Sakamichi no Apollon

[David75]

Jun being a communist, we're in the sixties and all...

Well guys, just find yourself a big house and live all together in Peace and Love, creating all kinds of complicated relationships
No way? Well, sure.

Yurika? Even if Jun disappears from the region (dead, or alive) she'd probably need years to recover. So she's probably out of the
love polygons... except she almost let herself sink into Sen's love... It's a bit of a remote solution. The only advantage would be
to have a situation where devastated Yurika tries to find confort in Sen's arms and he knows it but just can't help himself, just when he gave new hopes to Ri-chan who herself was about to fall for Kaoru and he knows it.

Love polygons all the way

[Ryllharu]

Sorry, Mfauli, Yurika and Jun just fit. A psuedorevolutionary (who obviously wasn't really all that into it and is now traumatized) who would rather be playing music and being a classy dude, and a young lady who is essentially a beatnik (recall Kaoru's reaction to her painting).

It's not misogynistic at all, if anything, she's close the leading edge of female empowerment of the era(disobeying her parents to do what she wants and live the way she pleases), cutting her hair into a functional style (since he died recently and it was all over the news, it's very much like Vidal Sassoon's "wash and wear" styles that had a huge impact on that time period), etc. Yurika is a modern classy lady.

[MFauli]

Well, I must have missed something then, because my point is that there simply isn´t enough history between Yurika and Jun, to justify her level of devotion to him. If they had "something" going on for many months, better years, then it´d all make a lot more sense. But they basically met 2-3 times per coincidence, didn´t interact all that much, and then we see her be "do whatever you want with me" in this episode. Just paints her as very self-sacrificing, weak-willed.

Would have been interesting to see her reaction if Jun had done "it", but of course that´d have been to strong of a theme for this anime, I guess.

[Ryllharu]

Uh...Sentaro fell in love with her the moment he saw her. He had never crossed paths with her at school before. He was even taken aback that she went to the same school as them. He was willing to do pretty much anything just to spend time with her.

It's only fair that she should be allowed to fall in love with someone else the same way.

[MFauli]

I don´t think Sentaro did anything on the level of "rape me" that Yurika did.

[shinta|hikari]

Yeah, he did the reverse "I'll rape you" bit with the practically forced kiss.

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, he did the reverse "I'll rape you" bit with the practically forced kiss".

I call that "resist me if you can". xD

[Xelbair]

why not 'tender love'? sounds way more nice :>

[Buffalobiian]

Just paints her as very self-sacrificing, weak-willed.

It just occurred to me that MFauli complained about Yurika being "weak-willed" here, while he would have otherwise been saying "her love was shallow" or something had she given up on him and went with Sen...

HorribleSubs - Episode 09

[MFauli]

Weeell, that´s kinda the problem here: Her love for Jun WAS shallow, or at least extremely naive and superficial. "Oh, this guy is so cool and charming, I love him". Okay, girl. She then went from this shallow love to "do whatever you like to me". Which paints her as weak-willed AND shallow.

But, tbh, the problem I had with Yurika was that her initial appearance had me think differntly of her. She was this elegant, "cold", classy lady-like girl. Then, however, she turned into something similar to Haruno Sakura and became Jun´s fangirl.

Aaanyway, on to ep 9 ...

EDIT:

Just watched ep 9.
I still feel like I must have missed something important. The way it played out, Yurika and Jun are truly in love with each other. But WHEN did this love develop?!

Other than that, BOY I´m glad that the Sen-Richan-idea got resolved that quickly. And luckly, Sen seemed to have no romantic feelings for Ri-chan anyway, so her "We´re like family" wasn´t as brutal as it would have been otherwise, haha.

Though I wonder what the remaining 4 (?) episodes will be about. If the pacing doesn´t change, Kaoru and Ri-chan becoming a couple shouldn´t take more than one episode. Some unexpected event maybe? Kaoru having to move to another town? Some big, violent event? (Don´t know about the historical circumstances, but they kept talking about those student protests)

[Buffalobiian]

Yurika and Jun are truly in love with each other. But WHEN did this love develop?!

