Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara Episode 7

And here we get the Kawai centered episode I was hoping for. While this episode didn’t feel as strong as the others, I still enjoyed it because we got to delve more into Kawai’s character and that is all I wanted.

But before we get into the Kawai section of the episode I was SHOCKED at the fact that Hitomi lost her ability to see colors after the night she got them back. I had a feeling something bad would happen. Well, I suppose it’s not that bad per say, but the moment didn’t feel triumphant at the end of the last episode. So I guess this was the answer. Partly I’d suspect. I’m honestly really concerned for Hitomi and I’m so concerned as to what is going on with her. Is her magic that unstable?

However, I am thankful that Hitomi is at least able to talk things out with Kohaku and she isn’t letting her feelings of uncertainty fester and spiral out of control. She has an outlet in Kohaku and her teenaged grandmother is always willing to give her some advice. Teenage Kohaku is wise beyond her years… looks off into the distance Kohaku is always doing her best to support and encourage Hitomi and her advice to “have fun and live in the now” really spoke to me. While it is important to think of the future, you shouldn’t always be looking at the future in anxiety but also focus on how you’re doing in the present. Especially in Hitomi’s case, since she never seemed to care too much about what was happening around her initially. But thanks to her meeting the others, she’s starting to actually enjoy herself and the others’ company.

The group are preparing for an annual summer camping trip and I couldn’t help but go “Oh no” since that’s usually where drama starts festering in anime. It also seems that the camping trip is used to help prep the new club president, which is passed over to Asagi since she’s the one there the longest. And then Hitomi hilariously gets roped into being the vice president. Which makes me wonder is Hitomi even going to be in this timeline long enough to carry that position? She can’t stay in this timeline forever, right? How is her being there changing the future? This series hasn’t addressed this yet, but I’m getting more and more concerned about it. Especially with how close she’s getting with Yuito. HOW IS THIS SERIES GOING TO END???

When Kawai was shown sitting by herself, I chuckled to myself saying that Fukazawa is probably going to appear and started laughing when it ended up happening. It seems that those two’s appearances go hand in hand these days. One simply cannot appear without the other and this episode actually convinced me that: Huh, these two are actually kind of cute. Though I hope the series will get into Fukazawa’s story arc since he’s literally the one we know the least about so far in the group.

We are introduced to Kawai’s older sister and just from the scene they interact in, I can sense some discomfort from Kawai. While the two are shown to have a decent relationship, you can tell from Kawai’s more quiet moments that there’s something more. It especially becomes quite evident in her interaction with Fukazawa at the summer camp. She seems to have lot of self confidence issues and when Fukazawa offhandedly comments about comparing the two, Kawai gets offended and snaps at him. And then again later on, she uncharacteristically tells him to stop teasing her in a tone that was blunt and serious rather than her typical teasing. You can tell that EVERYONE noticed and made the mood super uncomfortable. To which Kawai notices and tries to salvage the mood by trying to bring back the energy. She tried…

But can we just all take a moment and appreciate how much Hitomi has changed? Earlier, she talked about how she initially didn’t care about what the color of the sky was but now she wants to find out after seeing color again. Not only that, but she actively goes to Kawai and talks to her in hopes of helping instead of just keeping to herself. She even goes out of her way to perform magic to try and help her friends. You’ve grown so much Hitomi, I’m proud of you!

But man, Kawai… I FEEL YA, GIRL. She doesn’t know what to do with her career and as a third year, she’s pressured to figure it out soon. Which is why she feels jealous towards her sister and even Yamabuki and Yuito for that matter. They all have something their passionate about and are all striving to make it in their chosen careers. But compared to them, Kawai feels inadequate to them and is down on herself for not having anything she’s passionate about. AHHHH IT’S TOO REAL. While these characters are not as boisterous compared to other anime characters, they feel VERY human with very human problems and I can feel it from them. They’re all just trying to figure out what to do with their lives and their insecurities about it. I have to commend the writers because Kawai’s insecurities literally reminds me of what my teenage sister is going through right now and the feelings behind it.

I also really like how this episode was set up. The build up to Kawai confessing she doesn’t have anything she wants to do so it’s difficult for her to devote herself to her studies was also really well done. Having the episode kick off with her slamming her head against the table in defeat over blowing her test was just really good foreshadowing and a tie in what was to come. But man, I love Kawai. Ever since her first appearance, I was always kind of attached to her. Though half of it is because she looks like a character I like. But her energy is also really infectious and her being another mood maker in the group was already scoring points in my book. Her relationship with Fukazawa also became amusing after a while.

Speaking of Fukazawa, it was made terribly obvious in this episode that he’s totally into Kawai. Though I suppose all the teasing he did prior to this episode already confirmed his interest. But holy crap… HE HAS SO MANY PICTURES OF HER. HE’S SUCH A LITTLE CREEPER OH MY GOSH. I actually started laughing when he revealed how many pictures he took of her. I’m definitely starting to like him and Kawai together since it’s starting to remind me of my OTP from Kiznaiver. Like Yuta, Fukazawa was trying to lift Kawai’s mood and trying to be supportive throughout the episode. He also seems to really want to get to know her more. Especially when they group was running to try and reach the boat, instead of running off ahead (since he was the one who really wanted photos of it) he fell in step with Kawai and encouraging her by saying that she doesn’t need to figure out what she wants to do right away, just go at her own pace.

I really loved the shot of Kawai running and the background changed from just dark shadows to the beautiful view of the city when she decided she’ll focus more on photography. I also couldn’t help but get the feeling that they were hinting that Kawai might become a model since Fukazawa commented a lot about how she has really good expressions in her photos. FIND THAT PASSION KAWAI. I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Overall, I enjoyed this episode. Probably because I was always curious about Kawai and was glad to finally get a peek into her story. What I love about this series is that there is always some sort of progression in each episode. Whether it be about Hitomi’s situation or that the character development that the characters went through start showing more. There were a lot of scenes throughout the episode that I was curious about. Such as to why Hitomi essentially repeated Kohaku’s fortune telling for her to Kawai. Though I suppose that advice could also apply to Kawai by living in the now, minus the colors part lol. I also couldn’t help but go HMMM when Yamabuki comments how whoever gets their projects done first is the winner. Am I sensing some love triangle rivalry going on??? And I’m still not sure why it’s such a serious thing for Hitomi over not telling the others about her inability to see color. Hopefully it’ll be addressed soon.

But CURSE THAT CLIFFHANGER AT THE END. I cried out in frustration when Hitomi said she needs to tell the others something and then the credits roll. PA WORKS WHY?!