This show really doesn’t pull any punches.  There’s always a chapter or two (often the last one) in every episode that kicks you right in the gut.  This ep had several – fitting, I suppose, as it was the penultimate one.  The anime would seem to be in a somewhat awkward position here with the manga ongoing and a sequel seeming very unlikely – Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi really isn’t the sort of story that lends itself to an open-ended finale.  Will they invent an ending from scratch, or pick a spot in the manga that almost makes sense to land on?

We really came out swinging this week, with an opener about a dentist who takes an hour with every children’s appointment.  This annoys his adult patients – and his receptionist (who has to deal with them) too.  Eventually she asks him why he does this, and Ohba-sensei replies “chatting”.  She eavesdrops on his appointment with Kotarou and the answer she gets is rather gut-wrenching.  One of the messages we get from this series (which is true in my experience) is that some people always try to do the right thing where kids are concerned, and some just can’t be bothered.

The umbrella sharing bit is equally tough to take.  And it also gives us our first real look at Kotarou’s father.  We know he did bad things, but the evidence we see here (not for the first time) is that he could be much kinder to Kotarou than his mother.  That makes it easier to understand why Kotarou is so set against closing the books on his father, but I fear the emotional connection he retains is a dangerous thing for Kotarou.  His using his Tonosan sword to hold the umbrella at adult level is the lasting image of this chapter for me, funny and sad at the same time.

Tasuku (Tachibana Tatsumaru) is the key player in the rest of the episode. Like Ryouta he was a much older resident of the orphanage that looked after Kotarou after his arrival.  And we know from experience that it only take a little kindness to have Kotarou reciprocate with unending loyalty.  That Tasaku is trouble is easy to spot pretty much from the get-go, and that’s confirmed when he asks for a “favor”.  Shin is a little peeved about being frozen out but it’s not until Kobayashi-san consults with him about Kotarou’s requests for more funds that he really suspects what Tasaku is up to.

That a guy like Tasaku – a loser, in debt – would take advantage of a 5 year-old is depressingly realistic and unsurprising.  The rub here is that Kotarou is never fooled – he knows something is off before anyone else does.  But for him, human connections are the most precious and fleeting thing there is, and he’s willing to be lied to and taken advantage of rather than let Tassaku know he’s on to him.  In facts he goes out and earns the money himself (not totally realistic that he could do that collecting cans, and I’m a bit confused about why he still asked Kobayashi-san for more).

I was glad Kotarou wasn’t abandoning Shin, though that would have been totally out of character.  Shin is unemotional enough that you couldn’t be sure, though.  Kotarou’s dream of building a castle is so childish but also kind of reassuring, because he’s such a little middle-aged man most of the time.  I don’t know where all this winds up, either in the anime or manga – it sure seems like Shin adopting Kotarou formally would be the logical thing to do.  But whatever it is, I’m totally invested in Kotarou’s situation.