Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「パレード」 (Pareedo)
“Parade”
“No one is born evil.” – Henning Mankell
Whether or not that is true is debatable. As for me, I happen to believe in the tabula rasa theory, and I think Megumi is a great example of it. To me, Megumi is not really evil, but she’s not nice either. She is rude, selfish, and ignorant, but these traits are there for a reason – bullying. Words aren’t enough to describe how loathsome bullying is. Seeing Megumi go through all the cruelty was not easy for me. Despite being the obnoxious person she has become now, she did not deserve that kind of past. No one does. While it makes me feel sad to see what she went through, her past isn’t enough for me to see her in a more positive light. Having scars is not an excuse for being allowed to do as you please to others. Kai who was bullied grew stronger to be able to protect himself. Mei closed herself off from society to avoid being hurt. But Megumi has not changed. She is still scared, and that is sad. She is still a victim of condescension. Megumi like Aiko, was not accepted as the person she is and wanted to change, but the difference between them is that Aiko knows how to love. Both of them went through some major change to become accepted, but Aiko did it for love while Megumi did it for social status. It is understandable that Megumi had such reasons for her change considering the words she had to hear through her childhood. But because she doesn’t know how to love, she won’t be accepted, she is still the outsider. It is understandable that she isn’t capable of genuinely loving someone after all she has been through, so perhaps it’s too much to demand affection from her. But hopefully, one of the characters surrounding her will be a great catalyst for Megumi to be true to herself. That catalyst seems to be Momoko for now, but Kai is a good guess as well. He has also changed his image because of bullying so he might be able to relate to her, and Momoko seems to be able to understand the longing for social acceptance that Megumi has hidden inside of her.
Social problems are some of the key issues of Sukitte Ii na yo. but let’s not forget that the main story centres on Yamato and Mei’s relationship which seems to be progressing fairly well this week. The two of them finally went on a date to Land (I assume this is their Disneyland), and it was really fun to see their adventure. It’s nice that this show despite having dark themes can have light-hearted moments like this little trip. There were several moments that had me chuckling, especially Mei’s crying face after all those scary rides. It was nice to see how she went against her fears to have fun for Yamato. Just that act in itself shows how much she truly loves him. It’s also good to know that she loves someone who loves her back. Seeing how much effort Yamato had put into planning this vacation was obvious when the hotel room was shown (and him being tired). And I noticed that the hotel room had twin beds instead of a double one. That really made me realise that Yamato is aware of his girlfriend’s insecurity and therefore he wishes to take things slowly with her. Something simple as that was enough to make me smile. But even if the two of them would be ready to take things further, nothing would happen because Nagi showed up.
Nagi surely had bad timing, but somehow, it didn’t bother me much because she is such a sweet and likable girl. Her relationship with Mei is really adorable and heart-warming. In a way, Nagi being there made Mei loosen herself up a bit, so the date felt quite natural. But there are some questions that have popped up, such as, who is Yamato’s brother? Kurosawa Daiichi (Nakai Kazuya) showed up very randomly, and that made me find interest in him. He appears to have a good connection with his siblings, but that’s not certain. Hopefully there’ll be more about him in the remaining two episodes but as it seems now, my wish might not be fulfilled. Mei’s dream near the end was quite strange, and it had me wondering if we’ll ever see anything concerning her family. It’s probably safe to say that the remaining episodes will focus on giving Megumi’s story a proper (or improper) conclusion, but at the same time, I hope to see a bit more about Yamato and Mei’s families. We’ll see what happens in the remaining two episodes. At least one thing is certain for now, and that is that Mei and Yamato truly have grown and their love is stronger than ever.
Eyecatch: A-part
Preview
 |
This show has true, believable character developments. This anime here is a…winner.
I don’t think that’s true. These characters act as the ideals of their type. I think generally teenagers behave incredibly poorly, despite their sincerity. Like the conversation between Megu and Kai? That would never happen in real life. I think the scene worked because it was what we wanted. Like we want Megu to experience a social downfall. So we sympathize and at the same time don’t.
