Aoi Hana 10
Summary:
It’s Kazusa x Masanori’s big day. Kazusa bribes Yasuko with a delicious secret in order to get her to smile and to congratulate her. Yasuko promptly rubs Kuri’s face with the revelation that she now knows that she loved the same man; apparently Masanori never received her love letter though. Akira and Kyouko have been invited to fill the pews. Just when they thought they were able to shake off Oniichan Shinobu and Fiancee-in-name-only Ikou, both are extended an invitation by Yasuko.
Fumi, who is trying to be less Hirasawa Yui-like, decides to ring up Akira for a day trip to Enoshima. Yasuko invites herself to join in and Shinobu tags along too for maximum awkwardness; the former comes out to the latter. He’s stunned, of course, but just wait till he sees the OP. Yasuko reveals that she had cut her hair to cultivate a stronger image, it didn’t win her man’s affections but bred an army of fangirls. Including cute but annoying stalker Kyouko who followed her lead. During their cave walk, Fumi tells Yasuko to stop trolling her, that she has completely given up on her and that Yasuko should grow up. Yasuko can apologizes thrice but mostly to her candle.
Reaction:
Oh man, my love for Kuri grew to new heights, especially with that twitching left eye. Aaah so good. While it was so uncool and lame for her to have loved Masanori too, it explains a lot about her current snarkiness being her own embarrassment projected onto Yasuko. It also accounts for some of her mean streak, which is what I like most about her. Though Shinako’s ribbing of both her younger sisters also showed her mischievous side nicely.
This episode also made me take my copy of John Dower’s Embracing Defeat off the shelf and re-read the first chapter. Kasuza just completely owned both her sisterly rivals and Yasuko and Kuri’s stares during the bright and happy wedding ceremony reminded me of the over-awed Japanese delegation arriving onboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, surrounded by tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of warships and overflown by thousands of fighters and bombers. It’s one thing to know that someone doesn’t love you but it’s quite another sinking feeling to realize just how happy the significant other they have chosen makes them and - as per Hirohito’s surrender exhortation to ‘bear the unbearable’ - to be happy for them.
On another front, I was most pleasantly surprised that Fumi, who has been characterized thusfar mostly as a crybaby and emotionally needy, was able to put her foot down and completely turn the tables on Yasuko. The truth really burns, so much more than lies and falsehood, when it’s delivered straight up, without any fluff, sugarcoating. Can’t say I have that much sympathy for Yasuko though.
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September 6th, 2009 - 05:57
Yasuko’s tears actually set my opinion of her as “good person”.That for all her selfishness and flirting she really loved Fumi. Surely she hurt her and were hurt back, but no one had ill intentions, and hopefully, them both will grow from it.
Though in the manga Sugimoto didn’t cry (or rather, it wasn’t shown even if she did), and that fact led to masses of people calling her “heartless bitch” and accusing her of “using Fumi for her selfish decoy plan”.
September 7th, 2009 - 11:28
Well, stuff happens on the rebound and Yasuko’s still technically a teenager so I wasn’t too bothered by her jerking Fumi around – if only because Fumi’s reaction was WOW. But, given what you’ve said about the reaction to the manga version, it’s a nice touch by the animation studio to show some remorse to make Yasuko a more sympathetic chara.