Yup, still great.

OP: “Neko Jarashi (猫じゃらし)” by 7co

It’s probably not necessary to say Seihantai na Kimi to Boku hasn’t skipped a beat. Why would it? Everyone involved is the same and it’s a split cour, after all. But still, it’s nice to be reminded of how wonderful this series is. And the whole Agasawa Koucha experience, with this show and Koori no Jouheki doing leapfrog for the year (which I always suspected would happen) adds an interesting layer. Agasawa is a fascinating writer, but that my feelings for one series are so much stronger than the other is testament to how subjective art is.

I beat that subject to death already in my Ramparts posts, I know. But it’s a fascinating thing, truly. I like the sort of series each is about equally, I would say. So it really comes down to the specifics of the content and to execution. The latter does make a difference for sure, and this adaptation is way more distinctive and visually interesting in my opinion. But after watching Koori, You and I Are Polar Opposites just feels like being unburdened. It makes its counterpart seem positively ponderous and self-aware. But again, it all comes down to subjective opinion – both series are about equally popular.

One of the elements that makes Polar Opposites work as well as it does is the exquisite balance between the main couple and the supporting cast. As usual, the latter get most of the A-part here, and the former the B-part. Even the OP/EDs are equally split. Both supporting couples are great but TairAzuma (Miyu has even started canonically using that, ROFL) is my favorite pair in the series. “Play along” has always been Shino’s M.O., pretty much. Keep it chill, keep it superficial. It’s good that she’s finally realizing – with Shuuji and Miyu’s prodding – that she’s allowing herself to be taken advantage of.

Miyu’s theory about Azuma-san and “velocity” is an interesting one. I do think her preference for warp-speed interpersonal relationships leads to a dearth of meaningful ones. It’s difficult with Taira-kun for sure. He’s carrying his own baggage, and his brand of slow may be taking things too far in the other direction. But one comes to realize that the title refers not just to Yuusuke and Miyu – it really fits all three couples in this series. You could certainly apply it to Kentarou and Natsumi too – he’s as casually friendly as it gets and she’s… pointedly not.

Animanga fans may have a distorted view of Japanese life in some ways (well, there’s no “may” about it) but they have a better sense than most about how Christmas differs here from the West. It’s a date holiday – and a hook-up one if you’re at that stage. And as such it puts a lot of pressure on couples. Yuusuke is almost totally lacking in experience here, and Miyu is impatient to push the relationship forward. A group trip to see the Xmas lights in her neighborhood is a fun mood-setter, but the meat and potatoes here is the pairing off stuff. It remains to be seen if TairAzuma and NishiYama are far enough along to take the plunge; there’s no question MiYuusuke are.

Happily, even if they’re coming at it from different directions they land on the same plan – Xmas cake (though she proposes to bake it and he just to eat it). Their shopping trip has a decidedly domestic feel to it, something that’s not remotely lost on Miyu. With the house to themselves (and a warning from Mom) they set about their domestic bliss and in the process almost have an accidental kiss (or perhaps not “almost”). Yuusuke is unnerved enough by this near-miss (or nearly-miss) to ask for a do-over later, though that hardly goes any better. And Onii-san’s unexpected stop at home is an amusing distraction at an extremely tense moment.

The cake turns out fine, at least. And so do the gifts as once more, just as with the theme, MiYuusuke land in the same place on gifts – gloves (well, mittens in his case). There’s still a gap here – Miyu can tell herself that the whole kiss thing doesn’t matter, but the truth is she’d like things to be moving faster than Yuusuke is comfortable moving them. But you don’t get the idea that there’s any real tectonic stress with these two – it’s kind of a Platonic ideal first romance, the perfect mix of infatuation and uncertainty and goofiness. Like everything else about Seihantai, the balance is spot-on.

ED: “Unmei no Kimi (運命の君)” by Mega Shinnosuke