「ベンチ」 (Bennchi)
“Bench”

Romantic triangles and the ability to see into the future? I can’t imagine how a combination of those two things could ever go wrong.

Group Dynamic

In any group of friends, there is always a set of unspoken rules everyone follows to keep things working smoothly. Be it not going after others within the group or making an effort to avoid things that others dislike, these things are in place to keep a group of individuals together without wanting to rip everyone’s head off. Which is why watching them slowly unravel the figurative strings that hold them together was the first of two reasons why this episode really irked me. Trust me, I understand the urge to ask someone out when you really have feelings for them but sometimes you have to consider the group as a whole and how you’ll effect it by being selfish with your decisions. Because at least with the people I spend time with, nine times out of ten they’ll think of the group.

Glimpses Into the Future

The other thing that irked me a bit was how Touko decided to use her ability to see in the future. Sure we don’t know much about how it works or just how accurate it is (for all we know David could be full of crap), but the way she decided to act after Yuki awkwardly asked her out is not what I expected. Yes, she might be the kind of character who does things at her own pace but based off of the conversation she had with Yanagi earlier in the episode you’d think she would at least give her a call! But instead of being reasonable she decided to call Okikura first in an attempt to see what the future held. All I can say is that I expected a lot more out of Touko.

They Say Hindsight is 20/20

Even though I’ve been seriously bagging on the episode, I can totally picture myself doing the same things if I were in Yuki or Touko’s situation. The feelings of wanting to be with someone you really like can sometimes overwhelm your better judgment and if I had the ability to protect everyone (including myself) by somehow knowing what and when to do something, I doubt I’d pass it up. I guess what I’m trying to say is that as much as the episode irked me, it probably all stems from the fact that I could totally see myself doing the same things. Something I have to commend the writers at P.A. Works for!

Looking Ahead

With the love triangle and one sided feelings in full swing, I appreciate that the show isn’t forcing us to endure episodes of characters not manning up and doing what they got to do. While it remains to be seen just how large of a role Touko’s ability to see in the future will play, I’m glad that we at least got some kind of explanation behind what those flash-forwards were about. At this point it’s tough to say where the show’s headed but I’m hoping it continues to keep going up! All in all though, not too bad of a second episode.

P.S. I hope I’m not the only one who feels like Yanagi is getting the short end of the stick. I feel horrible that she can’t get the guy she wants because she’s trying to be the bigger person. I would give her a hug if I could ):

 

Preview

41 Comments

  1. I find the love triangle and one-sided love amongst friends similar to Honey and Clover. I don’t know, it just popped up in my head while I was watching. Really loved Touka’s reaction to the confession. That was hilarious. I hope this show doesn’t get too dramatic though. I was hoping this would be a light watch without much emotional investment. OuO

  2. Well at least we know where the name of the show comes from now Glasslip = glass slip = using glass to see the future.

    I’m not really sure why you’re bagging Touko for thinking of using her ability. If you have a gift why not use it? There’s nothing wrong with being better informed. She clearly does not like runner boy in that way so was wanting to see the best way to answer him.

    Anyway, I thought that this was a much better episode than the first which I just found confusing. Still loving the chickens. Gives me such a ‘True Tears’ vibe.

    Scruffy
    1. I don’t know — I feel like you should give your friend at least a call about what happened you know?

      So with the whole chicken thing and “true tears” — does it warrant a watch? Don’t kill me pls 😐

      1. True Tears is definitely worth a watch. It was PA Works first series and IMHO was a drama / love triangle series done correct. The chickens relate to True Tears because the lead was writing an allegorical childrens story using chickens.

        Scruffy
      2. Don’t you think that would be awkward? Calling to talk to the friend that just the day before told you she was thinking about confessing to the guy she liked – and then having said guy confess to you?

        Personally, I think Yanagi would be the least appropriate person to talk to regarding this situation. Among the girls, that would leave Sachi as a sounding board. However, that could potentially place Sachi in a position to pick a side between friends.

        Although it is a little weird considering Touko and Kakeru/David just recent met, he at least is a completely neutral party in this situation. Add in the ESP aspect and I think Touko calling to find out how she can see in to the future in order to deal with Yukinari’s confession while considering Yanagi’s feelings was the appropriate thing to do under the circumstances.

        RifuloftheWest
  3. I still find Yuki and Yanagi’s attitude to Okikura to be way over the top for someone they just met.

    Besides saying hi last episode, he’s done almost nothing.

    Then he asks her to meet but really still hasn’t done anything harmful.

    So mean XD

    PTYW
    1. I dunno about Yanagi, but Yuki does have the hots for Touko. He seemed to be the type who finds it hard to spit it out to the love interest but easily act tough and territorial to anyone he perceives as threat.

      azimbe
      1. I understand that, but what i found hilarious was how it went about it.

        Touko says something about a buy she met.

        Okikura hears this, introduces himself, and not much more.

        Yuki…..Wow wow wow….You hitting on my girl??

        PTYW
    2. Yeah talk about paranoid sure he is blunt but, I don’t see why he get’s the hate. I guess it’s because they fear he might ruin the group but, I have a feeling they might just do it on their own.

