I say this with love, but watching Yesterday o Utatte is going to leave me looking like one of those heads carved out of dried apples. I feel like every episode ages me about a decade. I’m still totally bought in, and the series is working for me because the situations aren’t contrived – they’re real. But real relationships can be incredibly trying. And annoying, and frustrating. And by God, Yesterday is all of those things. I’ve noted it before, but sometimes I really wish for a bit of storybook fairy dust to break through all this emotional realism.
It says something that we’ve reached the point where creepy, clingy, needy Haru and cocksure, needy Rou-kun are less annoying than the two “adults” in the room. Those two are irritating in that teenage way, but their directness and self-absorption at least has a sort of honesty to it. Rikuo and Shinako are so stifled emotionally that it can be more torturous to watch them than the kids. One must credit this series for so artfully portraying the huge gap a few years signifies when we’re talking about four people of this age bracket. If they were in their 30’s or 40’s, it’d mean little. But as they are now? It’s a geological age.
The thing is, none of these four are blameless for what’s happening. And none of them are bad people. They’re just frail, flawed human beings in a culture where emotional openness can be a challenge at the best of times. We can start with Rikuo, who certainly does the right thing by going to Haru’s place after it’s broken into, but unforgivably punts on the chance to hell her that he and Shinako are (finally) dating (sort of). It can be argued that he was being chivalrous for a while by giving her a chance to take a hint, but at this point he can’t possibly still believe she’s capable of taking one. Now he’s just being a coward.
One could be pretty harsh towards Rikuo and Shinako as a couple, and it would be hard to refute that argument. To keep their relationship a secret at this point is silly, and they’re enabling each other’s tripwires at the moment. But I wouldn’t be so quick to belittle what they have. There’s nothing wrong with comfortable, sociable, and supportive – lifetime relationships have been built on less. This is what Shinako needs at the moment, and Rikuo is so empathetic (and smitten) that he’s willing to settle for it. But it has to be a stage, a bridge to something more. And so far, one can’t assume that it is based on what we’ve seen.
If Rikuo abdicated his responsibility by not telling Haru the truth, he’s at least made the effort to indirectly do so. Shinako really hasn’t even done that much with Rou. Rou is the youngest of the quartet and the least mature (and that’s a high bar), but he’s a big boy now – he should be able to handle the truth. In his mind, his no longer being Shinako’s student removes the last formal barrier to their being a couple – she could now date him without facing professional repercussions. In his straightforward worldview, there’s nothing standing in their way now – and Shinako has given him no reason to believe otherwise. And his being the most forceful of the four, he’s not going to dick around and play games like the others.
Rou confronting Shinako and Rikuo is theoretically a disaster, but in practice it’s probably a good thing. Just as Haru walking in on the two of them is. The adults have abdicated on the chance to set things straight by doing the adult thing – better that the kids do so by doing the juvenile thing than that it never happen at all. Three months dating and not even a kiss is frustrating – and despite Rikuo’s eternal patience not a scenario that can last forever. But three months of keeping their relationship a secret is really inexcusable. Haru might be a stalker who refuses to take a hint but she’s not wrong in lamenting Shinako’s attitude. She’s still treating Rikuo like a security blanket – hoarding him but not truly committing (though it’s not like there’s any risk of losing him to anyone else).
I don’t know if anything is going to happen with Rikuo and Shinako – if they ever will be able to “switch gears”. As I said I don’t dismiss what they have – and I think Shinako’s openness in telling him what she thought of him in college was actually a good sign, and rather endearing. But at some point they – well, she – are going to have to make the decision to move forward (or not). If Rikuo won’t force the issue – and I mean, that ship seems to have sailed – I’ll take Rou’s clumsy intervention as the only port in a storm. Neither of the adults owe Rou or Haru romantic affection but they should at least have been honest with them by now. Ironically, it may be the youngsters’ bluntness that finally forces them to be honest with themselves.
leongsh
June 14, 2020 at 3:25 pmWithin all that emotional turmoil in young adults, they will rationalise in ways that seem right to them. But those with experience down that road many years ago will see the reckoning coming. Some may even relive those like traumas. That’s good in its way because that shows the anime has gotten you engaged.
As this wonky curtailed season winds down, would you say this is the best non-sequel show so far of this pandemic-hit season?
