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「通り雨」 (Tooriame)
“Passing Shower”
Wow. We got the highly-anticipated school trip and what an emotional rollercoaster it was. He asked her out, she said no. He asked her out again, but then he had his phone confiscated, meaning he could not read her reply. Then they narrowly missed each other at the train station but then he manages to find her, and just… just… AHHHH. SO NERVE-WRACKING. BUT SO CUTE.
Friends
After all the work to sneak through the phones in a bag of crisps, it was all for naught. Though I will take one, and EAT IT. Oh man, I can’t deny that I used to get up to the kind of stuff Roman and Daichi did – forcefully grabbing a friend’s phone to examine their conversation with someone of the opposite gender. Or where that did not exist, settle for the internet search history.
On Akane’s side of friends, Aira must be credited. Even if she seemed to fill the stereotype of popular, bitchy girl, she gave Akane space to see Kotarou without pressing her too much. Shy people usually hate being interrogated, but Aira respected that for all her brashness. Chinatsu also did a fantastic job driving the progress between our couple, not to mention Great Britain represent! For that, I can only say I’m sorry I ever doubted youuu! But considering that Chinatsu was meant to wingman Hira, this turn of events is actually rather confusing?!? Whatever. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
A Fantastic Encounter
Regarding the date, I liked that our main characters didn’t immediately find each other at the station. Most series have that miraculous but equally unrealistic moment where the characters find each other despite all the odds – i.e. being separated in a public space, fireworks at the festival. But Tsuki ga Kirei chooses to tackle the question head on without going too far with the melodrama. We could clearly see how down to earth the approach was, when Kotarou and Akane finally meet up and talk at the shrine.
What makes Kotarou so damn likeable? Our perspective clearly showed us he had reasons for not being able to meet up with Chinatsu at the station but he really took it in his stride. When he turned up late, he didn’t try to actively find any excuses from the get go. He just accepted he was in the wrong and that made me like him even more. He’s a humble guy who means well and allowed Akane to freely vent her feelings.
The Answer
Akane’s delayed response to Kotarou’s confession was simple, and clearly expressed her honest thoughts and feelings. It really goes back to the idea that there are indirect ways of saying things, with the title ‘Tsuki ga Kirei’ itself figuratively meaning ‘I love you’. Not that I think Akane is currently saying that she loves Kotarou, rather she wants to know him better, with her interest still being assuring.
Concluding Thoughts
These moments between Akane and Kotarou make Tsuki ga Kirei a completely worthwhile endeavour. I’m also glad that Akane’s answer wasn’t so straightforward. As much as I wanted to see their romance come to fruition, I can wait for good things to eventually happen. They could have ended here if Akane had outright accepted Kotarou’s confession, but this variation means the potential development looks extremely promising!
Omakes
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I can’t say these were as good as before. Ryouko’s gag was pretty terrible, and I felt especially ambivalent towards playing Nagahara’s overt sex drive for laughs. That said I did laugh at him being a scoundrel, but his attitude did not accord with my social morals.
Definitely feel cheated that we did not get an omake the kabedon couple but at least they made a cameo appearance last episode. Hopefully the next set will be better.
Watching this made me feel old because I’ve long passed the age when liking someone could feel this pure. This is a high compliment from Me.
The nerves and the anxiety from exchanging texts under my bedcover during the night, only to have my phone confiscated by my parents. The frustration of being unable to properly converse with your crush without spontaneously imploding. They are pains I know all too well, even though I can’t say I’m that old.
But alongside the pain, I also know the pleasures of feeling attracted to someone – namely being satisfied by their company alone and being able to interact with them. For all its shortcoming, it is an absolutely wonderful sensation.
