Not gonna lie, I was really thrown off with the fact we didn’t go straight into the study session Miki had planned for them. Instead, that only started in the post-credits of this week’s episode. Instead, we delved into Miki’s crisis that came up when she lashed out at the girls in her circle when they wouldn’t stop badgering her about whether she and Minato were a thing. That was the first domino to fall. The next was when another girl from their circle overheard her saying along the lines of (paraphrasing here), ‘she can’t be her true self at school’, while she was hanging out with some college friends (I’m assuming). Following that incident, the girls got caught up in the rumour-mill and began ghosting her at school. Now this is the most obnoxious thing ever, and honestly I’m surprised that this even ended as nicely as it did because majority of the time, this shit doesn’t fly. To ghost someone while they are literally sitting/standing next to you is just…. Man. I’ve had this happen to me so much when I was in elementary and high-school and even college— hell, this notoriously has happened with extended-relatives too, and I freaking hate it. It’s so bloody ude. Have some courtesy people!
So I absolutely was 100% on board with Koyuki’s sharp response of: CUT THEM. Obviously not in the literal sense, but like just break it off, stop even trying to form or nurture a relationship if they don’t intend to put in the same effort, let alone respect how you feel. What use it is to stick around just for the ‘good’ parts when the group makes you suffer? I understand some people just can’t let go of this, it’s like a need to be with people, I’ve been there and done that myself when I was younger. But then came along a point in my life when I realized I’m so much better off not caring about these people– even if they are family. It saves so much energy and spares you from the awful feeling of being left out.
For Miki, she just likes people, so even though she was being treated this way, she didn’t want to give up on them. Call her a saint or as Koyuki put it, “she’s too good for her own good”, but the sad reality is: You can put in all the effort you want, but there’s no guarantee it’ll be reciprocated or much less respected. And while this is probably a pessimist take, I do feel like this resolution came off as a bit superficial. There’s still underlining problems which relate to clash of interests that kind of got swept under the rug. Obviously it’s not a problem if it turns out the group likes the things she’s been holding back on, but I think it probably would’ve made this a lot more convincing if we saw more of things they’ve discovered they share rather than solely relying on, “this is my true chaotic self”.
Meanwhile it was super nice to see Youta really doing his best to reach out and support Miki when he knew she was in pain. He made sure he made time for her to talk about her despair and frustration. He even told her that he loves her, but she had no idea that he wasn’t saying it platonically, but romantically.
Minato also did he part, though it was in part of being somewhat nosy again, but this time, not in a bad way. I can see why Youta was mildly annoyed though, as he yanked him away because he had noticed Minato was falling into his old habits. But this time round, we saw how Minato was more on the defensive side. He was passive aggressive. Subtly sending warning shots all while confronting and calling out the presumptions founded from gossip that the girls were latching onto. I do think his intervention here did contribute to increasing the odds of the girls accepting Miki’s plea to speak with them after-school to clear the air and start fresh again.
Now since the girls have readily accepted Miki for being her goofy self, things are all fine and dandy, and Miki decided to ditch the “idol image” and rock a new hairstyle and blonde!
