「後悔と納得」 (Kokkai to Nattoku)
“Regret and Understanding”

I doubt I’ve ever met anyone who has had the privilege to have two girls fighting over him. I mean I’m not that bad looking of a person and I have some pretty slick looking friends but two girls fighting over one guy? Boy does Takagi have it lucky. Then again I don’t know if I would be happy or scared out of my mind – thankfully Takagi provides some great examples to follow if it were to ever happen to me. While his crappy perception of girls still confound me to no ends, I thought that he’d be able to understand how to deal with the situation at hand especially since he’s the one thinking up all of the ideas. I mean, being the genius he is I’m sure he could have crafted something quick and witty to resolve the situation. Being that Takagi is the funniest man in the world, it was a whole ton more fun watching him be completely honest. As he gets pounded with questions from both Miyoshi and Iwase, instead of trying to push forward to a solution and politely rejecting whoever he didn’t like as much, he instead tells both girls that he “likes” them. Just like Mashiro, I have no idea what Takagi was thinking when he decided to utter those words in-front of both girls who are trying to claim him for their own. Of course the situation only gets progressively worse until it is resolved in a way that only Bakuman could pull off – through manga.

After regaining some of his common sense, Takagi freaks out and tells both girls the harsh truth that he just wants to become a mangaka and will be extremely busy with all the work involved, probably leaving no time for a “girlfriend”. While I sort of saw Miyoshi being fine with this outcome, Iwase’s response caught me off guard. After she asked Takagi to stop writing manga in an effort to prevent him from regretting his decision later, it really hit me how much she really cared about him. While she was portrayed as just his cold “rival” in school, I think that deep down she probably has just as much feelings for Takagi as Miyoshi. However after Takagi revealed his plans for high school and even joked that it’s okay to laugh at him for deciding to become a mangaka, I felt just as sad as Iwase as she said she could never laugh at him. Unfortunately all the emotion Iwase built up for me was shattered as I watched Takagi reveal his slightly more masochistic side with Miyoshi. While I haven’t been a huge fan of Miyoshi’s character I’ve been slowly coming to appreciate her interesting, even sometimes bi-polar attitude more and more. Just after Iwase leaves Takagi decides that it’s a good time to be completely honest with his new girlfriend. After revealing that he only started talking to her to gather information about Azuki for Mashiro, his honesty is rewarded with an epic slap to the face. Boy was it funny to watch Miyoshi’s anger unfold. After an epic slap to the face she combos with an intense beating to a hilarious ending where she ends up tending to the wounds she just inflicted upon Takagi. I take back what I said earlier, I think I’m really starting to like Miyoshi.

Besides Takagi’s new girlfriend, let’s not forget about Mashiro’s! Azuki’s entire family got some well deserved air time. While I still can’t stand Azuki’s mom’s corn roll hairstyle, Azuki’s little sister, Azuki Mina (Hidaka Rina) is just too adorable. It’s like they took all of the cuteness from Azuki and compressed it into a smaller girl with twin tails. Did you guys also catch that Azuki’s entire family all have different hair colors? I personally think Mina’s is the best<3. Next week’s episode looks like Miyoshi will get to see inside our duo’s mancave (and continue to beat on Takagi). Plus it looks like our duo is heading back to Shounen Jump Jack headquarters!

 

Preview

33 Comments

  1. Well, certainly there are guys out over whom girls are literally fighting – you know millionaires, movie and rock stars, anime leads. But for ordinary man it is rather improbable, to say the least.

    ewok40k
      1. That is usually from a lighter to a darker shade though. But we already know that the moms natural hair colour is black, from her old school picture and unless you got some mixed blood so will your hair be black in Japan. This is often totally ignored in manga, but this one is more slice of life type and more realistic then normal.

        Znail
  2. while I didn’t really care for Iwase up to this point… I got to say that her tear really made me sad… if she hasn’t been so “cool” with her ways, she is probably going to be much more likable…
    of course, Miyoshi is probably the winner of the two, and she is fun to watch just like Takagi himself… they would make a good pair too 😀
    lol at the hair colors…

    jrj
  3. These past 2 episodes are so great! I can’t believe Bakuman. is only 25 episodes Show Spoiler ▼

    oh well ^^ Great writing Takaii would have been nice to see Eiji again =)

    Bluance
  4. people are mentioning the “hair colors”….but who #*@& is the evil bastard behind the females actual hairstyles?!?!?! those HORRIBLE BANGS!!!! half the girls look like their wearing giant Darth Vader helmets!!

    BROOKLYN otaku
      1. It’s not that much of a spoiler and some have mentioned it already here.
        Show Spoiler ▼

        I am pretty sure all three of the girls have dyed their hairs. At least 99% of Japan have straight black hair, so bleaching and dying the hair is fairly common.

        Znail
  5. Probably my favorite part of this episode was Takagi’s little speech about dreams and just how much it resonates with me. Also Moritaka’s grandfather little speech on choice was good too

    Oblivion
  6. Kinda down that the origins of Crow were overlooked in this post but then again, Eiji isn’t the most popular character on RC at the moment. Can’t say the same for the manga though. 😉

    Still can’t stand Azuki’s mom’s hair in the anime, looks rediculous; a lot more tolerable in the manga though. Also realized that this season is probably really gonna just focus on the first two volumes of the manga since Vol. 2 end with their graduation from middle school; which I can’t wait to see animated. Show Spoiler ▼

    solarguardian

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