Yep, and I would also add to that being teased by your friends regarding you love life, it may feel annoying then, but now it’s all good memories. Or when your friends tried to pair you off with your crush. Damn I really feel old even though I’m not that old.
im rooting for chinatsu
At this point, Chinatsu has done enough that I am rooting for her find true happiness, though Kotarou is Akane’s 😛
Last week, I said this love story could only work if the setting was realistic. After this episode… well… GAH, who says idealism doesn’t have a place within realism?!! From Aira to Chinatsu, one would be right to call this too good to be true, that it all just happens in one path that leads to their romance. But when you think about it, that’s what it means to be a good friend. It isn’t ridiculous serendipity if it comes from humans I think. They’re good friends, and I like them better for it. Especially Chinatsu. I said last week that I’ll make sure to pay more attention to her, and I think this episode confirmed to me that she’s worth my attention 🙂
Akane though. She manages to be out-going, going against that “Ambiguity brings calamity” message because that must be how much she wants to be with Kotarou, and yet she’s just so down to earth in her initial hesitation like oh my god. What a warm personality. How do you even begin to write such character? That was cute, sensible, impactful, and also purer than anything I’ve seen in a love story in a long while. Kotarou too is down to earth. Of course a shy boy like him is gonna be nerve-wracked about whether or not a girl he likes is going to accept him. When she was mad, he took it like a man and apologized. Akane is obviously the star of this episode IMO, but he still impressed me even after his star character moment last episode. Like these 2 feel like real people and I don’t think I’m gonna run out of good things to say about them.
And yes Zaiden, to think this anime was gonna be calming and soothing. Thank god no one else was in my house when I watched this episode, because I was screaming like hell at the screen LOL. The only other anime this season to have me scream like that is My Hero Academia. That’s a strong feat let me tell ya.
Agree with you on the friendship that the girls had! It’s so good, and much less raucous compared to what Roman and Daichi were putting Kotarou through. I still think they would have had his back though when push comes to shove.
I don’t think Akane really went against the fortune ‘ambiguity brings calamity’. While she did not reply with a distinct ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, her response was simple and she clearly expressed her honest thoughts and feelings as to what she wanted. To me, that is the opposite of ambiguous.
Unfortunately I was in a restaurant eating with some people from my university society while I was watching the episode. Not that they seemed to mind my reactions, though I was barely suppressing my screams. Tsuki ga Kirei really does succeed in evoking strong feelings, and I really do look forwards to seeing where it goes. Sometimes, keeping things simple by refining basics rather than adhering to the industry cliches is truly the revolutionary way forwards.
Hmm, perhaps. But either way, she didn’t let her hesitation get the best of her, and set her mind on what she wanted. If only there was one girl like her in my high school :'(
Zaiden Edit: Formatted HTML
I thought the fortune forced her to be a lot more clearer. She chose to confront Kotarou and give an answer, rather than leaving her response ambiguous. By not showing any hesitation and clearly stating what she personally wanted, there is less ambiguity for me as she is really decisive.
But when she wouldn’t give him a definitive yes or no the first time around, that was hesitation IMO. However, ambiguity was born out of her hesitation, after which yes, the fortune made her make up her mind about Kotarou. Like I said last week, Akane doesn’t have any misguided thoughts about what she desires. It’s like the fortune guided her to be true to herself once more.
Yup, I agree that Akane was hesitant beforehand. I was pretty much speaking only about after she received her fortune, and how it spurred her on to bring more clarity regarding her own personal feelings.
Meiji-era novelist/teacher Soseki Natsume invented the “Tsuki ga kirei” phrase as a response to a student who tried directly translating “I love you” into Japanese.
(The result was 我君ヲ愛ス=ware kimi o aisu.)
Soseki felt the 1st translation was too crude and direct, and did a retranslation he felt was more beautiful and culturally Japanese. ( Conservative social mores were also at play – he didn’t think Japanese needed such a direct word like love to express one’s affections.)
Soseki did a truly exquisite job then. It seems ‘show don’t tell’ was ingrained into Tsuki ga Kirei’s philosophy to a much deeper extent than I previously thought.
Thanks for doing the research zztop, I really appreciate that you shared this insight!
Zaiden, you also got to complement the exquisite use of silent moments in the ahow itself. That is equally powerful as well.
Now, where did I find put my insulin vile? Need a super strong dose of it after this episode. Saekano was equally diabetes inducing as well.
