It’s easy to paint Kotarou’s mom as an antagonist, but honestly her stance is very easy to understand. Your son only has average grades at best (I think worse) and all of a sudden he reveals at the parent-teacher conference that he wants to go to a private school two hours away? All because of a girl? And Akane’s sister makes a very good point. As much as we want these two to stay as a couple, because this is fiction it might happen, but what makes them think that they’ll always be together? What if they break up? Though that last bit worries me because Nee-san has been right before (with Chinatsu).
Back to Kotarou’s mom. At first it wasn’t just her that didn’t like the idea of Koumei. It surprised his father, and while he was trying to calm his wife down, Kotarou’s attitude didn’t help his stance. Now, his mother has never really been super supportive of his dream of being a writer but I’m not saying that she’s never been supportive. She never told him to stop, but only to balance. His writing would take over study time and Kotarou has never had the best grades, which is what his friends remind him when word gets out that Kotarou wants to go to Koumei. His mother was against it but she’s noticed how much Kotarou has been studying. Going to his room to clean, she notices all the papers and notes around his desk. Kotarou has also been doing nothing but studying, staying up late on top of all the studying he does at his cram school. I think seeing him like this, she realized how serious he was about this. This is probably the most serious Kotarou has ever been with his studies. She always said that she felt like Kotarou never considered his future, but I think she found herself to be completely wrong. He’s very serious about his future and he’s working very hard to get into this school. A private school, no less, so it would look very good for him for universities. After seeing this vigor in her son, she meets with his teacher and begs to give her son a chance to try for Koumei. I found it incredibly sweet, even more sweet that she would stay up to make him some snacks for his studies. Kinda made me emotional to be honest.
Later, Kotarou’s father breaks the news that he can try for Koumei. However, if he fails the exam to get into the school, he’ll go to a municipal public school in the area. His father also admits what his mother did, and Kotarou is surprised. Later that night, he happily eats the riceballs his mom made for him. Which was just so nice. Support can do so much, you know? The very end with his parents fussing over him, like making him a lunch, writing down the routes and trains to ride, and seeing him off, was very heartwarming.
I always found Kotarou’s household pretty interesting when you compare them to Akane’s family. Akane’s family has always been talkative, warm, and supportive of Akane. Scenes with Kotarou’s parents have always been a little awkward since they’re such a quiet family. Of course there was less support for Kotarou’s dreams from his mother, so I always felt the atmosphere around them to be strained and a little cold. This is the first time where I felt the air around them to be a lot more positive and warm. Of course there was issues in the beginning, but with more understanding and support, I feel like Kotarou’s little family has gotten closer. Like his father said, Kota’s mom can be a bag but that’s really because she loves him so much and just wants the best for him. And I wanna cry.
And of course, I can’t not talk about Kotarou and Akane’s adorable little Christmas date. They meet up and exchange little Christmas presents for each other. Kotarou, a pink handkerchief and Akane, a blue scarf she personally knitted for him. Poor thing, the scarf turned out a lot longer than she wanted but of course Kotarou was happy about it. They walk around and hang out at a shrine, talking about Kotarou’s troubles with his parents being against Koumei, him not having the best grades, and Akane talking about how support is important from your parents. Like how after seeing the lunch she made for her last track meet, she realized that her mom was watching and cheering for her the whole time. Of course they want to leave things on a happier note, so they kiss. Later on Akane had taken her exam for Koumei and she passed! Kotarou and Chinatsu cheered in joy upon hearing the news.
We all know that Kotarou is working super hard, probably the hardest in his life, but he still didn’t do well on the mock exam in cram school. He needs to pass 60 points and he couldn’t for any subject, so I’m a little worried for him. Also, Akane’s sister mentioning the possibility of them breaking up has me even more worried! Still, maybe with knowing that he has his parents’ full support that’ll give him the confidence boost to pass the exam?
The next episode is the last and anything can happen! Happy ending, bittersweet, sad? Ahhh! But like I said, Akane’s sister makes a good point. Things can really backfire if they break up. Also, the chances of them being together forever? I know people have their high school sweethearts, but again that’s really low. This show has always stuck with realism so I’m just getting worried. Also, it really shows how old you are when you realize how small their chances are at a long-term relationship because of how young they are. T_T
Either way, I hope this motherfucker passes that test or I’m going to be heartbroken.
Let me just start off by saying that when you compared Kotarou and Akane’s family, I kind of think back to that wedding in Up, seeing the contrasting personalities of Carl and Elle’s families.
Putting aside the romance, the main thing here is that Kotarou is going to a high school just because of a girl. Getting into the school is one thing, but what about staying in? It’ll be tough, and realistically, might not be the best thing for him right now. Never hurts to try, but limit your expectations. But seriously…if TIFU taught me anything, throwing away your future just for a girl (even if it is Akane) is possibly a dumb thing to do. In that sense, Kotarou’s mother was right in being concerned for him and his decisions. Though it was nice seeing him so determined.
I mean, I get what he’s feeling. I was like that once, though I never had the rigors that Kotarou had with the Japanese school system. Now, hindsight really showed how juvenile my feelings were, though to be fair, I did not have the experiences that Kotarou had. Mainly just talk, but nothing close at all, so yeah. Nevertheless, it’s hard at that age to reject your feelings, thinking that you’re so right. His little date with Akane really reinforces the idea that he’s right (for a lack of a better word). It was nice seeing them talk and exchange tiny gifts; oh my, a handknit scarf. She’s definitely a keeper (am I reinforcing the idea of masculinity/patriarchy by using that term?). Kotarou, never let her go.
I like to post this quote I remembered from a fanfiction story to conclude this reply, from A Centimeter Closer by Pendragon2005 :
We come and go, inevitable as the dawn. The United States President, Abraham Lincoln, once described a story in which a ruler asked his wisest men to create a sentence which would always be true. The statement was “And this, too, shall pass away.” Nothing in this world lasts. Everything dies. Even the mountains, with all their pride and majesty, shall eventually be worn down by the winds and rain. It is for this reason I find nostalgia such a curious feeling. We often classify it, lay it out as such, and move on. But if we waited a few minutes and let it wash over us like a warm summer breeze, would we see something new? Would it be pure and innocent and hopeful? Would it be something so utterly despairing that it would break us completely? Truth be told, I don’t have the answer, any more than I could answer that question so often asked, ‘what if…?’ I just know that each time I look back and remember that day and night, I will remember those three hearts. And as I gaze at the twilight outside my window, I remember my own.