Get a hint, punk ass bitch. She’s NOT into you!
I was absolutely terrified that Akira was going to be raped when Kase snuck up behind her and stole a kiss on her cheek. The entire first date was unsettling and gross and I was scared it was going to get worse but thankfully it didn’t go that way. I hope this is the last we’ll see of him, but seeing as he knows this big secret, I still have this bad feeling.
I think Kase was an example of an outside force looking into the taboo love of Kondo and Akira. He finds out about Akira’s crush on Kondo when he asks to look through her literature book, as he hasn’t seen a high school textbook in awhile (and he was offered a tutoring job before). But Akira forgets that she doodled cute drawings of Kondo in it, with his and her name next to each under, and Kase saw it all. He proceeds to blackmail her by making her go out on a date with him, or else he’d blab her secret to everyone. They do that and she’s even more aloof than usual and barely makes eye contact with him, and he’s obviously pretty disappointed as he suddenly has become very much interested in her. As much as I hate this piece of shit and hope he gets punched in the face…the things he said were pretty much true and follow my line of thinking. Of course he didn’t have to phrase the things he said in the way he did, but it holds a degree of truth. It’s exactly as I said, that Akira latched onto Kondo after losing something so important to her, which is track. He continues to point out that their relationship could be weird and creepy because of such a huge age gap, but then he suggests to her to find someone more suitable for her (like him). Other than that last bit, those statements angered Akira but we see that they really affected her. Akira never really went over what kind of consequences their relationship might have, even though Kondo mentioned them before but she just shut them down with an “I don’t care”.
Akira kind of does live in a little fantasy world. Like I’ve said, she doesn’t even consider the consequences even once. The visuals of the OP show us that too, since she’s dreaming all of it. Her love of him is sweet, and her giggles and dancing around are adorable, but she does need a bit of a reality check. I wish Kase went about it a different way. In the second half of the episode, she has her date with Kondo, which is the same date she had with Kase but it went differently. She dressed much prettier, she was really into it, but it was still just as awkward because Kondo wasn’t because of his own lack of self confidence. I think Akira expected the date to be full of fun and sunshine, but only ended up being disappointed because it didn’t go that way. Also, what Kase said was still in the back of her mind. The scene in the train station was a sign that maybe she’s having doubts. She imagined herself running off after Kondo and giving him a kiss on the cheek, but she never went through with it. She was standing behind a yellow line but walked away from it, literally showing us that she decided not to cross the line and do what she imagined. Kase (and her mom lol) ruins her date again when Akira has both the booklets of the same movie, not being able to tell which one Kondo gave her. It’s just a reminder of Kase.
As sickening and hard to watch this episode was, it was necessary. I wonder if this was a wake up call for Akira, and if it’ll make her thinks things through. Also, I have to give this girl some props. I’m so glad that she’s not a pushover and stands her ground to Kase. She glares at him and makes it plainly obvious that she wants nothing to do with this fucker, yelling at him to go away and let her go. If he had gone violent I’m sure she would have fought back, but thankfully things didn’t have to go that way.
And I’m just feeling more and more bad for Kondo. He really thinks so little of himself. Being with Akira always reminds him of moments from his youth, and that in turn just reminds him of how old her is. And he’s not even that old, he’s 45! But as midlife crises go, his disconnection from youth hurts him. He gives off the impression that just because he’s old, he doesn’t deserve love. His divorce must have really hurt him pretty badly for him to think that way. I also believe that Kondo thinks that there could be something between them, but he presents himself as unattractive and as old as possible, maybe more for his own sake than Akira’s. Though I’m sure he’s thinking about saving Akira from more awkwardness in the future too. Because if this date was awkward, then that awkwardness won’t stop.
