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「僕は夢を見た」 (Boku wa Yume o Mita)
“I Had a Dream”
The thing about parent-child relationships is that they often go through the gamut of changes, from attached to the hip as a little child, the “too cool for you” attitude as a teenager, and the more mature relationship as an adult born from everything in between, though whether becoming closer or more distant in the end depends on the parent and/or child and their circumstances involved. It’s a matter of course that we’d eventually get to a school and parent episode given that parent teacher conferences are one of those embarrassing hallmarks of the teenage experience. At least Kyo has the benefit of living his teenage years without his parent accompanying him to school most of the time. Having been homeschooled/cyber-schooled during those formative years, every day was like a parent-teacher conference day for me.
Kyo’s mom is adorable, the way she awkwardly offers Anna a throat lozenge or adjusts her posture and legs every time she hears Anna’s mom remind Anna. From the brief interactions between Anna and the mothers, Norio offers a pretty stark contrast between the two adults. Anna’s mom seems the stricter of the two, admonishing Anna for her posture and candy-eating habits. Meanwhile, you have Kyo’s mom who isn’t too hung up on things like posture and sweetly offers a candy exchange without any sort of “no more candy for you” admonishments and gushes in a mom sort of way about how Kyo’s been enjoying school. Kyo’s reaction when he responds with “Yamada” to his mom’s comments about the pretty girl in his class, only for Yamada to appear, was priceless.
The addition of Anna to Kyo’s equation marks the catalyst for his new enjoyment of school, something others have noticed, even if they can’t pin the cause down to Anna just yet (some, like his Mom, not knowing her well). The meeting with Kyo’s mom broke down another barrier between him and Anna, Anna sitting noticeably closer to Kyo after that event, another blaringly loud “she’s into you” sign. Anna certainly keeps Kyo on his toes- the new Anna minefield being her personal “no touch” zone, depicted in chalk for all the class to see, including Kyo, who doesn’t fail to take note. For someone who gets so touchy-feely with her friends, Anna doesn’t like to be touched a lot of places, which is totally her call to make anyway. (Though I do agree, Kobayashi copping a feel where she did was a bit much in public).
Kyo’s social net is widening, now coming to include Anna’s bestie Chii who comes to him for tutoring. That little smile he lets out when Chii told him about Anna’s whipped cream incident was precious. Because he’s starting to feel comfortable and loosen up around Anna, by extension, he’s also learning how to loosen up around others, a huge step for any socially awkward teenager.
That whole scene in the library was cutely hilarious. Kyo considerately trying to remember where it was ok to touch, then awkwardly poking her shoulder before sending Anna totally over the edge with that whispered warning about the throat lozenge in the library. Kyo understandably worries over whether he did something wrong or not, but I don’t think that was what Anna was concerned about. If anything, he seems to have turned Anna on more, which is why she adds ears to the no-go zone- it would be embarrassing to have that happen on a regular basis.
Poor Kyo gets stuck with a bad cold after forgetting his raincoat and biking back and forth in the rain to deliver Anna’s forgotten goods. I was a little surprised that Kyo didn’t get more flustered than he did, taking decisive action when he saw what he thought were sanitary items in the bag. As a typical boy, he pretends they aren’t there, though maybe more for the sake of sparing Anna any embarrassment than anything else. It points to his good heart (and maybe just accepting biology as biology) that his first priority is making sure Anna has what he assumes she needs.
Dreams can take you to some pretty weird places and Kyo is no stranger to that, with on the surface disappointingly un-erotic dreams of giant and tiny Annas running around (though there’s an undeniable innuendo lurking there). I love how Kyo just totally lets loose and relaxes at home when no-one’s around, even putting his feet on the table, a big no no for sure- you can tell he’s totally made himself at home in the way that teenagers do when the grown ups aren’t around. If that dream weren’t unusual enough, he gets a home visit from Anna and invites her in to tea.
Even though the kid is sick, his overthinking is still intact and he worries about wearing his smelly pajamas to the point of attempting to change- a task that’s too much for his fever-ridden body. To quote Freddie Mercury/Queen, “Is this the real life? Is this just the fantasy?” Reality can truly trump fiction and at times the two co-mingle, as the following scene shows when Anna worries over his long absence and finds him passed out on his bedroom floor, shirtless. Assuming it’s a dream, he rests his head on her chest and she tenderly embraces him- a reality that ironically is spicier than his earlier fever dream. It’s almost a pity that Kyo only remembers it as a dream (that he wakes up to what he thinks is Yamada only for it to be his sister is hilarious), but maybe it’s better that way for now- otherwise it would be embarrassing for the two of them, especially in the fledgling stages of their friendship (which I think it’s safe to say it is a friendship after how much time they spend together). Anna’s feelings are clearly growing stronger towards him, manifesting itself in small, tender actions like sweeping the hair out of his eyes or dressing him- very sweet scenes to witness.
