Now that's more like it!
After complaining last time about how this season isn't really delivering on the character drama that it desperately wants to have, this episode did much better. There's still a bit of weirdness, which I'll get into later, but I think I may have just been looking in the wrong place for development this season. Assuming that KyoAni doesn't want to mix up the Iwatobi dynamic too much because it might piss off the fans, they've been turning to the Samezuka characters instead.
Nitori in particular has gotten a ton of development compared to how his character was treated last season. I've personally gone from being ambivalent about him to actively rooting for him to improve his swimming and get on the relay team. However, I didn't mention that in my previous posts because I assumed that it was already a done deal, considering his increased screentime. In fact, I wasn't concerned with the makeup of the Samezuka team at all, like I stated in my post on Episode 4:
So much focus is being placed on who will be on the Samezuka relay team, but it's already a given what the roster will be. We haven't introduced any rivals, and even if there were, Rin cut down on the competition with his announcement at the end of the episode that the spots wouldn't be determined by times alone. I guess I'm just confused as to why this show is treating it with so much gravity when the result is obvious. In real life this would be a much bigger concern, but this way it feels like the show is adding drama just because it can.
As it turned out, I couldn't have been more wrong. The team did have competition; it just happened offscreen while the show moved its focus back to the Iwatobi boys for a while. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't see that now, but we get a taste of it in this episode anyway. Momo ends up taking a spot from one of the other members since he had the better time in competition. However, Nitori isn't as lucky, setting off a wave of self-doubt. Despite all the time he put in, he was surpassed by an underclassman who mainly runs off of talent. That has to sting a bit.
T_T
Which makes Sousuke's effort to cheer Nitori up and his later conversation with Rin all the more interesting. Once again, Sousuke's mirroring Rin's character arc from the first season in a few ways--he still wanted to swim a relay with Rin again after all these years, thinking that it would help him understand something. However, he still doesn't know what that "something" is, and it didn't become clear when he raced with Rin.
And as we all know, relays are Very Serious Business
There's a missing piece to the story and Sousuke's behavior that will probably solve the mystery to all of this, but I don't have many guesses about what that might be. Haru is part of it, I'm sure, but there has to be something more to it than just a race, like how with Rin it was also about his father. I don't think that KyoAni will reuse the dead father twist, but I'm getting the feeling that it's something that cuts just as deep.
Million dollar question
But speaking of Haru and moving back to the Iwatobi team, I'm glad that this episode is finally discussing Haru's future in a somewhat serious way. Like it or not, he's starting to get swept up into the same competitive swimming world that Rin and Sousuke are preparing to enter, and he'll have to make a decision about those scouts one way or the other.
But what does that mean for Makoto? I mentioned in the previous post that there was a lot of potential underlying feelings about them going on their separate paths that the episode just skimmed over, so I'm a bit happy (but sad for Makoto) that it's being implied again. The flashback in the previous episode showed that Makoto was the one who got Haru to join the swimming club in the first place, and Haru has been more vocal about wanting to swim with his friends in this season (probably because he doesn't want to hurt anyone else the way he accidentally hurt Rin). The race in the last episode might have been a goodbye of sorts, but will Haru accept that? I hope that this conversation continues.
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| Look at Nitori doing this Totally Normal Thing That All Roommates Do That Isn't Creepy At All |
Hmm...yeah. I' still trying to guess what's up with Sousuke. Right now I think he's a jerk interfering with Rin. But we don't have all the info yet. And that conversation with Rei and Haruka about what being "Free" means was a major thought point for Haruka. I wonder what he'll end up deciding.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if he's interfering exactly, but as you said, we don't have all the info yet. I'm reserving judgement until we do.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed that conversation between Rei and Haruka, and I'm sad that I couldn't work it into this post somehow. And it was a good thing for him to point out to Haru as well.