Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu – 07

「僕らは入れ替わってる」 (Bokura wa Irekawatteru)
“We Swapped Places”

It’s obvious Anna’s as into Kyo as he into her- exhibit A this week being the shirt switching. Anna is captivated by Kyo during gym class after getting to see his right eye for the first time- a pivotally symbolic moment. After a rousing race against Anna and countdown to blast off, Kyo lends Anna a hand- at her behest. Kyo subsequently gets into overthink mode, launching a frenzied google search into what that hand holding meant. I feel like his response to overthink and Google Anna and her reactions was relatable for a teenager. You’re still trying to figure out how to interact with others, especially the opposite sex, and it’s not something that’s necessarily an easy or comfortable topic to bring up with parents or siblings, so Google offers an easy solution.

If touching hands weren’t enough, Anna and Kyo get their shirts switched. Of course, Kyo goes into a panic that others will see and tries his hardest to get Anna to notice. The poor kid puts his ass on the line, volunteering in front of others to solve a math problem and use the opportunity to send Anna a hint. It doesn’t end well for him- not only does Anna seem to not get the message, Kyo gets roasted by Adachi in front of the class and gets the question wrong. There’s no mystery here about how those shirts got switched- Anna wanted to wear his shirts and switched them. I mean, come on- with the girls’ conversation about wearing your boyfriend’s gym shirt on top of how small it fits on her-she knew from the start. Anna even snuck a sniff on Kyo’s shirt, so I guess they’re even now.

We saw a totally different side of Anna-I’ve never seen her jealous like that before. “Fine when it’s you”- oh the shade that gets thrown when Kyo shares his notes with Hara after busting Adachi on his “I forgot my textbook” move on Anna. If Kyo needs any further proof that Anna likes him, he’s got it there. Though for a neurotic kid like Kyo, he’ll probably need it spelled out for him in an obvious confession before he’ll believe it.

Kyo faces one of the classic short people problems– he can’t see the blackboard from behind the tall Anna. It was for that very reason I always sat in the front row in college- not that Kyo had any choice in the matter here. It’s a huge dilemma for Kyo, because it might upset her to tell her to move because she’s too tall but nor can he go through months of school like this (not to mention how distracted he gets by her eyelashes). His solution was very tactful, I thought- “During class, all I see is you”- it’s true and has a romantic sweetness to it. It was a beautiful moment when Anna’s face just lit up as soon as he said that. Kyo’s “What did I just say??” expression was priceless, as was the kids’ mutual embarrassment afterwards. That they could convey their feelings and what was probably running through their heads by their facial expressions alone was art at its finest.

The thing about falling in love is that you do things you wouldn’t have considered doing before, like Kyo tuning in for Anna’s quiz program. The kid’s so intent on the show, he even sits seiza for it-awww. In the end, it’s not a highlight in Anna’s burgeoning career- an entire episode passes without a word from her and she only gets awkward shots on screen. Kyo is far more bothered about this than Anna seems to be, in fact, he’s surprised that she’s not upset about it the next day. Either she didn’t realize she got overlooked (but, I mean, how could she not if she saw a recording of it) or she cried about it at home and put on a good face at school.

The dangers in Kyo’s heart rear their heads at him-he’s horrified that he’s partly relieved that she didn’t get featured. An interesting reaction, which I think boils down to the fact that he likes Anna and likes that he gets to see her charms that not everyone else might get to see. He’s jealous that others might see that and fall for her too and that the Anna he sees isn’t for him alone. By cutting her lines out, she still remains the Anna known to him and her close friends alone. That Kyo realizes this and is disturbed by it goes to show that he is a good guy (which was already obvious anyway). He instinctively feels that way but doesn’t want to be a dick who rejoices in her failure- not to mention confusion as to why he felt that way in the first place.

While the TV show may have been a disappointment, Anna’s got more on her horizon with a movie role that becomes the buzz of the classroom. What’s interesting here is that Anna doesn’t look as excited as someone who just landed their first movie role should. Kyo deduces that it’s because no-one asked for details about her part. While that certainly is true, I think there could be a few other explanations for her reaction. For one, it coincides with seat change day and she might be nervous about whether she’ll get a coveted seat next to or at least near Kyo. For another, she may be disappointed that she didn’t get to tell Kyo first or that Kyo didn’t show interest, remaining in his seat instead of sidling up to her group. I have to wonder if it’s the latter, especially given how much her face lights up when he asks her questions about her role in private. It’s ironic that Anna’s sole line in the movie is “You’re a creep”, which she proceeds to practice on Kyo. It voices all of the fears swimming in his head about how Anna views him. Yet, it’s clear that Anna doesn’t think that way about him at all.