Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu – 21

「僕らは約束した」 (Bokura wa Yakusoku Shita)
“僕らは約束した”

Showbiz is not the kindest industry to work in, to put it nicely. In Japan, idols are expected to paragons of purity- ogled by fans, but touched by no man- and if they do, all scandal breaks loose. Kyou’s known for a while now what that could mean for him and Anna, and her manager made as much clear when they met. As if he needed yet another reminder of the fine line Anna needs to walk, his friends are all abuzz with the latest celebrity’s scandal. Which, of course, sets him into panic mode when he realizes that Anna posted a picture of herself at his house- and someone noticed.

While all of that is brewing, Anna is off making a good first impression during on-location shooting, leaving her friends to go cherry blossom viewing without her. Kyou has the cutest smile on his face as he just basks in the praise of Anna. That look on everyone’s faces when talking about Anna- “She’s leaving us behind” was written all over them. That bittersweet mixture of happiness for your friend’s success and talent being recognized, but also the sadness at her going down a path you can’t necessarily join her for.

Which brings up the question- how well will Anna make it in that brutal industry? She’s got the talent and looks, but as they said “she never changes”- she’s always open, trusting, and friendly, and frankly, she shouldn’t change. But, unfortunately, those same traits could land her in trouble with an industry and society that is very weird about girls and relationships. Kyou is right, one moment of not thinking right could lose her a job. Anna has just such a sunshiney spirit, I would hate to see her crushed by a cruel industry.

Pigman emerges from the dark recesses of SNS to plague Anna’s account and Kyou’s anxiety. Kyou is right to worry because stuff like that can really cut deep on a person’s reputation or their own mental wellbeing. It’s none of Pigman’s fucking business where or who Anna is with, but unfortunately, it’s the very stuff like that that goes viral. Though Pigman isn’t far off the mark….

Kyou’s getting to be quite the ballsy guy, sticking up for Hara a few weeks ago, and now sticking up for Anna online. And good on him- Anna (or anyone for that matter) should not have to be subjected to that and such behavior should not be normalized. It’s adorably awkward how Kyou couches is it in vague terms to make him sound indifferent, when it’s already clear he’s not. It took a lot of guts for him to stick his neck out there like that.

You understand someone by putting yourself in their shoes and Anna does just that, putting herself in Kyou’s skin to play her rebellious teenager role. Coming to understand Kyou better hits her like a ton of bricks and she starts crying on set. Kyou really does mean the world to her. In her heart-to-heart talk with Mama after the sleep over, Mama is really understanding (I was expecting her to be more of a hardass about that). The key here is that she remembers what it was like to be in her daughter’s shoes, which is one of the most important parenting skills one can have. It sounds like Mama is supportive of her relationship with Kyou too, which it’s so important to have those strong allies when you’re navigating a relationship, on top of figuring out yourself and your career.

Things start escalating further with Pigman and Kyou gets the scare of his life when it looks like Pigman is stalking Anna. His protective instinct kicks in, in a heartful, but awkwardly roundabout warning “Watch out what’s behind you”. Anna drops her phone and cuts all contact with him. Assuming the worst, he goes so far as to camp out at her apartment to get updates from Dad.

The way he gets so concerned for her and actually acts on it- what a guy. That’s exactly the kind of person Anna needs, someone to look out for her in her blind spots, someone who is considerate of her and her safety. It was elegant how Norio-sensei built up to this moment, with the foreshadowing from last week where Kyou starts to worry about her walking home in the dark. A very real development at that- when you come to love someone, you worry for them.

We get to see Anna’s dad shine too. He may look intimidating, but he is considerate like Kyou, concerned for him, even inviting him in to warm up. The simultaneous clearing of the air with the parents- wow what a moment. It’s taken a lot for them to get to this point, where they can own it. There’s nothing for them to have to hide. I love the dad’s response, handing him his friend code- Papa Yamada speak for “I accept you”. It doesn’t appear that Kyou and his dad talk much, going off of what Kyou has said “he doesn’t call me much of anything anymore”, and what we’ve seen (Dad’s never around as much as Kana or Mom). I hope that Kyou can bond with Anna’s dad over games and mutual affection for Anna and through that, have a relationship with her father that he doesn’t have with his own dad. Kyou had nothing to be afraid of about becoming outcast by Anna or by her family. Because he took those steps to confront his fears and grow beyond them, he can face them, be respected and accepted by them.

Next PigMan encounter- at the ramen shop. Kyou does the right thing in intervening as the blocker, rather than making a scene when nothing has happened yet. Kyou’s smart and doesn’t let appearances deceive him, piecing the clues together to figure out PigMan’s true identity. PigMan turns out to be a person Kyou least expects- Anna’s model senpai. Kyou stakes his boundaries, and hopefully that will be the last of the trouble coming from that corner.

Kyou’s concern might be the motivating factor to get Anna to start having more awareness. As she said “I want to be more grown up!”. Sometimes it takes another person to realize your own actions. Again, that’s where Anna and Kyou are so powerful for each other, they recognize each other’s blind spots, like the side and rear-view mirrors on a car.