Boys Be - 8: Autumn: Circle Dance ~ The Day After a Full Moon - SWALLOW

Title:Boys Be
Episode:8: Autumn: Circle Dance ~ The Day After a Full Moon - SWALLOW
Synopsis
Still under the impact of the summer events, Kyoichi is brooding... but Makoto manages to cheer him up, right when they notice their classmate Sayama Shouko listening to music (via headset) at class. Sayama gets very upset when the teacher confiscates her music player.
While Kyoichi is still wondering about a subject for his clay work at Art classes (whose deadline is the upcoming School Festival next week) he's able to help an irate Shouko getting a drink from the school's malfunctioning vending machine [image1]. They start talking about music, and about some popular band names "Sail" whose singer retired and Shouko mulls over applying for the position. Shouko invites Kyoichi to join a concert of her own band tonight, and the boy is impressed by her powerful performance. Later that evening she enquires whether he completely broke up with Chiharu, and then asks him to join her on a nightly trip. But when they climb the school walls Kyoichi learns they're going to retrieve the confiscated MD player [image2]! This is going to be a long night, and when Shouko opens her heart to Kyoichi the boy takes her in his arm... [image3]
On the next day Shouko tells Kyoichi she's going to skip classes for a trip to Osaka where Sail's auditions are being held. But she's far less confident than before, and asks Kyoichi to join her tonight again, to another concert. One of Shouko's competitors is performing there and leaves the girl frustrated, and Kyoichi's attempt to cheer her up backfires: Now Shouko wants to give up music completely, and claims not to be as strong as she appeared to be. But then...
The new couple exchanging friendship bracelets causes a stir amongst their friends [image4] while Chiharu tries not to take notice of it. But Shouko senses that Kyoichi still loves Chiharu, and she doesn't want to be a mere replacement. Kyoichi tells her she's not - and Shouko asks him to join her tonight no matter what. But while she's waiting in the rain Kyoichi is in his room at home, watching his paintings [image5] that bring back precious memories... [image6]
Comments
[2005-04-18, Devil Doll]:
Certain wonderful scenes, most of all Kyoichi's flashback to some scene he's already experienced before and the memory still hurting his soul. I also liked the scene where Shouko's competitor was actually singing horribly but still frustrated the girl. Towards the ending drama steps in, and certain scenes reminded me of Video Girl Ai. And not to my knowledge has a Karaoke bar scene ever been used more reasonably than in this episode!
Not all events here may strictly follow the laws of probability, but - who cares? One of the best episodes in this series IMHO, and part of this is due to the great music: Several songs are used in this episode, all of which contain lyrics related to Kyoichi's and Shouko's current situation. Prepare for watching the episode with stop-and-go to get all the information.
My favourite quotation (by Makoto): "First a Yeti, and now a Mountain Witch? Kyoichi has an awful taste."

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