「絢辻詞編 第三章 プライド」 (Ayatsuji Tsukasa-hen Dai Sanshou – Puraido)
“Ayatsuji Tsukasa Chapter 3 – Pride”

Holy crap Tsukasa snaps. This episode could have easily been titled “Faces”, as she gave us quite a few different looks afterward. Surprisingly, Junichi isn’t the recipient of her initial verbal onslaught this time, as a trio of classmates who like jumping to conclusions puts her over the edge. With the level of drama seen here, it’s easy to see why Tsukasa’s arc was saved for the very end. I can just picture how everyone’s expectations would’ve gotten completely out of whack if the series kicked off with this, only for it to be followed up by ones that involve kissing behind the knee and doctor fish. Personally, I’m confident I would’ve stuck with it regardless of the order, but I do like how it gives the series a bit of an edge by showcasing a complicated girl like Tsukasa at the very end. Compared to all the other girls, she’s definitely been the hardest one to figure out. In fact, I still have difficulty understanding exactly what’s going on through that head of hers, though I do have a prevailing idea.

First off, yandere isn’t it. Last episode, I was already ruling out that possibility after seeing her interact with Junichi more. Manipulative I can definitely see, albeit I’m not entirely convinced that she’s putting up an innocent facade simply for personal gain. Instead, I sort of see it as the result of her ongoing struggle to find her true self (as corny as that may sound) and becoming a model student in the public eye. Just recently, Junichi’s provided her with a new outlet to vent all the frustration that she bottles up inside, for which I imagine she’d been relying on her notebook for up until now. Call it an “emo diary” if you will, or something short of a “death note”, but regardless of the name, this would explain why she was so concerned about Junichi reading it, and why she doesn’t need it now that he’s accepted that side of her.

Assuming that’s the case, I can understand why she sprung a very forced confession on him soon after. While I still feel there could have been a transitional scene to bridge Tsukasa snapping and her asking for a kiss to make their relationship official, the abruptness reiterated to me that she’s fumbling around to discover who she should be. It’s almost as if she’s grown tired of putting up the “good girl act” for so long and realized how nice it is to have someone who she can speak her mind to without worrying about being judged. I dare say it’s even liberating for her, hence why she’s so quick to confess and really hoping that Junichi will accept her “terms”. She never did say that she likes him after all — just that she needs him — which reaffirms my suspicion that this is a relationship founded on feelings of dependency more so than intimacy. Of course, that doesn’t mean it can’t head in that direction later on, which I imagine it will. Incidentally, there was a huge upside to her abrupt confession though, as it never hurts to have an independent girl say she wants to make you hers and offer herself in return as “compensation”. Her unique choice of words added to her cuteness too, without taking away from that brash side of her personality when her nose started bleeding from the kiss.

The rest of the episode seemed to support the self-discovery idea as well. Once Tsukasa started receiving backlash from her classmates for arrogantly telling them off, Junichi’s suggestion to apologize to them left her in tears. The very next day, we find that she did just that and even cried in front of the class. Based on what we know about her manipulative nature, those could have very well been fake tears to get her way; however, the scene at the end where she tells Junichi that the stubborn girl who thought she could do everything on her own is gone left me thinking there’s more to it than that. Namely, it could be that Junichi opened her up to the idea that she could be her true self (or what she thought was her true self at the time), and now he’s confused her by saying this isn’t like her. In other words, it’s as if he’s denied the very person she’s finally comfortable being and now she’s regressed to being a good girl to deal with it. The change could be due to her insecurity and wanting to be the person he’ll accept, or simply just her way of coping with this kind of thing. I wouldn’t quite call it an identity crisis (or schizophrenia), but perhaps something along those lines that stems from loneliness.

Whatever the case, Tsukasa’s shown that she’s a complex individual, so I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt when it comes to simply putting up another act. Her eyes were kind of scary at the end there, but didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives. In addition, the preview suggests that she’s become someone that Junichi doesn’t know anymore, so it’s very possible that she’s changed her personality completely. If so, it’ll be interesting to see how they wrap this up with only one episode to go. I see Tsukasa in a Santa outfit at least, like I suspected she would be.

