(CR) Tsuki ga Kirei (The Moon is Beautiful)

[FredFriendly]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

...

We will just have to disagree on whether Akane is simply shy or if she has some kind of social anxiety disorder, although she certainly demonstrates classic signs of the latter, as defined by DSM-5:

Spoiler for The Current DSM-5 Definition:

DSM-5 Definition of Social Anxiety Disorder:

A. A persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be embarrassing and humiliating.

B. Exposure to the feared situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally pre-disposed Panic Attack.

C. The person recognizes that this fear is unreasonable or excessive.

D. The feared situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety and distress.

E. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia.

F. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting 6 or more months.

G. The fear or avoidance is not due to direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., drugs, medications) or a general medical condition not better accounted for by another mental disorder...

note: DSM–5 is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the U.S..

On another note, I'm glad that Kotarou realized that Dazai isn't the be-all and end-all of wisdom. It's good for youth to have idols to look up to, but, as Ghostfriendly intoned, Dazai is not the one a healthy young lad should idolize. Kotarou's father, to Kotarou's surprise, gave him much more down-to-earth advice.

It would also have been nice if Akane knew that Kotarou didn't just find her potato lying around on the storage room floor, but actually spent all afternoon looking for it. But that's okay because, even though her friends and Hira failed, Kotarou was able to lift her spirits just by telling her that she's fine the way she is. That was such and wonderful scene, and her smile was so adorable!

And another thing, while I'm at it. I really like the fact that the OPs have, so far, included snips of each specific episode. It's pretty refreshing in a media where the OP generally never changes, or only changes once between the 1st and 2nd cour. This technique reminded me of the 1st season of Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono where, during the ED, the characters were performing a dance, yet the animation changed ever so slightly from one episode to the next, culminating in a perfected dance routine by the end of the season.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by FredFriendly

We will just have to disagree on whether Akane is simply shy or if she has some kind of social anxiety disorder, although she certainly demonstrates classic signs of the latter, as defined by DSM-5:

Spoiler for The Current DSM-5 Definition:

DSM-5 Definition of Social Anxiety Disorder:

A. A persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be embarrassing and humiliating.

B. Exposure to the feared situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally pre-disposed Panic Attack.

C. The person recognizes that this fear is unreasonable or excessive.

D. The feared situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety and distress.

E. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia.

F. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting 6 or more months.

G. The fear or avoidance is not due to direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., drugs, medications) or a general medical condition not better accounted for by another mental disorder...

note: DSM–5 is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the U.S..

On another note, I'm glad that Kotarou realized that Dazai isn't the be-all and end-all of wisdom. It's good for youth to have idols to look up to, but, as Ghostfriendly intoned, Dazai is not the one a healthy young lad should idolize. Kotarou's father, to Kotarou's surprise, gave him much more down-to-earth advice.

It would also have been nice if Akane knew that Kotarou didn't just find her potato lying around on the storage room floor, but actually spent all afternoon looking for it. But that's okay because, even though her friends and Hira failed, Kotarou was able to lift her spirits just by telling her that she's fine the way she is. That was such and wonderful scene, and her smile was so adorable!

And another thing, while I'm at it. I really like the fact that the OPs have, so far, included snips of each specific episode. It's pretty refreshing in a media where the OP generally never changes, or only changes once between the 1st and 2nd cour. This technique reminded me of the 1st season of Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono where, during the ED, the characters were performing a dance, yet the animation changed ever so slightly from one episode to the next, culminating in a perfected dance routine by the end of the season.

My point is that it's a matter of SCALE. Using that diagnosis you could claim just about anyone who's even just a little shy has a minor anxiety disorder. And on the same line, as I said before, you could declare anyone who's high-energy or gets bored easily to have ADHD, declare anyone who's feeling a little down to have depression, declare anyone who's just a little moody to be manic-depressive or bipolar, etc. Akane's not to that level, and it'd be an insult to people who actually suffer from these disorders to just declare anyone who's shy or has issues with stage fright to be among them. I've had a few issues in my life, and when I describe them to others the most frustrating thing to hear is that "everybody" goes through that or to hear a person who's doing absolutely fine say they personally deal with the same thing. You could quite easily, if you wanted to and were loose with your definitions, diagnose most teens as having social anxiety disorders, which again would if anything be an insult to those that really are suffering.

Also, we don't know that Akane's been suffering from this for that long. As I said, it seems likely that this is in part a reaction to her new situation. She's recently become a third-year, which means a ton more responsibility toward the track team as well as greater participation in meets and a lot more people depending on her making good times. Additionally, the greater participation in meets as a leader of the group means more people watching her, making her nervous. Under her condition, anyone with any awareness of the crowd would be nervous.

