(L) Just Because

[Kismet-chan]

Originally Posted by AB079

The problem here is quite simple.

Natsume doesn't have enough character development to be considered a likeable character, she's mainly doing all wrong choosing the sideways instead of going straight to the point (like Morikawa) and it feels like the series is rushing things, which don't help her cause.

Komiya is not better than Natsume by any means but one little thing that makes the difference between the two of them is the chemistry she has with Eita, something that is not present with Natsume at all. Also she's doing what she needs to do in order to reach Eita, which is something that probably is not going to happen (Eita really loves Natsume).

In the end the way this love triangle was developed leaves a lot to be desired and it doesn't feel right, is forced and sometimes even nonsensical. That's why IMO, Morikawa and Souma were the best of the series.

Completely agree with this.

Since we've only received background context from discussions and extremely tiny flashbacks, the show's attempt at garnering sympathy really falls flat for a couple of characters (Eita definitely included). Natsume is particularly hard to connect with because of the combination of this and her frustratingly moody/guarded way of not dealing with her personal problems/concerns.

Ultimately, I think this is another series that would benefit from being longer. Perhaps even starting with the original group back in middle school, then doing a timeskip to the current content. We'd have a better foundation for everything going on. It's kind of a shame, too, because I think there's a ton of potential here.

The only way the show could save itself, for me, is if they managed to flesh out Komiya in the remaining episodes and have her end up with Eita. But anime is rarely surprising these days, so we all know that won't happen.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by AB079

The problem here is quite simple.

Natsume doesn't have enough character development to be considered a likeable character, she's mainly doing all wrong choosing the sideways instead of going straight to the point.

The same can be say about Eita. He's smart guy so he already can tell Mio is over Haruto. Yet, he himself admits he doesn't have the balls to confess. Say what you will about Mio but Eita isn't any better. Both tend to avoid facing their problems head on.

[AB079]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

The same can be say about Eita. He's smart guy so he already can tell Mio is over Haruto. Yet, he himself admits he doesn't have the balls to confess. Say what you will about Mio but Eita isn't any better. Both tend to avoid facing their problems head on.

Of course Eita is doing the same as Natsume but my point was only focused on Komiya and Natsume. As you can see there is a lot of hate against both of them for the wrong reasons (ship wars).

@kismet-chan I agree with you but I think that should be better to get rid of Komiya sooner than later, that way we can see more of Natsume and improve her as a character while the same can happen for Eita. After all anyone can see that both will end together unless something unexpected happens.

[Nachtwandler]

Erm. So what's the logic here? Hating one heroine just because she is better than supposed main heroine and obviously will not win but was given a portion of screentime?

[AB079]

^I mean, that's what you can see everywhere outside AS. At least here that's not allowed and people can discuss things in a better way.

[Kazu-kun]

One thing that stood out to me was that Haruto said Eita didn't have any girl he could talk to easily in middle school. But we know that's not true. The flashbacks shows he was pretty close to Natsume back then and they talked easily. It feels like the writers are tripping over themselves to make Ena look like she has a chance to the point they're contradicting previously established stuff.

It's kind of a shame because the writing was pretty solid until this point.

[Wandering Soul]

That's a nice look on Morikawa. It really took me off guard.

[Diluc]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

One thing that stood out to me was that Haruto said Eita didn't have any girl he could talk to easily in middle school. But we know that's not true. The flashbacks shows he was pretty close to Natsume back then and they talked easily. It feels like the writers are tripping over themselves to make Ena look like she has a chance to the point they're contradicting previously established stuff.

It's kind of a shame because the writing was pretty solid until this point.

Good job to noticed that too, can't say Haruto don't know them used to be close in middle school because episode 1-2 indicated Haruto know they used to be close.
I suppose the studio problem may the the reason for bad writing recently. This is sad because this anime has did good job in established slow progress so far.

[germanturkey]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

One thing that stood out to me was that Haruto said Eita didn't have any girl he could talk to easily in middle school. But we know that's not true. The flashbacks shows he was pretty close to Natsume back then and they talked easily. It feels like the writers are tripping over themselves to make Ena look like she has a chance to the point they're contradicting previously established stuff.