 

Preview

72 Comments

  1. There was a bit of a communication problem after school when he got slapped and she ran away. What she interprets was different than what junichi was trying to say. She thought that her true self cannot get things down so she has use her facade self to do so. Now that her notebook is gone, and junichi not accepting her true self, she has to discard her real self so she won’t lose everything. Or something like that lol

    Syllen
    1. Actually, they were on the same page…but she cannot accept his suggestion because it go against the type of person she is. It is like asking you to do something you know that it go against everything you stand for like asking a saint to commit murder.

      I won’t say her personality is complex as all the other girls were simple. She doesn’t have an identity crisis per say as much as she just doesn’t know who she is, she simply playing different personalities role to find her true self. So neither her good side nor her manipulative side is fake.

      When Junichi ask her to apologize and ask for help. It damage her pride, it took away her status and level of control yet deep down she know she speak the truth (They cannot have a successful festival without other people help). Face with this conflict, she choose what must be done over her pride. Thus, the episode title was ‘Pride”. However, she regressed in personality and deny any exist of her former self. Thus, Junichi feel that she is not being herself. Which is true.

      People like her build a fortress around themselves, it maybe strong and impenetrable, but it also hold the person prisoner. Junichi made her lower her guard and be comfortable without fear of judgement. When he ask her to apologize and ask for help, she regress back into her fortress. The only way he will get through to her is by tearing down her fortress that has so long imprison her brick by brick until there is nothing left. In other words, she must hit rock bottom in order to climb back up. You cannot simply throw away a personality or deny it…you must resolve it and come to terms with it. She is not complicated, just misunderstood.

      I believe her true personality is the one Junichi saw in her all along. A nice, sweet, strong girl who try her hardest and care about other people despite suffering countless hardships. She just didn’t realize it yet. It is he who force her to decide and that is exactly what people like her needed. My phrase here is “Look like #1 need her #2.”

      chaos
  2. I believe that Tsukasa deserves more episodes devoted to her. With her complex personality I would actually be waiting to watch the next episode, unlike most other harems where it’s just the same old story day in and day out.

    If I were Junichi, I’d definitely be wanting the ‘interesting’ Tsukasa back, her personality is just so interesting to just fade away.

    Ahh, cliffhangers, how they play with my emotions so

    CelestialEssence
  3. I haven’t started her arc yet so I have to wait one more week before I can enjoy non-stop Amagami SS again. But by the looks of the screenshots, the drama’s good. (Sorry, but I can’t read your post until I watch it. I save them to my iPod Browser History and read them offline later though.) :}

    So far, I think Morishima’s story was the most entertaining and very “filling”. Haruka has my second favorite slot. Haruka = Liquid awesome

  4. This week she slapped his face 2x. Junichi a fool to be hanging in there with a girl thats beating him and they aren’t even married yet. IRL that would be a huge warning sign to cut this girl loose or you are seriously going to regret it down the road.

    Karmafan
    1. oh god, i mean man, with that level of manipulation if this were real life she could very well get him arrested if he ever goes out of line. he’s got a textbook case of stockholm syndrome if i ever saw one.

      RickyMack
    2. Hitting is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be out of violence or out of attraction. The first first slap was a good slap in that he called here out and she become embarrassed. The second slap was bad in a sense that he is asking her to do something she cannot do even when he understand what she is really like.

      chaos
      1. First slap he got what he deserved for saying that embarrassing thing. It’s almost like teasing a love one while they shove their elbow in your gut. Second one well…A love tap to the face…

        Silentcid
  5. Personally I think Tsukasa character was the most interesting among all the girls. I mean she is so unpredictable and mysterious. Though judging from the fact that there is only one episode left for Tsukasa arc, I think it would probably be too rush to conclude the story and it totally deserve more episode for this arc.

    Nevertheless I think Tsukasa arc was the best follow by Kaoru.