As an audience, we view these characters the way the director and writers want. So in that way I think the series have been emotionally manipulative. But in a way that’s obviously dramatic but satisfying too. And unlike Stereoman, I believe Megu is allowed redemption. She’s a teenage girl. We’re all stupid in adolescence. Stupid into one’s 20’s too. Trust me on that. >_<
I definitely agree with you that these character types are ideals. They almost seem like they’re at the basic levels. Even in the manga, the characters aren’t expanded past any singular consistency. The author tried something of that nature with Mei & Yamato, having multiple dissimilar characteristics, (strengths & insecurities) but it never go off the ground due to the rushed scenarios.
The reasons for these singular characters are time & comprehension. They usually don’t have the time to give us MCs with multiple outstanding characteristics. Even most multi-cour shows keep characteristics down to a minimum so WE can understand them. Real character/people only appear in thick novels that have all the time in the world to tell us everything we want to know about them. You can add expectation as a 3rd reason, but I’ve been reading a lot of complaining for more realistic character lately. This show still brought us the natural basic types of real personalities which is much better than a bunch of tsunderes & wimps.
I could try to put a face on Megu when I look at my sister-in-law. I actually went out with her while I was HS. She wasn’t a teenage model or anything but she was bi-polar, purposely like Megu. It ended up developing to the point where she really needed medication, for mental exhaustion & depression. I can’t imagine what she would be like now if her sister & I didn’t want to deal with all her crap, but I probably wouldn’t be married now if it wasn’t for her either.
Thanks GOD they changed up this part a bit. It still appears that it will follow the manga as far as the main story goes but I actually like the way they did – it leaves more to the imagination, hehe.
In many ways the anime is superior to the manga. (Nakanishi was loathsome at the beginning in the manga). The last arc was inferior in the anime just because they had to rush through it. And again the side characters get shafted.
I can’t really forgive Megu’s attitude. I don’t see how her situation results in the sense of entitlement to authority she seems to actually have, though I can understand the other aspects of her character.
Actually, it looks like two double beds. Well, it wasn’t a king at least.
Megu reminds me a lot of Kurumi from Kimi ni Todoke. They show very well that she had learned that people care about the superficial. When she changed her looks, the way they treated her changed. The thing is that she hasn’t had that event in her life that gave her a new perspective. Mei had hers because of Yamato. Kai had his because of Mei. Aiko also because of Mei. Megu has hit a low point. The question is will she get the perspective she needs to change and will she accept it?
well look like megumi really hit crash & burn meltdown give kai asking megumi ruin mei’s life then trying to steal mei’s female pals then got busted, other students left her cause her model, etc to point reading text message they don’t like megumi.
all that combine rough past from being bullied to trying makeover to being model all pressure cue megumi has fallen down.
while mei & yamato goes the Land place for date all good til here yamato’s sister & brother well still all fine til a call yamato got megumi is not well.
What’s pitiful about Megumi was that she allowed the bullies of her life to shape her choices and decisions, and so she’s still living in fear but with the social power to actually lash out.
Megumi serves as a good contrast to Kai, as both were introduced as rival love interests to the main couple, in that it could just have been Kai not being able to use his past to strengthen himself and move past it.
i love the way you described this!
Nagi is adorable ^^^ they looked like a family together(Well , I know saying that sounds odd since Yamato IS techincially Nagi’s family …)
And that random little dream of Mei’s really did intruige me. Wonder if we’ll get more on that.
Megumi still has hope. Even though she’s been rude and all, no one is perfect. I hope that the people around her will show her mistakes and make her a better person. A Kai x Megumi ship is possible! 😀
Good episode – what surprised me the most was that Mei’s mother seemed to be on-board
with Yamato taking her daughter to a hotel overnight. I really like Mei’s mom :).
I was born EVIL!!
okay well all jokes aside this was a great episode!
I have loved this adaptation(I’ve been reading suki1174 since 2009) up until this point. But, I only have two complaints.
1.) Mei’s hair is still short. It should be shoulder length by now. They talk about her growing her hair out, but it never happens.
2.) The hotel scene was changed. Nagi is not supposed to be there.
Oh Megu-tan…I sympathize, but I don’t.
While I felt bad for Megumi, I still can’t bring myself to like her after all the bull crap she’s pulled.
I’m hoping the last episodes will focus more on everyone besides her.