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「Chapter.34 銀の糸 / Chapter.35 水面 / Chapter.36 青い夜の底」 (Chapter. 34 Gin no Ito / Chapter.35 Minamo / Chapter.36 Aoiyoru no Soko)
“Chapter.34 Silver Thread / Chapter.35 Water’s Surface / Chapter. 36 Base of the Blue Night”
I can feel it — change is coming.
Growing Up
It’s been a long time coming, but this week’s episode really highlighted just how much Rei has matured in the past few weeks. Moving past his loss against Shimada and coming back with his head held up high, it’s been fun getting to see Rei at his best. And while it may not necessarily be revolving around Shogi, I think something can be said about how he’s been handling real life. For me though, I think what piqued my interest the most is split between Kyouko and how Rei views and treats our three favorite sisters.
Starting with Kyouko, it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster since we first saw her face on screen. Acting as a major negative force that’s been hindering Rei since the first cour, I never thought the girl I wanted to see run straight into a lamppost would become a character I’d deeply empathize with. From the problems she has at home to the insecurities she struggles to deal with, I’m glad to see that she’s just as broken as the rest of us and just ventured down a different path to handle it. And as much as I hate it when she tries to use Rei for her own benefit, I catch myself always wishing that maybe their conversation might turn into one of two siblings talking to each other. Because if there’s one thing that I would really love to see, it would be for Kyouko (and Rei by extension) to get some sort of redemption moment that would help bring the two together.
Luckily, too much of that would probably get really annoying and to supplement my need for some good feels we have our three sisters who always make whatever episode they’re in just that much better. And after a cour and a half of getting to see just how much they treasure Rei, it’s been so heartwarming to see Rei understand just how much he cares about them. And even though the story at the moment has our sisters on the sideline, I can’t wait for the moment when Rei gets to return the favor to them by allowing them to be family that he can lean on. Because if there’s anything that would solidify everything for me, it would be for Rei, Momo, Hina, and Akari to just be one big happy family.
Looking Ahead
With Shimada’s first match already finished and everything else in his life about to boil over, I can’t wait to see where things go from this point. Anyways, I’ll catch you guys then. See you!
Preview
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I’ve been waiting for one of the sisters to tell Kyouko off. It wasn’t as confrontational as I hoped, but they maintained their dignity and made their point. Good job Hina!
I understand some empathy for Kyouko, but I don’t think her redemption fits in this story. This story is primarily about Rei, and for him, Kyouko is poison, and he needs to get away from her. I don’t wish for someone as damaged as Rei to spend more time with someone as damaging as Kyouko. Some other story can save her.
Sorry for being a bit off-topic with the theme of the series. But just wanted to say that I’ve been to the hotel shown in this episode (recognized it right away when Rei was standing near the entrance). It’s called Chinsan-so (or something like that), it’s located in a quiet neighborhood and has an absolutely amazing huge inner garden. Me and my friends went there to see fireflies last year. I believe it was the beginning of June. I soooo recommend it, it’s very beautiful. No wonder they chose such a posh place.
As for the characters, as someone who has not read the manga yet, I’m very interested in what is actually going on not between Rei and Kyouko but between Kyouko and Gotou. He ignores her and calls her a stalker but he gives her things as presents…? And she does seem to have a relationship with him afterall. And the beating of Rei that Gotou mentioned. I really wonder what happened. But I guess we won’t find it out from the small number of episodes we have left.
I’ve been marking locations in Google Maps, and I doubt I would have found the hotel without your help. I’m not familiar enough with Tokyo to recognize St. Mary’s Cathedral, the oddly angular building in the background of the long shot of the white flags.
The hotel itself is pretty huge so I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding it.
I know that the first manga fanbook has a list of places that appear in Sangatsu. Haven’t checked it yet though. And Japanese fans are usually pretty obsessed with such things so you should be able to find a detailed list of places that appear in anime if you look up 聖地巡礼.
Gotou is actually a student of Kyouko’s father so in reality both have some sort of relationship with him. I think why he beat up Rei is probably because out of jealousy being so many years younger than him Rei probably beat him despite him being Kyoko’s father’s student for so many years. My guess is Gotou probably has a little sister affection for Kyouko while rivalry against Rei instead of brotherly affection.
Is it just me or Kyouko actually has feelings for Rei but can’t really be open about it because he is (legally?) her brother? Kyoko seems really bothered with the 3 sisters now hanging out with Rei and was really bothered with the little sister’s comment calling her a witch. In some discussion sites it is said Rei only thinks she is having an affair with that guy but not really the case. Everytime she runs away it seems she mostly runs away to Rei’s place.