    Zone
  6. Does Tsukasa remind anyone else of Hitagi from Bakemonagatari? I always am intrigued by the tsundere characters that are bipolar. I am glad that they saved her for after the Rihoko arc to let the series rebound.

    Also from those preview screen caps, might we have a Miss Santa showdown between Hibiki and Tsukasa? Woohoo!

    Yuri Rocks
  7. The following are viewed as the conditions necessary for Stockholm syndrome to occur.

    Hostages who develop Stockholm syndrome often view the perpetrator as giving life by simply not taking it. In this sense, the captor becomes the person in control of the captive’s basic needs for survival and the victim’s life itself. (initial threat after viewing the notebook)

    The hostage endures isolation from other people and has only the captor’s perspective available. Perpetrators routinely keep information about the outside world’s response to their actions from captives to keep them totally dependent. (working for the festival committee)

    The hostage taker threatens to kill the victim and gives the perception of having the capability to do so. The captive judges it safer to align with the perpetrator, endure the hardship of captivity, and comply with the captor than to resist and face murder. (tsukasa threatens junichi, junichi complies and works on the committee while keeping her secret)

    The captive sees the perpetrator as showing some degree of kindness. Kindness serves as the cornerstone of Stockholm syndrome; the condition will not develop unless the captor exhibits it in some form toward the hostage. However, captives often misinterpret a lack of abuse as kindness and may develop feelings of appreciation for this perceived benevolence. If the captor is purely evil and abusive, the hostage will respond with hatred. But, if perpetrators show some kindness, victims will submerge the anger they feel in response to the terror and concentrate on the captors’ “good side” to protect themselves. (tsukasa and junichi’s relationship in a nutshell, while tsukasa has threatened junichi she never really acts on the threat, junichi has interpreted that she has probably has a kind side deep down. tsukasa has shown benevolence in terms of making him bento, thanking him etc and thus has never allowed herself to be interpreted as fully evil and abusive.)

    RickyMack
    1. This makes absolutely no sense. Junichi works with the committee because he WANTED too not because he had too. Tsukasa only blackmailed him to keep her secret, but Junichi had no obligation to work overtime with Tsukasa. Tsukasa even asks Junichi about this last episode.

      fragb85
      1. And his reason for spending time with her is him having fun doing so. She might like being in charge and takes initiative, but that is hardly a problem as long as she doesn’t ask him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. He might object some if she did ask him to do something he really doesn’t want to.

        Znail
  8. I would really love it if Tsukasa will stay like that with Junichi till the end of her arc, though something tells me that Junichi will try to bring her back to normal. He just can’t get enough of Tsukasa’s slap lol.

    Nhelraios
  9. Wow… At the end of episode I didnt see that coming, it just like SHIKI disappeared and leave shiki alone. I guess love really made someone blind after gettin slapped in his face junichi still in love with tsukasa dark personality.

    Tama
  10. Wow this took a darker turn compared to the manga. I’m enjoying it so far. The end of the episode felt really creepy especially after how enjoyable the “real” Tsukasa was.

    I think the ending was more of how Junichi unintentionally killed the “real” Tsukasa. Tsukasa after all confessed to him and burned her notebook, which shows how she wanted to stop hiding her real self. Then Junichi basically trampled it (unintentionally of course) by making it sound that her “real” self was no good for the festival. Basically, Tsukasa just bared her soul to him and felt rejected so she slapped him.

    The end result is that Tsukasa is now on a mask of pure denial. She just flat doesn’t want to acknowledge her real self anymore. As a result, the “perfect” side of her came of as all wrong and even creepy. And Junichi noticed it. Now he has to fix it.

    fragb85
  11. Huh!? now you have some respect for Kaoru and her supporters yo!

    Amagami (TV) is coming to and end. I wonder how much it will be till the DVD special arcs. They will get coverage here right?