Yurika liked him ever since they first met, but everything sealed itself during the time that Yurika cut her hair (give or take 15 minutes or whatever). Jun was still the man Yurika thought he was (after calling the rape bluff), and Jun had someone who cared for him despite where he's gotten himself into, and what's in front of him (nothing much, as far as glamour and job prospects go).

I'm glad they found the only way out of a love-polygon:

Screw. Everything. Else.

Sen/Kaouru/Ritsuko played out nicely too. I have to fully agree with Ritsuko here about the timing. Sen responding to Ritsuko's feelings for him helped to push her forward now (instead of walling her off if she was rejected while she still liked him more). It only worked though because Ritsuko managed to move on at least partially in that time. Some people actually need to be told outright (and even then it might not help them).

It's strange. I liked Sen a lot at the beginning of the show, but now I don't really feel for him that he's the one left out of all the romance. Maybe it's because he's always been strong (on the exterior) while the other guys got underdog points.. or because he almost "deserved" it because he is the least observing of the bunch in this whole affair (and therefore got left behind).

Thankfully the Ritsuko/Yurika talk by the bins wasn't a one-sided counselling session since neither of them were really in a position to be doing so.

[MFauli]

Btw. what is the title of the song/melody that Kaoru keeps playing? The one that Sentaro played in ep1, then Kaoru corrected him, then Sentaro said "you´re lacking mood" or whatever. I´m trying to play this melody on the piano, but I cannot get a certain part right, so I´d like to search for the melody´s notes.

[Ryllharu]

Ri-chan's dad names it at the end of the episode, noting the intro is the only thing Sentaro can play (20:06).

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - "Moanin'"
Youtube
Them playing it live.

[shinta|hikari]

@Mfauli - They mentioned the title numerous times.

I love Ri-chan, which is amazing since I hate freckled girls. This is a first. The voice and accent own.

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 10

[Ryllharu]

It's hard for me to take an episode seriously that features the infamous Japanese Fever, that lays low any man or woman to the point where they can barely move.

I feel melodrama creeping in where it isn't really needed...

[shinta|hikari]

I've had such fevers before, but that is because I live in the Philippines where bacteria and viruses flourish due to the tropical weather and generally unsanitary conditions. I have a very strong immune system, but that hardly matters when the bug is bad.

The good thing about it is it immunizes you from so many illnesses. Swine flu was treated just like an ordinary fever. People never even knew they had it.

[Ryllharu]

It's one thing when you catch a nasty bug going around, catch something from a major storm flood/typhoon spreading contaminated water, or get bit by a mosquito.

It's entirely another when they are out of commission for a week because they got rained on, or ran home after getting out of the bath and not drying their hair.

Japan doesn't even get Dengue fever.

[shinta|hikari]

Thing is, people in the Philippines actually do get sick when they get rained on and are not dried/warmed up soon enough. I think the idea was that the cold lowers the body temperature and decreases resistance against illnesses. Pair that up with the humid environment that is good for breeding bacteria and people get sick.

I am not sure why that should apply to Japan though, since the place is really clean with very few pests and the like.

[Buffalobiian]

I liked the episode. The mitten-protection scene was nicely done. Kaoru was being unlikable but that's him...

As for whole cold thing.. the general cold outbreak happens after a monsoon or wet/rainy season, and this usually coincides with the cooling of weather. The wet weather keeps people in close proximity and enables easier spreading of the bug, which then starts to kick in after a short incubation period.

There was a theory where the cold stabilises the virus so that it lasts longer in the environment as it tries to make its way from one person to another, but I haven't heard much about that one.

I do remember one time where I lent my coat to someone when it was cold and raining, only to have myself come down with a fever really badly for a week a day or two afterwards.. but that in itself doesn't prove causality.