Once again, Fuyumura comes to Sanda/Santa’s rescue, but this only breaks the initial deadlock between him and Namatame. For round two, Sanda/Santa decides to confront Namatame as his kid self. Why the change in tactic? Well, his logic is simple: if Santa can’t fight back against a child, then surely a kid can. We get this discussion between the main characters about how kids can be violent to each other, but when adults do it, it’s called abuse. I dunno, man. I don’t think you can say that when every other anime features schoolyard bullying in some form or fashion. Sounds to me like kids can be pretty abusive too.
But on a more serious note, the problem with everyone here is that they keep putting themselves inside boxes. You are a certain age, so you go in the kid box. And being in the kid box comes with a certain set of expectations, no ifs, ands, or buts. Meanwhile, Ono over here has undergone changes to her body, so she goes in the adult box. Again, no questions asked. But reality isn’t like that. Some kids are mature, some kids aren’t. Some adults are childish, some adults aren’t. Some kids are just playfighting, some kids are actually abusive. If you dig even deeper, you quickly find that a person’s maturity is hardly consistent. I might be mature about x, but immature about y. It’s almost like we’re all complex creatures.
Nevertheless, it’s human nature to sort and categorize the world around us, because abstractions help cut down on all the noise and (presumably) unnecessary details. It becomes a problem, however, when we refuse to look past those self-imposed abstractions to see people and things for what they really are when the situation calls for it. In other words, Ono isn’t an adult just because she has an “adult body,” and if a kid has a gun pointed at you, you should really be allowed to knock them the fuck out, adult or not.
As the slapfight rages on, Sanda’s looking scrawnier and scrawnier every time he reverts back to his child form. According to Amaya, the nonstop transformations — snip, snap, snip, snap — is straining Sanda’s poor body. By the end of round two, he looks more like an aborted fetus than a boy supposedly in his prime kid years. And yet, this is the form that Namatame finds cute. Uh, sure. Get in line behind Niko, I guess. Her remark about his “firm skin” is funny, though. I don’t think there’s any saggy skin on this show’s version of Santa. Still, her words somehow gives our hero a second wind, so he turns right back into Santa.
Eventually, Namatame runs out of bullets, because we still gotta worry about realism in this crazy anime. When Sanda/Santa “threatens” to hug Namatame, she immediately books it. In her mind, if she allows someone else to hug her, she’ll forget her mother’s touch. She then dives onto a pile of old leaves, which is a fire hazard just waiting to go up in flames. Well, that’s exactly what happens. In this very bizarre case, I think forgetting her mother’s touch is ultimately a good thing. I might sound cold here, but her memories of her mother has become a point of fixation for Namatame. Like in a lot of stories, obsession can twist people into monsters. What the girl needs to move on with the rest of her life. So right on cue, Sanda/Sanda and his thankfully fire-resistant underwear is here to pluck Namatame out of the raging inferno. It took a lot of physical punishment, but he finally got through to her.
But we still have a final boss to fight.
Ono’s problems compound
We finally get to know what Oshibu said to Ono when he cornered her that one night. In fact, he was being particularly creepy. He had this to say after sniffing Ono: “A scent that’s reminiscent of soap that’s been soaked in honey. That is the scent of a grown woman, no doubt about it.” Sheesh, I bet the mangaka has had to deal with men saying similarly offputting things to her all the time.
According to Oshibu, what’s supposedly unnatural about Ono is that she went through all of puberty in a single night. But how does he know this? Is this supposed to be self-evident? Am I supposed to look at Ono and think, Yup, that person has stopped growing. And even if this was true, why does it matter? Apparently, it matters because Ono is dying. After all, we keep seeing her clutch her chest in pain. It seems like she’s been dealing with health problems. But what are we talking about? Are we talking about a congenital disease? Does she have a condition that shortens her life, and we’re going to scapegoat adulthood for her dying?
Well, the next thing we see if Ono foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal. I have no clue what’s going to happen next. Is she going to die like she thinks? Or is she on the verge of becoming a monster who will attack Fuyumura on sight? Dying or undergoing grotesque transformations can all be metaphors for growing up, becoming an adult, etc. But we literally have adults in this universe. Some of them, like Oshibu and Namatame’s mother, are pretty sad examples for adults, but there’s no way they’re all like that. Becoming an adult really isn’t that scary.
Seeing Sanda/Santa stand up to Namatame with newfound determination, Fuyumura remembers that Ono needs her. Well, better late than never? Plus, can she really blame herself? Didn’t she leave Ono in the first place in order to protect her friends? Well, if Sanda/Santa can get through to Namatame, maybe Fuyumura can still save Ono. I don’t know what they can do about her supposedly dying body, though.
Making sense of Niko
Due to Sanda being preoccupied with, well, surviving, he inadvertently stands his fiancée up. Maybe she’s meant to be a foil to Ono. The latter serves as a catalyst that kicks off the events of the series. Sanda and Fuyumura never would’ve met if Ono hadn’t initially gone into hiding. Meanwhile, Niko’s kinda off to the side as Sanda’s love interest. She doesn’t really interact with his friends, nor is she embroiled in any of the scandals or drama. Niko is, well, just kinda there. And right now, both she and Ono are waiting for someone important to return to them. They also both think they have rivals: Fuyumura for Niko, Sanda for Ono. But there’s a big difference in how the two girls approach their situation. Niko doesn’t seem to be mad, sad, or annoyed at all as she continues to sit there, waiting for Sanda. If anything, she sounds upbeat: “When it comes to beauty, I’ve got you beat!” Is she referring to Fuyumura? Either way, this is a far cry from what Ono is feeling.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- At the beginning of the episode, Fuyumura declares that she’s just a kid, and why shouldn’t she? They’re all kids. Even Ono. I’m going to beat this dead horse into the ground. Or, at the very least, until we’re done with the series.
- Namatame comes across Ono and immediately identifies the latter as an adult. Luckily for Ono, however, Namatame is too preoccupied with Sanda/Santa to bother killing her. Even so, do you think, in some twisted way, that Ono might see this as an insult? Like damn, you stole my girl, and now the bad guys don’t even care enough to kill me.
- Damn, according to Santa, I’m wasting my life. Not even my mom says I’m cool.
- This post probably isn’t my best, since I stupidly stayed up till 8am to beat Eigong in Nine Sols. I’m running on fumes, so I’ll probably go to bed early for once.