    Lectro Volpi
  12. DID (Dissociative identity disorder) anyone?
    though the “true” class rep is definitely more interesting 🙂
    love the kissing scene… nosebleed isn’t patent for men only!
    Hope Junichi finds the “Tsukasa he likes” back in the last one episode!

    jrj
  13. I’d say she did some self hypnosis to have that last personality in order to toss away her pride and be able to apologize to her classmates thus getting the much needed help she needs to make the school foundation festival successful.
    Then she will revert back w/ the ‘I am myself’ line.

    Hagiri
  14. I’m hoping they will wrap up this arc with some good closure between Junichi and Tsukasa.
    The thing I love about this series (aside to the romantic corny stuff) is that it has keeps you guessing up until the last episode.
    Each time It’s “I Wonder how they will get together” or “What crazy, outlandish, behind the knee thing are they going to do next?”
    Despite Tsukasa going nuts, I’m looking forward to how Junichi is going to handle her “friendlier” side. As of now I have to say that Kaoru’s Arc is still my favorite 🙂

  15. Tsukasa’s is truly rollercoaster of slaps, kisses, manhandlings, even one female nosebleed included…
    I think the entire arc is spawned by conflict between the Japanese “ideal woman” Tsukasa is striving to maintain facade of (polite, helpful and cute) and her inner self, strong, independent and ambitious. We can only see how the conflict will be resolved in the anime.
    Go Junichi, this is task you really have to put load of effort into!

    ewok40k
    1. I’m with you there, Junichi you better save our princess and give her the happy ending she needs.

      Speaking of nosebleeds I’m going to need a blood transfusion soon. All these nosebleeds are making me lightheaded.

      Gekokujou
  16. Forgot to mention, one of my favorite additions to this arc is how Umehara, Kaoru and Keiko were all supportive of Tsukasa and Junichi. The dodgeball scene was really great. I’m a sucker for friendship moments.

    fragb85
  17. Here’s a fitting tune for the trio who manages to push Tsukasa’s “Dark Side” button (sang to the tune of “Happy Birthday” with some screenies for full effect):

    How f***ed are you now…
    How f***ed are you now…
    How f***ed are you now?
    You’re surely f***ed now…

    Maybe it’s her cynical view of people (brought about by the need to keep her good image in front of everyone), maybe it’s being a person who only wishes to be understood, “without worrying about being judged” as Divine said. Either way, it’s what makes Tsukasa an interesting character to watch in my book.

    I hope the next episode keeps up the portrayal of Junichi becoming Tsukasa’s pillar of emotional support and cap it with an undoubtedly heartwarming moment/epilogue. It won’t be proper otherwise.

    @Divine: Will you also cover Risa and Miya’s arcs as well?

    Incognito
  18. By the way, ‘Schizophrenia’ is about being paranoid and delusional (or catatonic, in some cases). the condition you were going for about is ‘Dissociative Identity Disorder’, better known as ‘Split Personality’.

    Nadavu
    1. She doesn’t really have that either as it’s not actually different personalities, but rather that she acts contrary to her true personalty simply because she knows that is what others expect and it works better. It’s not like she isn’t aware of what she is doing.

      Znail
  19. I can’t wait for the next episode. But it’s sad thinking about that it’s the last episode of this serie’s. I really liked watching Amagami, and I both looking forward to watching it and dreading at the same time

    Pera
    1. It’s not quite over after the last episode. There are 2 BR/DVD’s with 2 episodes each of bonus for the girls we have seen and 2 more BR/DVD’s with a 4 episodes bonus arc for the hidden character (we haven’t seen her outside of the opening yet in the anime). We wont get to see all of those until late spring though.

      Znail
      1. Well, some updated info…

        There is one extra DVD/BR scheduled for spring, apart from the ones for aired episodes and two bonus ones for the already aired arcs.
        Both the hidden character and Miya are supposed to get an episode or more each.
        We got one bonus episode being aired on TV! This is news to me as it means we got one more episode right after Tsukasa episode 4. None knows if this episode is connected to Miya, hidden character or an extra Tsukasa episode. The episode is called Truth.

