Once again, Tamon is in the corner sobbing. It’s the same ol’ conflict again. He wants to be closer to Utage, but she wants to maintain a safe difference between the two of them. Not because she’s an uber professional or anything, but because she’s an idol fan. Utage says it herself: her biggest priority is Tamon’s dream. She will not do anything that threatens that dream, i.e. fostering a personal friendship if not relationship with the guy of her dreams. More importantly, what Tamon personally wants is immaterial. He’s lonely? Suck it up, buttercup. I would feel bad for the guy, but he did threaten to kill himself earlier in the series in order to manipulate her. As a result, I’ve gone cold on this… this… whatever you call this “romance.”
(Regardless of what I think about the show, I always appreciate it when stories give me a proper timeframe for everything that’s been happening. According to Utage, she’s only been Tamon’s housekeeper for three months. And boy has it been a tumultuous three months.)
But none of this is new. This tug-of-war between Utage and Tamon has been going on since the start of the series, so it’s time for a new battlefield. In other words, we get to see the same conflict play out with other people. In enter Natsuki, Asuka, and their origin story. Years ago, Natsuki was just a busker on the streets when he and Asuka first met — a middle schooler busking to get by. What the hell? There’s no freakin’ way a kid that young would sleep on the streets and not raise eyebrows. Well, apparently Asuka was the only damn person who cared, so she brought him takoyaki day after day until her family decided to take him in and give him a place to work. Again, a middle schooler. Eventually, he and Asuka got into a relationship. I feel like a two year age gap at that stage in life is kinda significant. I wouldn’t personally want to date a middle schooler if I was in high school, but whatever.
One day, Asuka got injured defending him against his deadbeat father, so Natsuki blamed himself for “ruining” her life. He still blames himself to this day. Okay, fine, she couldn’t compete in a tournament. That was a big deal, but that also wasn’t “her life.” Her life wasn’t a fucking high school martial arts tournament. I know kids tend to blow things out of proportion, but it’s been years now. Enough years for Asuka to grow up and become a teacher, which is hopefully a career that she’s passionate about. Ergo, she’s found a new calling and thus her life is hardly in ruins. Time for Natsuki to get some perspective if he’s going to be an adult. If anything, the fact that his girlfriend defended him should’ve made him love her even more — made him want to dedicate himself to her happiness even more. But what did he do? He used it as an excuse to stop trying. He ran away. When the going gets tough, this guy bails. My stance has hardly changed; I think it’s bullshit that the agency puts all of the songwriting responsibilities on Natsuki’s shoulders. But if he wants to use this sob story as an excuse for why he can’t be motivated in life, then the only thing that’s sad here is him. He needs to grow up.
Utage and Tamon want to get Asuka’s side of the story, so they quickly find her wandering around on the streets. It’s that easy to stumble into people you know in Japan. But jokes aside, she’s much like Utage; she reveals that she only pretended to not know Natsuki, i.e. she and her oshi must never interact because they exist in different worlds. Even though she might still have lingering feelings for him, she dares not intrude into his life and potentially ruin his dream. But I don’t think being an idol is his dream. Natsuki just stumbled into this lucrative position through his sheer talent. Tamon also adds that idols are still people, so they have flaws and, yes, real feelings as well. They’re not meant to be put on a pedestal, isolated from everyone they care about. What Tamon’s saying to Asuka is essentially what he wants to say to Utage. Sure, these boys’ careers as idols might fall to pieces if crazy fans knew they were dating someone. But what are they supposed to do? Never ever have a personal life? This simply is not healthy.
In the end, Asuka still won’t meet with Natsuki face to face, but she throws him a concession by posting an encouraging message on social media. He then realizes that she’s been supporting him since his debut, so she hardly hates him. I guess that’s enough to kick his ass into gear. But I think the agency might want to drag him to the hospital and make sure his liver is okay. Sheesh, look at all those beer cans. Anyway, it might not matter what Asuka wants, because F/ACE is apparently going to do a shoot at Hanagaya High, i.e. the same school she teaches at and Utage attends. What a coincidence.