Okay Velvet Scarlantina, I complement the exquisite use of silent moments! Completely agree it adds to the shows magic. What you said actually reminds me of my RC application episode review, in which I talked about the power of silence and stifled tears making moments more powerful. A person’s grief is such that they cannot even bring out any sort of words of response. Not going to say which show to avoid spoiling, but it was something that aired last season.
And agreed, many really sweet shows all around this season. Avoiding diabetes could be a difficult matter altogether.
Keep up the great work Zaiden. This show is definitely a gem already.
Thanks Helmarch! It was my luck that Tsuki ga Kirei is turning out to be a great experience so far ^_^
as a pharmacists, alprazolam seems to have no effect on me…HHHnngggggg!!!
Hnnng used to be one of my favourite animemes back in the days, and I still enjoy it a lot to this day. Let me join in these demonstrations.
HNNNNG <3
This show is so good. I’m so glad the drama isn’t a huge factor and everything feels really like how it should be done right. I keep asking myself if this this show would be any different if they were already in high school? most typical (and annoying) shoujo & school romance tropes didn’t happen at all (and we’re on a school trip here…!!)
Anyway for example: Akane’s friends actually giving her space or the fact that Akane and Kotarou really missed each other there and I thought that Hira might show up and confess to her instead but at the end when they finally met I thought that’s it! she’s gonna say no and probably be angry for the next 4 episodes until something big might happen… but none of this actually happened! instead we got to see how Akane becomes very self aware and how she actually want’s to talk more with him. I’m really happy about that. I don’t really know what to expect from middle school romances but this is good and very cute.
Glad all the cliche tropes were avoided. I came in fully expecting at least one or two to be incorporated, and was really pleasantly surprised when they were not.
Hira and Chinatsu are beginning to feel like grey clouds in the sky, or possibly even a sword of Damocles. They might come crashing down anytime, and I do not look forwards to when the peace and quiet we enjoyed finally becomes broken.
Middle school usually doesn’t count for much in a romantic sense, but the ability for romantic experiences to shape an individual at such a young and tender age is certainly important. Had he not fatefully encountered Akane, Kotarou probably would have been an edgy, Dazai quoting recluse for slightly longer.
Let’s see… Chinatsu best friend for helping out, I pretty much cringed the whole episode (because we know someone’s phone is going to get confiscated and they’re not going to find each other) and Akane’s reply. I’m happy. For Kotarou, that is. *sob*
This show continues on making me cringe throughout the episode, and I’m liking it. I’m totally expecting straight-on conflicts but actions speak better than words, as this episode shows. I don’t know what to say. I want to see more. Of everything. This show is great!
(Also Zaiden, I like how you noticed the little stuff like taking other people’s phones and that flag on the bag, but hey, I’m cringing too much to notice anything haha)
[Quote from my blog “If you have more to talk about then let’s spend some time doing so. It’s not going steady unless THE WHOLE CLASS knows lol”]
Kaineng, I also have to admit I was baited into thinking the show would deal with situations using straight-on conflicts. But I underestimated the capacity of adolescent teenagers to masterfully skirt around issues entirely. I appreciate how the problem was resolved using far less melodrama than what you would come to expect – that is to say the solution was rational and level-headed.
I’m not sure if these things I notice are little details. Every viewing experience is different, and every person picks up on different things. If other people had to weigh in on their observations, I’m sure I can pick up on rather new things myself.
Probably the reason Padme and Anakin ended up not so well, because they both had to keep their marriage a secret.
This single episode was more fatiguing than the entirety of Martin Scorsese’s Silence, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Just like that film, I’m sure there’s something good to be had at the end of it all, but I’m not really willing to work hard enough to enjoy it. Cringing is tiresome on face muscles at my jaded age.
I do agree this anime can be fatiguing… only I’m not sure why it would be cringy in any way. It couldn’t be any sweeter than this IMO.
Hahaha, my close friend at university said something incredibly similar XD
To each their own I suppose. For example in romance anime, I’m not a particularly huge fan of kuuderes who try too hard to play it too cool, as it can get a bit pretentious.
While I personally slightly criticize the pacing of the first episode (the show takes its time on getting inside the character at first), it’s a real treat once the show has established the character well. By this point, I could only grin like an idiot, watching two middle school kids on phase that I have passed long time ago.
