Saturday, July 27, 2013

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun - 41 & 42

"Two Weeks Later" and "Merry-Go-Round"

Communication, that's the ticket.

If there's something every character in Tonari is lousy at, it's in talking to one another about those things that really matter. It's one thing to declare that someone doesn't understand you, but why exactly is it that they don't? Is it because they never tried to understand? Or is it because there isn't enough being said from one to the other? In this case, it's a bit of both. And since both are the problem, it's only natural that Haru, weirdo though he is and coward as well, would go missing for two weeks straight after the fight between him and Shizuku. Of course, Shizuku isn't dealing healthily either, by choosing to mostly ignore the problem and not look for him despite being worried. It's not so off the mark that she'd guess he's off on a tuna boat, since he's so strange that he could rend up most anywhere, but if both he and Shizuku were more open with one another, it's likely this whole situation could have been avoided. After all, claiming someone doesn't understand you is just as one sided as the anger and avoidance that comes afterward, and these two clearly need to talk things out. Even worse, once they realize that this is the problem, there's always something to get in the way, like Yamaken (though I think he's just underestimating how messed up the two of them are), and as always, that just creates more misunderstandings and further lack of communication.

Then there's Sasayan and Natsume, who are starting to see eye to eye a bit more now. Sasayan, as the most perceptive in the group, has always understood everyone a tad better than they've been able to, but Natsume has never really been able to take his interest in her seriously until now. It's interesting that it would take some out-of-character depression to make her look closer, but I think a relationship like this could be potentially good for her various neurotic tendencies, and I'm more than a little curious if this will work out by the end of the series.

In short, talk to each other, children!

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