It's kind of a shame because the writing was pretty solid until this point.

i don't think that's quite the case. he could talk with her, sure. but when he had the chance to forge a deeper relationship with her by walking home with her in the snow, he decided to run off, which confused her. i'm pretty sure we all see where the signs are pointing though. they're peaking Komiya now, so Natsume can have the last two episodes.

let's not forget that Haruto and Morikawa aren't set in stone yet either. she still has to respond to him, despite inviting the group over to her home. though this one has a much smaller probability of failing.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

i don't think that's quite the case. he could talk with her, sure. but when he had the chance to forge a deeper relationship with her by walking home with her in the snow, he decided to run off, which confused her.

They were still close and could talk easily. Haruto's comment doesn't make sense and just comes across as the writing contradicting itself.

[Arya]

Yeah, Haruto's comment felt a bit.. odd? Sure we could take it as yeah, Natsume and Eita were close but didn't really talk. They are alike, both are introvert, so it could be the case. Add to this Eita's comment about Haruto himself. Eita was able to tell him about his goal when he asked because the way Haruto is. Haruto who's alike to komiya. So there's some coherence here. Is it chemistry? While I see it, I'm not sure the show really meant it, especially if you put Komiya on the same level of Haruto. Feeling free to speak with both of them points toward a very specific place, the friendzone

Speaking of the episode I agree that if things won't take a drastic turn Komiya will remain just an extra to push forward the couple, I won't call it even a triangle (in fact, among other aspects, this one of the reasons I can't see any similarities with TT).

Last but not the least, Morikawa the goddess appeared!!!

oh, and please stop making accidentally characters run into each other

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Arya

Sure we could take it as yeah, Natsume and Eita were close but didn't really talk.

We know that's not true though. Their interaction is pretty awkward right now but they could talk to each other just fine in middle school as the flashbacks show. And Haruto's remark was about middle school.

I'm just not sure if we're supposed to interpret this as Haruto being an idiot or the writing being inconsistent. It's probably the latter though. The staff is trying way too hard to make it look like Ena has a chance at the cost of not making any sense.

[frodonk]

Eita knew Mio's sister, and she could recognize Eita even though it's been years since they all saw each other, if that isn't what you'd consider as close then I don't know what is.

My burning question for this episode is: Did morikawa hear that confession in the end? And what will she say if she heard it?

Also, I like that there's always something off about all their faces when they're smiling

[Triple_R]

I wasn't thrilled by Episode 8, but I thought it was Ok, and I don't fully get the many criticisms this episode (and its characters) seem to be receiving.

I mean, isn't it clear that this is a romance drama show? That basically has a love triangle on one side, and a "will she or won't she?" straightforward romance drama on the other (with Haruto and Morikawa)?

I mean, these things are almost always dragged out. That's just the way it goes. You might as well complain about too many colorful costumes in magical girl anime, or too much genki girl in an idol anime.

Komiya's role here seems quite predictable to me. And I thought Komiya came off pretty well here in Episode 8. Sure, I feel sorry for her, but that's part of the point of these love triangle shows. The romantic failure/unrequited love side is no less important that the romantic success side - In fact, the failure side is sometimes more important.

Izumi and Natsume are dragging things out, yeah. If you need an in-story justification for this - Maybe Izumi wants to know that him and Natsume will be going to the same place for a long time before he confesses to her. Long-distance relationships often fail, after all. As for Natsume, she only recently got over Haruto, so I think some leeway is probably warranted here.

[Guardian Enzo]

I guess I'm about alone on this, but I really don't think romance is the raison d'etre of Just Because - I don't get the same imperative to it that I do with something like True Tears or even Tsuki ga Kirei. I think this show is about saying goodbye to childish fantasies and coming to terms with adulthood, and the romance is just one aspect of that.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

We know that's not true though. Their interaction is pretty awkward right now but they could talk to each other just fine in middle school as the flashbacks show. And Haruto's remark was about middle school.

I'm just not sure if we're supposed to interpret this as Haruto being an idiot or the writing being inconsistent. It's probably the latter though. The staff is trying way too hard to make it look like Ena has a chance at the cost of not making any sense.

Yeah it is either that Haruto is an idiot or the writing is just refusing to remain consistent. I could buy Haruto being kind of dumb and just being straight up wrong. Haruto was at least aware enough earlier in the show to know Eita's interest in Natsume. Seems odd that he understood that, but didn't understand that they could communicate perfectly fine.

