Posted by Episode 04
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「風青し」 (Kaze Aoshi) “A Blue Wind Rustling Fresh Leaves” /「暑気払い」(Shokibarai) “Beating the Summer Heat
Full-length images: 36.
Episode 05
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「おしょらいさん」 (Oshorai-san)
“Welcoming the Spirits”
Well first of all I apologize for missing out last week, a family emergency came up, and I had to do a little bit of traveling, but all is fine now. No need to worry. I’m also in the middle of wrapping up the prelim writing of my next novel – but that’s whatever, you’re not interested in that.
And now I finally had time to sit down with Deaimon and it’s really such a shame because apparently, I missed the biggest week Deaimon has had. Since we might have gotten a tease as to who exactly is Itsuka’s father, and it’s someone who is closer to Nagomu than we think. I mean the show did make it pretty obvious by putting that character in a hoodie, even though we’re in the middle of summer here.
Episode 04 is split into two parts, the first one dealing with a long-time client of the sweet’s shop. The Tsukiyami family suddenly cancels their weekly order. It turns out the heir of the family had seen a picture of a girl on Saki’s phone as he was delivering their order last week. This guy quickly falls in love with just seeing a pic of this lady and immediately barters the shop in order to meet this female – Well turns out all along it was Saki, but cross-dressing as a woman.
Not weird at all!
The reason they give is that he feels freer when dressed as a woman and it’s sort of like a coping mechanism for him. I mean I guess, however, I do not have the energy or the high brow language expected of RC writers to break down how exactly and to which part of the LGBTQ+ Saki belongs.
Here’s the thing, if you ask me, which clearly you didn’t, yet you’re getting it anyway, boys can dress like girls and girls can dress like boys, clothing should be universal, yet we hold prejudice over the way we present ourselves to the world because it might confuse the little brains of straight cis men. Saki clearly got nervous when Nagomu casually walked up to (her) him on the night street.
Why is that? I think it’s because he wasn’t sure how Nagomu was going to respond, or how he was going to take the news that Saki is a crossdresser, sometimes in order to relieve some stress. And well that’s on toxic masculinity and the fragile male ego. However, Nagomu isn’t bothered by it at all. Anime has a weird tendency when dealing with this sort of thing, to have characters either call the other person a deviant and get way out of line, or have the other character accept their tendencies, but not in an in-your-face kinda way. Where the acceptance is smeared all over the screen. But instead goes for a more subtle approach, weaving in that this person is still going to be loved, and things are going to keep being the same, they are still going to be friends, but without saying it outright. It goes for a more logical approach, like what would this person say at this moment that makes sense with the conversation sort of thing.
Then, the episode clearly revolves around these side characters, and Itsuka and Nagomu fail to advance their relationship. The show is really taking its time making sure it’s a natural progression between this found family-daughter-father mechanic.
The second part of episode 04 was a pool episode, Nagomu’s friend plays at a stage nearby, teasing that maybe Itsuka’s father has actually been keeping a keen eye on her, without wanting to be seen.
In episode 05, we get a surprise visit from Masayo, aka the oba-chan, and wow this second episode was filled with Buddhist symbolism, which I loved because it will give me a starting point to be able to look into these things and learn more about them. However, the intricacies of the Obon ritual flew over my head. I wonder if it’s something similar to what people in Mexico do for The Day of the Dead. Of course, there’s no monk involved but I believe the sentiment might be the same.
So Masayo takes the helm and instructs Nagomu on the art of making sweets, but her teaching methods are a little bit – let’s say – problematic. But the Keisaku is also part of the Buddhist tradition, so it slides as okay?
Matter not!
Because Nagomu is having weird dreams about his grandfather and is even able to see his ghost for a second as their reach the Dai mountain. The little fight between Kanoko and Mitsuru was also pretty cute, girl warfare at play! Even though both of them have no intention of losing. Kanoko really did move all the way to Kyoto to be able to continue seeing Nagomu, even though as she explains the timing was just right so that she could be able to start fresh. Anyway, even though the series is seemingly derailing itself from its original intent, it seems like it’s going to be able to pick itself back up next episode. Let’s see how things develop!
I’m really enjoying a series for once!
Full-length images: 36.
Preview
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