One more episode to go and our lovely couple finally get to
text and call each other for the first time in seven years. Yikes. So far all
the relationships are wrapping up nicely with the exception of our OTP. I’m
crossing my fingers and legs and whatever else is left to cross, hoping for a
happy ending.
Ren and Oto’s confession is interrupted by Ibuki. To pretend
nothing is wrong, Ibuki ends up talking to himself about fried tofu and French
toast. I’m shaking my head
at this poor guy. Ren wants to talk to Ibuki but Ibuki flatly refuses,
which indirectly forces Ren to leave. Before he leaves, Ibuki hands him his
(unfinished) portrait. I
wonder if Ibuki ever received a portrait from Oto.
Forcing him to leave wasn’t enough, Ibuki actually stops by
Ren’s place and offers Ren money to leave Oto alone. I do think Ibuki’s aware
the problem isn’t with Ren but with Oto and himself though. It was hard for Ren
to refuse Ibuki’s request but I’m glad Konatu’s
back to her honest self and interrupts Ibuki: “You can’t buy Ren’s love.” Konatsu, I only love you for these
moments.
After she showed Ibuki who’s boss, Konatsu mutters to herself: “Don’t underestimate Ren’s love for
Sugihara-san.” Haruta smiles after hearing her. Me too, me too! She’s finally given up on Ren.
Meanwhile, Oto’s alone in her room, crying as she reads her
mother’s letter which tells her that falling in love can erase her problems. But what happens when the problem
is love itself?
 |
| Haruta acting cute with his "Boo~" |
One evening, Konatsu
tells Haruta: “Your love feels contrived” Because he never says “I love you” directly? I’d rather
a guy show it with action and Haruta’s been doing that… Haruta confesses
to her that both his parents had lovers and he left home at 15 years old. After
9 episodes, we finally get Haruta’s backstory…
 |
| Kihoko is so cute when she hogs all the food xD |
Kihoko makes her first visit to Ren and I love it. She
playfully forces Ren to compliment her and most importantly, she gets right to
the point and questions Ren whether he still loves Oto. Ren tries to avoid the
question with food but Kihoko slams the box of food refusing him food until he
answers truthfully. I thought
Kihoko would reward his truthful answer with a tart but she takes the tart for
herself. Kihoko then does another lovable thing as she explains to Ren
why she thinks Oto loves him too. For Kihoko, she couldn’t find Ren because she
couldn’t leave her boyfriend, but Oto could. But Ren can’t follow his heart
though because there’s Ibuki. Kihoko
encourages him: “There’s a difference between being kind and being too kind.
Love is unfair. It rejects the odd number. It’s inevitable.” I love her philosophy. Not that I
support ruining other’s relationship (definitely not) but it’s just so true.
Love isn’t even. Then Kihoko cutely cheers him on and finally shares her
tarts with him.
Motivated by Kihoko’s words, that night Ren texts Oto: “I want to see you.” I’m surprised he actually sent it but I’m more
surprised at how direct he was. No casualness at all. Oto receives the
text but the next thing she does is close everything and shove her head in her
blanket. She’s pretending nothing happened, isn’t she? But the act only lasts a
few seconds because Oto picks up her
phone again and starts replying with the text, “I want to see you too,“ but
then changes it to “I can’t meet you” and then finally changes it to “I can’t
meet you just yet.” Phew.
Ren’s a little
defeated but he doesn’t give up and replies with: “I want to hear your voice” Awww! And she calls him (he’s
actually sitting up waiting for her call). Holy. It’s their first phone call in seven years…!
They’re very polite with each other and talk about the
unfinished portrait. She’s happy he likes her present as she scratches her
nose. She says it’s not done yet but when he wants her to finish it she doesn’t
reply. Ren changes the topic and tells her he’ll be going back to Aizu to help
Mutou-san plant daikon from his Grandpa’s seeds. He asks her to go to Aizu with
him. Ren’s going all out eh.
Oto smiles but her answer was disappointing; she uses her work as an excuse. But
Ren insists. Having no other way to refuse, Oto apologizes and then hangs up on
him telling him she needs to sleep.
Haruta surprises Konatsu by bringing her to the children’s
play she used to work for. She calls him annoying and he apologizes annoyingly
(“Sorry~~”). He’s annoying to her because he sees through her in wanting to
join the play again. Haruta explains
it’s not hard to see through her: “When you’re happy, you look happy. When
you’re sad, you look sad. There is no lie.” Ahhhh. It’s finally making sense to me why he likes
her.
When Konatsu tells him it’s okay for him to cry when he’s
sad too but he says he doesn’t know how. He’s never cried. Konatsu gives her
handkerchief to him and also her hand. And mutual love is born.
Ibuki invites Oto out for a walk and reveals he’s remembered
about Sonoda-san, which was probably triggered by his meeting with Tsumura-sensei,
a lawyer he had helped when he was still a journalist advocating against
medical malpractice (in Episode 3). He’s aware of how rotten his life has
become but he can’t turn back anymore. Even when his father insults Oto for
being poor and greedy and for throwing herself away (and saying how it’s not
the first time), Ibuki can’t retaliate. He confesses to Oto his actual job descriptions
but assures her he’ll protect her job and her home. He doesn’t care who she
loves as long as she stays with him because he’s confident he can bring her
happiness (in terms of $, I think). Ibuki only has Oto left and I think Oto knows that.
