Kotoura-san - 9

"Everyone is Around Me"

As usual, Kotoura-san covers a dizzying amount of material in its allotted twenty minutes.

Things have taken a strange turn for little Haruka, who now finds herself the sole lead to a criminal investigation which revolves around a man assaulting high school girls in the area. This is weird territory for this series, though not novel in terms of narratives that revolve around psychics (look, for example, at Psychic Detective Yakumo); however, the point of all this isn't necessarily Haruka's role in capturing the criminal, but the implications that that knowledge has on her psyche, as well as on those of her friends. There's not much the kids can do after all; telling the police that Kotoura read the mind of someone passing by is unlikely to be very productive, so all they can do is keep quiet about it and hope that nothing happens. Yuriko, however, seems determined to get Haruka involved with the case, which makes sense considering her mother's background as a consultant for criminal cases, and she's even recognized by the gruff old detective investigating this particular case.

Yet Haruka doesn't have much time to dwell on her fears, because Manabe is always around with the conscious attempt to keep her distracted. The more I watch this series, the more I'm convinced that Manabe is the real star, and the more he makes other male leads this season pale in comparison. Not only is he blatantly honest about his feelings, but he also takes one for the team when need be under the guise of pervert, when in reality he does things with very sincere intentions. That's why I'm once again disappointed to see Moritani take the role of his personal tormentor; not only does he not deserve it, but she's the last person who should ever get to judge him. In fact, you could even argue that her determination to keep Manabe away from Haruka is more about Moritani's lingering feelings for Manabe than they are for her new friend, which in my opinion makes more sense than the self-justification she's using now. Regardless, we see that she still harbors the guilt she rightfully bears when her careless words cause Haruka to be further bullied at school, which means that she still hasn't forgiven herself, as it should be.

Still, all of this pales somewhat to the last few minutes of the episode, where Haruka finally meets her mother again while at dinner with her friends (at the behest of Moritani, who did not attend). Kumiko seems determined to hate her saint-like daughter no matter what, but her hatred wavers when Manabe does what he does best and gives both mother and daughter a chance to be more honest toward each other, at the expense of his own personal agony, of course. The momentary relapse proves that Kumiko isn't as ready to throw her daughter away as she might seem, and we all know that with enough of a push, Kotoura will accept and forgive her once she's prepared to ask for it. What's more interesting is the momentary shock Haruka feels at reading the mind of her mother's new companion. Could he be the man behind the assaults?

N.B.: Thanks to Ivan for the wonderful caps! By the way, I hereby demand that Manabe be transferred to Amnesia immediately, where he will likely go a long way toward improving the lack of good boyfriend material. Seriously.