Since birth, Kotoura Haruka has been able to read people’s minds. However as a child, she had no idea of what kind of consequences awaited her in the future for having frequently acting as as a speaker to the other party’s mind. As result she was abandoned by her friends, treated as a freak, and eventually led to her parent’s divorce and her mother and father both abandoning her as well.
First Impression:
One minute into the show, and I immediately realized the horrors that awaited Kotoura in the future. As a child she didn’t know better and was proud of herself for being able to “guess” right. But because she always acted out as the speaker of the other party’s mind, those around her were not pleased, and grew angry and freaked out by her. Hands down, the worst part- and we all knew it was going to happen: Revealing that both her mother and father are having an affair. Then finally, the minute she lost the cat, I started crying. Everything was so heartbreaking! What a way to start off my morning…
It was a real good breakthrough to have Kotoura experience someone else’ daydream instead of negative thoughts. Manabe Yoshihisa is super awesome. I really adore his personality and he will be a big stepping stone for restoring Kotoura’s faith into others again. His attitude towards Kotoura’s ability to hear people’s thoughts is the most positive we’ve seen yet. On top of that, he refuses to leave her alone. If he sees her alone, he’ll ditch his partner to be hers. Seriously, how embarrassing it must be for Kotoura to see his inner fantasies of her, as well it is for him because he struggles to keep his dirty thoughts in the back of his head. And the best part of this is that instead of being scared of her like the others, he is more worried about scaring her off! Manabe is also the very first person to ever thank her for her actions.
It did surprise me that Kotoura never bothered to even try hiding her abilities, but once you think about it, it actually in fact it makes a lot of sense. Kotoura doesn’t want to get close to people who will leave her, nor would it be comfortable to be in a group that doesn’t particularly like her. Of course as Manabe told her, regardless whether the person has the ability to read minds or not, if the person with them intends to leave- they will.
Actually since he mentioned that, I think this is something important that we should apply to Kotoura’s parents divorce. Way before Kotoura revealed her parents’ affairs, there were signs of her father already having an affair. So at some point or another, both Kotoura and- I dare say her mother would have to come into terms that it was never Kotoura’s fault. It was bound to happen regardless she had said anything.
By the end of the episode, we were able to see a glimpse of light regarding Kotoura’s ability. For the first time we experience what would serve as a benefit. It was thanks to the fact she was to hear the truck driver’s thoughts of ignoring the red light and was able to get them both out of the way before the guy hit them. If she hadn’t, they probably would have been dead or at least critically injured.
As I mentioned in the Winter Preview, I wasn’t a huge fan of the character designs. However throughout the episode they quickly grew on to me and I think that will be something that will apply to a lot of people. I recommend that if its the character designs are what stopping you from trying this out: turn a blind eye to the “unfavorable” character designs and give this show a shot.
Overall Kotoura-san was able to deliver a strong, emotional impact right off the bat and had an excellent turning point. I already adore and appreciate the characters and I am excited to learn more about the rest of the cast. With that said, I will certainly take part of blogging this show.
Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed – I will try my best, but do expect delays because of my hands. Unfortunately they must come first. With that in mind, I may skip summaries as well to reduce the amount of typing.