        So some speculation…
        I don’t think the title of bonus episode fits in with Miya at least, might be hidden char or more Tsukusa.
        One episode seems a lot for Miya and too little for the hidden character. If they share a DVD/BR then I would expect the split to be uneven.
        Show Spoiler ▼

        We might get 1 episode for the hidden char now (25) and then the conclusion in the bonus DVD/BR alongside bonus for Miya.
        There is also the question of where the episode 25 itself will be included? I guess we could get 25 plus conclusion of that arc and Miya in one disk. The only problem is that they seem to be fond of pretending that you can only fit 2 episodes on a DVD/BR…

        Znail
      1. Wiki is just a fan made info gathering spot. It’s easy to access and often right, but don’t take details as gospel. There is a 25th episode, it has both a title (Truth) and an airing date (23rd). Note that this isn’t exactly far from now and this info is available to anyone as simple TV schedule.

        Znail
  20. It’s been a while since I last commented. Like a serious long while. Life took a massive turn. With that, I find it funny how people say this is a non-sterotype character >_<. And seeing more of Tsukusa personality, it's more of a presenting yourself nicely while having others thoughts and thinking about one self. It's kind of a Zig Ziggy type of thing if you've read the Manhwa (though the characters are completely different from our dear Tsukusa). It's like we will not burst a cynical cannon on you unless we are provoked lol.

    And it's not a really unpredictable thing, it was either she did it by her self with Junichi next episode convinces her to get help, or she would do it herself and to add drama, remove that side of her away only for Junichi to tell her it's ok to be who you are.

    Regardless, I do want to see how dear old Junichi will bring that side back out of her again.

    Sora no Kaze
    1. Its a tsundere dude. Type B to be exact. If you claim that Ayatsuji is a yandere then you have to claim that Asuka Langley Sohryu from evangelion, one of the most famious tsunderes of all times and one who started the tsundere trend, is a yandere too, which would be a bit retarded wouldn’t it?

      You should stop confusing Type B tsunderes with yanderes they are similar that they both pretend to be nice girls but have dark side with them, but while Yandere’s side actually stalk and can kill people, type b tsunderes are more of an innocent evil and tsun. They can snap (like Asuka from evangelion) but they wont be trying intentionally kill people.

      Ayatsuji is definitely a Type B tsundere.

      So its tsundere, tsundere, tsundere.

      Darknemo2000
  21. Somehow I feel that she’s actually a robot constructed by her ‘sister’ and that she’s aware of that.
    It would explain how she feels and acts whenever the topic of her sister’s brought up, plus she seems to be getting emotions from some sort of textbook.

    The moment we see her cry in class was one that had me calling BS and the story she held afterwords of “that girl is no longer here” makes me think it’s all a charade.

    So yeah, deffo a robot.

    Morridin
  22. it was rushed for a bit they skipped many many events relevant to their relationship
    for instanse: the kiss in the anime was actually the last one before the festival
    they kissed two times bofore that
    and most o the time tsukasa snaps when she did that
    she almost killed junichi with orange bread
    and many other things i dont remember
    hopefully this will follow the final part of the game or at least the final part of the manga

    Haruka-Ash
  23. in the part of the kiss
    tsukasa says
    i want you to become mine!
    then she said huh? did i skip a few steps?
    and junichi replied
    a few? you skiped a lot?!

    they really did know they rushed the episode XDDD

    because in the kiss shown in the anime
    she said
    i want you to steal those lips of mine!

    the i want you to become min! thingy was said before this lol

    Haruka-Ash
  24. All I can say is out of all the episode and all the arc this has been the worst episode and by far ruin the whole arc for me. If I had watch this series up to now and this was the first episode I would have quit this series from the get go.

