RE-MAIN – 06

「 はい、こっち向いて」 (Hai, Kotchi Muite)
“Yes, Look Over Here”

This week’s RE-MAIN was a bit of a tear-jerker, but it was worth the emotional rollercoaster for the heartwarming ending sequence. The team continued to form strong bonds as they revealed personal confessions of themselves with the rest of the team. Yoshiharu proved to be a tough shell to crack, but it was nice to see the team come together to lift him out of his self-loathing behavior. In an episode that featured themes of depression, suicide, and loneliness, we were reminded that beautiful flowers are born from the dirt.

Coping with Low Self-Esteem

I won’t lie, this episode was heartbreaking at times, and in a team full of gigantic athletes, poor Yoshiharu is given the short end of the stick with his smaller size and weaker build. It was no surprise that he had lived a school life of sadness and loneliness up till now, as his character had always given off the impression of a low self-esteemed young man. I did not expect this series to deal with themes of suicidal thoughts, and while Yoshiharu no longer feels that way, it was still impactful to find out he once felt “there’s no value in me living” until joining the water polo club.

While the commotion of Yoshiharu “attempting suicide” turned out to be comedically downplayed in the end, it still sent a strong message about mental health among young people. We’ve all felt down at some point in life, and this episode showed that you never really know what someone is going through, so we should all try to be more kind to one another. With that said, Joujima and the boys did a superb job in getting Yoshiharu back on his feet and lifting him out of his dark thoughts of worthlessness.

Together, we are Stronger

The team banded together well in the final sequences, and the unexpected input from Amihama was critical in making sure they went about their plan to boost Yoshiharu’s confidence in an honest way. While they initially planned to “go easy” on him to make him feel better, Amihama pointed out that trying to deceive him would not make things any better. This led to Minato’s intervention, and his idea to get Yoshiharu to yell when he shot proved to be effective in summoning the strength of our timid little man.

It was a case of everyone chipping in for the greater good. From Babayaro’s insights about Yoshiharu’s thought process to Joujima’s confidence-boosting plan, Amihama’s inputs, and Minato’s intervention, each member had their moment in building the ultimate strategy for lifting their fallen comrade. From Yoshiharu finally scoring a goal, to the team jumping in the pool to celebrate, and Minato’s awesome group selfie, it was the perfect gift wrapping to an absolute present of an episode!