Episode 9 Impression:
And so the lovey-dovey phase ensues…
At the beginning of episode 9, Kobeni tripped and fell over, revealing herself to the group of [insert ambiguous definition of “their kind” in here], Hakuya having only just been proposed to. To me, this was one of the weaker moments in the series so far, using Kobeni – whose not usually that clumsy – as a means of progressing the plot. Sure, they got to the point and didn’t drag the plot device for another twenty years before finally arriving there, but I found it to be a bit farcical that Kobeni would sporadically stumbled over herself, flustered though say may be.
Naturally, episode 9 is centered around two things: Kobeni and Hakuya’s relationship in a bit more depth (all thanks going to Suetsugi and Niko on this occasion) and the ‘marriage misunderstanding’. The comedy in Mikakunin de Shinkoukei ultimately all stems from misunderstandings, Benio’s ‘misunderstanding’ Mashiro’s defiance as a confused means of professing her love, Hakuya misunderstanding Kobeni’s inability to give him valentine’s chocolate in episode 6 as a declaration of their ‘non-love’, Kobeni misunderstanding Suetsugi’s true intentions and so on and so forth. Thankfully for us, the viewer, episode 9’s misunderstanding lead to the ‘lovey-dovey’ phase, the best phase of all. Kobeni, albeit somewhat unintentionally, professes a semi-love for Hakuya, and this proves a great victory both for herself, the viewer, and, best of all, Hakuya – the guy who’s willing to vehemently fight off any hint of extraneously implied romance between the two on behest of Kobeni’s wishes…what a guy.
But what we can’t forget is the tears that were shed – Kobeni’s tears in light of her ‘cruel’ actions towards Hakuya. It’s not fair for Kobeni to string Hakuya along if she doesn’t really love him, that’s basically what Suetsugi was getting at. Sure, their marriage was arranged and, in a lot of cases, this means ‘pseudo-love’ – a love most unfounded. But Kobeni genuinely cares for Hakuya, and we all know that Hakuya cares for Kobeni – it’s simply worked out that way. Kobeni having to come to terms with her feelings for once is both an accomplishment for her and a huge relief for the viewer, we having finally seen some semblance of glorious introspection on Kobeni’s part.
Finally, Benio declares war against Hakuya, seeing the ‘lovey-dovey’ phase as a threat to hers and Kobeni’s relationship…greedy bitch. Benio want Kobeni and Mashiro? Oh hell no, sister. It’s feasible that Benio didn’t really see Hakuya as much of a threat pre-lovey-dovey phase because Kobeni showed no real amount of affection towards the poor guy. But now it’s well and truly on, and I can’t wait to see how Benio and Hakuya finally interact, Benio extravagant personality being the antithesis of Hakuya’s withdrawn, introverted, personality. Stalker pervert freak vs a member of “their kind”…bring it!
~*~
Episode 10 Impression:
Why Kobeni, why? How could you go from episode 9’s “I probably like him” to episode 10’s “How dare you insinuate that I like him! Preposterous!” I mean sure you’re fine being engaged to him ‘n all, but liking him? Pah. Honestly, I don’t understand why they’re trying to prolong this plot point now, Mikakunin de Shinkoukei being a show that I’ve praised in the past for not lingering too long on a single issue. But there’s only two episodes left after this. I suppose we’re going to receive a pseudo-confession in the final episode, and I’m glad that Kobeni isn’t attempting to blindly jump into a relationship with Hakuya (like Suetsugi), but at times the episode felt a bit banal, the vacillation between Kobeni’s conflicting feelings wearing thin very quickly and coming across, to me, as one of the episode’s weaker aspects.
On the bright side, I’m glad that Kobeni straight up asked Mashiro why Suetsugi proposed to Hakuya instead of dragging that issue out for twenty years without ever reaching a proper resolution. She proposed because that’s what her mamma told her to do – simple. In episode 10 we saw Suetsugi’s feelings pertaining to the Hakuya situation, she herself realizing that her motives were selfish and one-sided, so it was nice to see a side character actually comprehend and analyse their own feelings instead of simple spouting nonsense for thirty years, such nonsense never reaching a proper, cogent, resolution. But, let’s get back to the point – does Kobeni have powers? Yes, I realize that Mashiro said she didn’t and I understand that she’s only half…”thing”, but that doesn’t necessarily mean this wasn’t some kind of foreshadowing for yet another plot twist.
Also, Benio. In episode 9 we saw her declare war; in episode 10 we saw her jump out of a second story window, land, and interrupt Kobeni and Hakuya whilst they were in the zone, Kobeni then going beast mode (those ‘horns’…). Luckily for us however, Benio was not a focal point in this episode of Mikakunin de Shinkoukei. Sure Suetsugi alluding to the idea that Kobeni’s cake is ‘unworthy’ may evoke deadly repercussions, but I’m sure she’ll be fine… No, the real focus of episode 10 was…the handkerchiefs! Kobeni bought Hakuya a handkerchief…how sweet. Naturally, good girl that she is, Kobeni also bought Mashiro and Benio handkerchiefs, but it’s Hakuya’s that we care about so we can ignore the rest! Right? Right.
Episode 10 was good. Episode 11 will (probably) be better. Don’t mess up on White Day, Hakuya…
– Chris.