「ロミオとジュリエット ~Juliet and romeo~」 (Romio to Jurietto ~Juliet and romeo~)
“Romeo and Juliet ~Juliet and romeo~”

Centralizing around the creation of a play, Musuko in turn tackles the issue of puberty. While not normally regarded as a serious problem, when it comes to the characters of Musuko, it comes as a curse. A ticking time bomb, that when set off, irreversibly destroys any androgynous nature one might have.

There’s a bunch of stories being played along, and it’s admirable how layered they are. Not only are there relationship issues between characters, they each have their own individual problems to deal with, like Takatsuki and her refusal to wear a bra. Interesting as it may be, I’m hoping for some more drama similar to the past two episodes, but it seems tensions are running high for everyone.

Perhaps a problem with having so many characters will come to bite Musuko in the ass once it makes its 11 episode run. Even so, when you put it down into words, this episode garners a surprising depth of development. Nitori continues to find feelings for Takatsuki, Chiba inches closer to Nitori, and problems will most likely ensue. I’m unsure what the point of developing the sister and her boyfriend is, but I’m not complaining. Takatsuki finally giving up and wearing a bra struck me in the end, simply because it just felt weird. Nitori responding with such an unconfirmed tone in his voice makes me wonder if it’s just an inevitability? That fighting puberty added a limiting factor that they just can’t get out of? It’s certainly a dead-end problem for them, with the only next step being surgery.

What’s missing so far are reasons. Why do these characters feel this way? How did it come about? Will AIC ever answer them? The importance of these reasons might be debatable, since sometimes gender and sexual orientation just don’t necessitate explanations. But I know a little something about Nitori, so yes, I do want to know how he came about.

Update: I’ve decided to stop blogging Musuko. I haven’t found much fun posting about the show, and my “real life” workload became increasingly time-consuming as the weeks wore on. I’ll still be watching the series, and if you’re adamant about impressions, you can read about them (includes all the writers) in the monthly posts we have planned.

 

Preview

29 Comments

  1. LOL. a part of this ep was hilarious! that when seya went over to maho’s house. XDDDD and lolz, chizuru was just so awesome.. LOL.(and i caught subtle yuri hints too! XDD)

    btw, i felt sad for saori. DX ah, the pain of unrequited love. DX

    lol. takarsuki wore a bra finally!!! XDD

    love this episode!!

    keiOnDaisuki
  2. Picture 3, are those 2 holding the balls like that on purpose -.- I’m really liking Chii’s character, probably cause she is the least wishy washy and just do what she wants >:) dunno if that will continue to be the case as story progress >:) we shall see 😀

    N0216332
  3. Well, homosexuality and gender identity disorder don’t really need a “reason”. A person’s gender identity is most likely being developed completely while in the womb and there’s little to no indication that outside influences make any difference. At least, as far as I know.

    HenDarou
    1. I think environmental factors actually contribute greatly to one’s sexual identity and orientation, i.e. environment one grows up in, people around you. Don’t have any specific examples right.
      Genetic factors probably also contribute to it, but perhaps less so since it hasn’t really been shown that sexuality is hereditary; also, I would think gay people pass on their genes to the next generation less frequently.

      Prooof
      1. i got a psychology class before and we tackled identity crisis.yes, cause of it would be hereditary,and environment. i know a family line who has tons of homos in them. grandfather, children..etc. an all-female/male school tends to have them as well.. X)

        keiOnDaisuki
  4. I really loved this episode (well, I love Hourou Musuko in general, so that’s not surprise). I really wished I’d realized how much I wanted to be the other gender before I hit puberty. This series just kills me in the way that these characters (while most of it was skipped in the anime) got to enjoy pretending to be the other gender when they were young. It’s a bittersweet feeling, watching the characters get to do something I never got to do.

    teisey
  5. Oh man… Sometimes I feel that the characters are a tad too deep for their age (12-13)… But as it is now, the show is very emotional… At the end of every episode it’s hard not to feel sad for these characters… The ED tops it off perfectly for me…

    SirMuffin
  6. ah, i saw the announcement, you’re dropping this completely or you’re still but not weekly anymore? in any case, that’s sad.. DX guess IS and madoka are the only ones left to wait for here.

    keiOnDaisuki
  7. It´s a shame that you have drop this series, you were doing a terrific job at blogging it, let´s hope that monthly impressions come soon enough… thanks for give this series a little of attention.

    King Dragun
  8. When I first learned that animated Hourou Musuko skipped the first 34 chapters of the manga, I got scared whether this adaptation will be a success or not. After I watched this episode, I wasn’t as excited as I was when I first read the manga 2 years ago. But I think AIC did a pretty good job overall. However, I’m gonna watch this till the end since I DO enjoy watching it. More Sasa-chan pls XP
    Also, I would like to thank you Kiiragi. I really appreciate your effort for covering this show until now despite your busy schedule.

    briex
  9. I was liking Chi but her doing that really had me finally see her as an annoying character.I hate touchy feely people like that,it’s very inappropriate so I don’t blame poor Takatsuki for wearing a bra. Especially with what everyone and she are going through,that area is a very vulnerable one.
    Didn’t like Saori trying to get closer to Nitori,don’t like his annoying sister,and hoping for more Takatsuki x Nitori time soon >3>

    Yaya
    1. man, you don’t like awesome chi-chan anymore? tch. that’s sad..DX she’s funny being all touchy. she’s kinda insensitive though..XD oh, you don’t like saori..i’m actually feeling pity for her. DX

      keiOnDaisuki
  10. not sure wat all the anime is going to cover for the series with only 11 eps so thats why I just went ahead and read the manga, it does fill in alot of back info tho not sure if the anime is really going to go into any depth with it or not yet

    boiya
  11. @Yaya: I totally agree with you on that. And besides, there is ANOTHER way to check if someone’s wearing a bra! She should’ve just simply tapped Takatsuki’s upper back so she could feel any straps! That would’ve been MUCH less inappropriate! Is it really that hard to know what’s inappropriate and what’s appropriate in a situation? But I know the producers didn’t show it for fan-service reasons, so I’ll forgive them for that.

    Firechick

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