Guardian Enzo
June 14, 2020 at 4:03 pmWithout any shadow of a doubt.
BlueBlue
June 14, 2020 at 9:11 pmTalking about ages, do we know exactly how old they are or at least the age differences between them? (I do not want to take the risk to look on internet and being spoiled). Because, even though I am quite sure that they are all “legal”, I cannot resist to ask myself every time I see Rou and Haru: why the hell should they care about you kids? Their feelings and disapointment are reasonable (even though in the case of Rou, I find it silly as it looks more like heritage in my opinion) but their behaviour screams so much “I deserve and own” (especially Rou).
If it were a telenovela, one would have already tried to kill someone else. LOL. Honestly, considering how many color pages Haru got during the prebublication, I have (unfortunately) no doubt about how it will end regarding her. But she (the author) really has to find a good explanation for Shinako and Rou-the heir. Of course these are all speculations
Guardian Enzo
June 14, 2020 at 9:33 pmRou has to be either 17 or 18, as he’s in his third year of HS and there’s no indication he either skipped ahead or was held back. With Haru it’s harder to tell but based on the fact that she was a student of Shinako’s and it seems as if this is only Shinako’s second year teaching, she’d be 18 or 19. And being about 2 years out of college, Shinako and Rikuo should be either 23 or 24.
DP
June 15, 2020 at 8:30 am“ The thing is, none of these four are blameless for what’s happening. And none of them are bad people.”
I’m going to take issue with this. As she’s portrayed, Shinako is a pretty horrible, selfish character. Mind you, Rikuo isn’t far behind, but Shinako is the only one openly manipulating the two men vying for her affections. She’s toying with both of them, and if she really intends to finally drop the curtain on Rou, her coddling of him – as the adult in the relationship – is little short of despicable.
While I find the soap opera aspects of the storyline interesting enough, it’s not really a particularly good soap opera, at least in my opinion. I can’t envision how the story can possibly come to a satisfying conclusion when it seems pretty clear that none of the four main characters belong with one another.
Guardian Enzo
June 15, 2020 at 9:29 amI don’t see it that way, personally. Rather than “horrible” I think Shinako is weak – which I think is the major complaint against both the adults. They can’t bring themselves to be honest with the kids who are after them because they want to avoid unpleasantness and in their minds, avoid hurting them. But by not doing so they’re hurting them worse. It’s more complicated in Shinako’s case because Rou is basically her younger brother and she has deep emotional connections to he and his family that she doesn’t want to lose. I have less tolerance for the way she’s treated Rikuo, which is undeniably selfish (though in her defense she did initially reject him, and he chose to keep seeing her as a “friend”).
I’m not sure even why Rikuo needs defending from a “horrible” charge, since he’s mostly hurting himself with his passivity. But he should have been more definitive in ending things with Haru. A normal person would have taken his many hints, but it should be obvious to him by now that she can’t do that.
The kids are mostly just annoying AF, but that’s kind of the privilege of being a kid. Haru is definitely obsessive and a stalker to the point of being creepy, and Rou is entitled and pretty juvenile. But the grown-ups are the ones who really had a responsibility to set things straight, and they’ve failed to do so.
Panino Manino
June 16, 2020 at 10:43 amHow exactly is Rikuo “horrible”?
Is because of Haru? He made clear from the beginning that he didn’t wanted a relationship with her, he at most enjoying her company as a friend.
It’s her that always goes after him, never the contrary, and after the because more focused on his work and Shinako he made clear after insisting that Haru was deluding herself expecting more that she should keep her distance. He doesn’t have control over her, it’s not his fault if she goes to his house, he already made things clear to her and never made contact voluntarily.
Panino Manino
June 16, 2020 at 10:38 amI was liking this adaptation lots, but… looks like next episode is really the end and not already to tell this story.
The anime had to cut too much, just too much to make it really work.
Rikuo will end with Haru and this is a mistake. If they had to cut too much would be better to have an original ending and make Rikuo ending with Shinako and take the opportunity to change her a bit for the better.
water imp
June 21, 2020 at 9:19 amBesides Haru as genki girl trope, there’s Rou with the poor emotional regulation, self-righteous shonen trope. Rous tend to be annoying, even if characterized well.