“You traitor.” -Hajime Kujō
Impression:
In episode 9 I felt a shift, a progression away from what we’ve come to accept as the One Week Friends formula into something new. Fujimiya’s mother’s words about Fujimiya’s happiness, her life before the accident and her life in the wake of Hase’s appearance proved to be this episodes focal point, albeit a subtle one. Yes, the cutesy antics between friends coming together to do their homework on the last day of summer was the kind of slice-of-life specialty that we’ve all come to love, and it was nice to see the group meshing without any (real) issues, but now I’m ready from the show to propel me into the last few episodes with a dark haired male plot twist and a regression so full of impact the viewer can’t help but think, “what the hell is going on?”
If anything, this episode seemed to take the concept of plot progression and put it on ice (for the most part). Fujimiya and Hase had a particularly cute moment but that was all we got in the way of romantic growth between them; Shogo and Saki’s relationship seemed to grow with the small revelation (if it can even be called that) that Shogo’s been helping Saki out for years so as not to let her fall behind. Again, I can only conclude that this episode is acting as some kind of prelude to the events that we’re going to be viewing in the final episodes of the series, a point emphasized and reinforced by the appearance of mysterious transfer student Hajime Kujo, a person who appears at first to be a person from Fujimiya’s past and then secondly, perhaps, the person or ‘friend’ that she was going to see on that fateful Sunday.
Speaking of Hajime Kujo… He seems like a bit of a jerk, to be honest. The question you then have to ask yourself is, “would Fujimiya ever befriend someone who appears to be as much of a douchebag as this guy?”, and the answer can be either one of two things: firstly, that good ol’ Hajime Kujo has changed, secondly, that good ol’ Hajime Kujo is still good ol’ Hajime Kujo and we’ve only seen him at his ‘worst’. You also have to wonder just how important Kujo was to Fujimiya, her being unable to see him on that Sunday leaving her mentally scarred and unable to make new friends, despite her desire to do so. Were they childhood sweethearts? Were they just really good friends? What’ll happen when Fujimiya finally remembers?
Find out next time on One Week Friends.
– Chris.