“Something important is missing from my memories. But I don’t know what it is.” – Kaori Fujimiya
Impression:
Oh Hase you silly goose, you. When will he learn? Episode 4 of One Week Friends is, without a doubt, the best episode thus far. The sweet platonic (I almost said romantic, but I feel as though we’re not quite there yet) overtones remained, but instead of more cutesy antics and debacles we instead received a heartrending extension of last weeks reveal that Fujimiya can remember Shogo whilst still not being able to remember Hase. And so, when it is revealed to the others in the school that Fujimiya and Shogo are actually friends, Hase instinctively becomes jealous…and minutely hostile towards Shogo.
It became evident to me what the focus of episode 4 would be the moment Fujimiya said, “I feel he can do anything” after losing herself in a tangent about Shogo. You’ve got to feel sorry for Hase, in all fairness. For the last month or so, he’s been Fujimiya’s only friend, her only confidant. And now…well, now Fujimiya has another friend, one who “can do anything” and has stolen the prestigious title of ‘first friend’ from Hase in the eyes of the world. Hase’s normally a pretty calm and collected guy, although often flustered on the topic of Fujimiya, and so to see him so hotheaded and throwing a tantrum was a slight shock. That said, it’s easy to understand why he felt this way, his feelings for Fujimiya, both as a friend and as a potential love-interest, left him in a position of emotional turmoil as it seemed to him that Shogo, albeit unintentionally, was stealing Fujimiya way. Hase’s reaction in episode 4 was very much suited to his character, Hase taking a gung-ho approach to events and circumstances without really ever thinking them through and thus causing an issue when Fujimiya loses her notebook…
On a side note, Fujimiya really needs to invest in some better tape. I mean, one touch and all four taped corners fell away from the door? Ah well, anime angst requires extremely unlikely circumstances in order to prevail!
Once again it’s Shogo who proves to be the man of the hour in episode 4, prompting Hase with an uninspired but nevertheless potent words into action, in search of the diary and in search of his friend. Naturally, Fujimiya still remembers Shogo and he, knowing that this would be the case, forces Fujimiya to think back through her memories, thus bringing to the forefront of her thoughts the fact that she’s missing some important memories, memories that link her to Hase and therefore resolve everything nicely… But that’s Shogo for you, One Week Friends catalyst and most important facet. Without Shogo, these first four episode would be nothing more than anime’s usual fanfare of inaction and indecisive action. Sure, Hase’s not exactly down on one knee proposing and Fujimiya hasn’t made a heartfelt declaration of love, but the series constant journey’s into the more melancholy aspects of Fujimiya’s predicament are enough of a romantic stimuli to keep any romantic appeased.
Everything wrapped up neatly in episode 4 and has set us up for next weeks ‘new friend’ introduction with everyone at their best…or, at least, Fujimiya with her diary intact. The OST is really rather impressive, and that fact was made ever more obvious in this episode with the amount of dramatic tension and pathetic fallacy thrown around – enough to make any film studies student weep. Next week’s episode will surely return to the series natural happy-go-lucky style, but I’m eager to taste some more drama soon…
– Chris.