anime suspensions and delays, Yesterday o Utatte may be a rare exception to what’s mostly a pretty bleak picture.  It’s pretty well-established that production on this series is unusually far-advanced – without making too much of it, I find you can usually tell which series that’s true of by their attention to the small details.  I’ve even seem some reports that it may be totally completed (presumably if so, because it’s scheduled to finish as a streaming-only release) which would be wondrous news if true.

If there’s any one series this season I’d want to actually finish airing it would surely be this one (along with Major 2nd, about which I have considerably less optimism).  I did like this episode less than the first two if I’m candid, though the bar has been set high enough that Yesterday can comfortably limbo under it and still rank among the season’s elite.  I noted last week that “if there are things you hate about this show, chances are they’re the things I love about it”.  I won’t say the opposite is true because there’s nothing I hate about Yesterday, but I suspect the things I like least about it (hint: Noe was my least favorite character in True Tears) may be what proves most popular.

The math is pretty simple, then: an episode focused mostly on Haru isn’t likely to be my favorite.  I don’t find Haru to be unsympathetic (though maybe a part of that word), but she’s annoying in the way that teenagers obsessed with themselves so often are.  She overcompensates for her own insecurities by living her life as a fictional character in her own mind (at least that’s my take).  The crow, the all-black outfits she prefers, the artsy persona – this is a performance whether she realizes it or not (and I think she does, at least somewhat).  It’s sad but kind of tiresome, and strictly in narrative terms best in small doses.

I’m enjoying the little reminders that Yesterday o Utatte is a relic of an era before cell phones and COVID-19.  Landlines (rotary no less, though that the house was a grandpa’s is a good excuse), getting a fever without an anxiety attack.  Yes, this was a time when anime colds were just that, which means a means to push the plot forward.  I did think to myself that it was rather dumb for Haru and Rikuo to decide to have a conversation in a steady rain, and sure enough he’s the first to fall.  This leads to his missing three days of work, and Kinoshita-san giving Haru Rikuo’s phone number.  I personally think that was out of bounds on his part, possibly even intentionally mischievous – but I give her credit for not using it till she had a legit reason to be worried (or angry).

This also leads to Shinako paying a visit to Rikuo’s apartment (for the first time if memory serves).   She drops off some food for him (who was the “older man” she cooked it for?) and expresses concern, but he’s already almost recovered and hunger is his biggest problem.  When Shinako becomes ill herself – which Rikuo discovers when he calls to ask about returning the Tupperware – he returns the favor by coming over and cooking for her.  In light of the events of last week, it’s nice to see these two still able to take care of each other, and it’s a reaffirmation of the fact that something genuine exists between them above and beyond Rikuo’s romantic affection for Shinako (which still very much persists).

Meanwhile Haru has been given a pair of (monster) movie tickets by a customer and invited Rikuo – who does eventually agree to go.  A couple of notes here, first of all that Milk Hall is a considerably more wholesome employer than I imagined when Haru was describing her job (which I think is exactly what she intends).  That hint of salaciousness is something she artfully cultivates as part of her mystique, but really, she’s just a messed-up little girl who works at a cafe.  This movie thing turns into a bit of a debacle as Rikuo – at Shinako’s place – falls asleep and stands Haru up for their date.

I feel genuinely bad for Haru here, because being stood up even by someone you aren’t in love with is a miserable experience.  I don’t see any subliminal hostility here – this was genuinely accidental on Rikuo’s part – but the fault lines it creates are very real.  The fact is, Haru herself keeps stressing how she has no expectations – but like everything else about her it’s a lie.  It’s not fair for her to have emotional demands where Rikuo is concerned, because he’s certainly done nothing to lead her on.  But he needs to understand what a third rail she is – he’s 23, she’s 18 and with a complicated family history.  As difficult as she makes it, he really should be pushing her away if he has no romantic interest himself.

Like Nami yo Kiite Kure (though certainly this show is the better of the two) Yesterday o Utatte is basically a story about how complicated adulthood is, and how easy to screw up.  I do see some tripwires with this series which I’m fervently hoping it avoids – it actually sails much closer to the wind cliche-wise than Nami does.  But if it manages to do that, Yesterday should wind up as one of the most compelling human experiences in anime this year (even if the competition may not be as crowded as we once would have expected).