And concerning the potato, I agree that it'd be nice if she finds out about him having hunted so long for it. But given the way it happened it at the least won't happen until later. He couldn't exactly tell the girl he's interested in that he spent hours hunting for it. Not only would it reveal his interest before he's ready, it would also be kind of boastful, at least on the surface. If she's going to find out then it'll be later from a friend or classmate commenting on how the guy was digging around in everything all day. Frankly, that'd get him more points as well since he seems both dedicated and humble, not wanting to tell her how much he worked.

[FredFriendly]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

...

Akane's anxiety spasms are not brand new due to the new situation of being a 3rd year. This is quite evident by the reaction of her best friends to the loss of Akane's potato, who have obviously known about her anxiety symptoms long before they became 3rd year students. But, I give up. It's obvious that this discussion is just gonna go round-and-round, so I won't be discussing it anymore.

...If she's going to find out then it'll be later from a friend or classmate commenting on how the guy was digging around in everything all day. Frankly, that'd get him more points as well since he seems both dedicated and humble, not wanting to tell her how much he worked.

Well, she'll probably never find out, unless she hears some of the girls bad-mouthing him (behind his back, of course), saying what a creep he was spending all afternoon snooping around in the equipment room. But, yeah, it would up his brownie points regardless.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by FredFriendly

Akane's anxiety spasms are not brand new due to the new situation of being a 3rd year. This is quite evident by the reaction of her best friends to the loss of Akane's potato, who have obviously known about her anxiety symptoms long before they became 3rd year students. But, I give up. It's obvious that this discussion is just gonna go round-and-round, so I won't be discussing it anymore.

Sorry. Like I said, I've had anxiety and social anxiety issues myself, and have known people who have it worse, so I can sometimes get a little frustrated when people declare run-of-the-mill shyness or stage fright as the equivalent of an actual psychological disorder. I'd really love to see more shows dealing with social anxiety disorders realistically, but frankly this just isn't one of those.

But yeah, whether she's shy or actually suffering from a disorder, it doesn't really change things so this isn't much of a conversation. Either way she's shy and struggling with this shyness.

[Haak]

So I just watched the first two episodes. I can't say the first episode gripped me all that much. I mean it's cute and all but after the first episode I was kinda felt like nothing had happened. The second episode was much better but I'm not sure I'll be able to stand awkward pure young teens being awkward and pure for 12(?) episodes, if that's what the entire show is going to be about.

[FredFriendly]

On another note, when I heard Chinatsu's cackling laughter I was reminded of another female character in a mid-1980's anime series which in turn got me thinking that this story might follow along the same lines...

Spoiler for speculation:

The FMC has budding feelings for the MC, but when she finds out that her best friend also has budding feelings for the MC, she suppresses her own feelings and cheers on the relationship between her friend and the MC. The MC has no romantic interest in the friend, just the FMC, but is totally inexperienced in such relationships, and it ends up appearing as if he is the friend's boyfriend, and a whole lot of unnecessary drama ensues.

In this case, the FMC will also probably end up dating the love rival (even though she has no romantic feelings for him) because, as another character once said, "I saw no reason to refuse."

[SeaDoor]

Fred, I hope your speculation doesn't include one of the main characters ending up in a traffic accident.

[FredFriendly]

Originally Posted by SeaDoor

Fred, I hope your speculation doesn't include one of the main characters ending up in a traffic accident.

Nope. You must be thinking of a different series...

[FredFriendly]

[MeoTwister5]

Oh the embarassing and oftten times irritating awkwardness of early puberty. Much gladness that it was over for me so many years ago.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by FredFriendly

On another note, when I heard Chinatsu's cackling laughter I was reminded of another female character in a mid-1980's anime series which in turn got me thinking that this story might follow along the same lines...

Spoiler for speculation:

The FMC has budding feelings for the MC, but when she finds out that her best friend also has budding feelings for the MC, she suppresses her own feelings and cheers on the relationship between her friend and the MC. The MC has no romantic interest in the friend, just the FMC, but is totally inexperienced in such relationships, and it ends up appearing as if he is the friend's boyfriend, and a whole lot of unnecessary drama ensues.

In this case, the FMC will also probably end up dating the love rival (even though she has no romantic feelings for him) because, as another character once said, "I saw no reason to refuse."

Umm, what? In your speculation you first said that she'd have feelings for him, then you said she'd date him despite having NO feelings for him. Make up your mind.

Also, I thought the same thing as SeaDoor. You just perfectly described the conflict in another series, one in which the FMC ends up almost getting hit by a truck (or legitimately hit, depending on your version). I mean, almost PERFECT.

