“What Did You Do With Shiraishi?!”


「あなたは白石で何をしました」 (Anata wa Shiroishi de Nani o Shimashita)

Rush to the Finish line:

I feel like I’m repeating myself every week when it comes to Yamada-kun and the pacing, but if there was ever an episode that suffered from rushing through the source material, it was this one. This part of the manga is in an entire mini-arc of itself, worthy of at least four or five episode, but most of that was blitzed through this week, with the finale finishing off the developments that have been put in place. It’s a shame, because there wasn’t a moment to take a breath; it was constantly one thing after another, with barely connected scenes that were clearly cut together in order to get from point A to B. Still, it wasn’t a bad episode overall, just a really fast one that didn’t let the developments simmer. In the manga, you really got a sense that Yamada was struggling to deal with this current situation, but in the anime it’s already over before it began.

Shiraishi’s Bluntness:

Shiraishi is still Shirashi, however, and that will always be a good thing. There aren’t many shonen female leads like her, I’ll tell ya. What girl says “you can kiss me” in the middle of a busy street, without even blushing? Of course, we knew she liked Yamada despite her memories, but this was all the proof you needed. At the start of the episode it is put into perspective how Yamada must seem to her: a stranger that confessed his love for her, then kissed another girl later that same day, and then tried to kiss her afterwards while trying to explain the existence of witches and supernatural powers. If I was Shiraishi, I would be very cautious of this boy, but it’s obvious that Shiraishi is phased by nothing and isn’t against living a little dangerously. There a perfect match, honestly.

Gathering the Seven Witches:

Lots may have happened in this episode, but it all comes down to one simple resolution: gather all the seven witches together, and one wish will be granted. It’s a little too easy, especially when the characters had to dig to find an answer in the manga. Here, the answers are just handed to them since there isn’t time to waste. With that wish, life may return to normal for Yamada and everyone else involved. The only thing is, not all the witches are willing to cooperate. Asuka is an obvious one, who even goes out of her way to stop Yamada and Shiraishi from kissing, before swapping bodies with her in a twisted reveal at the very end. Her motives align with Yamazaki, so it doesn’t seem likely that she’ll be convinced to help the cause. Saionji is another obvious difficulty, since it was her hand that caused this fate, after all. Plus, she’s still kind of terrifying in a cute way. It was surprising that she couldn’t use her power for the same goal again; if she had, we might have been in for an endless eight sort of arc (which I wouldn’t have complained about being rushed through, if that were the case).

The other five witches are easier to convince, but Odagiri is in a peculiar predicament. She’s enforcing this plan along with Yamada, probably because she has fallen for him, even though she knows that doing so means she’ll never end up with him. She admits that she should want things to stay how they are right now, but she doesn’t seem to have given into Yamazaki’s influence, which is a respectful move. She never had a shot anyway – not whilst Shiraishi exists. There’s just no competition, Odagiri. Sorry!

Overview – What’s Next?:

So it all ends next week. At the very least, we’ve managed to adapt the first major arc, which I’m happy about. If only we had 24 episodes, and not 12. The preview doesn’t give much away, but I have a feeling next week shall be a dramatic one. Hopefully the rush will be worth it.

Full-length images: 06, 25.

Preview

15 Comments

    1. Apologies, I only usually do a handful of full-sizes each episode and those were the ones I stuck with. I know some writers can do up to a dozen per episode, some never do any, so in terms of numbers I’m somewhere in the middle. I did want to do one of Saionji confronting Odagiri and Tamaki at the door, but she was moving during that shot so I couldn’t get it right.

      Samu
  1. Guess it’s manga reading time after this. I saw a few pages of Leona’s introduction chapter and a lot details were missed. It’s a shame because I really like the opening song.

    Zhinvu
  2. the ‘recapture’ of noa was amazing in manga, here is just a two seconds scene in infirmary…good job liden…good job….

    It’s sad to see how a possible 9/10 anime become a 4/10…

    Thalandor

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *