Picking up where we left off, the Sports Festival has come to an end, and the grand prize they’ve won was… of course not even close to what they were expecting. The so-called monetary prize was simply school supplies, consisting notebooks, pens, and some puzzles. Yeah, I would be tilted after all that effort getting that as a grand prize too considering the time and effort that went into it, especially for making the outfits.
The story has finally shifted back to Izumi’s progress of getting back into form, starting with introducing a reporter Karasuma Kinuko who has been covering Izumi’s life as a star athlete since middle school. Mizuki was pretty jealous and a bit peeved by the fact she was being referred to someone who’s part of “Izumi’s Groupie”, so she thought she could outdo the lady in terms of how much she knows about Izumi. Well, jokes on her, because of course, the one who was responsible for writing every single article she has been collecting and reading about Izumi was none-other than Kinuko, just under a different alias, (K.K.). Honestly it was rather laughable that Mizuki even thought she had a chance. It was such a petty thing to be envious of too.
As for Izumi, this guy has come to the point where he has more or less accepted his feelings towards Mizuki. You can tell how much he’s doting on her as though he’s already her freaking boyfriend– and it’s so freaking sweet and adorable, I can’t stop grinning and giggling while kicking my feet from the giddiness of it all. Don’t even get me started on the ED Theme of Izumi blushing and confessing to her, AHHHHHH, IT’S SO PERFECT!!!!
It’s also just like super endearing to see he has picked up on when Mizuki’s feeling under the weather from her periods. You just know that he’s the type who’d do whatever he gotta do to make her comfortable, be it getting the supplies on her behalf in a situation she couldn’t or ran out, medicine or comfort snacks. If only she knew that he already knows since freaking Day 1 that she’s a girl! Hahaha!
On the flip side though, we have Nakatsu who’s still overwhelmed and confused about his feelings towards Mizuki. This is because he doesn’t know that Mizuki is a girl, and he’s flustered by the fact he’s seemingly attracted and has a crush on his best bro. This only intensifies when he finds himself fuming from jealousy when Mizuki and Izumi are literally cuddling out in the open, and when he’s trying to sort out his feelings after getting confessed to by a nice girl from another school. He’s happy to have received the confession, even more so that someone has fallen for him because of an action of his kindness and warm smile. He was flattered, and happy to be acknowledged in that way.
But that’s also precisely why he’s been trying to sort out his attraction towards Mizuki. He can’t stop thinking about her, and he even almost tried to kiss her– only to (fortunately) be interrupted and snapped out of trance when she had uttered Izumi’s name in her sleep. (On the side note, Nakatsu looks absolutely amazing when his hair is slicked back. Just looks a whole lot more mature, compared to his more youthful baby-face (if you will) when his bangs are down, but I digress).
Credit where it’s due though, Nakatsu absolutely did the right thing to break up with Komari as soon as he realized for certain that he was in love with Mizuki. He didn’t try to “make it work” with Komari, he didn’t try to “erase his feelings” towards Mizuki, instead– he did the thing that Izumi wished he had been able to do: Immediately confess. And honestly, good on Nakatsu for having the guts to completely follow through with that, at an all-boys school, in front of everyone no less. Now with a clear mind and heart, his objective is to hopefully win Mizuki’s heart.
However, there are two people who are less than pleased about this. That being both Izumi and the said recipient of the confess: Mizuki. The mood reason as, “Well, shit.” Izumi had already caught onto the fact that Nakatsu had fallen for Mizuki, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow to witness someone else beating him to the punch when it comes to the confession.
As for Mizuki, she was just dense as a rock about Nakatsu’s attraction– though frankly, you’d THINK one would clue in at least A LITTLE BIT when someone suddenly back-hugs, and was at one point constantly running away after close contact/brushing skins. Yet rather than being shocked about it, Mizuki’s more flabbergasted about the whole thing. She certainly didn’t think anyone would be falling for her.
Overall this was a good and fun way to resume the series. I particularly enjoyed the pacing for the first episode, as the flow of it was good and it felt longer than it actually was, and in a good way. The second episode felt shorter in comparison, but that was probably because there was sort of less going on, and a very linear focus on Nakatsu sorting his feelings out. Needless to say, it is nice that this part of the running gag of his confusion is not being dragged out any further. And considering it’s been so freaking long since I’ve read the manga, I really am revisiting this from scratch again and it’s really nice that I’m able to do that.
Last thing I would like to mention, this cour’s opening theme was notably more up-to-date, which I think was the right direction given how the last one was. The new ED Theme is absolutely my favourite just because of Izumi’s blushing, I KNOW I ALREADY MENTIONED IT, BUT IT’S SO PERFECTLY DONE! AHHHHHHHHHH!! I hope you’re excited as I am for continuing this adaption! With everyone’s feelings now at the forefront, it’s about to get real interesting!
Possibility of Blogging: Moderate – High
I think there’s a reasonably good chance I’m going to be covering this season. Izumi and Mizuki are just so freaking CUTE!!! I can’t get enough of it. Similarly to the first cour, I’ll likely be frequently covering this one as a double or triple post since sometimes there’s just not enough to discuss. I also think this will be the best approach if I want to have any shot of covering at least three shows this season. Of course I may change my mind if situation arises if it comes down to having to pick hard choices on what to cover this season, but at the very least, I’m glad that at least this is the one show that’s in the middle of the week, and there’s nothing to compete with it on Wednesdays. The other shows, well, that’s going to be a toughie!
Ramparts of Ice Update: Due falling behind, I’ve decided it’d be best to put Ramparts of Ice on the back-burner until the Summer premieres are done. This way I know what my schedule looking like going forward. I’m still very tired, and the heatwave isn’t helping so please bear with me as I will be slower than usual this time. I’ve also decided due to my exhaustion, the best way to approach this season will be based on chronicle order of series anticipation. This means other shows like The World is Dancing (that came out on Monday) is something I’ll only look at once I check out the shows that come out this weekend. Once I know whether any of those titles are something I want to cover or not, I’ll watch that one and see if it’s one I want to pick up. As it stands, I may only end up picking two shows this season, but I’m hoping I’ll feel better soon enough to pick up three!
