Domestic na Kanojo Episode 4

This episode was a little slower than the other, but the drama had to die down a little sometime, right? Not that it didn’t have its wild times all the same. I mean, I think the fact that I’m describing an episode where Hina’s boyfriend, Shuu finally appears, gets a drink thrown in his face, and gets dumped as “slow” is more an indication of how crazy the previous three episodes were than anything else.

And hey, with the introduction of said boyfriend, Natsuo is no longer worst boy in his own series! Good for him. Seriously though, this guy is fucking garbage, not to mention a disingenuous prick. Like really, we’re going to act like the man couldn’t have known a thing about Hina’s deteriorating mental health and his role in it? His girlfriend drinks herself into a stupor most nights, he didn’t think that might be something to look into? And even if she’d managed to hide most of her big problems from him, he knows full well how much the current state of their relationship is hurting her; it’s not like she hasn’t told him she’s unhappy. That’s how Natsuo caught wind of this in the first place, after all. And during the dinner scene, he implies to Natsuo that he’s willing to get a divorce for Hina’s sake (as if he as any intention of doing so), and the second he realises that’s not winning him any points, he starts going on about how divorce is impossible right now. He seems to say whatever sounds best at any given time. Plus, he acts the caring boyfriend in front of Natsuo and Rui, but the second he and Hina are alone he starts putting her down and making outlandish accusations for which he has no proof or basis for whatsoever, even if he happened to be partially correct. Then to top it all off, he attempts to emotionally manipulate Hina into not making a choice he knows perfectly well is best for her. I’m not sure if this is the last we’re going to see of him, but good on Hina for doing the right thing for herself for now, at least. Fuck Shuu. Forget a glass of water, he deserved to have that whole plate of dick pasta shoved right in his face.

Oh god though, I cringed so hard when Natsuo asked Shuu to break up with Hina. This show is so stressful. Natsuo always has to say some embarrassing shit and one day I’m not going to be able to take it anymore and I’ll cringe to death. Fumiya and Marie very accurately portray my emotions during the entire dinner scene (the café staff are quickly becoming my faves).

In spite of his word vomit, though (and to be fair, it’s not like he said anything that wasn’t true), Natsuo grew on me this episode, and not just because he sucks less in comparison to Shuu. He still makes extremely poor life decisions and I really don’t think Hina’s shitty boyfriend is any of his business and his feelings for her make his objections somewhat suspect, but ultimately he’s not wrong about the guy, and I suppose his concern for Hina is at least somewhat genuine despite of his ulterior motives. I love Natsuo and Rui as a pair of meddling teen detectives, too. Look at these two dorks.

They actually have a great dynamic. I know there’s no way they can get together without Hina getting in the way at least once, but I do hope Rui ultimately wins the Natsuobowl. The relationships in this series in general have a warmth and genuineness to them that I think is missing from some other notable series in the genre (cough Scum’s Wish cough). That’s not to say it isn’t trash, but it’s cute trash sometimes and I’m growing to like the characters a lot more than I thought I would.

I thought the scene at the end of the episode was pretty cute and tied in well with the general “wounds healing” feel that was going on. It’s nice. I know it’s all going to be ruined when Natsuo and Hina inevitably have another ill-advised romantic moment, though. And that’s what keeps me watching, at the end of the day.