This show really should have a hazmat warning for cute.
Come on – showing us these two in kindergarten isn’t playing fair. I mean, they’re so goddam kawaii as 8th-graders – isn’t that bad enough? I didn’t put Kao ni Denai Kashiwada-san to Kao ni Deru Oota-kun in the poll this season, because honestly there was just no way in hell I was going to drop it. It’s right in my butter zone, this series – it understands why middle school romcoms work. And, equally as important, what they can authentically do that high school romcoms can’t. And it adds some genuinely clever tweaks to the formula too.
Having spotlighted the denai half of Oota’s friend group last time, the deru half – Tadokoro-kun – gets his turn here. I’ve said it before, but I love the dynamic of Kashiwada-san being the only girl in a friend group with three boys – it’s pretty unique for romcoms. Tadokoro and Sata (not Sada) are protective of her. But they (especially Sata) also get that she’s the one in control with Oota. They love both the principals and watching them interact is a source of limitless amusement. But it’s also stressful for Tadokoro, who lacks Sata-kun’s detach and maturity. When he gets seated between them (and Tabuchi-san to boot) it’s a recipe for an early ulcer to be sure.
That doodle exchange – with Tadokoro literally caught in the middle – was highly amusing (not least the bizarre passage Oniwarada was reading). The ironic thing is that Oota actually won, since his first drawing made Kashiwada laugh, but of course he doesn’t know that. Kashiwada is very good at this, though. First she riffs on Oota-kun’s surrealistic giraffe (one of the great prog rock bands of the 70’s) and then offers a truly sublime take on Oniwarada-sensei (which he blames on Tadokoro, natch). I feel for Oniwarada – he’s just so desperate to be accepted and has no clue how to relate to kids. He’s a man who’s 100% in the wrong career but he keeps plugging away.
The snow thing was pure kid fun, but with a bit of an edge to it in one sense. In the first place there’s absolutely nothing more fun as a kid than playing in the snow. And nothing else that brings out the kid in an adolescent like it. I must say though, I thought it was borderline mean-spirited when Tadokoro and Sata teamed with Kashiwada and ganged up on poor Oota-kun. Seriously, it’s not like she needs the help. I do feel for Oota sometimes – he clearly has hyperactivity issues and certain situations just get the better of him. But 13-14 year-olds aren’t thinking that way – to them this is just fun, even if it’s at his expense.
Still – it’s clear Kashiwada-san sees the good in Oota. And always has, as we learn through a trip back to their kindergarten days. It’s remarkable how much of the adolescent and even the adult you can see in children this age (as anyone who’s watched the Up film series could tell you). Oota is already Oota and Kashiwada already Kashiwada (tragically, even in the kindergarten setting we don’t get the first names). But her lack of expression is even more of a burden for her here, whereas Oota’s “Oota-ness” is more natural.
Oota gallantly steps up with some of the most important advice she’ll ever get – “you have to tell people what you want”. That’s something anyone should take to heart, but especially someone like Kashiwada. And when she says “that’s what I liked about him”, it’s truthy as hell. Oota, for all his faults, is an open book. He says what he thinks and can’t hide what he’s thinking. And he “got” Kashiwada when no one else in school did. He may have moved away (it could have been half a kilometer for all we know, this was kindergarten) but she never forgot. Kashiwada still hasn’t thanked Oota properly for that moment. But that’s something to look forward to before the series ends.
The post Kao ni Denai Kashiwada-san to Kao ni Deru Oota-kun (Inexpressive Kashiwada and Expressive Oota) – 06 appeared first on Lost in Anime.
