Impression
I enjoyed the leisurely pace of today’s episode. While I’m always up for a bit of romantic drama, it’s also really nice to bask in the soft, gentle atmosphere that Glasslip exudes – it’s just the sort of thing you’d expect from a slice-of-life championed by P.A. Works. And who’s to say there wasn’t an underlying current of tension bubbling away underneath the surface? I was acutely conscious of a single thing during the episode, and that was my assumption that the Touko x Kakeru pairing is set in stone. It’s strongly embedded, maybe, but it’s not definitive – nothing is ever definitive in a show with this sort of pedigree. Yukinari may not have much of a chance with Touko, but I don’t get the feeling that he’s given up on her – even though he’s bluntly raised the notion that Touko might be in love with Kakeru. Of course, following on from this, Touko just had to chance upon what she’ll definitely assume as a very unlikely pairing between Yana-chan and Kakeru. I hope they don’t spend too much time fumbling around misunderstandings, though with how frank and upfront these characters are, I doubt that’ll be a problem. While Yanagi x Kakeru is pretty much a crack pairing, it’s actually hard to decipher personalities like David’s. I don’t know, it’s a bit like Tsumugu was in that respect – all of us were led on a wild goose chase thinking he was certain to be paired off with Manaka, and yet he ended up pursuing Chisaki for the latter half of the show. The only ship that seems to be sailing smoothly is Sacchan x Hiro, although I’m not sure whether Sachi herself sees it as a ship in the first place! Hiro had the courage to make a move, at least.
I’m a firm believer in imagery and symbolism, and Glasslip seems to be continuing that through highlighting all sorts of minor events that may or may not have significance in the future – for example, it’s like we haven’t grasped the idea that Kakeru is a solitary individual with how often he goes hiking alone. He even sleeps outside in a tent instead of in a bed in his house! Yana-chan has hurt her leg, and spent the episode trying to find her feet both physically and romantically – she was pleased when Yukinari helped her and offered to carry her, but it must have stung when he played the family card. As ever, Touko is being very honest with her – some part of me thinks that she might be unnecessarily shaking the boat by telling Yanagi that her heart went doki doki, but as I said last week, that’s something to like about her too! She’s gone back to school to continue sketching Jonathan and the rest of the chickens in the courtyard – I must admit, I honestly thought she’d have another fateful encounter with David, so it was a bit of an awkward shock to see Yukinari standing there instead. Clearly this scene has turned up again in light of his recent confession, and I can’t blame him for not wanting to be firmly booted back into the friend zone, as likely as that may be.