Tonikaku Kawaii S2 – 10

「ありがとう」 (Arigatou)
“Thank You”

I love that they brought glamping into the discussion of a camping trip. I’ve only been camping once, but from that experience alone, I’d say that glamping’s the way to go- less dirt and discomfort that way. Tsukasa is simply not having this camping trip, but begrudgingly goes along for her danna-sama. I’m not entirely sure what her deal with camping is and why she dislikes it- whether it’s because it involves Tokiko or reminds her of a past life pre modern convenience.

Tsukasa’s reservations aside, the forest can be a pretty isolated place- perfect for some intimate alone time. Something which Nasa doesn’t fail to take advantage of in a cute moment. Between the invitations and the large group invited, this camping trip smells strongly of an ulterior motive on Tokiko’s behalf, pretty much confirmed by the preview.

This party is one bizarre bunch- for starters with some of the members’ preconceptions on camping. Kyuuma and Ginga look like total opposites, but when they hear the word camping, the first thing that comes to mind are dead bodies. Then, you have Chitose whose sole source of camping knowledge comes from the manga Survival. Yeah, I’d be dubious about camping with those guys.

The roles I expected were actually switched. With how knowledgeable Nasa is about everything, I thought for sure he’d be king of the mountain and Tsukasa would be the one along for the ride- but not so. Nasa’s excitement levels don’t match his outdoorsmanship levels and ends up getting lost while searching for Kyuuma. Tsukasa, for all her griping on camping, knows an awful lot about nature, like mushrooms and antique swelling remedies. That and her cool ninja moves make it pretty easy to believe that she must have trained in the mountains long, long, long ago- again, more hints that Tsukasa is more than she appears to be.

Nasa picks up on the ninja-ness in his wife, but as is his wont, doesn’t question how she knows such peculiar stuff. I suppose as a young man in the throes of love, it seems perfectly natural that his wife would be able to do some pretty amazing stuff. While he doesn’t question her, he does ponder immensely why his wife jumped the gun on marriage, to the point where it pervades his moon-filled dreams. I mean, I feel like the answer to that is obvious- love or at least an interest.

Tsukasa’s answer is a deep one- she was drawn to how trusting he is. He accepted her proposal, no hesitation. The face says it all and his was (and always is) one of complete guilelessness. It says a lot about the pain of longevity that Tsukasa’s lived long enough to experience mistrust, maybe betrayal even, time after time. As fun as being a ninja and meeting historical figures may sound, I’m sure that could hardly compensate for the loneliness of encountering the uglier side of humanity, and even experiencing mistrust within oneself. After all, I’m sure it’d be hard to trust or even open oneself to love, knowing that the other person will fade away with the seasons. It lends greater meaning to why she loves Nasa- his absolute trust is a breath of fresh air after ages of the same old pattern. It also shows how significant it is that Tsukasa opens herself to loving Nasa like she does and also explains why she might come off as “tsundere” sometimes. But, whose heart wouldn’t melt at a sweetheart like Nasa?

Preview