Returning home from the walk, Oto sees Ren comforting a
crying lost boy. He then clumsily walks into a long stick that someone was
carrying. Her old self would have ran up to him but now she’s watching him
leave with tears in her eyes.
Ren asks for a day off from work to go to Aizu. He promises
to return this time since he doesn’t have a home of family there anyways. Boss contradicts him: “But isn’t home all
about memories?”
Then Ren gets a text from Oto about meeting tomorrow. Ren’s
dimples are showing. Sabiki happened to be standing over his shoulder peeking
at his text this whole time. LOL. Sabiki advises Ren to ride the swan boats at
Lake Inawashiro with Oto because legend says couples who do so stay bonded
forever. I’m sort of
confused whether Ren actually believes him despite knowing Sabiki’s a pathological
liar. And Ren’s nod-shake head movement made me chuckle.
Kihoko’s being such a cute cupid but when she learns Oto is
meeting up with Ren to break things off, Kihoko sinks in sadness. Literally.
She kneels down and sulks like it’s her own problem. Oto
calls her annoying and Kihoko’s quick in admitting she’s always been an
annoying woman, lol. Kihoko whines
at Oto’s decision because “Ren is the right one for her.” I THINK she’s so upset she doesn’t
realize she’s using her dialect. Oto’s only answer is that she can’t
betray Ibuki. So it’s okay to betray herself and Ren?
Before their meeting, Oto writes a letter with the
notepad she had picked up from work. It had those invisible flower prints just
like her Mother’s letter had.
She’s heading out to meet Ren but Oto bumps into a girl who
had her bag stolen from a “thief.” I’ve now memorized “Torobo” means thief in Japanese. That was Ren’s
so-called occupation before he was Mr. Mover according to Oto. Her name is Yoshino Nara and she’s just
arrived in Tokyo hoping to sell “miracle bracelets” for a living. She’s
grateful for Oto helping her look for the thief so she gives her a pair of
bracelets, one for her and the other for her lover.
When they find the thief, it turns out he was only hungry
and stole her food and nothing else. Nara pities him. Is there another love blossoming?
However, things get a little violent when bystanders take on
an active role and apprehend the thief. Nara and Oto try to help the
thief and in the midst, Oto gets pushed down the stairs…
Ren, clueless to Oto’s condition, is still waiting for her.
He leaves her a voice message when she doesn’t pick up. At first he’s just
wondering why she’s late but then he decides to leave a more thoughtful
message. He tells her there’s one thing he’ll never forget: the sunrise they
saw together. He recalls the sun they were chasing that day was radiant. He was
dazzled even more by Oto’s smile (after all that crying). Whenever he looks at
her, he’d feel hope amongst a hopeless world. The voice message beeps as Ren
ends off with “Itsuka…”
After waiting the whole night, Ren walks home and comes
across another flower growing between the pavements, a symbol of hope amongst a
hopeless world.
- - - Comments - - -
Oto has to be okay. Drama, you cannot betray me. D: Omg what
if she does…!!! Oto’s mom left behind a letter for Oto with those flower
printed papers before she died… and now Oto uses the same type of paper to
leave Ren a letter. Gah. And then Nara mentioned how “[she doesn’t] even know
if [the miracle bracelets] will bring good or mad miracles. UH. They why give
them to her?? It could be a good miracle… you know… this fall of hers prevented
her from ending things with Ren. Always look on the positive side… I did not
jinx this drama.
ANYWAYS. I love how the importance of the sunrise they saw
together in Episode 1 comes back near the end of the drama. I never noticed
they were chasing the sunrise when they were driving to Tokyo as if they were
chasing for a new day. Such a nice little detail. Also, when Ren mentioned how
dazzled he was at her smile, can I assume that’s why he’s fallen in love? :D
Yea?
Not that I needed more proof from the drama that they’re
making Oto synonymous to Flowers but the last bit of the drama with Ren taking
a picture of the flower growing in the concrete made the metaphor much more
concrete. Oto is the flower and also Ren’s hope.
Everyone was lovable today, especially Kihoko. What a sweet
cupid she is. She did an awesome job in persuading Ren. That will probably be
the most proactive we’ll see Ren, unless the last episode will bring us a more
awesome Ren. She was earnestly sad when Oto decided to break things off with
Ren and the fact that she admitted she was annoying made me smile.
My love for Konatsu is on and off. When she’s being honest, I
like her, otherwise, she’s annoying. At least this episode finally makes me
understand a little bit why Haruta is blindly devoted to her. I guess it is
true it’s rare for people’s emotions to be written plainly on their face like
Konatsu’s but I still find the reasoning weak. Love needs no reason? Gr. Fine.
Ibuki was pitiful. He doesn’t love his job; his dad doesn’t
love him; his lover doesn’t love him; he’s got nothing. At least he’s got
money? Poor guy was so desperate this episode I really couldn’t hate him. It’s
inevitable, he’s the odd number and love just isn’t fair.
I just noticed Ren and Oto never directly saw/spoken to each
other this episode. Now that’s not fair…!
Credits to Sanashi (for subbing) and Cubical Noses (for timing).
Related Posts:
Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite Kitto Naite Shimau Episode 10
Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite Kitto Naite Shimau Episode 10