10 Second Anime - Ore Monogatari!! - Episode 14



Oda schemes to make Ai confess her feelings to Takeo at MM Land. Rinko worries about love jinxes.

Episode 14 - "My Jinx"

Heh.

MM Land is supposed to be the happiest place on earth (I've seen that someplace else...), but only Takeo could fill that phrase with disconcerting horror.

Oda appeared to be looking for any opportunity to separate her and Takeo from the rest and it looks like their merry-go-round horses are helping too.

The producers of this anime have my kind of sense of humor. In the preview last week, they put a mosaic censor blob on the Mouse mascots on that boat when they were just mimicking the lovers' pose from Titanic.

Takeo and Suna got to on their own date. Hurr. Actually, it was a nice conversation they had about jinxes. The reason that the superstition about couples breaking up after going to MM Land persisted is that, in reality, most relationships break up. That brought an adult perspective to a first time couple. Enjoy it while you can, even if that time together proves to be lifelong or only a couple months. This also gave us a clue to why Suna hasn't had any romantic relationships when he's been given ample opportunity.

It's clear that Ai still carries a torch for Takeo, and even though Oda may be correct that she needs closure, perhaps his idea for closure is wrong for her.

It's pretty rare to see a love squee slowly ramp up.

Ai is a very independent young woman, but just one suggestion from Takeo will make her trade her dignity for animal ears. Don't worry, she still looks glamorous, just glamorously cute.

This Oda guy either has no shame or is so desperate (maybe both) that he would even dump a ketchup topped hot dog on Ai. To do that on the girl you're serious is about means you're either crazy or REALLY serious about her.

Takeo vision is powerful. Able to pick out a small sophomore girl from terrible heights.

 

Ai should thank Oda for his manipulations anyway. She actually went on a date with Takeo.

I loved her getting all flustered in the teacup ride. It was also a great chance to reprise the running joke of Takeo sticking his face too close to people when he asks questions.

I can't believe The Matrix was released over 15 years ago...

Geh.

No matter how strong the focus is on Rinko for this show, the most beautiful girl in it is Ai. That Oda guy better treat her right.

Hmm.

Ai did get her closure, but it came from realizing that Takeo would never see her as a love interest. The touching scene that decided this was the replay of comparing Ai to a slender lily. For a self-conscious teenage girl, being tall and different is very difficult socially, but the young Takeo gave Ai confidence when she realized she could be as beautiful as a flower. That's romantic, even if it came from an oblivious child. Years later, Ai remembered that scene as a pivotal moment in her life, but Takeo didn't. Even so, at MM Land, he found a lily to compare her to, and that sealed her closure. That doesn't stop her attraction to him, because he is still her first love, but it does close the door on anything more than someone like a younger brother telling his older sister that she's objectively beautiful.

The other little scene that made my heart flutter in sympathy with Rinko was when she and Takeo reconnected right before the Sparkling Parade (obviously Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade) and how he opened his arms wide for an embrace instead of running to scoop her up. That was the right boyfriend move! It signaled to Rinko that he was open to her little physical gestures of affection and that she doesn't have to hold back (as much) as she had been. Good for them. Even in the midst of a plot centered around Ai, there was deepening movement in their own relationship.