Everyone has different goals. Ai wants to tell satisfying stories, Kokoro wants to draw, and Sachi… just wants to read. Well, do your best, but I think as long as no one is making manga a live-or-die obsession like Teshima once did, the teacher will be okay with whatever they pick and choose to focus on. This sort of measured approach is fine too. We always think fictional characters need to give it their all in whatever they choose to do — have that mamba mentality — but that sometimes leads to jerks like the eponymous Jan in Iron Wok Jan. It’s all about finding the right balance in life, and if this somehow leads to greater success down the road, then so be it. But personally, no hobby is worth dying for.
Teshima’s first assignment to the girls is pretty smart: limit yourselves to four to eight pages so you can focus on telling a focused story. Ai comes up with the basic narrative and first draft, Kokoro polishes it with her artistic skills. I also love how her instruction for Sachi is to simply give them feedback. You also need to adapt to your students’ strengths and weaknesses. Sachi isn’t like the other girls. She’s really only in this to lounge around. You’ll do more harm trying to force her to be as industrious as the other two. Nevertheless, her lounging around and consuming manga can still be useful if Teshima can get her to think about what she’s reading rather than just passively consuming it.
Kokoro is getting all of the praise early on. She also gets a disproportionate amount of tips and instructions. Ai simply gets told that her plots could use more work. It sounds like she can’t taper down her excitement; every story is too ambitious, so she can’t wrap them up within the limitations Teshima has imposed on her. Well, this is like the second and third time Ai has tried to create manga. Kokoro was in the art club before this (is she still in it?). These things take time. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Still, this is why you try to balance positive and negative criticism. Not necessarily 50/50, mind you, but there should be enough positivity in there to keep your student’s spirits high. Maybe Ai doesn’t need it — it sure looks like she does, though — but I think it’s a good approach in general not to just shit on everything someone does unless you want to crush their passion for it completely.
Luckily, Ai already has a fan in Kokoro. That’s worth a lot, too. And look how happy Ai is to hear this! Just… try not to run up to someone for a hug while you’re climbing up a hill. Accidents happen, and I can’t help cringing at the idea. But I digress. Point is, it makes you wonder how Teshima must have felt when she met her biggest fan in Ai — one of her students, too. As an adult, and especially one that has seen her share of disappointments — I’m sure she’s good at hiding her feelings. I’m sure she’s had to develop a callus, because that’s what you do to cope. You learn not to let the highs get too high, because it’ll hurt extra hard when reality sends you careening back down to earth. But I still wanna know how elated she was on the inside when Ai spilled her guts on how much she loved Teshima’s manga.
Sachi isn’t sugar-coating anything when she reads Ai’s many attempts. On the one hand, Sachi’s a lil’ gremlin brat, so if I were Ai, I wouldn’t let her feedback get to me too much. But on the other hand, Sachi’s nitpicking pushes Ai to continually refine her work. I do expect Teshima to step up her game and help Ai out a little more, though. Amusingly, she has to fight the urge to tell them to take manga more seriously. This is a growing moment for her as well. She’s learning not just how to cultivate these children’s passion for manga, but also seeing for herself that she can still enjoy something without going nuts about it. I hope we see her pick up a pen at some point because she’s rediscovered that fire within her.
I also can’t help but wonder if Teshima ever had a Sachi in her life to nitpick her work. Yeah, she had that editor lady, but I’m talking about a friend, i.e. someone whose criticism Teshima might have been more receptive to. After all, it always looked like she was ready to murder the editor lady every time one of her manga got shot down.
Somehow, a gust of wind scatters the pages in Ai’s hands, leading them directly to a transfer student. What’s with the bag under her eyes? Does she not get enough sleep…? It’s obviously the same girl Ai had met at Comitia. It’s also the same girl with 50,000 followers — the one that had given Kokoro the inspiration to do big, punchy splash pages. I guess we’re about to meet a potential new club member. Still, what an amazing gust of wind, especially considering the fact that the girls are indoors. This is more like the guiding hand of fate, I suppose.
As the girls — well, just Ai and Kokoro — continue refining their manga, Ai could use a hug from Teshima so bad. Unfortunately, the teacher always leaves in a rush. Maybe the woman simply isn’t the touchy-feely type. That’s okay, too. It’s unfortunate for Ai, but we gotta respect everyone’s level of comfort. I like those videos of kindergarten teachers letting their students pick and choose how to greet each other in the mornings. Some kids want a hug, some kids just want a high-five. Everyone should learn at a young age that they have body autonomy, and no one should be allowed to demand hugs from them.
One day, the girls are hanging out just outside Sachi’s family’s shop. The new transfer student Hikaru, a.k.a. Stone Dragon, suddenly shows up and kinda forces Ai to play tour guide. She clearly feels some sort of kinship to Ai, since they have a penchant for imaginary friends. Would’ve been nice, however, if she hadn’t basically ignored Kokoro, who was only trying to show her appreciation. Thus far, everyone else has been super buddy buddy with each other. Even if Sachi’s laziness rankles the girls a bit — well, just Ai — there’s no real friction in the group. The new girl can offer that. But do we really need interpersonal conflicts in this cozy, feelgood show? Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. I don’t know if she will keep being mean to Kokoro. I hope she doesn’t!
Hikaru and Ai read through the latter’s manga near the end of the episode, and it got a chuckle out of me. In fact, I think it’s pretty awesome. No way I could ever create something like that, especially at her age. At Pokota’s urging, Ai tries to invite Hikaru to join the club, but she gets shot down. She, however, reveals that Teshima is the club advisor, and… well, that certainly seems to have done the trick. Hikaru shows up the next day in the club room, attached to Teshima’s arm. All of a sudden, she plants a kiss on the teacher’s lips. Alright, that’s messed up. See? This is why we teach kids to respect people’s boundaries. Still, I hope this is just a one-time gag. I would hate for it to ruin a show I’ve been enjoying.
Stray thoughts & observations:
— What’s with the adults in the background? Just amused to see the girlies do some DIY?
— I’m not that big into manga, so all of these references are going over my head. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just means I now have potential recommendations to try out.
— Aw, why so cold? It wouldn’t hurt to let Nana sit in on a meeting, especially since she’s doing them a solid by letting the club have their meetings here.
— Yeah, it’s a tight fit in here, but also super cozy. Look at Sachi chilling in her little nook. I would love this kind of setup. Only gotta replace the manga with regular ol’ books for me.
— Oh, I thought it was like a bean bag or whatever, but Sachi is resting on literally a trash bag. Aren’t those made of plastic? Plastic doesn’t breathe, so it’s not really comfortable to use for long periods of time.
— Sheesh, the club room is even more cramped than ever.
— I’m watching this show mostly for the characters, but the manga stuff is still neat. I have no artistic ability whatsoever, so I won’t ever go beyond casually appreciating the process.
— This is hardly the first series about a bunch of friends getting together to create manga. I remember there was this somewhat popular show involving two guys. I also remember riffing on it years ago. I wonder if I’d appreciate that series more if I watched it now. Eh, probably not.
— Sachi might not help out with any of the actual work, but at least she puts herself on the line to get them snacks! But what do the parents think? I wish we got to see more healthy interactions between anime characters and their parents. All Sachi’s dad does is silently drag her off (probably for a scolding).