So yeah, I think you have mentioned every positives of the show. Since we’re now entering the “in the relationship” phase of romance show that few shows dare to enter, I hope they could maintain the grace that the show has established so far and keep it toes at realistic romance of a young girl and boy instead of the usual overly dramatized fare. I have high hope!
The slow pacing at the start lays down certain expectations (for example getting people hoping that there will be no drama) and sets up a comfortable ambiance. In fact you could say it is the quality I like about Tsuki ga Kirei, that it gently takes time with things. The toy repairman in Toy Story did say ‘You can’t rush art’.
Seeing a fulfilled relationship will be awesome and I’m especially hoping that Kotarou and Akane will serve as platforms for each other’s growth as people. I have high hopes too. Although I don’t expect it to a be a masterpiece per se, it has the potential to wind up becoming my AOTS.
Man, the shyness was getting frustrating. I’m scared that these “ah…um”s are going to lead to future MISUNDERSTANDING. Akane’s “I want to talk more” was a very welcomed relief
I’m like one of those people who is super confident in most things, with the exception of talking to the opposite gender in real life. I can totally relate to the struggle of how frustrating the chronic shyness can be, and it can lead to misunderstandings. If you consider misunderstandings to result from a lack of substantive communications, then it’s only fair that some things could have been avoided.
Kotarou only needed to gather up the courage to talk with Akane while she was with her friends, in order to resolve the matter of his phone being confiscated. But his moment of hesitation cost him, and you could see the regret etched upon his face as Akane and her friends started walking out.
it wasn’t only Kotarou that bothered me though. Akane too, and not only in talking to her love interest, but also to her friends, she was so confused that she can’t even deny when her friends made the assumption that it was Hira she was interested in. But, like Chinatsu, Aira also surprised me with her sharp senses.
“When he turned up late, he didn’t try to actively find any excuses from the get go. He just accepted he was in the wrong and that made me like him even more.”
I’ve never understood that use of the word “excuse”. I commonly see it used as one referring to another in response to “not” taking responsibility for something that they had no control of. From my understanding that is not an “excuse”? Doesn’t “excuse” mean you should be excused because it was beyond your control. If it was within your control and you attempted to push that responsibility on something else it would be more of a scapegoat or like blaming something else. Which in this case I don’t think applies.
Akane’s expressing her feelings is great but I don’t think one should think particularly higher of Kotarou as doing the better thing by leaving the circumstances ambiguous. Especially since there was legitimate reason for these circumstance. Not that he should have argued the point either but a simple start of the conversation of “I got my cellphone confiscated after I texted you last night, sorry for the wait” would have be simple enough to get everyone on the same page. And it would have been up to Akane to take a higher or less road on how she judges the set of circumstances.
But that’s probably just mean traumatized by the the world “excuses” lol.
I think you misunderstood what I meant. Speaking from anecdotal experience, even when the guy does have legitimate ‘reasoning’, no one wants to hear said ‘reasoning’. The other person is angry, they’re mad at you, and in that moment when emotions are running high they don’t want to hear whatever reason you have in store. In fact, they may get even angrier when you try to find an ‘excuse’.
This is actually more common than you may think, and it links back to what I said about things being from our perspective. Seeing both sides of the event, we know Kotarou hasn’t really done anything wrong. But you have to give Akane the benefit of the doubt, because she has not seen how hard Kotarou has tried for herself.
At the end of the day, Kotarou was still late to the arrangement that he himself made. He said ‘Meet up at 12:00’ and wasn’t even close by anywhere near the station at the time. Akane sends him a text at 12:03 asking where he is. Even if he had his phone confiscated, he should still have been waiting at the station around the ordained time.
Omg this show keeps on getting better and better!! Their relationship is so realistic to be honest. At first, I thought their shyness was a bit annoying but now that I think about ti, these feelings can actually exist IRL too.. i cant wait to get my hands on OST.. theyre just so beautiful and fits so well with each scene. Cant wait for the next episode!!
The post-ending clip was surprisingly frank about the Japanese society’s casual attitude towards love motel. I think that clip alone is enough to put the whole show into the R-rated category.