Love Through A Prism Ep 18 & 19

Episode 18

It’s been five years since Lili and Shin had left London, and life hasn’t been the same. It seems they’ve lost their love for the arts, and along with it, their world has lost its colour.

What’s worse, was just a year after returning home, Dorothy sent her a letter revealing Kit’s boat had disappeared in the Indian Ocean, and not they’ve received a causality report that had Kit’s name on it.  Since then, Lili’s world has become monotone, she hasn’t touched her brush, nor done any art since. Consumed by grief, she fell back to her family’s business to keep her busy.

During this time of grief for their beloved friend, Lili and Shin have grown closer and now they are now engaged to one another. Two best friends couldn’t find a better match than with each other given the circumstances. And it really speaks to how much Shin cares and cherishes Lili, as even though he’s received a letter of acceptance to pursue his studies and dreams in Italy, he’s willing to shelve that in order to make sure Lili’s not left behind. He wants to be there for her, in the way she had been there for him during their time in London.

But it seems fate has other things in store for both of them, perhaps for the best of both of them as Kit has seemingly appeared in Yokohama. At the general store, Lili spotted a sketch of Kit’s signature style and a woman in a lily dress that is undoubtedly her. The only word he seems to know to say was “Yokohama”, as that’s the one piece of information Lili had shared to him about her hometown, and clearly it was enough for him to use to find his way to Japan in hopes to reunite with Lili once more.

And you know what I loved about this episode? When Shin was alerted this, he wasn’t so self-centered and selfish to ignore Kit’s probable presence. In-fact, it appears Shin even has a habit of regularly checking the port for ships coming in from Great Britain in hopes to spot Kit. And incredibly, because he had been doing just that, he really did end up being the first to spot him. Unfortunately he had lost track of him too soon, so he wasn’t able to catch up to him to verify his suspicions.And since he wasn’t one-hundred percent sure that was him or not, he kept it to himself. And I truly believe that was the right thing to do because it’d crush Lili if he were to be mistaken.Needless to say though, the fact he survived reignites the spark of hope, that their cherished friend and Lili’s true love had survived the war. And this right here is why Shin is best boy!

Episode 19

Since they now had valid reasons to believe Kit is somewhere in Yokohama, that gave enough credibility and confidence for Shin to bring up he may have spotted him at the port earlier that day. Thankfully the long awaited reunion between the trio was not dragged out longer than it needed to be, as they were quickly able to find him near the port again.

But perhaps the funniest thing about it, was that Shin expressed his uttermost joy and relief to see Kit was alive more appropriately than Lili had. The guy freaking threw himself into Kit’s arms because he was so happy to see him! Meanwhile typical Lili, her fury ends up winning her out in just about even situation, which resulted Kit getting slapped in the face– not once, not twice, but three times.

While I kind of get where she’s coming from, it’s been an emotional roller-coaster after-all… But at the same time, it’s not like it was his fault. Hell, apart from them, nobody else even knows he’s alive at the moment! And according to his words, it’s probably thanks to the fact he has been laying low that he managed to make it this far in the first place.

It goes without saying, Kit had an insane journey of survival, but he came out stronger and more maturer, than before. You have to give him credit for where it was due, because in the end, Kit never gave up on art– simply because he couldn’t. But most importantly, art served as a way to not only build relationships and remember those who were kind of enough to save him, but journal it. Kit went from drawing only plants, animals and landscapes to picking up where he left off after he made Lili’s portrait. He began drawing the people he met on his journey, the perilous journey of washing up on enemy territory, an d so on forth. Even during his ordeal, Kit continue to grow as an artist.

And this is such an interesting contrast to how things unfolded for Lili and Shin. While initially, Kit had announced he was quitting the arts to focus on his role in diplomacy, in the end he continued to pursue it. Meanwhile, the moment Shin and Lili returned home, they’ve completley lost their momentum. Their world became grey and boring because it lost its spark. And that only grew even worse when the news came in that Kit had died. So it was a messy combination of grief and heartbreak of losing not jut their hopes and dreams, but a dear friend who had inspired them so much too. That’s why Kit’s return played an instrumental role of reigniting that lost spark. His artwork of his journey inspired them, reminding them of what they once longed for, and questions whether they are satisfied with ignoring what they truly desire. Now Shin is seriously reconsidering putting his postponed dream of studying in Italy, and Lili has finally resumed painting.

Speaking of Shin’s acceptance letter, I really thought that discussion would come first. It would’ve made things a lot easier when it comes to the reunion with Kit, but I suppose it also goes to show just how seriously both Lili and Shin are invested in their marriage. It’s not like either one of them are about to call off just because Kit reappeared. But it’s sad for Kit, because he did come to Yokohama in hopes he could bring Lili back with him. He secretly had a ticket for her to board along with him. Poor guy didn’t realize he probably still had a chance to do just that.

And I just want to say, I absolutely love Shin as a character. I have the uttermost respect for this guy. He is truly the definition of a true friend, for both Kit and Lili. Some would may feel insecurity seeing the one they know their counterpart loves returns, but not Shin. It wasn’t just important for Lili, but it was important to him to know that Kit was alive and not an illusion. But he was confident it had to be him, he wouldn’t mistaken Kit’s art with anyone else. I also commend him for not rashly telling Lili right off the bat that he might have saw him at the port. He never saw his face, so there was no way of confirming, but the portrait in the general shop gave him enough certainty it had to be him. So when Lili initially tried to bring up the conversation about seeing his acceptance letter, he had mistaken her for referring to Kit. Fortunately Kit wasn’t brushed under the rug, but rather the conversation about the acceptance letter. It was certainly the right choice of priority, especially since Kit was unfortunately not staying in town for long, which was a real shame. The two of them really wanted to offer him lodging and take him to various places to see.

There was no “i love yous” in this episode, nor was there such promise in the sketchbook Kit decided to give to Lili and Shin as a wedding gift. The only promise that was there was to take Lili to the cave full of lilies, and to make sure to brings blue paint with her when they do.

Of the most recent episodes, I will say this has to be my favourite one to date. It’s been a rocky ride, but this one definitely made up for the frustrating hiccups along the way.