It’s over!!! It’s super over, and all we get from Tairazuma is a car ride! The show’s finale comes full circle and has its final episode focus on Tani. To be even more specific, it focuses on Tani’s thoughts and feelings from before he fell in love with Suzuki. And sure, they’re the main couple. This is where it all started, so structurally, it makes sense to loop back to the beginning of the love story. But for myself and a lot of people, the primary couple started to play second fiddle (probably around the end of the first season), and other relationships simply became more compelling.
So why is that? Why am I more interested in Tairazuma than Suzuki and Tani or Nishi and Yamada? Well, one reason is simple enough: those pairings are secure. They’re officially dating, and they’ve exhibited healthy communication. Relationships don’t always last forever, but you can be reasonably confident that Suzuki-Tani and Nishi-Yamada probably aren’t going to break up anytime soon. Meanwhile, Tairazuma aren’t even officially together. Them meeting up in college can mean anything. Maybe they’re dating. Maybe they’re just two really good buddies going on a joy ride. Who can say?
But the biggest reason why those two have become more compelling is simply because Tani and Yamada feel like supporting characters. Tani, especially, is pretty flat up until recently. He’s never had any real preferences until Suzuki came along, and he never really bothered to discover himself throughout the course of the series. Only in the last few episodes do we see him grapple with what he wants for his future, and that only happened because Suzuki planted the thought of them breaking up if he didn’t reconsider going to his primary university of choice. Suzuki and Tani are the ones who drew me into the manga initially, and I adore the fact that they can communicate openly about their problems. Issues never linger due to someone shutting the other person out or stupid misunderstandings. I also loved their discussions from when they first started dating, like Suzuki trying to help Tani understand why she still wants to look her best for him unlike with everyone else. But as the series progressed, those discussions started happening less and less. Plus, I never felt like Tani stepped up to the plate. I never felt like he was a dynamic enough character to sustain my interest for two cours.
Yamada has even less of a character arc than Tani, and I don’t think I really need to elaborate. He and Nishi have a cute relationship, and he helps her gain more confidence in herself. But beyond that, what can you really say about the guy other than that he’s a bright and cheerful dude?
Ultimately, both Taira and Azuma had issues that they had to resolve and grow from. They gave us a reason to keep cheering. I’m not saying that the show is bad. I clearly enjoyed it a lot. I’m not trashing the other pairings either. This was a relatively short romance series, so there wasn’t enough screen time to fully flesh out every single character. A few of them were going to have to play supporting roles, and I think that fell squarely onto Tani and Yamada. And that’s fine. We probably got close to the best show we could’ve gotten in 25 episodes. But a few viewers found it curious that Tairazuma would have such a disproportionate share of the discourse when the finale was mostly about Suzuki and Tani. I can’t speak for everybody, but for me, everything I said above explains the difference.
We go all the way back from before Suzuki even started liking Tani. I can’t help but wonder what she thought of him at this exact point in time. She eventually ran up to him to clear up a potential misunderstanding. If Yamada hadn’t randomly tried to pull Tani into the conversation, would she have noticed him on her own? But it’s clear from that point on that his ears would start picking up her voice whether or not he wanted them to.
At first, it looked like she only ever wanted to smooth things over with Tani until he flat out told her that she didn’t have to do so. He didn’t care that much… or at all. This left Suzuki speechless, so it was her turn to take notice of Tani. And that was how the crush started? Well, love works in mysterious ways… I think that’s supposed to be god for most people, but eh. My point is, even the second ever conversation was prompted by something Yamada said. Basically, he was their Cupid without even realizing it. Do Japanese weddings do a best man kind of thing? Maybe a gyaru like Suzuki would opt for a more Western-style wedding. If that’s the case, Tani should make Yamada his best man.
To put it simply, Tani was going through life not really appreciating the world around him. If something was minor, it was also unnecessary. It wouldn’t appear on his radar. It was thanks to Suzuki’s “nonsense” that Tani’s eyes gradually opened, making him see what he’d been missing out on. Nobody would say it’s important to take note of your grandmother’s tote bag… but these small details nevertheless add color to our lives — color that was missing from Tani’s life: “It was subtle, but I felt like I could see a few more colors.” Then it would’ve been cool if this portion of the anime was greyscale until Suzuki started to talk to him more and more. Before he knew it, he started to see Suzuki through a shoujo filter as well.
In conclusion, Suzuki developed feelings first, but Tani gradually caught up to her. By the time she asked him to walk home, i.e., the first episode of the entire series, they were both mutually crushing on each other. Then he took his bold risk and grabbed her hands. And the rest is history. I hate to admit it, but Tani as a character peaked at that moment.
We return to the present, where Suzuki sees Tani off as he boards the train to his university. I wish he could’ve kept developing into an interesting character, but he never really did. He just flatlined from there. The show is a fun watch because the vibes are mostly immaculate. In terms of character depth, however, our primary couple was a little lacking.
Stray thoughts & observations:
— Most young boys when a girl flirts with them.
— Ah, Taira at his peak levels of self-loathing. Pure, unadulterated cynicism.
— I wonder if this is a reference to a specific show. I dunno, I don’t always watch shoujos.
— Mom and grandma are both shocked to find Tani laughing to himself. In general, I think the kids’ relationships with their families were under-explored. Again, just 25 episodes, so we don’t got a lot of time. But still, I would’ve loved to have seen how Tani’s family was dealing with a whole “new” Tani. Not only that, a gyaru girlfriend? Did they expect that for him? Hell, we don’t even get to see Azuma’s family, right? She’s the only member of the romantic six whose home life is a complete mystery to us. Even Taira has a sister who is sick of him. Speaking of which, what do you think his sister thinks of him now that he isn’t so negative?
— We get a montage of the kids in their new environs. Taira even makes new friends, proving once and for all that he’s not the miserable kid he once was. It looks like Yamada went into an apprenticeship. College isn’t for everyone, and he might make more money taking this route anyway.
— The boys still hang out on the regular.
— Sato questions Azuma about something, which makes the latter turn away and blush. We’d like to think they’re talking about Azuma’s relationship with Taira, but I suppose nothing is confirmed. It’s just the likeliest possibility.
— Wow, a boy finally wears a yukata instead of leaving it up to the girl all the time.
— It’s funny how every girl ends up cutting their hair short as they enter into adulthood. We first see Nishi with the new look, but both Nabe and Azuma have cut their hair short as well. Also, Nishi’s new friends really want to meet Yamada for some reason.
— We see the two confirmed pairings going on a double date. This might be evidence that Taira and Azuma aren’t dating, because you know Suzuki definitely would’ve wanted to do the same with them. Then again, Taira would probably want to keep his dating life a secret even from his friends.
— I think the picnic at the end is anime original content. It’s interesting how Nishi never fully integrated into the friend group. You think Yamada would’ve invited her anyway. He probably did and she couldn’t come for whatever reason.
— And that’s all she wrote… and drew.