Taishou Otome Otogibanashi Ep 9 & 10

Episode 9

Aw this was such a nice episode. Kotori is a very sweet character, her brother brought her over to meet Tamahiko and Yuzuki because she wanted to make a song about love. But while she was doing all of that, both our two lovebirds noticed that something was off between the two siblings and sought to find out more about the unspoken awkwardness between them.

As it turns out, Haraku was actually the one to pick up music first, and the two of them would play songs together. But when Haraku fell ill, he couldn’t continue practicing so he entrusted his guitar to his sister. And then miraculously, seven years later he was able to make full recovery, but he felt like he has fallen too behind and out of practice to join her to fulfill the promise of performing together, when she has already far exceeded him.

So it was good to see Tamahiko be able to give Haraku some words of encouragement thanks to his own experience. He understands how difficult it is to pick something up against after it felt like it was impossible to continue on. Thanks to him, they were able to arrange a special surprise performance from Haraku before Kotori played her new song. And gosh, it was so sweet! The duet with Haraku and Kotori was so nice that it was a shame how short it was! I definitely would like to see a duet version of the new love song too! It was lovely as it was, but it’d definitely be icing on the cake with the two voices together.

Just as Tamahiko was able to help Haraku out, he received some help in return by helping him break the ice with his classmates. Tamahiko was able to successfully interact with them, but you could see how anxious he was doing so. Then Haraku shrewdly pulled out an ace card and that instantly caught his classmate’s attention. So he’s definitely making progress!

As for Yuzuki, thanks to talking about love with Kotori, it made her reflect more on her feelings. She doesn’t know exactly when she fell in love with Tamahiko, but he won her heart thanks to his earnest character. The two of them have kissed, but they haven’t actually confessed their love to each other– though I still consider that scene from last week before the kiss to be confession, even if it was a round-about one. Yuzuki wanted to tell him that she loves him, but in the end she was too embarrassed to do it. The scene was very cute though, considering Tamahiko did yet another round-about confession when said he can to take her to where-ever she wishes to go from now on and for always. They sure like beating around the bush!

Episode 10

This week went from sweet to rather nerve-wracking when the Great Kanto Earthquake struck. Yuzuki had gone to visit her best friend Midori in Tokyo after she learned she is pregnant and is going to be moving to her boyfriend’s hometown Kyushu where there they will marry. She wasn’t sure about leaving Tamahiko, but he strongly encouraged her to go, knowing how precious Midori was to her. It’s really good to see Tamahiko have the confidence to manage himself on his own for a few days.

It was sweet of him to suggest they go and visit a shrine for child-birth, they go to pray for a healthy delivery and even bought her a charm. Yuzuki didn’t miss the opportunity to casually drop, ‘let’s come back here to pray when we’re expecting a baby’. But man, when Yuzuki was about to set off and hoped for a kiss with Tamahiko, he chickened out- but incredibly he followed up with an incredibly bold promise of, “We’ll do lots of that” when she returns, WELL THEN.

I have to say I must applaud Yuzuki’s confidence in Ryo to have asked her to help Tamahiko out while she is gone. It’s a good idea to have an extra pair of hands to help out if needed. Through this we also learned Yuzuki actually had an older sister before her, but she died before she was born so they’ve never met. She looks up to Ryo as such, and that is something Ryo can’t say no to! It’s her soft spot alright.

It was nice to see Yuzuki spend time with her friend, we can see how close the two are. Midori was concerned about how Yuzuki would be faring with her new arrangement, and was ready to take her to Kyushu with her if she appeared to be unhappy. Now that’s a bestie!

The Great Kanto earthquake struck when Tamahiko was at home with Ryo and her siblings. That was when Tamahiko found himself at the mercy of the destruction when Great Kanto Earthquake struck just before noon. There was little he could do when he only has one arm to use, so unfortunately he couldn’t help rescue people who were burried underneath the rubble. Instead, after briefly being consumed by doom and gloom, he decided he will make the journey to Tokyo in hopes to find Yuzuki. He was able to find some hope in the horrible situation when he found the gift Yuzuki had left him for his birthday. A set of bell-flower colored scarf and mittens, and even made a matching pair for herself. Seeing Tamahiko take the initiative to prepare for the journey on his own, such as prepping his food and dressed is a massive progress to where he was when we first met him.

Hopefully Yuzuki, Midori and her baby and boyfriend are safe. It would be terrible if one or the other were to decease from this tragedy. Tamahiko had gifted Midori a charm for safe child birth, so hopefully we will see that hold true to its effect. Yuzuki was due to make the trip home that afternoon, but before they headed to the train station, the two had been hanging out and about. The most ideal situation would be not to have been inside a building at the time. Hopefully they were in a relatively safe area when the quake struck.