      PaladinJoe
  4. I feel like Yanagi getting the short side of the stick is normal. I mean isn’t she voiced by Hayami Saori? I can’t remember a series where things went “well” for her.

    erohakase
    1. She was Musubi in Sekirei. I think she was a happy, busty lass who got to be around the person she loved (Minato), participate in “supermarket running competitions” with Tsukiumi for a chance to sit next to Minato at the dinner table and kick some enemy Sekirei ass now and then. Not that bad in my opinion 😛

      Tassadar
  5. wow…it is definitely a pain when someone you like is within the group of friend you usually hang out with,we have this problem once, a friend confess to a girl within our group who think she like him back…it didnt end well….it just become awkward for both of them, and in extension everyone, causing him to rarely show up to hang out, and the girl becoming guilty and kinda sad..its just problematic…

    anybody got similar situation?

    lou
  6. How did this show go from the characters caring for chickens to being able to see into the future in one episode?…………….

    Honestly i don’t care for this supernatural element. It’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen. “That’s so Raven” shenanigans where the dense MC tries to prevent a future from coming true and ends up causing it or something along those lines. Seen it happen so many times already so I’m not really digging that particular aspect.

    Pacing seems a bit awkward but it’ll be interesting to see how the result of these confessions plays out. Since it’s only 13 episodes i figured the romance was going to end up moving quicker than in Nagi.

    leatherhead333
  7. The pacing is kinda messy at this point.

    Baseless speculation: I think they planned this series originally to be two-cour but somewhere along the line something got messed up and they ended up making it one-cour.

    legwkio
  8. I’m considering dropping this series, maybe I’ll binge watch it after the season ends, but the drama and brooding mood is strong these 2 episodes, and I was kind of expecting the level of lightheartedness I found in Hanairo and Tari Tari.

    azimbe
  9. I have to say that I started this anime to see a show about Glass-making, but instead I am stuck in another love hexagon anime. It’s only episode 2 but I can already see they are going to focus more of the relationships than the actual glass.

    I can’t really find myself to care about the relationships either because who the characters are going to end up with at the end are obvious.

    Kay54
  10. Well, it clearly isn’t going into the direction I expected it to go, for starters, I didn’t even expect any supernatural stuff to emerge. Although I can’t say it has been bad so far so let’s see what happens.

    Misk
  11. I find this show quite intriguing. Not what I expected, since I thought David was going to join the group first before any cracks show up. But those cracks has already shown up even though he’s still practically an outsider. Gotta love the expression on their faces. Really shows what they’re feeling inside.

    I only have one real gripe here. It’s the combination of those stills and the background audio. Hearing the bicycle roll while looking at a frozen frame makes it feel like I’m missing something. Gives me the feeling like there’s something wrong with the scene.

    theirs
  12. Starting to think that Sacchan (Sachi) has more of a hold over the group than I had previously thought. Out of all of them , it was Sacchan and Yuki who were the most hostile towards Kakeru. That could make things more interesting and complicated.

    Aki-Chan
  13. I didn’t know this show involved supernatural elements, I always thought it was mostly about making glass.

    … What do you mean the bicycle falling on its own isn’t supernatural? :p

    echykr
  14. I get the vibe that Sachi is in love with Touko. She seemed adamant about the no dating clause because it keeps the boys off of Touko. Her reactions to the glass bead that Touko gave her and the fact that Touko was wearing one that Sachi made seems to confirm that in my mind.

    I agree with the other commenters that there was something of a bait and switch in the storyline from the synopsis. I expected it to be more about glass blowing and other artisan subjects. Now it just seems like a romance with supernatural elements. I’m rather disappointed in that regard.

  15. I seem to be liking this more than most, but i like all PA Works except Nagi.
    I agree that i was hoping for more glass blowing, i thought something like Tari Tari which did focus a good deal on the music.

    I agree on the 13/26 episode thing as well; i watch Shoujo for the most part and it is very disturbing to see the industry giving us 11 or 12 episodes for every Shoujo show. For me this started with Tari Tari getting, what, 12 episodes which gave them just enough time to introduce the characters.

    The supernatural element, meh, but if you read manga you see that like one in two manga has ‘supernatural’ in the tag. Japan likes their supernatural.

    Mike
  16. https://randomc.net/image/Glasslip/Glasslip%20-%2002%20-%2013.jpg Yanagi isn’t the only one getting the short end of the stick. The girl he likes is a lesbian, friendzoned for life!

    Better episode than the first and at least we got one confession out the way without dragging things on.

    https://randomc.net/image/Glasslip/Glasslip%20-%2002%20-%2004.jpg She’s actually wearing glasses this time to make glass D:

    https://randomc.net/image/Glasslip/Glasslip%20-%2002%20-%2014.jpg I thought she liked Yuki and I was wrong. She likes Touko and that means we’re starting to head into Shin Sekai Yori territory. She even said “I don’t know what I’d do to David if he did something to you Touko” A.K.A. She going to go Dexter on his ass.

    magoiichi
  17. can people stop this already? just because Sachi defended Touko from Kakeru doesn’t mean she’s a lesbian. where’s the concrete evidence of her liking touko in that way? because all I saw was a girl who was protecting her friend and nothing more. Besides she’ll probably end up with that Hiro guy. Him(Hiro) liking her would go to waste if she had a crush on Touko.

    1. It’s a romance anime and she’s a very cute character with lots of potential. It’s only natural that people ship her with MC, especially when you look at their interactions. On #randomc IRC channel she’s widely recognized as the best girl.

      brajt
  18. Im down with this series; I find the “normalcy” of it all to be quite refreshing; just the way the characters come off feels like a real group of friends and they interact in a way where i can buy their emotions. Pacing aside (to which i dont even find too many problems with) the tone of the series more than makes up for it. This series is working for me so far

    sonicsenryaku
  19. That’s a cute Touko image there with her head tilted. It made me watch the confession scene again. It’s well done with all of that misunderstanding, Touko’s surprise & Yuki’s gasp/sigh. That image is what Yuki sees before when he does tell her.

    mad_season

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