10 Second Anime - Ore Monogatari!! - Episode 15



A sports festival substitute crushes on Takeo and Rinko worries she may have a romantic rival.

Episode 15 - "My Girlfriend"

Heh.

Meet Mariya Saijo, otherwise known as Rinko 2.0. She's just as short, runs just as slow, but has bigger breasts. Be worried, Rinko, be very worried!

 

Takeo's school appears to have a bunch of things that only girls can trip on.

The girl that Mariya replaced on the relay event tripped on something to sprain her ankle. Actually I think it was because she missed the baton pass and stumbled, but still. And then Mariya fell during the actual event just to make Takeo's inevitable victory that much more dramatic.

 

Takeo thought the crowds laughed at him when he ran so fast, but when we saw the actual laughing happening, it was that nervous laughter of seeing the same old thing again. Even the announcer was sounded bored as he recounted Takeo's results.

It was going to happen eventually, but the two rivals had their awkward introduction. Takeo was oblivious, as usual, but the girls knew what was going on. Suna looked like he wished he were a thousand miles away from this meeting.

I found it endearing and hilarious that Rinko always expected to fight for Takeo's affection at some point. Her friends were rightfully skeptical, proving Takeo's point that he's not popular with girls, but they quickly accepted that Rinko had a love rival and she must be defeated!

I didn't think there could be a girl in his school that would make that kind of face after being offered a piggyback ride from Suna, but once a girl goes Takeo, they never go back.

 

Takeo had many misconceptions about his image, especially when he thought he wasn't popular. Among the boys he was always popular, but maybe Takeo just thought that's how friendships work. He was right about not being popular with girls, but if one girl spends enough time talking to him, getting caught by him, and seeing his physical prowess up close, well, he's become popular with 2 or 3 girls now.

Hmm.

I don't know if there's a term for the storytelling device that Ore Monogatari!! uses, but I'll call it a framed reference. The beginning of the series told a tale of two ogre friends where one helped the other become the hero to a village because he liked people so much. That story became the allegory of Takeo's and Suna's friendship.

 

With the start of this little story arc we were introduced to another allegory. The framed reference is of a bear chasing after a girl to return something, which naturally causes her to flee, but eventually she befriends the bear and enjoys dancing with him. Those details framed the events of how Mariya became attracted to Takeo, with lots of bear imagery, like on Mariya's handkerchief and the towel she gives Takeo as a gift, interspersed throughout. But the bear is still a bear, no matter how friendly he is, and Suna referenced that when he told Rinko that Mariya couldn't do anything about Takeo's feelings for Rinko.

One other thing I thought about was whether Mariya would have had a chance with Takeo if he had never met Rinko. The sports festival still would have happened, and Rinko's relationship would not have affected how Mariya found herself in the relay, but I don't think her feelings would have solidified so much without knowing that Takeo had a girlfriend. Rinko's friends were right about other girls finding guys more attractive if they know some other girl finds him attractive first. It's like giving emotional permission once a guy's desirable status has been established.

Still, you never know. Rinko was always odd in thinking how cool Takeo's muscles were, at least compared to her friends. Mariya didn't strike me as one who wanted to be around Takeo until she became the recipient of his winks and thumbs up. Maybe her preference for manly guys didn't awaken until she met Takeo. Trying to prolong their closeness after the sports festival with this master-disciple relationship is going to lead to some heartache for her very soon. Dancing with a friendly bear may be fun, but in the end, he's still a bear.