「コレッテモシカシテ」 (Korette Moshikashite)
“Is This By Any Chance”

Okay, I’m mostly digging this. I am digging this. Thoughtful gestures of friendship and love, a great support group, and finally some reciprocated feelings! It wasn’t perfect (maybe I’m just a stuck-up guy looking for healthier depictions of falling in love), but it was good nonetheless. Let’s dive into it!

Again, while forcing yourself on another isn’t the best way to show your love, the way that it’s used here is at least smart and purposeful. Rather than simply illustrating a dominant-submissive dynamic between Izumi and Ryouma, this particular scene helps show two things. First, Ryouma’s a real struggler. Whereas it was impossible for him to control himself before, his increasing self-restraint is a welcome sight. He’s not perfect, but that’s the point–even though it’s not the ideal situation, his imperfections add a sense of reality to certain parts of his struggle, making it all the more relatable and understandable. For this, it’s forgivable for the series to have Ryouma on top of Izumi, since it allowed him to really figure out what he wanted from his crush.

On the other hand, this event creates a change within Izumi too, who finally starts to understand the struggles that Ryouma is going through and what part he played in that struggle. It’s perhaps shakey ground for Izumi to start blaming things on himself, but unarguably that’s a common reaction we see from people in these situations–they find some blame in themselves even in situations where they were victim. However, in this particular situation I’d think his guilt is partially justified, since Izumi, bless him, shouldn’t be casually walking into the home of someone who has forced himself on him just recently before, even if they do seem like a last resort. It’s a sort of “fool me twice, shame on me” sort of deal. Due to this, Izumi finally starts considering Ryouma’s feelings, a key step in the eventual feelings we were all waiting for.

Before diving into that though, I would like to address this interesting Lala-Lulu story that’s been interwoven into the plot. During the first few episodes, it seemed that Lala-Lulu was a way to soften Izumi’s character, to make him more unique in a BL stage. She was a plot device that helped express Izumi’s obsessive and escapist nature, both through herself and the inspiration she gives to Izumi’s mangaka dreams. With these last few episodes, she’s become much more central to the plot, acting as a parallel story to Izumi’s life. Although I’m unsure as to what Lala-Lulu’s arch-nemesis represents, Lala-Lulu herself represents the constant hope and support that Izumi receives from those around him, even if that support may be misguided and hidden at times. It’s a bit cheesy in isolation, but as soon as that mangaka sent off his encouraging message to Izumi along with Lala-Lulu’s message, I couldn’t help but get hit in the feels.

This makes an excellent segue back into Izumi’s feelings, because the great thing I love about today’s episode is how positive it was in portraying not just people helping Izumi, but how all the characters don’t conflict in helping out Izumi. While it’s not uncommon in a romantic comedy to see everyone do their share in assisting the main character, oftentimes it occurs while butting heads for attention with other characters as well. It’s as if only one person is worthy to help the main character and the main character need not rely on anyone else.

Here we see a different take, where Izumi has many people supporting him, but they all seem to be working without butting heads, each helping out in the best way they can. Ryouma clearly fills the largest hole by believing in what no one else would take seriously, but the other characters also provide a supportive environment. Rei, instead of being amazingly mad, is portrayed as a doting bodyguard who’s seriously concerned for Izumi’s health. Shougo, although jealous of Ryouma, is willing to make amends for the sake of Izumi and Ryouma’s health, as seen a few episodes back. I predict Izumi’s parents will be also just as understanding as well, exhibiting patience and hope that their son will find his way.

Thus, after a quick kiss, when we see Izumi finally realizing how blessed he is and how in love he is, it makes a lot of sense. The tears from his face make perfect sense in this situation, because it is here that the realization of just how supportive everyone has been finally hits him. As such, it also makes sense why he’s now willing to try showbusiness–instead of fighting his parents’ suggestions, Izumi has matured in the process and is now open to suggestions that are in his best interests, a very fitting character development. We’ve gone from an Izumi that’s been fairly self-centered to narrow-sighted in his opportunities to develop, to a more open and flexible individual who is surrounded by a supportive group. It’s feel-good all around, a positive moment in the series that has made it worthwhile to watch up to this point.

Thus, seeing what the next few episodes have in store excites me. We can actually have closure on a relationship, all while seeing this visible character development from Ryouma and Izumi. Though this relationship will find its opposition in the media (both in LOVE STAGE!! and in the audience), the supportive nature of Izumi’s closest people is a breath of fresh air that will see it through). I can’t wait to cover the next few episodes with you guys–hopefully you guys found this episode as cute and heartwarming as I did. Let me know if you agree or disagree down below!

 

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9 Comments

  1. I totally agree with you, this was the best so far ^//o^ especially now that Izumi is aware of his feeling towards Ryouma Now XD
    I wonder when the time will come when he will accept his feelings and tell Ryouma and then it will be a happy ending <333
    https://randomc.net/image/LOVE%20STAGE/LOVE%20STAGE%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
    But I'm just curious on how Shougo will react toward the fact that Izumi is starting to love Ryouma…. I'm guessing not that well lol Because we all now how he feels towards anyone after Izumi (which is anyone) especially Ryouma XD Shougo is like a Father<3
    https://randomc.net/image/LOVE%20STAGE/LOVE%20STAGE%20-%2007%20-%20Large%20Preview%2001.jpg
    The only guy I know for a fact that'll probably understand more about these feelings is Rei, because remeber he said that he has had alot of experience with guys(Shougo). So in that matter he will most likely help Izumi realize his feelings I know for a Fact because Rei is like a doting mother as we have seen in this episode lol
    https://randomc.net/image/LOVE%20STAGE/LOVE%20STAGE%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    Hopefully we will see more improvment in the relationship with Izumi x Ryouma in the upcoming episodes and from what I saw in the preview we get to see what happend in Reis past and how he got here so lets look forward to the next upcoming episodes to come ^//u^
    https://randomc.net/image/LOVE%20STAGE/LOVE%20STAGE%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2035.jpg

    Kisa-Chan
  2. can’t think of a better way to word this, but… I think you might be giving Izumi too much credit as a victim of Ryouma’s feelings. Izumi himself has been taking advantage of Ryouma’s feelings for him, and taking for granted Ryouma’s willingness to get along with Izumi better. This is exactly what Ryouma realised at the beginning of the episode; Izumi was treating Ryouma as a convenient escape.

    This is also kind of why I don’t really like the constant comparisons to the typical BL dynamic. even as the “bottom” Izumi is definitely the more manipulative one, while Ryouma is mostly just an idiot who’s in love. never mind BL, this is just a good romance, and comparing it to BL doesn’t do it justice.

    Nitro
  3. Definitely loved this episode. I agree with Nitro that Izumi is pretty manipulative on his own in a lot of ways. The dynamic is pretty interesting to me as (outside of their initial encounter), Izumi really holds all the power in the relationship. Ryouma is more like a puppy desperate for attention!

    Maybe they’re not perfect, but they’re definitely interesting which is more than what I can say for most BL series that I’ve seen lately. I also think the support characters are really well done, which is even more rare. I think I could watch a series about Rei as well!

    Ralicht
  4. Definitely one of the best episodes so far, nice to see Izumi start to get over his personal flaws and start to develop and also appreciate the people around him. Also, the ending was cute as hell.

    ruuter

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