[FredFriendly]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Umm, what? In your speculation you first said that she'd have feelings for him, then you said she'd date him despite having NO feelings for him. Make up your mind..

Unlike most people in these forums, I try to make it perfectly clear as to whom I am referring to by using specific terms such as "MC" and "love rival" instead of repeatedly using "him" or "her" without distinguishing the person being talked about. Since you seemed to have a hard time following my speculation, I've revised it so, hopefully, you will understand it better:

Spoiler for speculation made very clear:

The FMC (Akane) has budding feelings for the MC (Kotarou), but when she (Akane) finds out that her best friend (Chinatsu) also has budding feelings for the MC (Kotarou), she (Akane) suppresses her own feelings and cheers on the relationship between her friend (Chinatsu) and the MC (Kotarou). The MC (Kotarou) has no romantic interest in the friend (Chinatsu), just the FMC (Akane), but is totally inexperienced in such relationships, and it ends up appearing as if he is the friend's (Chinatsu's) boyfriend, and a whole lot of unnecessary drama ensues.

In this case, the FMC (Akane) will also probably end up dating the love rival (Hira) (even though she has no romantic feelings for him) because, as another character once said, "I saw no reason to refuse."

Also, I thought the same thing as SeaDoor. You just perfectly described the conflict in another series, one in which the FMC ends up almost getting hit by a truck (or legitimately hit, depending on your version). I mean, almost PERFECT.

The scenario seems to be a standard trope (minus truck-kun), used in many anime and manga series, but it was Chinatsu's cackling laughter that reminded me of a specific series. I suspect that the series you're thinking of was not made in the 1980s.

[Stark700]

Episode 3:

Oh wow, that insert song this episode was nicely performed.

Once again we get to see some athlete competition (track and field). I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing a lot of that. Akane and Kotarou's character chemistry feels slow but progressing. I wonder if Akane will accept after being asked out? That actually caught me off guard at the end.

Also, I feel like the moon in this show is symbolizing something but not sure what yet.

[Ghostfriendly]

Waah, he asked her! You could see it was very difficult, and 'feels weird' really summed it all up. I just hope there's a bit more akwardness and pussyfooting to come, since this series does that so well.

[FredFriendly]

Only 3 episodes in and Kotarou already confesses??? That certainly knocked me for a loop. No doubt hearing those girls speculating that Hira was going to confess prompted this sudden surge of boldness on Kotarou's part.

But, damn, I haven't been hit this hard by a cliff hanger in I don't know how long. Will Akane say, "Okay"? Will she say, "No"? Will she say, "Hira asked me to go out with him and I already accepted"? Man, it's going to be painful waiting another whole week to hear her answer! Arrggh!

[Pen3]

I though he would chicken out after he said 'tsuki', but he simply couldn't resist that smile on Akane's face.

[FredFriendly]

Well, I've watched episode 3 again, and my cynical, pessimistic imagination tells me that my previous speculation might just come to pass...

Spoiler for more stupid speculation:

This screenshot:



does not look to me like a girl who is overjoyed at having been confessed to by the boy she likes. No smile. No sparkle in the eyes. No look of elation at all.

It looks more like a girl who is about to say, "But I already have a boyfriend." In the scene at the track meet where Hira was about to confess, it definitely looked like Akane knew what he was going to say. It's certainly possible that we could get a flashback to after the fast-food meal wherein Hira confesses and, as expected by those who know her best, Akane accepting instead of turning him down.

Akane probably miss-interpreted Chinatsu's one-sided claim of being friends with Kotarou as a sign that Kotarou was now more friendly with Chinatsu than with herself. Akane was clearly very surprised, if not shocked, to see Chinatsu knew Kotarou as well as to hear her call out to him in such an overtly friendly manner, and calling him by the nickname that she, herself, had given him (but had not yet addressed him as such in person). She may have come to see Kotarou at the shrine so that she could put in a good word for her friend now that she had her own boyfriend.

Okay, I know it all seems pretty far-fetched, but it's one hell of a cliff hanger just to have to wait another week just to hear Akane say, "Yes."

[germanturkey]

well that was an adorable episode. i half expected him to show up at her meet during the insert song, but i think that's expecting too much for this type of show and from him. this one is a really really really slow burner. haha

[Flower]

Ep 03

Count me among those who was surprised and even a bit delighted to see Kotarou pop the question. I reallh like how the series is showing the simple relationship he and Akane have slowly developed between one another. It is endearing and cute, but feels realistic and genuine at the same time.

That being said ... regarding the ep ending right after the question itself, all I could say was:

Heheheh ... well done Studio Feel.

Also yes, slow burner indeed ... but still, I love series that use that method of presentation and do it well, which it seems to me this series is in fact doing thus far.

[Verso Sciolto]

Dissociate