nerding out

You see, I've normally been surrounded by telenovelas and the like, so when I think of romance shows I usually feel like it's a lot of drama that the root cause of them end up being severe miscommunication which, while it can be nice in small doses to set some drama, I feel like I end up strongly disliking it if the entire plot ends up being solved by literally TALKING TO EACH OTHER FOR 5 MINUTES

So in general I tend to avoid romance centered shows because while I do like shipping, I just feel that if you center it around that it'll end up falling for a lot of the tropes I really dislike, but this anime? This anime definitely does very well on the communication department lol.

I swear it was extremely good to see how, after having an encounter with an ex (even though they were a couple for like 4 hours at max) and by seeing Tani jealous, Suzuki decided that the best course of action was just to tell him everything right away to avoid any misunderstanding, and by the end of the episode telling Tani that he can do the same, if something is upsetting him that he could tell her without issue. Communication is key to a healthy relationship.

So far I've summed Shuji's struggles as 'facing The Horrors TM' because it's funny and because I didn't have enough context/clues to adequately describe his reactions, but I think I've got a pretty basic grasp of him thanks to this episode: he's socially conscious. Too socially conscious. To the point of causing him anxiety, self-doubt, and turn him into a cynic, a stark contrast to his current group of friends who are unabashedly weirdos and proudly themselves (gyaru!Miyu, stoic!Yusuke, happy-go-lucky!Yamada, etc), unafraid of what other people will think of them.

Huh? Of course I am. Eh? What? We always talk casually with each other. And we were in the same class together last year, right? What?

Yeah, I mean… That's true, but… "You've changed somehow" is what I wanted to, uh… But what good does saying that do? That's creepy!

Like Tani not understanding Suzuki’s definition of adorable, instead of wondering to himself, he straight up asks her and learns more about his gf’s thought process. No wonder this series only ran for 60 chapters or so because the author actually tells a story and doesn’t waste time on nonsense.

LOOK AT IT