As always after a BokuYaba episode, I’m awash in way too many thoughts.  First off that we’re only one episode away from the end of the season, and what a colossal shame it will be if there isn’t another.  I suppose we can talk more about that one next week, though.  There’s also the episode itself, which was really a significant one in so many ways.  And sheer admiration for the subtlety and perceptiveness of Norio’s writing (which I think you only fully get when you go through this material a second or third – or xxxth – time).

Sakurai-sensei’s writing is like a scalpel in the hands of a brilliant surgeon.  It cuts unerringly and precisely, never misses.  That’s why those repeated readings/viewings are so necessary, because the details really matter here.  But maybe the headline this week is that #11, more than any episode, makes some pretty big changes to the manga.  And they’re for the better.  Akagi Hiroaki hasn’t reworked BokuYaba like he so brilliantly did Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san – because he hasn’t needed to.  But we’ve started to see his influence more and more in the past couple of episodes, building up to this one.

I won’t go into detail on the changes, because you can read the manga if you want and you damn well should.  But I’ll just say that what Akagi tweaked gave this passage of the story better flow and even more emotional heft than Norio did – and that’s remarkable.  First of all he moved that first video call between Kyou and Anna (which manga readers assumed had to be coming either this week or next) from the night of the Xmas date to during the Ichikawa family trip.  I think it packed more punch here.  That trip is an important event in both versions, for a myriad of reasons.

The practicalities of a secret relationship for a 13 year-old are a definite factor for Kyou here.  Sharing a room at Grandma’s with Kana was no big deal last year; now it’s a problem.  Because Kyou has no experience with this sort of thing he doesn’t know that you always use earbuds or a headset here.  Further proof is coming that this relationship has messed with his head, and Ichi isn’t thinking clearly.  Akita scenery never meant jack to him, but with Yamada wanting to see snow, he’s committed to giving her the best shot possible.  That leads to an incident, and a broken wrist (this moment was tweaked a fair bit from the manga too, as regards Onee’s involvement).

The Ichikawa family are an important part of the series, and they really play a big role here.  This is the first time we see Ichikawa-papa – and they got Nakano Yuto (Ginko) to play him, no less.  He’s a quiet sort to say the least, but he’s always listening (as many quiet people do).  A character whose subtleties you really have to be paying attention to see.  Mom grasps that something is changing with her son after the injury (much to his discomfort at her “motherly intuitions”, always a worry for a boy that age).  Even Grandma (Ohtori Yoshino) can tell – though Onee insists that her brother looks “exactly the same”.

As ever it’s Kana who has the largest role in her brother’s life.  The give and take between the two of them is very real (I have two older sisters at about the same age gap).  Kana catching Kyou in the act of video chatting with Anna is a big deal, as obsessed as he is with keeping it a secret (which it really isn’t).  There will be much more of this thread if we get a S2, but Kana’s tone comes off as more cautiously protective than anything.  She doesn’t give Kyou the third degree (much), but she seems to be trying to keep him from getting unrealistic expectations.  That prompts Kyou (who’s extremely perceptive) to muse that Onee is burdened with the same fears and hangups that he is.  And her admission that she has no male friends is hard evidence of that.

That late-night call is such a watershed moment.  Norio including the “I’ve used the word “friend” so rarely that it doesn’t even autofill” is that scalpel at its most ruthless.  But Kyou’s explanation – “I said we were friends.  For now.” – is a tacit admission on his part of his true feelings (and Anna immediately grasps this).  On the ride home, Kana’s conversation with Kyou about Anna happens with Mom is asleep, but keep a close eye on Dad.  Nakano-san doesn’t get a lot of work here, but Papa is listening and pondering closely.

Naturally, the first thing Ichi does when the family gets back to Meguro is to head over to Anna’s, ostensibly to return the scarf and manga but truthfully because he’s just desperate to see her.  She’s assumed he wasn’t coming over because of his injury but they meet along the way as she’s walking Wantarou, her Akita, and they head for the park.  At this point Ichi is back in full damage control mode, having convinced himself that the Akita keychain he bought her as a souvenir is too cringy.  But when she declares his intention to let him keep the scarf (which I think we can assume was always her intention), he once more finds courage in her directness.

The family restaurant scene is another one Akagi-sensei changes quite a bit from the way it plays out in the manga, though much of the import is the same.  Nanjou remains as persistent as ever, and Mamiya’s presence is as ever no deterrent to him trying to get Yamada’s LINE info.  Moeko is there too, and she initially pretends not to know Ichi.  But that changes after “Ichihara” holds firm against Pickup-pai’s relentless barrage – refusing even to offer a reason for refusing except “I don’t want to”.  That’s enough to get Moeko to openly declare him a friend – and to declare that  what’s going on between he and Anna is “super obvious”.  This amounts to her seal of approval for that, and both that and having the “F” word applied to him are milestone moments for Ichi.

None of this is easy, you know?  Maybe there are people for whom this sort of thing is – but I’m not one of them, and that’s one reason why I resonate so deeply with Kyou.  This is truly one of the most well-written characters in manga, a remarkable literary creation by Norio, and the stumbling first steps of romantic love just don’t get rendered any better than BokuYaba renders them.  If it were only a romance it would still be a great series, but it’s Norio’s accomplishment in the telling of Kyoutarou’s personal journey that makes it a true epic masterpiece.