I'd probably agree with the writing just not holding up. They need to at least pretend that Ena has a chance so they contradict their own story to make it happen. Not that it really is doing much good. There isn't any doubt in how this is going to play out.

[kona~chan]

i think its just him being an idiot here , everything about eita x natsume was happened off screen from him, he may able to feel something fishy , but nothing more than that , eita never said anything , and its not like haruto can get any solid evidence when the 3 were together , just like in earlier episodes , natsume interacting more closer with haruto, and izumi just stood there like a side characther.

anyway im more interested why eita would treat komiya nicely in this episode, when he act so cold in the last one.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I mean, these things are almost always dragged out. That's just the way it goes. You might as well complain about too many colorful costumes in magical girl anime, or too much genki girl in an idol anime.

Komiya's role here seems quite predictable to me. And I thought Komiya came off pretty well here in Episode 8. Sure, I feel sorry for her, but that's part of the point of these love triangle shows. The romantic failure/unrequited love side is no less important that the romantic success side - In fact, the failure side is sometimes more important.

Izumi and Natsume are dragging things out, yeah. If you need an in-story justification for this - Maybe Izumi wants to know that him and Natsume will be going to the same place for a long time before he confesses to her. Long-distance relationships often fail, after all. As for Natsume, she only recently got over Haruto, so I think some leeway is probably warranted here.

Personally, I'm not annoyed that Izumi and Natsume's romance is being dragged out: I'm annoyed that Komiya's role is being dragged out. I just don't think Komiya's role here is a good one. It makes her a vehicle for others rather than her own character and it's just such a cliche at this point. It's probably not as bad for you as it is for me because you're not going into this right after Tsuki ga Kirei which did an extremely similar thing. And this isn't like a Mari Okada story where she'll willing make the loser the main character (Anthem of the Heart and to a lesser extent, True Tears) from beginning to end and blindside you with the result. The Komiya factor just feels added on and far too late at this point of the equation now. That's why it just hurts to watch. It just feels so pointlessly cruel to Komiya and I felt like there were better ways to use her. It being cruel may be a part of the point to love triangles but I don't think it needed to be a love triangle to begin with.

To be fair, I am being quite hyperbolic. When I say I'm disappointed in the writing, it's more in the sense that I'm disappointed that this show is turning out to be merely "very good" rather than "exceptional". It's simply fallen back on an easy cliche. It's nothing particularly offensive but it certainly isn't "exceptional".

[Diluc]

Originally Posted by Haak

Personally, I'm not annoyed that Izumi and Natsume's romance is being dragged out: I'm annoyed that Komiya's role is being dragged out. I just don't think Komiya's role here is a good one. It makes her a vehicle for others rather than her own character and it's just such a cliche at this point. It's probably not as bad for you as it is for me because you're not going into this right after Tsuki ga Kirei which did an extremely similar thing. And this isn't like a Mari Okada story where she'll willing make the loser the main character (Anthem of the Heart and to a lesser extent, True Tears) from beginning to end and blindside you with the result. The Komiya factor just feels added on and far too late at this point of the equation now. That's why it just hurts to watch. It just feels so pointlessly cruel to Komiya and I felt like there were better ways to use her. It being cruel may be a part of the point to love triangles but I don't think it needed to be a love triangle to begin with.

To be fair, I am being quite hyperbolic. When I say I'm disappointed in the writing, it's more in the sense that I'm disappointed that this show is turning out to be merely "very good" rather than "exceptional". It's simply fallen back on an easy cliche. It's nothing particularly offensive but it certainly isn't "exceptional".

Admitable the writing in this episode has been off for focusing on triangle charade. Komiya character would be better if she never meant being third wheel, her character actually good if cliche not shoved upon her.
The reason why i enjoyed Eita x Natsume because that ship founded in well progress while Eita x Komiya really forceful even if people claim they have chemistry, they don't have strong reason to date either.

[germanturkey]

"i've changed my first choice." works on multiple levels. this episode made me like both Komiya and Natsume more. based on what we saw this episode, it may even be more realistic that Natsume doesn't end up with anyone, despite her "now i like someone" line at the end. since they seem to be really harping on the new start thing. Komiya on the other hand, had actual forward progression. plus i loved the little detail of the smile on her face when she said the day sucked.