    For one I don’t know how the game storyline was like but compare to the manga this arc was terrible. I blame it on this 4 episode per arc format, the whole storyline was so rush and it clearly shows that you can’t try to put 16 chapter of manga storyline into 4 episodes. Why I feel rush for example after she told those three snubby classmate off, next thing we see she went to the shrine and confess, I was like what happen, did I somehow miss the part where the relationship should have been develop. There wasn’t any indication of how their relationship got closer, the whole confession just feel it came out of the blue.
    Then what piss me off the most is, even she say it herself that her pride would not permit her to apologize to those snubby bitches, and when I see her did that I was like why the producer did that, those three bitches should count their blessing for not having a knife on their back already, instead they make her apologize. I was so mad when I saw her did that.
    All I can say this has been the worst episode by far and totally ruin this arc for me.

    arixx
    1. it wasnt horrible it was rushed sure but not horrible like the ending of rihoko arc
      they didnt even pick a ending of the game they just friendzoned the poor sakurai

      hopefully they redeem their sins by choosing the BEST ENDING of tsukasa actually the good ending can be quite as cool but it will screw the storyline a bit

      Haruka-Ash
  25. This episode was interesting, since it’s different from the game and manga, and that Tsukasa snapped. Oh, Junichi, if only your suggestion for help wasn’t thought of as an implication of incompetency by her. Nice job breaking it, man.

    satkaz
  26. I’m guessing shut herself out. this turned out quite different from the manga. I’m really liking how she’s complicated and all, well it may also suggest that she’s looking for someone to dig her out of her shell (as suggested in Ep 21) as with Junichi looking to break his sorrow on Christmas. I guess they really need each other 😛 Looking forward to the last episode 🙂

  27. Tsukasa loves Junichi but has some mental issue from pressure to perform that is self-imposed or might be family imposed do to her sister being “not all there” so she thinks she has to make up for that.

    also we have been show over and over that Junichi is a blockhead but doesn’t have ulterior motives in mind for how he acts so Tsukasa probly doesn’t understand how he could suggest she deny her pride and apologize after he acknowledged her “other side” and Junichi wants to love Tsukasa, not a facade or a social mask cause he is a blockhead and doesn’t understand that women in japan and japanese society or society in general places many many demands on how they expect women to act and that people do has a social mask they show the world that they want to be judged by and it might not be based on reality or might be just prettied up version of ones true self.

    I myself struggle with this cause I don’t put on a show for society and wear my emotions on my sleeve so when it isn’t appropriate I have to reserve my emotions but I’m pretty thickheaded to social stuff because I see a lot of it just cause guilt issues or needless BS that people use as to not face harsh reality just to interact in groups effectively but I digress.

    Junichi ,being a social blockhead and wanting to be with Tsukasa whom he thought was the model iincho who happens to have a less moe side driving her actions but he doesn’t understand that her actions and feelings are forced ones and he like the whole Tsukasa but not in spite of her other-side but because hey enjoys her.

    Junichi didn’t exactly ease any insecurities Tsukasa had about has she acts but instead kinda goes with the flow because he does really like her so he thinks she is totally in charge or herself ad her feelings, were as in reality ( well anime reality at the least) she is struggling with falling in love with Junichi and feeling vulnerable and exposed be cause she hasn’t felt that way before and kinda didn’t even realize it at first and that Junichi stumble onto the one crack in her otherwise perfect facade and has caused her to question it’s usefulness or it’s reason for being if Junichi , whom she has fallen in love with, doesn’t seem to mind it one bit.

    Pride does that sometimes and I think it is harder for a women that already is overburdened to be pulled between so many realities and to know it is her own doing for the most part and her one possible outlet and source of reassurance is Junichi whom isn’t perceptive enough to understand to entirety of her situation.

    I really like this arc and I like that Tsukasa really needs Junichi and he will have to really step up from his normal dumb anime guy persona and be a serious thoughtful man to anchor his love in reality and ease her insecurities make for good drama. It gives both characters a chance to progress and grow.

    I only wish it didn’t have to be jammed into 4 episodes a arc but I also understand that it is better to not spellout ever single aspect of the story so the audience get to imagine those parts themselves so as to draw you in and make you invest thought into watching and being entertained by the show.

    undermined

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