The Ramparts of Ice Episode 7

This was such a great episode, and it further highlighted why Koyuki and Youta really do make great friends. I’m glad they were able to find solace in each other in their shared pain and loneliness. Sometimes it takes finding someone who truly understands what it feels like to be in that position to before feeling comfortable enough to open up about it.

Having experienced such despair and loneliness herself throughout the bullying in middle school and her parents divorce, Koyuki was quick to connect the dots and realize that Youta has been quietly suffering on his own. She can’t turn a blind eye when she notices a friend suffering the same way, but at the same time, she was worried about being too nosy or accidentally projecting her own experience onto him. But thankfully she was able to figure out a good way to go about it, and did so by simply sharing that her parents has gotten divorced, and because it’s lonely when she gets home she wouldn’t mind having company to kill time after-school every now and then. It was her way of wordlessly offering to lend an ear should Youta wish to talk about it, and a valid reason to delay his return home if he finds it uncomfortable and too lonely.

And it’s great that Youta recognized that, and in turn felt comfortable enough to do just that. He didn’t realize how much he had been bottling it up until now. As Koyuki put it, he had been covered in soot of murky, negative feelings. So after getting that off his chest, and receiving Koyuki’s wisdom, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he could see and hear that his family does love him. He does have a place in their home, and finally all the pain and doubts stemmed from the loneliness that have been haunting him all these years has finally quieted down.

That being said, I do feel really sad for him. After his mother died, his father was never really around for him, and then one day, without even consulting him beforehand, he brings home his girlfriend-now-stepmother, Akari. And while she was very kind to him… as soon as they had the twins, Youta felt like he really didn’t belong anymore, the point that he wondered if he even existed. He felt like he was a ghost in his own house– and that’s just devastating.

I do feel like the blame lies in his dad, because regardless of the age difference, Akari clearly did and has been her part of doing her best to be a mom to him, but his dad has clearly left him in the dust to have made him feel like he has been forgotten altogether. As result, it seems it’s the dad who really needs to make up for the lost bond between them. I suppose the ‘icecream in the freezer, the good kind’ is supposed to show that while he doesn’t see it, his dad does pay attention to him… But honestly that moment came off as a cheap way of sweeping all the feelings of feeling forgotten under the rug, so I’m not sure how I feel about the execution of this. Maybe it was done better in the manga, I’ll have to read it later to see for myself. Too small of an interaction to really make any judgment on.

That being said, another thing I was really happy to see was Youta opening up about having feelings for Miki. For the past few weeks I’ve had my suspicions, so I was glad to see the previous scenes of his flustered behaviour around her were indeed the hints about that. Although I do (admittedly) like the idea of Youta and Koyuki together, I still really appreciate and adore their platonic relationship. In-fact, I’d even say it’s probably even better for both of them to be able to have someone they can reliably turn to without any fear of complications in the romance department between one and the other. So I’m quite content with that. Also helps that Koyuki greatly approves him as well, especially since he likes Miki for who she is, and not some ideal that others guys have imposed on her.

Youta sharing his feelings also seems to further indicate this was exactly what Minato has been concerned about. He doesn’t want to see Koyuki getting hurt, or finding herself in a situation where she has fallen for someone who has a crush on her friend. Thankfully that’s not the case, especially since Koyuki has zero interest in pursuing any romantic relationships for the mean time. Heck, I’m just glad that Youta opened up about this before this ever even had the chance to become a possibility! Spares us from the needless drama!

And now this is where the hilarity and chaos will ensue! With Youta and Koyuki on the same page, they are closer than they’ve ever been. And then we have Minato and Miki, the two out of the loop are now even further under the impression and misunderstanding that Koyuki likes Youta!

But between the two, the only one person who’s entirely in the dark and is completely oblivious to Youta’s feelings is of course, Miki! And now she wants to play cupid between Youta and Koyuki, thinking they like each other or at least are a good fit. OH BOY.

Meanwhile, we have Minato, who only knows half the story, as he knows Youta like Miki, but he doesn’t know that Koyuki now knows too. But at the same time, he has noticed is that something has changed between Youta and Koyuki, but he’s stumped as to what that could possibly be. So for the mean time, he’s still confused over whether Koyuki harbours unrequited love towards Youta, all while his own heart is spinning because he hasn’t realized that he’s falling for her!

And if that isn’t enough chaos brewing, well might as well throw Koyuki in there too! She couldn’t help herself shrewdly withdraw from a conversation by starting one with Minato so that Youta could talk with Miki. Of course Minato was absolutely shell-shocked because he can’t believe that she initiated a conversation with him, and here he is (justifiably) a nervous-wreck over potentially saying something that blow up in his face again. Thankfully Koyuki was able to help him out with that by setting the topic to asking the name of his dog. Either way, I think we can all agree this was a good opportunity as ever for Koyuki to initiate speaking with Minato, especially since neither have had the chance to until now!

Youta on the other hand, he absolutely saw through Koyuki’s shrewd maneuver, hahahaha! This is really going to be an interesting one! I’m looking forward to it!