Quote:
Originally Posted by Sphire
Well, another up and down episode. Iori was pretty good, although, as much as her speech was positive, I kinda feel it can so easily backfire. I mean, Taichi did the same thing to her when he said he'd recognise her no matter who she was in the last arc, and then got found out, and here she promises something she has no idea she can keep (then again, these are teenagers). No doubt Iori would be hurt bad if Inaba won. And to put on a fake smile for them would be too cruel, just so that they can stay friends. Seriously? And if Iori suddenly easily moves on, it'll feel like she never truly liked Taichi in the first place anyway, cheapening the whole thing. Seems like one of those typical KC things where you say/do stuff for a quick fix without thinking about further, heavier consequences.
I don't mind having a love triangle. True Tears did it well (to a certain degree), so it can be done. But somehow I feel KC won't reach that level. Especially given how some things have been hit or miss in the series. Inaba's kiss steal at the end points that out. I mean, what, now Iori and Taichi aren't a couple? They have to revert down to accommodate Inaba? And Taichi of course will play the doofus who 'couldn't stop the kiss' or who 'accidentally' gropes someone. The harem usual. Love triangles are messy and seldom get done right/well. The kiss seems more to showcase Inaba's change more than anything, which is kinda stupid. It doesn't help that I find Taichi 'meh'.
And that's not even touching the whole 'desire gimmick'. These gimmicks really are just to highlight issues rather than be anything really substantial in and of themselves. I won't think about it too much next time. The cat scene was...something I kind of expected actually. I was hoping Inaba would spit out she loved Taichi there and then so that everyone knew. Would make things a bit more interesting.
And finally...why does Inaba kissing her bloodied finger indicate she likes Taichi? And I mean that direct action (I know you could - and thus Iori could - deduce it from the way she was acting before, and then add the kiss on to that), but that scene itself? Made little sense to me, especially since Taichi didn't even touch the bleeding part. There was an awesome, and very similar, scene like that in Toradora!, but it made sense there. Here, I was like, 'huh?'.
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You pretty much nailed down what bothered me in this episode. If Iori just gets over losing Taichi (which she'll probably have to, since Inaba is more developed for the role of a girlfriend both emotionally and sexually) it'll just look like she didn't care much about him in the first place. Actually, it already does. Now that the whole unleashing of desires business is over, what's stopping her and Taichi from truly getting together? Taichi loves her and she loves him. They both said it. And yet now Iori is stepping down to Inaba's level, despite the fact that she has no reason to do so. Letting Inaba have a sporting chance is worse than honestly telling her she should get over Taichi, who is taken.
I also thought the bloodied finger wasn't a good enough hint. I mean, I'm glad Iori didn't have to spend 5 more episodes figuring out that Inaba likes Taichi, but deducing it from her touching her fingercut...seemed kinda unconvincing.
I wish the gimmicks were done in a more creative and intelligent way, but so far they haven't really been used for much that couldn't be achieved normally. It's like they're there to artificially spice up a scene, rather than actually be a part of the plot and a major way to develop the characters, as you'd expect something intrusive like that to be.