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「Show Me Love (Not A Dream)」
Just when you think things couldn’t get any more complicated… it does. And not in the plot twists Re: Zero type of way, but in the emotionally deep, heart-wrenching type of way. Starting with Sanae and Hanabi’s relationship right after Sanae confesses that she loves Hanabi. It wasn’t much of a surprise after last week’s cliffhanger, but it certainly complicates the relationship between the two girls now. I’ve never personally been in a situation exactly like Hanabi’s before, but I understand what it’s like to have someone confess to liking you and not knowing what to do about it (my expression was probably exactly like that too). It hurts because you can either go about it two ways… the first is telling them that you can’t accept their feelings because you don’t feel the same way or try reciprocating their feelings by “giving it a shot” or “giving it some time”. Ultimately, it’s a huge load to carry someone else’s feelings on your shoulders when you’re unsure if you feel the same way and in Hanabi’s case, it’s taking a toll on her because she doesn’t feel the way. She likes Narumi (her “brother”) but at the same time, she doesn’t want to ruin the friendship that she has with her only female friend. No one wants to ruin a friendship by taking the next step (whether you’re confessing to a boy or a girl) but I think it’s just as hard for the person receiving those feelings. When Hanabi goes running to Mugi for some comfort, it’s her way of occupying her mind with other things and trying to sort out her own feelings for both Mugi, and Sanae. It’ll be an emotional ride for Hanabi from here on out – trying to sort out just how to speak to Sanae again and all I can say is this that… I empathize with her; although, avoidance has never been my way of dealing with issues.
Mugi gets a spotlight in the latter half of the episode as well and his past is definitely more interesting than Hanabi’s. Just because I think his past is more realistic to what teenagers might experience in their teenage years in school. Losing your virginity, sex and secrets… it’s like an episode straight out of Gossip Girl but without the drugs and alcohol. Mugi experiences just that – he loses his virginity to his senpai – one of the hottest girls in school and while this is going on, we learn that Mei and Mugi aren’t necessarily having sex because they’re “making love”, but rather because Mei is lonely. She reminds me of many high school girls that are lost, unsure of themselves and a lot of people find that self-assurance with the physical reassurance of someone else. Mugi, is the person that still puzzles me (even having read the manga). He’s growing up – I get that – he’s experiencing things just like everyone else and kind of gets dragged along with what others want but for once, I wish he would simply do what he thinks is right and not just what his d*ck wants. But hey! I have no right to judge teenagers when I’ve been there too making bad choices. I think it does help ground the audience as to what Mugi has already experienced though so it’s not a surprise when you see him with Hanabi.
Speaking of Mugi’s lovely surprise in the morning, Hanabi stops by for a visit just in time. The rest of the episode is spent developing their relationship as well as some new developments with Akane. Spotting her at Denny’s Banny’s late at night and then the next day with yesterday’s clothes?! I told you that this show is about sex and scandals. Whereas Mugi and Hanabi’s relationship is progressing in the right direction (for a couple that’s just experiencing a lot of things together for the first time), I think Akane’s take on men will prove to be very interesting as well. Her character is not all that it seems to be and when it’s explained (next week?) what her true intentions are, you’ll see what I mean. Is it bad that I actually giggled with Hanabi and Mugi were in bed together? Hanabi is so innocent and seeing her kind of awkward and unsure of how to handle the situation was sort of cute but comedic – from a viewer’s perspective though. I’m sure it’s anything but hilarious to Hanabi and Mugi. When Hanabi confronts Akane at the end though, you see that she’s also very observant and aware of what kind of person Akane is but just unsure of how to address the situation. You’ll see later on just how the two girls duke it out; it’s actually one of my favorite dynamics in the story.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Wow, can’t believe I actually kind of giggled at this scene. Not because I’m immature, but it was so innocent and awkward =3 #KuzunoHonkai’s pacing is right on par with what I’d expect. Loving the adaptation and it hits all the right notes without dragging on…
Author’s Note: On another note, Happy Lunar New Year to all the folks that celebrate the Lunar calendar out there. Time to stop washing your hair and cleaning… ha ha ha… but seriously, I hope you all have a wonderful week! I’ll see you all in the next season if I don’t cover anything else this season because Pancakes will be picking up my slack =) thanks buddy.
“KEIKAKU DOORI” Face
Akane hobbies:
1-Cheating on people
2-Looking and training a somehow innocent girl into the next “Akane”
Translator’s note: “keikaku” means plan
…
…
…
I’ll see myself out.
Excellent summary, but if I may ask one question: What is your beef with Mugi?
If anything, I’d say he does admirably NOT think with his d*ck. Except for episode 1, in which he made the “think of me as your oniichan” suggestion, he has not initiated any sexual contact. Rather, he _goes along_ with the initiatives of the girls, and if anything, I’d rather commend him for his repeated interruptions asking “is this really what you want?” As a guy, let me assure you that having a very attractive and willing girl in your bed giving you a handjob requires almost inhuman self-control to stop and warn her 🙂
As for the rest, I think that the direction of the show is absolutely fantastic. All episodes feel extremely short, and I’d always watch the next episode right away if it were available. Not many animes can make this claim.
