Oh hey, it’s the title of the show! But on a more serious note, Rei’s advice might seem counterintuitive if you are passionate about a hobby, but I think she’s dead on. We need only look at her failed attempts at becoming a mangaka to see why. We’ve already established how she couldn’t get her works serialized. Every time the editor tried to steer Rei towards something constructive, the latter would fantasize about retaliating. Jokingly, of course. She’s no sociopath! Nevertheless, hidden beneath the gag is an uncomfortable truth: Rei wasn’t (and probably still isn’t) any good at accepting criticism. Maybe she was too passionate about her work.
Rei then took the amateur route and tried to sell her doujinshi at Comitia. She would end up bumping into her manga idol. It’s funny how there are so many parallels between her life and her future student Ai. Let’s just hope the kid doesn’t burn out on manga as well. This segues us nicely to how Rei still tried to pour her everything into becoming a mangaka despite numerous rejections. She even completely forwent getting a job. But again, maybe that was the problem. Again, maybe she was too passionate. Look, you need life experience to create art. You need to get out there and see the world in order to have something interesting to say about it. You can’t stay cooped up in your room and expect your groundless imagination to bear fruit. That’s just mindless self-indulgence.
Well, Rei’s parents tried to be as supportive as they could, but they eventually ran out of patience. She overheard them being disappointed in her one night, which seemed to almost break her spirit. Rei resolved to put everything into one last work before quitting, hence “Draw this, then die!” And what did it get her? An honorable mention. Now that completely broke her spirit. On the bright side, that last manga of hers is now an inspiration for Ai, so there’s always a silver lining. Still, this show is as much about Rei as it is about her students. Her passion can’t be completely snuffed out, can it? There’s nothing original about the master learning from the student, but if the formula works, there’s no need to change it (too much).
As for the kiddos, Ai is desperately trying to recruit a third member, so she uses her manga to try and lure in prospective club members. Too bad it mostly draws laughter or confusion. But then we properly get introduced to Kokoro, who feels as though she’s drowning due to her stressful home life. She’s so browbeaten by her mother that she can’t even speak up. We see Kokoro wanting to offer an old woman a seat on the bus only to fail in the end, because she’s just so scared to have a voice. We know she has a lot to say; a million thoughts silently run through her mind all the time. She just can’t speak them out loud. Manga is thus her form of escapism. Naturally, Ai’s manga resonates with Kokoro, finally giving her the courage to join the fledgling manga club. The metaphor of her swimming up towards the light is a bit… corny. But this is a show about kids exploring their love for manga, so I guess being schmaltzy is fine. It balances out Rei’s cynicism, at least. There’s probably gonna be drama when Kokoro’s mother finds out about the club, though.
Meanwhile, Sachi continues being a pure menace. She’s passionate about reading manga, not necessarily creating them. Plus, there’s the whole A/C thing. I wonder how her character development will shake out. I doubt Sachi will remain like this forever; she has to eventually become invested in the club, right? But for now, it feels like Sachi would end up becoming one of those degenerate cat girls in Chainsmoker Cat if she didn’t have a proper role model. Luckily, Rei is around…
Last but not least, I wonder if Rei and Nana were once “roommates”…
Why is this show getting a dedicated post now? Well, as you can see, I wrote a lot of words for this episode alone. Plus, I rather enjoy it despite its simplicity. So we’ll go with this for now.