Previous eps.

• Eps 1 – 2
• Ep 3

Impressions

Episode 4

• It is my belief that people always want what they can’t have. That includes things out of their control, like being taller or…most relevant to this anime…their gender.
• I was thinking about hanakotoba for some fanart I might want to do for Hypnosis Mic, since Doppo is associated with the tiger lily (Tigridia, the name of one of his songs) and Hifumi with yellow roses, which appear on his mic and as a corsage on his jacket. I thought it would be fitting (yet in some ways, deliciously ironic) to match Jakurai with daffodils, which apparently mean “honesty”…Why do I bring this up here? I thought the 6-point star on Takatsuki’s shirt was a daffodil and “honesty” seems relevant to this anime as a whole.
• Okada seems to like people who pine for each other, particularly the girls in unrequited love pairings (because to my knowledge, all Okada romance works have a girl-boy pairing, aside from [highlight white text to see spoilers] the same-gender couple in Kiznaiver).
• So is Chiba a lesbian…? Or is this (if you take the stance that Chiba sees Nitori as a guy, despite her knowing he wants to be a girl to Takatsuki’s boy) just a het romance I’m reading into too much?
• This is playing out like Taylor Swift’s Love Story (also based on Romeo and Juliet, coincidentally…although having studied the Shakespeare work myself, Taylor mangled that story like Nitori is doing). Update: He does kind of bring it closer to the actual thing later on.
• …By the way, I do believe the term Takatsuki uses to ask Nitori out is asobi ni iku (literally “go out to play”), which could be interpreted as a playdate (like children would do) or going out (as friends, not necessarily as lovers – there’s tsukiau for that, hence the “Suki desu! Tsukiatte kudasai!/I like you! Please go out with me!“ you hear in romance anime).
• Japanese, the language, has always been a bit weird when it comes to romance, but I find, from experience, Japanese teachers are extremely forward about discussing romance (possibly to teach how to use relationship terms in a classroom setting…? Or because people may find it relatable, with the possible risk of missing the mark if they’re not found to be relatable…? *shrugs*).
• Yoshino, like the cherry? Update: So I dug around and Yoshino’s name is in hiragana, so there’s no real meaning to it. I do find it interesting that it might match this plant though, because a cherry tree produces cherry blossoms (which are basically a symbol of femininity), but elsewhere “cherry” has…notably different (and slightly lewd *raises eyebrows*) connotations.
• Wow…Christians are a minority in Japan, so Saori having found a church must be rare…(I dunno about Catholics though, which she might also have a chance of being.)

Episode 5

• I almost posted episode 4’s take by itself, but thank goodness I checked the schedule before I did that…*sigh* I do have other (read: seasonal) anime waiting for me, y’know.
• “The Nitori who loves to cross-dress!” – *facepalms*
• Oh, I forgot who Saisho was. That’s the teacher.
• Hey, Saori…stop being so selfish…
• Hmm…the developments in this episode were interesting. I don’t believe Saori’s sudden outburst was justified, but then I realised I described myself as being similar when talking about Rising of the Shield Hero. The positions are clearly written for Nitori and Takatsuki because that’s what Nitori (and, by extension, Mako) wants, but if Mako and Saori can trade their roles with those two…you can kind of see the endgame already. The only real challenge is if Saori will let Mako trade, or if she’s suddenly determined to play her allocated role to the best of her ability.