OP: “Setsuna no Chikai (feat. Yuzaki Tsukasa)” (刹那の誓い（feat. 由崎司）) by Neko Hacker

We still have one more big high school romcom yet to begin (one of the biggest), but with the return of Tonikaku Cawaii the season of romcom has checked all the major demographics.  These two – well, one of them – may be barely past high school age but they’re married.  And in truth we see very few anime romcoms about married people.  As such, even if ToniKawa weren’t as delightful as it is (and it is), I’d still value it highly for its premise.  I really enjoy watching two people in love who’re past all the uncertainty and focused on enjoying each other’s company.

This series is sort of two parallel narratives running side by side.  The excellent new OP sequence (storyboarded by Hata Kenjirou himself) is a potent reminder of that.  Most of the time the fact that there’s obviously something otherworldly going on with Tsukasa (if the Kaguyahime thing were hinted at any harder it’d literally be jumping through the screen to whack you on the head) is pretty much ignored.  But it’s out there, impossible to totally forget, and it’s going to directly hijack the plot at some point.  Maybe not till close to the end, whenever that will be, but it is going to happen.  It has to.

But that’s then, this is now.  And for now Tonikaku Kawaii continues to be a breezy, highly amusing series about two wonderful people in love with each other.  It’s really striking being back together after more than two years that I like spending time with this series and these characters.  It feels good slipping into this world, very good.  The latent fantasy element just highlights how grounded the “normal” storylines are, slice of life in the very best sense of the word.  It certainly wouldn’t work if Nasa and Tsukasa weren’t the sort of people you like to be with, but they are.  They’re settled in to the point where they feel secure in what they have, but it’s all fresh enough that they still treat every day together as a gift.  That’s kind of a perfect point at which to highlight a relationship, actually.

The focus of this episode is weddings.  More specifically, that Tsukasa and Nasa have never had one.  As is so often the case it’s Kaname who’s the instigator of events; she plants the seed in Nasa’s head that he really wants to see Tsukasa in a wedding dress.  And honestly, who wouldn’t?  But Tsukasa is the shy type, for starters, and a wedding is pretty embarrassing for the happy couple.  And then there are all the practical aspects to consider – which Tsukasa demonstrates with lightning speed that Nasa is utterly clueless about.

I quite liked the realism here.  Nasa is a very smart boy, but he’s what, 18 or 19?  Guys that age are so often hilariously clueless about practical matters.  If their dad never sat them down to talk about something like this (and dads are notoriously averse to such conversations) they probably have no idea.  Nasa thinks you can call the venue and set up a ceremony and reception for next week like reserving a table, and do the whole thing for about $1500 bucks.  All the girls in his life know better, and take pains to make sure he’s aware how out of alignment with reality his ideas are.

Full disclosure – I’ve always thought big, expensive weddings were idiotic unless you were so wealthy that it doesn’t matter.  Not everyone has to have a Disney wedding and 7 million Yen is on the high side (Nasa seems clueless even about the cost of a modest car), but even ¥3 or 4 million still seems nuts to me.  Spend that money (if you’re lucky enough to have it) on your future – that car, a down payment on an apartment or house, even a nice honeymoon trip somewhere for a tenth of it.  If Nasa wants to get turned on by Tsukasa in a wedding dress she can model it for him in their room – which is exactly the direction the pair of them are headed by the end of the episode.

Yeah, I know, weddings are for the family – but marriages are for the couple, and they’re what’s important.  I suspect we haven’t heard the last of this (Zexy is a real magazine, BTW) – the mention of Tokiko implies that.  But I’m glad it doesn’t appear as if it’s going to be a major ongoing focus.  I’m just enjoying being with this loveable couple again, and even the supporting cast (especially Kaname) have quite grown on me.  ToniKawa didn’t land in my 2020 Top 1o by accident – it’s really good, and I really like it.  Even in a season like this one its return is no small pleasure, and something to be celebrated.