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Ritsuko is a classic "osananajimi" ("childhood friend") character. It's often the case that stories about these pairings portray one member as deeply in love with the other, but that love is unrequited. One reason why I worried that Sakamichi no Apollon might be headed down a trite "slope" was the inclusion of the Sentaro and Ritsuko pairing. As gianna says, I don't think Sentaro ever saw Ritsuko in "that way," and the encounter between him and Yurika on the beach just drives that point home. Sometimes these stories end up with the Sentaro character discovering that he or she was truly in love with the childhood friend all along. I don't think we can conclude anything about how things will turn out for the Sentaro and Ritsuko pairing based on what we've seen so far. If Yurika turns to Jun, perhaps Sentaro will discover he has a deep yearning for Ritsuko. Or he may always consider her as the girl who was with him during the life portrayed in the photo album but never a romantic passion.
The childhood-friend meme seems much more common in anime than in Western literature. Any speculations on why that might be the case?
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