Densha Otoko – 07

Short Summary:
Tsuyoshi is devastated by Saori’s words. Unfortunately, his state of shock is jarred when he and Misuzu run into Saori and Keisuke. Over dinner, Tsuyoshi learns that Saori’s birthday is coming up. He decides to renounce his otaku ways and packs away all the figures in his room. He then calls Saori, setting up a meeting on her birthday, but hangs up before she can really answer. On her birthday, he arrives at the meeting place and starts to wait. Kazuya, on the other hand, begins to think about taking Saori for himself and sets up an elaborate scheme to give her a ring. When he rushes Saori from her birthday party to his place, she spots Tsuyoshi waiting for her in the rain. She tells Kazuya to stop the car, then hurries over to Tsuyoshi. He tells her about how he going to stop his otaku ways. As he wishes her a happy birthday, Tsuyoshi collapses.

For a relatively serious episode, this sure had a ton of funny moments. Kazuya especially stands out. The scene where Evil Kazuya punches Good Kazuya is just a riot. Then there was the scene where Kazuya, in his delusions, envisions a Rube Goldberg contraption to present Saori with a ring. And Kazuya’s face when he saw Tsuyoshi in the rain was just thoroughly amusing. I hope they don’t relegate Kazuya to a comedy position though. He’s at a point where he can give Tsuyoshi some serious competition for Saori. And he has an ace up his sleeve in the form of the fact that he knows about Tsuyoshi posting on the message board.
This episode also presents Misuzu in a much more flattering light. It’s because of her that Tsuyoshi learns of Saori’s birthday. And later, it’s her that is talking to Saori about Tsuyoshi during the birthday party before Kazuya comes and takes Saori away. Never mind that she looks pretty good in that red dress…
And so it seems that Tsuyoshi’s sickness will become a uniting factor for his relationship with Saori. We know how much Tsuyoshi likes Saori, so I hope that the next few episodes show more of Saori’s point of view, more of her growing love for him. And I pray that she’s not too scared by his otakuness, since the preview shows her in Tsuyoshi’s room – one restocked with all the figures and models.