10 Second Anime - Ore Monogatari!! - Episode 22

Yukika joins Suna on a double date with Rinko and Takeo. Suna makes his feelings clear to Yukika.

Episode 22 - "The Letter Addressed To Me"

Hmm.

For how fanciful the character of Takeo is and super cutesy his relationship with Rinko has been, sometimes this show is just too real when it comes to dramatizing teen romance with the side characters. We saw this earlier with Mariya having to give up her crush on Takeo, and now we have Yukika giving up her first love with Suna.

 

Last episode, Suna had made the stray comment that he just hadn't "clicked" with anyone yet. Love develops between people across many axes, and time is one of those dimensions too. Yukika had been secretly loving Suna for 10 years, while he had only recently been given an opportunity to get to know her. It's not a surprise a relationship couldn't even start with that disparity in depth of feeling. Yukika said it herself, her heart was breaking because of the difference in how they felt.

 

Objectively, they shared many interests, and she treated Takeo like a person instead of a stereotype. But if you know the other person has been madly in love with you for years, that disparity can cause a pressure that could lead to resentment.

 

I sympathize with a character like Yukika. If she treats Suna's rejection in a healthy way, she'll have to turn the page on a presence in her life that has been there for years. What will she do with all the freed up time she spent thinking about Suna? My first love didn't work out and I remember asking myself who would fill my thoughts during spare moments? Yukika is going to have a lot of spare time on her hands.

 

There's also the negative view on her ten year crush and slight stalking. She fell in love with an ideal. A real person would know her too, not just the one way street of her knowing things about Suna, but then again a real person would have been loving her back all those ten years. Still, to have that courage to face that rejection she had been avoiding for ten years was a credit to her and to Takeo for inspiring her.

 

From a romantic perspective, Yukika had her Cinderella moment with her prince, but there was no glass slipper to be returned. There was closure, though, with Suna giving her 10 years' worth of White Day presents. Suna would make an excellent boyfriend, if he ever found someone who could make him laugh like Takeo.

 

On an optimistic note, if Yukika and Suna trade letters (with their signatures firmly attached) for 10 years, maybe that tentative friendship between them would change.

Heh.

I was very satisfied with the zoo jokes playing on Takeo's features and on Rinko too!

Yes, Rinko is a very scary small carnivorous precious animal. *GAO*!

 

For a small fraction of a second I was worried we were going to have to deal with a soft handed approach to suicide. Luckily, this isn't that kind of show.

 

Don't say goodbye, Yukika! Takeo isn't done helping you yet!

Takeo is pure bro. When your bro loses out on love, bros don't have anything to say. They just give you a good backslap to let you know they know what you're feeling.

Too late for you, Yukika. You're one of Takeo's bros now. Oh, but Takeo, don't smack girls like that...

 

This show goes through side stories pretty quick. Rinko's love rival was dealt with in only two episodes. Now Suna's first real date with his mystery girl is over in two episodes too. What's left to tell for the animated series? Suna's sister Ai finally getting together with that college guy? Takeo meeting Rinko's parents? Even though we've seen Rinko's home many times, we haven't seen them at all.