There’s a certain built-in limitation to this series’ upside, it seems to me. Being based on a deceit is the heart of the problem. There’s only so far you can go with a romantic relationship premised on mistaken (or deceptive) identity. But it’s tied in to the other problem, which is that the “conceit behind the deceit” is hard to swallow. The whole Tayama-Yamada thing is a stretch to begin with, and it was never meant to be the foundation of a series with aspirations as serious as Super no Ura de Yani Suu Futari. And the farther we go, the more the structural stress shows.
What this all reminds me of is a small lie that seems harmless enough, given the context or specifics. But you have to keep expanding the lie to maintain its effectiveness, and thus the fiction being perpetrated grows more and more ludicrous. Almost everyone has been in that situation at some point and can appreciate the notion, I suspect. And really, that’s where we are with Super no Ura. This whole “eight years ago” story just layers on the silliness. Fundamentally, you now have a premise that can’t support its own weight unless both characters are pretty dim bulbs.
That leaves me rather torn, as I do like most of the characters here (including the dog and some we haven’t met yet). Tayama (just tell him already) is heartbroken after losing the novelty ashtray Sasaki bought for her. She searches for it and comes up dry, but eventually tracks it down underneath the recycle bins – except that it turns out to be a kid’s toy. That kid is the the son of Maezawa-san the store GM by the way, the first time we’ve seen her if I’m not mistaken. Sasaki for his part overhears Tayama venting (to Daigorou) about losing the ashtray, and eventually drafts the pup to help him find it. Which of course he does.
Yamada finding the ashtray – and not the toy – would have been a blown cover situation, probably. The ashtray almost is anyway, as Yamada does a poor job of hiding her emotions when Sasaki returns it to her, with a dirty sleeve and a dirty Daigorou. It’s pretty obvious that Yamada is feeling something for Sasaki at this point – I actually think it’s less clear that his feelings are romantic per se than hers. Compared to the big lie the age difference thing seems almost trivial at this point, even if it doesn’t pass the “half plus seven” rule.
The aftermath to all this finds Tayama playing tsundere about the ashtray, and Sasaki buying a thank you gift for the dog (because that’s just the sort of guy he is). Tayama asks him why he started smoking, and he blames it on a college girlfriend who “forced him” to smoke (there may be some PTSD from this relationship). He flips the question back, and she relates the story of that encounter with Sasaki 8 years earlier when she was ready to quit. Her not remembering him is one thing (and a stretch) – his not remembering even after she describes it in detail shatters whatever shards of credibility are left.
I’m not going to argue that Yamada confessing the truth would make this all smooth and easy when it obviously wouldn’t. There is that age difference, Sasaki’s general self-loathing, and the potential fallout from her lying to him all this time. But it would be a hell of a lot easier than the way things are now, with her keeping up this ridiculous facade. There’s definitely a vibe (thankfully for the series) between Sasaki and “both” women. But it’s actually more solid and real with Tayama, since Yamada is just a fiction he’s built up in his head (and that she created). And that’s actually a good thing, since of course Tayama is who Yamada really is. That’s interesting – so how about we ditch this nonsense and explore it?