The post credits scene was another gem-the awkward way Anna bounds up to Kyo’s mom to ask after his health, then gets so excited at the good report, she accidentally runs into a pole. Kyo’s got it right “she’s more than just a little odd”. I love that the two of them can get to know each other to the point of peeling back the surface image of being just the pretty girl or just the awkward nerd and accepting the messiness, the weirdness, the me-ness, the you-ness that is underneath- that is the heart of any relationship, whether it be friendship or something more.
So many intimate moments! And Anna recognising that Kyo was out of it when his head plonked into her chest and then giving him a tender embrace that she wouldn’t normally be able to get away with was just so sweet.
It was interesting too to see a different take on the “I caught a cold because of you so now you’ll take care of me” trope with The Angel Next Door still fresh in my mind.
Anyway, it’s taken a long time to get here (and I’ve actually seen other people say they didn’t rate the early episodes so highly too), but this is definitely challenging Skip and Loafer and Insomnia in the “show I most look forward too each week” category.
Even more intimate if you look closely at how Kyou was dressed when Anna arrived and how he was dressed when he woke up.
I missed that completely. She’s obviously not too worried about Kyou’s no-touch zones.
It was subtle in the manga and Akagi made it even subtler in the anime, so most people do miss it. There are a lot of those with Norio, and it makes me believe there are some I’ve missed completely and would never realize unless someone told me flat-out.
Doesn’t matter how many intimate moments there are. This romance is no different from most modern anime romcoms. The writer will just drag out this “romance” long past the point where anyone cares and most readers will just drop it.
@Zemo x2 because I can’t quote for some reason, but I cannot stress how wrong you are about the romance being dragged out.
I think you’re talking to a brick wall, pretty much.
Well excuse me 4 not giving a fucking shot about a “romance” between a little jetk and his “crush” who he thought about murdering not too long ago. Seriously Guardian WTF do you get iff insulting me just for sharing my fucking thoughts!!@ 🖕🏽
Zemo x2, I can see you are upset, but please keep in mind that the comments section is meant to be a place of respectful discussion, to respond or at the very least read different opinions. One doesn’t have to agree with others, but at least something like “Oh, I never thought about it that way. I don’t agree because of x, y, or z, but thanks for sharing”, instead of responding with a comment that is disrespectful towards other people’s interests. I think what Guardian Enzo was getting at was not a personal insult but rather the feeling of being unable to engage in a respectful, well-reasoned discussion when the same argument is repeated broken-record like. A good rule of thumb to consider before posting is 1. Is it kind? 2. Why am I posting this? Will it be of help or interest to anyone? If the answer to those questions is “no”, then it might be good to think again how to re-formulate those ideas so the answer is “yes”. There’s a difference between posting for the benefit of engaging with the community/in earnest response to what was seen/read and posting to hear oneself speak. When responding to others, please refrain from using offensive language and insults- this never helps anybody and only adds tremendous fuel to the fire. And if BokuYaba isn’t your vibe, feel free to drop it! Guess what, you’re free to do so- your time is important so why spend it watching things that will annoy you? Thank you for taking the time to read this!
I love how this anime is turning out! It’s not being dragged out but it’s taking it’s time and embracing who these characters are. Kyo while coming out of his shell and feeling more comfortable around Anna still has negative thoughts. When he finds out Anna was talking about him to Chi his first thought is that she is making fun of him. Despite his growth, he can’t imagine a world (yet) where people are saying nice things about him because it’s hard for him to do that for himself.
Anna on the other hand for as much as she likes him, she still keeps it a secret. At the end of the episode (after credits) she talking to Kyo and is very close but when Chi approaches she backs off so Chi doesn’t assume anything about them. She’s also brought up the idea of a secret relationship which while sweet also makes me think she’s afraid of what people may think if they saw them together.
This is new for the both of them and they aren’t so simple as people that them getting together would be easy. They are both growing though which helps when I’m like “Just kiss already!!!” It’s cute watching their romance unfold now that I’m older, but I know how Kyo feels. When you lack confidence it’s so easy to believe that anyone else wouldn’t be interested in you or have anything good to say about you. You get used to being alone and watching out for potential attacks leading you to be super observant and overthinking things. Fortunately it only takes you letting in one person who truly cares to make you believe in yourself.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! Yes, Anna and Kyo are both adorable. Norio has an amazing gift for writing her characters and story in a way that hits deep and gives the raw, honest middle school experience.