I was pretty upset when episode seven didn't come out last week considering what happened during the sixth episode, which was actually something I was looking forward to writing this post. Apparently the reasoning -- that I found out much later in the week -- was because of the Olympic. It isn't something I watch, so that is just the way things on TV end up if some event happens during it's airing time.
Either way I'm back on schedule with two pretty intense episodes, but the first one is one of the more important ones -- at least of Hachiken. Really, this was one of the things I wanted to see happen during the second season, so I'm glad to finally get to see the relationship status of the Hachiken family. So with that, the rockiness we are about to enter into is actually something that I look forward to in between the silliness and comedy of this anime, so let get into episode six.
We were left on a cliffhanger back in episode five, where Hachiken has passed out because of exhaustion and I was wonder if Mikage would be the one to find him. It turned out to be Tokiwa, but Mikage found out either way and since the Ezonoo Festival was going on, none of the students were able to visit Hachiken in the hospital -- this is where the fun starts. Pretty much right away I figured that the towering man, who entered the hospital where Hachiken Yuugo was staying, was his father and it turned out to be the correct answer. Plus the face that Yuugo made was pretty much instant conformation for me.
I don't necessarily like to pass judgement on a new character solely based on another's perspective, so I observed Yuugo's father under as objective of a light as I could. The basic conclusion I got off of him was he wasn't that bad, the father just seemed like he has a harder time expressing himself clearly toward his son. Yuugo's father tended to emphasize the important of wanting to do what's best for Yuugo, but usually came of as utilitarian and unloving. Mix that with an unchanging face that seem to always be angry, it isn't much of a leap as to why Yuugo is so concerned about his grades and the approval of his father.
As for Yuugo's mother, it seems like she gets the sharper end of Yuugo's frustration for his dad. It's an interesting transferring flow of emotions; I tend to wonder if Yuugo's mom also does similar things that her son does, or is she far more mature and never really takes the backlashes from Yuugo personally. Either way, the mother is a sweet lady that also cares for Yuugo's well being, but Yuugo's the aggressor this time, who can't express his feeling clearly to his mom since she is far more like a punching bag than anything else.
And with those two types of interactions between Yuugo and his parents, I can kind of see -- even more so -- where he got his personality from. When it comes to dealing with other people, most of his personality comes from his mother. And when even Yuugo focuses on himself, it all comes from his dad. I kind of doubt that we will get much else this season involving his parents, but it was a good enough introduction where I say I'm satisfied on that front.
Immediately afterwards, Hachiken wasn't feeling that great about himself when he arrived back at his school -- mostly because of his father, but Hachiken also just over thinks things. However, the nice touch of this drama heavy episode was the scene with Mikage and Hachiken; when Hachiken is reading the notes about how people felt after going to the festival. It was the last one Hachiken read that got him to full out cry because someone appreciated his work.
And that was just just one powerful end to the episode. So many people tend to focus on the negative aspect of themselves for so long and end up skipping over the good parts. So when such a small jester like someone saying they had fun after you worked hard to get some project done, it only takes someone pointing out your strengths to finally focus one the positives. This episode was my favorite one this season so far, and I just hope to see more this great.
The first thing that get discussed is that "date" between Mikage and Hachiken. I'm pretty glad that they were making progress, but when they finally get to to said event, it was pretty anticlimactic. Both of them went to a shrine and the Equestrian Club ended up being there so the atmosphere ended up defaulting back to friendly. I wasn't expecting much from it, but with Mikage's reactions leading up to this, I hoped in my cold black heart to see something more than a handful of minutes and it was over. However, what the episode ended up being focused on was slightly more interesting then the proposed date.
After about four episodes of sidestepping, the issue between Komaba and Mikage is being hinted at once again. Ezonoo's baseball team is trying to get into the nationals and are seven games away to finals by the time Hachiken's class gets really intense about these baseball games and support for the team. The thing that gave away the fact that the nationals might be connect to both Mikage and Komaba is the concerned faces Mikage made throughout the episode as she watch Ezonoo's team play.
With those facts, when the team ended up losing in the semi-finals, that just made my heart sink. I'm guessing that Komaba going to the final -- and winning -- has something to do with him being able to pursue his dream of being a professional baseball player. It is possible that the fact of him losing the game, because of the wind changing, is almost like he is being set to inheriting his family farm just like how Mikage is positioned now, only more set in stone.
And that conversation between Hachiken and Aikawa paralleled Komaba and Mikage's situation if my assumption is true. Both Komaba and Mikage know what the want to be, however the are being held back by the responsibility to take over their family's farm. It seemed like Komaba was the one working the hardest and more determined to achieve the dream of being a pro baseball player; even so, he kind of gets stonewalled if that lose was his last chance to finally break free and accomplish something more advantageous.
If anything, this event is something of a crossroad where Mikage either takes the responsible path of inheriting her family farm or try to risk taking her dream path of just taking care of horses. Really for whatever decision she makes, there is going to be some interesting conversions and character development coming up for her. The only things is, I can't really say much since the whole think between Mikage and Komaba hasn't been revealed in full, but I'm pretty confident in my conclusion.
I wouldn't say there was that much to this episode, but the things that can be implied is pretty high. It was more or less setup for the next episode where I'm curious to see how accurate, or even completely wrong, I am as facts start to be reveal later on in the season. It was alright, but coming from a week of hiatus plus the episode before it, there was some big shoes to fill as a follow up.
