[Kaoru Chujo]

The show reaches new heights. Every week.

Spoiler for ep7 (even though I don't see the need, but since the moderator uses them):

As Pellissier says, Noe's rising blush is legendary. As this show may become.

I don't think Shin made his move because of Jun's ultimatum, even if it affected the timing. I believe he said to himself that he does like Noe (Noe no koto ga ki ni natte ita), but never thought of her as a lover because all his attention was on Hiromi. (Not sure. He might have been talking about Jun's feelings for Noe and Hiromi.) Note his supply of red seeds. And how wonderful that he is coming close to giving her back her tears (Noe: "How odd. I feel like crying, but I'm not sad.") I believe she did tell her brother that now she loves Shin. And Shin can see that, too.

As a strong supporter of Noe, perhaps I am misreading, but what I see is Shin realizing that he has romantic feelings for Noe, too, not just for Hiromi. As for Ai, what a shocker for him.

Shin's refusal to tell his father what he had heard was frustrating, but very natural.

Noe's concern for Shin, which caused her to to go to Hiromi, was deeply touching. Takagaki Ayahi is doing an outstanding job with Noe. Her scenes with her brother and with Shin were both moving.

Don't count Hiromi out yet. I think she's his sister, but if she really isn't.... Six full episodes left for things to happen in. But personally, I don't think she's what he needs. He doesn't even really know her, despite living with her. Perhaps if they can now become closer, he will gradually discover (after repeated bouts of angst) that they do not get along that well, and it is Noe he really loves. The odd realism of the human relations in this show makes such a realistic outcome possible. We see that next week Hiromi will again be with Jun on his bike. I think she actually likes him, dangerous as he seems to her.

Ai-chan's desperate gamble was just wonderful. The way they did it with the towel was brilliant. As was the way Shin flipped up the seed in his room, and the way we saw it go up, and then roll toward him on the floor. Great stuff.

I loved the way Noe walked across the basketball court in her ordinary shoes. That alone showed the strength of her feelings. (I think. I know those are not street shoes, but they sounded hard-soled.)

I think Nobuse is dealing with the situation as well as he can. He is being the good guy we know he is, especially in the way he treats Shin. But he has the right to refuse to hear said out loud what he already knows Ai's feelings are. This way, she has the chance to return to him if her feelings shift when and if Shin rejects her. I've never liked his self-absorbed manner, but he is definitely the good guy Shin told Ai he was.

This show is now over 67,000 posts on 2channel and closing the gap on Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei for the lead among winter shows (the sensei is still 13,000 posts ahead, but was 50,000 posts ahead a month ago). That surprises me, since this doesn't seem like the kind of show 2channel normally likes. The last thousand-post thread on 2channel took less than four hours to fill up. Kudos to director Nishimura Junji and writer Okada Mari for coming up with something that can appeal across genres.

By the way, this week's staff was almost all Japanese, with some help from the Korean studio UNION CHO. Okada Mari herself wrote this ep.