I think what set me off the wrong way was how he stopped to ask her “Hey, is this what you really want?” even though he was having flashbacks about how Mei took HIS innocence by doing the same thing. Hanabi has clearly not experienced this before and even though he asked her and she said yes, sometimes when you’re in a situation like that, there’s still pressure to go along with it. Of course, maybe Hanabi DID want to do this too so in the end, I don’t know…
I don’t have that much beef with Mugi, but there is some questionable behavior from him later on that makes me want to scream. If you’ve read the manga, you’ll see >_>
Oh, I know exactly what you mean. But his reaction is so wonderfully realistic for a guy…
Still, let’s rather discuss this when we get there.
https://randomc.net/image/Kuzu%20no%20Honkai/Kuzu%20no%20Honkai%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
Akane-sensei really had me fooled. That face in the end is such a far cry from the bubbly music teacher image she had in the first episode. I might go as far as say that look of hers looks beautifully scary. I’m very curious now what secret or personality this woman is hiding.
I honestly can’t relate myself to any of these characters at all, personally….which makes my enjoyment of this show purely out of considering it my guilty pleasure this season. I wanna ask, is that such a wrong way to view this anime? I mean I myself don’t think so, but this show does make me wonder nonetheless. It’s kinda thought provoking that way. I’d like to know what everyone else thinks.
Nothing wrong with watching it even if it’s unrelatable. I’m just writing the impressions that I got from watching it. If you like it and just want to see where it goes, then I highly encourage you to keep watching =)
It varies from person to person. Some people need to relate to characters in order to enjoy a story, others rarely ever relate to characters but nevertheless enjoy a story (and I’d say more often than people who have to relate, possibly because you like more characters and aren’t shaken up if a character “becomes unrelatable”). Of course, most people are somewhere in-between (like with everything) and it varies from story to story.
Things like this makes me glad I gave up on relationships years ago.
I’m 39 now and the last one was when I was 25 or something.
This is not the sort of show I’d normally watch as I’m not interested in romance and am very selective about which dramas I watch.
That said, there’s something which fascinates me about this one.
I don’t (yet) see the characters as terrible people. I see two lonely, sad, and confused teenagers struggling with desires which can’t be filled. I see them painfully trying to give some pathetic semblance of life to their fantasies. Yes, they’re using each other but it’s done openly and mutually permitted. They may not love each other and, no, it’s not that mythical ideal of romantic love. But it’s better than relationships of deceit. I admire their ability to chase the illusion while openly talking about the use of each other; I certainly don’t envy them and see them as sad. Human, troubled, confused, sad.
Hanabi is thoughtfully working her way through things; I cannot guess where she will end up. Mugi is a mystery as “the other sex” usually is. I agree with an above commenter: he’s not being ruled by his penis. If he were, he’d be using Hanabi for sex instead of warning her and trying to put her off. ATM he seems to be using her for female companionship in a lightly romantic way. He sees his teacher in a romantic way, not a lustful one, and it shows in how he treats Hanabi. But then, I’m not offended by the idea of teenagers making out even if they aren’t in “love”.
So many romance shows has worse characters: selfish, deceitful, aggressive… this show is fascinating because it violates the general expectation of romance and picks apart our social demand for “pure love”. I guess that’s why some can’t handle it?
It has nothing to do with the social demand for pure love. Black Lagoon’s romance isn’t pure in every way. Let’s Lagoon’s romance isn’t pure. Btooom’s romance isn’t pure, but they’re more accepted than this for a reason.
It’s the empathy. These guys don’t act in a way that you can empathize so their decisions and thought process just come out of nowhere. It’s like, I can feel the author’s influence stringing me along through the plot instead of the CHARACTERS taking me there.
To top it all off, they’re unlikeable pieces of dooky. All of them.
This is funny. Because I can empathize with all of them, at least to some degree. Because taken individually, the infatuation and longing displayed by KnH’s protagonists is most definitely much closer to the real world for the majority of people than the naive-pure “Kimi ni Todoke” style standard.
Also, this is the reason why this niche show is exceptionally well-received, see the ratings on MAL, for example – very unusual for romance dramas.
If you can’t relate and can’t follow their thought processes, more power to you. But that rather indicates that you are different from the norm compared to the majority of viewers.
Kuzu no Honkai seriously tops my best personal choice of anime this Winter. I know its something i cannot watch in the living room like Masamune-kun or even Shinjuu Rakugo, but its something im really looking forward and excited to watch every Thursday night after work <3
Speaking of KnH, damn…"friends w benefits" has never been so heartbreaking until one of them really wants to be in real love like Hanabi does. When Hanabi said she wants to try to love Mugi + his awkward smile, my heart just broke!
Idk whats gonna happen in the future and im not gonna spoil myself with the manga any further, but i'll be supporting Hanabi and Mugi all the way until they become official :') even if its like a snowball chance in hell
Ooh wow, I thought this whole time that the teacher was innocent and what not.. I have to watch this show on my headphones.. There are some parts where it is a bit embarrassing for my parents to hear..
at first episode I thought it will be straight love rectangle with 2 main pairs
on second episode, players 3 and 4 entered in the form of Ecchan and Moca…
on third episode suddenly the whole thing turns into some weird fractale tree of relationships
with past lover of Mugi flashbacked (will she appear later herself?) and Sanae apparently having another love interest…
and I thought the teachers would be only stable pairing blissfuly unaware of the teenage drama unveiling around them…
but gosh Sanae evil smile-mode is scary…