I don’t think you’re thinking straight about your thinking you’re not thinking straight. Think about it
- Last week, Banri and 2D decided to throw a party to help cheer Yanagisawa up after his paranoia from his rejection from Chinami starts to build up.
- Summary of Episode 9: Picking up from last week’s episode while Banri and Linda are talking on the balcony, it’s revealed by Banri’s former spirit that he still loves Linda. The next day, Kouko is revealed to be sick, and has this sickness for the next couple of days until it’s time for her and Banri to attend club activities. After their club lets out, Kouko breaks down and reveals her fears and anxieties to Banri. This leads to a flashback where we learn Linda has a brother. Linda tells Banri that her brother’s fiancé is cheating on him, and she wants to ruin her. When they go to get evidence, Linda has a change of heart and decides to just confront her instead of getting evidence, and simply tells her to stop cheating. In the present, Banri’s spirit finally seems to permeate Banri’s body and become one again.
I’m sorry to say that this expressionless, emotionless hunk of minuscule masculinity is off the market
- My Take: Settle in, because this episode is, in essence, a long flashback.
- Okay before I go off on my weekly tirade on why Banri is running this show into the ground, I’ll shock the world here; I actually sort of liked this flashback. I know, I usually don’t like these types of flashbacks because they’re from Banri’s point of view, and he isn’t learning this as the audience is. But this flashback gives a great deal of insight into another character who I’ve wanted to see get fleshed out a little bit; Linda. What is revealed about her character is actually pretty fascinating.
- In the flashback, we see that Linda had an older brother (who is referred to as “Brother”)who is just as kind hearted as she is. But Linda tells Banri that she suspects Brother’s fiancé of cheating on him, and she wants to ruin the engagement to protect Brother. We see that she is out for blood, wanting to ruin her life over this. This is neat because it shows that the usually calm Linda gets incredibly offended when her family is disgraced by someone. But then she shows her insecurities, and after she calms down a bit, she asks Banri if her bloodlust is justified. Banri, for once in this show, actually responds reasonably and basically says that her anger is justified.
- However, things don’t go as planned. Banri and Linda both follow Brother’s fiancé and take some damning photos of her and the man she’s cheating with. Linda starts to feel conflicted about her anger, and decides to be mature and confront the woman rather than destroying her life. She tells her to not do it again, and ends it there. Later on, she feels conflicted about potentially destroying Brother’s life by not bringing her cheating to his attention. All of this psychological torment her character goes through is actually pretty heart-wrenching. I liked this because it shows flaws in her character. She tries to do the right thing and help people out, but she knows that all actions have specific consequences, and those consequences seem to pile up on her.
- On a side note, I’m very interested to see what came of Brother and his fiancé’s relationship. Will we ever know? I’m hoping so.
- Some people have speculated that the man on the motorcycle who knocked Banri off the bridge was the man that Linda’s brother’s fiancé was cheating with. Honestly, it doesn’t sound all that crazy to me.
He’s already shown more genuine emotion than Banri, and his name at this point is simply “Brother”
- I have to talk about the scene in the rain where Kouko breaks down and starts opening up about her anxiety. What I hate is how instead of comforting Kouko, Banri just says, “It’s all my fault”. My goodness, you’re telling me that her own anxiety is your fault? How spineless is this character? What he should have said in this situation was that she didn’t need to be “cute all the time” for him. Sure, I guess Banri is still trying to learn that a relationship is a two-way street, but he still needs to communicate his desire for how he would like Kouko to act. And honestly, I don’t see these two being together. I just don’t. They have no chemistry whatsoever. Their love seems to be one that looks good on paper, but is dreadful when put into practice. And I go off on Banri all the time, but here, I’ll primarily blame Kouko because she has such a disillusioned perception of what a relationship is. She talks about wanting Banri to love her, but I doubt that she even loves him. Their romance is just so false, and anybody can see it.
Because missing out on all that clinginess would put a damper on anyone’s mood
- This was just another episode that specifically focused on Banri. I don’t think Yanagisawa, 2D, or Chinami were even in this episode. That’s a shame because it would be nice to include them a little bit more.
- Has Banri’s spirit come back for good? The ending seems to suggest that. I think everyone knows how I feel about the spirit, so I won’t elaborate on it more than I need to. I’ll just say that if this is the case, then we might be seeing the beginning of the worst main character in anime history (well, it probably won’t be that bad. But still, it will be pretty bad).
Words can’t describe just how disappointing this picture is
- The pacing is just so fast. I thought it would take a lot longer for Banri’s spirit to become one with his body again. But we aren’t even half way done with this series, and most everything I predicted to happen at the end of the show has already happened. My only hope is that the next half of this show focuses on Yanagisawa and Chinami. Now there’s a more worthy story.
