Nagi no Asukara – Episode 12: Wanting To Be Gentle

So much happened in this episode and almost all of it centered around the themes of love and jealousy; basically, this is what I’ve been waiting for. A perfect blend of comedy and drama, episode 12 of Nagi no Asukara presents the viewer with one of it’s best episodes to date, highlighting, firstly, all of the changes that have occurred within our characters, and, secondly, the changes that are yet to come. Every character had their say; every character had their part. This was the turning point, and now the stage has been well and truly set…

Confessions, confessions – confessions in abundance! Episode 12 was inundated with the confessions that I have been waiting for since episode 1 and, I suppose, that’s great. I’ll talk about Kaname later, but boy did he set things into motion. Hikari confessed to Manaka, Chisaki confessed to Hikari, Manaka can’t decide if she wants to confess to either Tsumugu or Hikari, and Kaname… well, he was an early starter. Hikari’s new-found maturity was the highlight of this episode for me, Hikari himself realizing that he needed to approach everyone involved in a mature manner. Take Chisaki, for example. If she’d fallen over like that in episode 1 there’s no way Hikari would have stopped for her – he’d be too busy chasing Manaka’s tiny ass to even ‘care‘ (and by that I mean ‘notice‘). But when Chisaki confesses and the two of them sit down to talk about their feelings, he realizes that chasing after Manaka would be futile, I mean, he’d already said what he needed to say and that’s all that was important. Oh, and the best thing about the Chisaki confession scene? Hikari didn’t f**king freak out! I absolutely hate it when male character start stumbling over themselves and having a stroke whenever someone confesses to them, I mean, seriously, get a grip! But Hikari understands, he too having just confessed in a similar way. Even Chisaki didn’t freak out (too much)! Honestly, I’m shipping Hisaki (stay away from Chisaki, Tsumugu!) because they understand each other best, despite Kaname’s claim to Chisaki’s heart…

This love themed episode didn’t start out with an abundance of confessions however, oh no, episode 12 began with Tomoru (Akari and Hikari’s father) visiting Oshiooshi so as to tell Akari that he approves of her marrying Itaru, a change of heart that I, honestly, didn’t see coming. Perhaps some retrospection did the big bear some good? Again, we were provided with some background information into Hikari and Akari’s raising, but this scene was only really here to set the tone for the wedding, a wedding which their father won’t even be able to attend. It’s a sad ordeal… that said… did anyone else find it odd seeing Tomoru outside of Shioshishio? It felt like I was watching a dog walk across the moon, you know?

Let’s talk about Kaname… he’s slowly becoming one of my favorite characters, he being the ‘most‘ mature of the group and his innate emotions far superseding those of his deceitful posterior. Kaname handled knowing that someone else liked the object of his affections in a manner much unlike that of Hikari, Hikari, if anything, acting in a much more mature manner… that said, they are facing possible death and so I suppose I can forgive Kaname for being a bit angsty. I can honestly see Kaname snapping at some point, but I just hope that his wroth isn’t directed in either Hikari or Chisaki’s directions, their romance now being [my personal] focal point of the show… Personal preferences aside, Kaname’s portrayal as the helpless child was written perfectly in this episode, the right amounts of anger, depression and jealously all coming across and amalgamating into what one can only call ‘the truth’. We’ve all felt like doing what Kaname did at some point in out lives, Kaname realizing that he has almost no chance with Chisaki and trying to sabotage Hikari relationships with the two girls as a means of ‘revenge’, for want of a better word. I just hope Chisaki can forgive him before he goes full yandere…

Gah! Tsumugu! Your grand-papa be dying/going into a coma/slowly drifting into hibernation… That’s what the ‘weird cough’ is, right? I’m almost certain that Isamu (his grandfather) is from Shioshishio and, therefore, it only makes logical sense that his Ena be getting thicker… that is, if I’ve understood the shows logic correctly. Tsumugu recieved a lot more screen time in episode 12 and that makes me happy, not only being I find it, quite frankly, amusing to watch Chisaki get all nervous around him, but because I want to know more about him. Why does he hate his mother so much? How will his relationship with his mother affect the show? Will he ever develop real emotions? Or shall the Stony Cat horde them forever?

Overall, episode 12 is one of the best episodes so far, proving to be, in and of itself, the series’ ‘turning point’. Firstly, I can’t believe that Manaka got caught be Tsumugu… again (it’s a sign!), and secondly, it would appear that the process of hibernation is finally beginning. I can only assume that the only way for out group to avoid the hibernation is to shed their Ena (they can do that, right?), otherwise there’s going to be a time skip and that’s going to throw me. Put simply, everything begins here and I’m excited to see what’s coming next. Also, who are you shipping? Tsumugu and Chisaki? Manaka and Hikari? Kaname and Hikari?

– Chris.