Episode 07: “Forward on an unmapped road”
BRIEF SUMMARY: After everything that happened last episode, Takemoto gives up with job hunting. After realizing that he does like Hagu, Morita wants to join the International Paris Competition (which only accepts entries for painting) so he’d paint instead of scuplting, and if he wins, he thinks he can face Hagu properly. He gives Takemoto a little pep talk, saying that compared to his ability to paint his confidence in winning is more important, trying to tell Takemoto to not give up. Though unsure what exactly he is to do, Takemoto begins to make his tower project as his graduation piece.
Yamada and Hagu help out Yamada’s dad with work. They stumble across a field with clovers and they try and search for a 4-leaf clover, to no avail. Morita starts working on his painting, disappointing the art dealer. Nomiya, Yamada and Mayama are in the pottery studio. Nomiya tells Yamada that the client’s reaction to her work was good, so he’ll treat her to dinner again. The word “again” catches Mayama’s attention and wonders what Nomiya meant. Before Nomiya can say anything, Yamada cuts him off defensively telling Mayama that Nomiya has only treated her out to noodles, much to Nomiya’s chagrin. Nomiya looks on as Yamada looks at Mayama. Meanwhile, Miwako is at Rika’s place, asking her if she doesn’t regret sending Mayama away. Rika admits that she feels safe when around him and that she thinks he might have saved her but she always has this sense of guilt. On their way out of the campus, Mayama asks Nomiya to stay away from Yamada since they’ve been good friends for a long time. Nomiya says he doesn’t have to listen to him since Mayama likes Rika and he gave up on Yamada but now Mayama is telling him not to get close to Yamada. Mayama asks why Nomiya has to choose Yamada if he’s just playing around. Nomiya replies, “Who says I’m playing around?” Adding that if Mayama doesn’t like Yamada then he should make her realize it sooner since being indecisive is the most tortuous thing.
Yamada and Morita have a friendly talk. Morita says that humans can only do 2 things in front of a goal, either work hard or give up, but Yamada doesn’t fit in either since she only sits quietly and waits for Mayama. To his surprise, she confirms this saying she’s always been waiting in front of a door wondering if it’ll ever open. Morita thinks it would be good if a note for her is left on the door saying if it will ever open or not at all. At Fujiwara, a 1-year project in Tottori is introduced. Miwako thinks of sending out Mayama there to do this since it will be a good challenge for him. Meanwhile, the lady teacher is still bugging Shuuji about Hagu. She uses a guilt-trip kind of tactic to change Hagu’s mind into entering the competition, stating that Shuuji’s dreams of going abroad have been somehow put on hold because of Hagu. Hagu decides to apply for the study abroad program. Shuuji drops by Rika’s place for a conversation, relating his worries about Hagu. Hagu visits Takemoto at the gym where he’s making his tower. She wishes him luck in finding his own dream to chase.
Yamada and Nomiya at the pottery studio and he informs her that Mayama may be leaving for Tottori soon. At about the same time, Mayama hears from one of his co-workers about his pending Tottori project. Since Mayama didn’t want to leave Tokyo for that long, he submits his resignation from Fujiwara and says he’ll be going back to Harada Design to work for Rika once again. Unbeknownst to Mayama, Yamada is at Fujiwara and overhears this. It’s only after saying everything that he notices her. Disappointed with his revelation, Yamada runs off as Mayama follows and runs after her. She catches up to Nomiya and asks him to take her with him wherever, to which he agrees. They run off together as Mayama looks on, unable to give chase. Inside Nomiya’s car, he asks Yamada if she thought Mayama would come after her if she went with him, adding that he doesn’t feel good being used like that. Since she asked him herself to take her with him and go wherever, he would do so. They drive off. Meanwhile, Takemoto continues to work hard on his tower, contemplating. He notes that he jealously watched everyone chase their own little goals while he just kept staring and didn’t even try to have a goal himself. In his frustration, he destroys the tower he is making and gets on his bicycle, pedaling on, wondering how far he could go.
~ end of episode
IMPRESSION: With regard to Takemoto’s dilemma, I can somehow relate with his way of thinking too. There comes a time when you look back and question how you are living your life and trying to figure out your purpose, wondering what you really want to do, searching for some sense of fulfillment in what you do. It’s quite frustrating when these sort of thoughts pop in your head because it can be confusing to think about what you’re supposed to do when you don’t have a clear view of your future.
Lots of conversations in this episode. The characters relate their worries with one another. I like that they developed Morita and Yamada’s friendship here more than what was shown in the anime. I’m not sure how it was the manga though, since I haven’t read it. Anyway, I liked the conversation that they had. Obviously, they were talking about Yamada’s hopeless unrequited love for Mayama. Everything Morita said, I could somehow relate to it and understand what he’s trying to say. I also like Shuuji and Rika’s frequent talks as they visit each other’s place. It somehow shows that they still have strong bond of friendship, although their relationship was a bit more harrowing in the anime since one of the episodes focused on Harada, Rika and Shuuji’s friendship. It was quite heart-wrenching. I don’t have a problem with how they’re approaching it in the drama though. Then there’s Takemoto and Hagu’s talk about finding his own dream and goal to aim for while Hagu ponders her own course of action in having to paint what she’s told instead of painting as she likes.
Ah, and the Tottori project is introduced! I’ve been waiting for this because I like where this Tottori storyline will be going with regard to Nomiya and Yamada’s budding relationship. I totally loved that episode in the anime and I’m looking forward to see it in the J-drama version! I was initially hesitant about Kashibawara Takashi as Nomiya, but as I predicted, I slowly got used to him playing Nomiya’s part and I have grown to like him as the story progressed in each episode. It’s four more episodes before the finale. I tend to babble too much about Nomiya x Yamada moments in my summaries, expect more to come in the next four summaries since I like this pair. Haha. Oh and in the part near the end where Mayama chases Yamada as she runs away from him and she asks Nomiya to take her with him… When Nomiya took Yamada’s hand and ran across the street towards his car, Suga Shikao’s “Ougon no Tsuki” immediately played in my head as it was the insert song in the anime for this particular scene. LOL. ^^
Some quotable quotes:
- Takemoto: “If there is no map, you won’t know where to go. I thought you chose where to go after you’ve seen the map, but that was wrong. I am not lost because I didn’t have a map… I have no destination.”
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