Man. After the last couple of episodes, to do what Seihantai did this week was the height of cruelty. I mean, props for having the balls to leave out TairAzuma after that intense cliffhanger. And it’s testament to how good this show is that we got a really compelling episode without them. But damn, just damn. I basically spent all week thinking about how this episode would progress things with the main pair (let’s not kid ourselves) and we never see them. I’ll have to save my smoking hot take for next week.

I said in the comments last week that “it really is like Taira and Azuma are in a different series a lot of the time, but it works that way”. And this ep was the living proof of it. The feel of the show just changes to an astonishing degree with the other two couples in focus. Even between those two it’s quite different, though a drop in the ocean compared to either of them and Taira and Azuma. The stuff with NishiYama and MiYuusuke was actually quite grounded and serious here, in relative terms. Things with the former especially tend to be fluffy in the extreme but we ventured into some choppy waters there.

Watching Nishi get bullied by her mother was really hard to watch. I do respect that Mom was trying to be a responsible parent, but that shit don’t fly (though “literature major” auto-completing to “can’t find a job” was pretty hilarious). Nishi’s major and her career path is her choice, she’s the one who’s going to have to actually live that life. Being with Kentarou has been good for her – I don’t think she would have stood up (that’s generous but let’s give it) to her mother before she started dating him. But this deference is a problem for her in all her relationships. the romantic one included. And when she goes over to Yamada’s house with no one else home, that comes to the fore.

Kentarou is obviously a socially mobile kid. We know he’s had girlfriends and it seems pretty safe to assume has at least some experience in terms of physical contact. And it seems as if he’s been pushing, but meeting resistance. The issue here is not that he’s going to force Nishi into anything – he’s not that sort of guy. But her heartbreaking “If I say yes, will you like me more?” sums up the whole problem in a nutshell. In this as in all things Nishi has to assert her independence. If she wants to go further that’s not wrong. If she doesn’t, neither is that. She has to have enough faith in Kentarou to be the person she is, not the one she thinks he wants her to be.

I thought that whole scene was handled with finesse and balance, among the best of its kind I’ve seen in anime (though there are a couple recent scenes in manga that will be hard to top, if they’re adapted next year). We then turn to the usurped main pair, who’re having a study session at Yuusuke’s house (with the fam downstairs). Again, there’s a different vibe with them, almost like a young married couple. They’re pros at this by now. But they’re still kids, and that comes out under stress. Like when Miyu sees the study guide for Nijugaoka University – in Ibaraki – in Yuusuke’s room.

This is a rough thing on more than one level. The idea that Yuusuke would go to a school far away is obviously unsettling for Miyu. But even more so that he didn’t tell her he was considering it, which leads her to question whether she’s “too demanding” as a girlfriend. When she confronts him about it he says he’s decided not to apply there. But his reasoning is weak, and it’s obvious Nijugaoka is where his heart is, college-wise. This, among many reasons, is why high school romances are just a bear. How can he decide between his educational aspirations and the girl he loves at that age? You can tell yourself that long-distance relationships can work, but in truth they rarely do. Certainly not at 18.

You have to respect Miyu here, who suggests that they “give each other space” even though it’s literally the last thing she wants to happen. She’s trying to help Yuusuke, make a hard choice so he doesn’t have to. But that’s not what he wants either. This incident serves as a good reminder to the pair of them just how much they want to stay together, but that doesn’t make finding a practical solution any easier. Again, it’s handled with great dexterity and realism – Koucha is just a marvel at this sort of material. That she can leave out who she did and still deliver this well is testament to her talent, but I still can’t wait for the main event.