Another great episode. Really, I just can't stop loving every second and minute of this show!
I especially like how this was an analyze-everything-about-Ryuuji-episode. In every one-on-one conversation he had--Ami, Minori, Yasuko--they all picked and probed at him, pulling out little bits of himself to see with his own eyes. Like many people though, it takes him a while to understand the bits of himself everybody is pointing at and only starts to get an inkling of what he feels when he hands over the lunchbox to Taiga. Despite the confusing argument the day before, he stops trying to presume what she wants and tells her that he wants her to win and suddenly realizes there might be other things he wants as well.
And Taiga. She always knew what she wanted until now. First there was the students in the class pool talking about how she's competing for Ryuuji. A little shock but she seems to brush it off. It's not till later on at the public pool is she forced to seriously consider what exactly she is doing. As long as she has something to help keep her afloat, she's able to swim just fine, she actually has a chance of winning and beating Ami. She can win; she can have... what exactly? What she does have is that moment we all experience some point in our lives where we realize we don't know exactly what we want. The last few moments at the public pool was a violently beautiful scene: one that conveys the abruptness of a sudden halt in one's life. Maybe Taiga screaming at the class not to touch Ryuuji because he's hers seems a bit sudden, sometimes our emotions are too subtle even for ourselves until they break out like that. Besides, since when has Taiga ever been the kind to keep her emotions under control?
Ami is a beautiful enigma--in more ways than one. I think she continues to slowly and subtly shed her fake personality. She's never been more openly spiteful and mean spirited then when she tells Taiga that she will be all alone during the summer. Showing off her bikini at the class pool was also an excellent display of public narcissism. Then there's how she... does whatever the hell she's doing with/to Ryuuji! He seems to be the only guy she can genuinely open up to: telling him the conditions she finds peace and comfort in is a fairly intimate subject, I think. She also enjoys teasing him about Taiga as well. But what's her angle with all of this? Is she genuinely trying to approach him as a friend--or even more than that? Or is she laying down a web to trap Ryuuji and Taiga, tangling the two in the confusion of their own feelings and emotions before perhaps tearing that web apart?
And finally: I absolutely loved how Taiga has no compunctions about fighting dirty
