| Title: | Suzuka |
| Episode: | 20: Support |
| Synopsis | |
| When Yamato leaves for school without a breakfast Ayano-san is aware how depressed he is, and Miho-chan notices that Sakurai-senpai didn't come to pick him up even though she used to come every day. Yamato is fully aware now how much he misses Honoka-chan - but it's too late. At school Yamato and Honoka happen to meet before classes but are unable to talk [image1]. At the cafeteria Yamato reports the end of his relation to Hattori, and to his friend's surprise confirms that he was right with all his advices. Hattori tries to cheer him up but Yamato is convinced it's all his fault.
Then Miki joins their table, asking about Yamato's gloomy face, and cheering him up as well as she suspects he has bombed the chemistry test. But when she and Hattori begin to argue Yamato leaves without a word, and for the first time Hattori doesn't tell her the reason of Yamato's sad face. Honoka didn't come to the track&field practice, and Yamato has to reveal he broke up with her. Almost everyone is blaming him for Honoka's absence and he's assigned her chores. Now Miki understands why he was so depressed and feels pity for him - but Asahina tells her he just got what he earned. Meanwhile Honoka has a long conversation with Nana [image2] who makes the miko aware that Yamato never said he still liked Asahina and that Honoka just had not enough self-esteem. Finally Honoka decides she will try to become more confident about herself - and then confess to Yamato once more! So she returns to the club on the next day, celebrated by everyone there; especially Kobayakawa offers her to talk about anything she wants [image3]. Both Kobayakawa and Yamato are selected as members for the relay team, and Honoka openly roots for Yamato. Miki is happy about the assignment as well because Yamato wasn't that energetic before - but Asahina doesn't care about this irresponsible guy who ditched Honoka because he considered her a bother! Miki is shocked - and she wants to hear that from Yamato first-hand. Yamato repeats his protective lie - but Miki sees through it and insists on learning the truth [image4]. Finally Yamato tells her the whole story but asks her not to tell Asahina. And Miki understands. Now she's trying to cheer him up and invites him to an okonomiyaki restaurant [image5]. Afterwards she even walks the boy home, and Yamato finally understands how much he made her worry. But as he feels further away from Asahina than ever before he wonders whether he should leave the track&field club now... [image6] | |
| Comments | |
| (2005-11-23, Devil Doll:)
After so many episodes with stupid actions it was a relief to see all characters acting reasonably this time, with the exception of one misinformed person. Breaking up with Honoka apparently was the healing shock Yamato needed for a long time. Not only is he now aware of what he lost (similar to Asahina after the Hiroshima events), he suddenly learned to understand how other people are thinking: 1. He confirmed Hattori to have given him good advice (he was putting the blame on him only one episode before!), 2. he confirms having been self-centered to Miki, 3. he repeats his Asahina protection (note that he didn't answer Miki's question whether he still loves Asahina!), thus fully earning the support Miki gives him, 4. he's even aware that Miki is worrying about him. (He doesn't thank her for that but promises to deliver track&field performance instead, which is a good choice in my eyes.) All of a sudden he has opened his eyes to the world; regardless of any future blunder Yamato will make this episode was his turnaround of attitude. By the way, Yamato telling Miki about protecting Asahina's conscience shows a lot of trust he places in Miki, telling her more than he would even tell Hattori. If Miki isn't interested in Yamato she now holds the key for bringing Asahina and Yamato together: Just ignore Yamato's wish and tell Asahina about this protection, and even tell her that Yamato didn't want her to pass the message along! "Look, Asahina - he's taking the blame on himself as to not make you suffer... isn't he a responsible guy after all?" But the Ice Queen will not believe Yamato's words, she will judge him by his actions; that's why it is too early for Miki to reveal Yamato's secret. Imagine Asahina thinking about Yamato again in episode 23-24 after some stunning track&field performance of the sprinter, talking to Miki about still liking this irresponsible guy, and then Miki coming up with the true story - what an impact this would make! Save that ace for the last trick, Miki. Miki's development was a huge surprise. We knew she had her eyes on the boy (episode 9) but who would have thought she would make use of the very first opportunity to "date" the him after Yamato broke up with Honoka? Miki is actually checking whether Yamato could be a candidate for her at some stage - she might not be actively pursuing him already but she's making good use of the opportunity to learn more about him. If he could convince her that he's done with both girls she might actually give it a try, at least spending a lot of time with him (like inviting him for dinner, something Honoka never was successful about and Asahina never had in mind). And if he's not available, she'll be the good friend he needs. Despite her 20% in the chemistry test Miki knows a lot about the "chemistry" of human relations; she understands that both Yamato and Honoka aren't doing what they're expected to do, given the reported events: One day earlier everyone expected Honoka to never return, and then she not only returns but even roots for Yamato in public! And Miki (who's the only other club member to know the Asahina version of Yamato's breakup) gets the message. That's a truely great performance of her. Note that she was supporting Yamato in the cafeteria already, not knowing about the breakup with Honoka; thus I put more emphasis on her "care bear" trait than on her own interest in the boy, although her breathless question about him still liking Asahina can make you wonder. Very good performance by both other wingmen as well. Hattori got the right idea to not tell Miki what happened (for the first time!), and he didn't insist on taking Yamato to the chicks party; Nana correctly asked whether Yamato ever told Honoka he still loves Asahina, which he didn't. He never intentionally cheated her; if Honoka asked him here and now to give it another try he would have a hard time answering. But the miko put herself on hold. Honoka finally got the right idea about her lack of self-esteem by the help of her best friend. I'm a little surprised about her conclusion... so she actually didn't give up on Yamato? I don't think she'll get a second chance. At least Nana found the right words to make her return to the track&field club; the miko so earned her Welcome Back there - just like Yamato she found there a lot more than just a love interest to stalk, as shown by the many club members missing her and being happy when she returned. And Kobayakawa... well, you never know. Even though she still doesn't have him on her radar screen I for once would be happy if they found each other some day. He made the best he could out of his little role so far, and that includes the pool event in episode 12. Asahina's (unsurprisingly) bad performance is the more noteworthy because all other characters, even Yamato, seem to act reasonably. We should have expected her to know Yamato better by now but at the moment she doesn't see what she doesn't want to see. Asahina is so completely pissed about herself falling for that "irresponsible guy" that she has fallen back to full denial mode. How can she use her brain then? Then again this is what makes her the lead character of the show, the main issue so to say. Despite being seriously pissed about Yamato again, Asahina's problem isn't whether she will forgive Yamato, it will be whether she can forgive herself and confirm being ready for another love after Tsuda-senpai. As long as she doesn't do that she's in no-go territory, despite all her pondering - she'll probably shy away from any relation even if Yamato confessed a third time (she didn't have to make that decision on the hotaru bridge because she was able to "hide" behind the fact Yamato was dating Honoka - that's different now). ============================================================================= | |
