Hello everyone,
Today we'll talk about the 11th episode of the anime series Baka To Test To Shoukanjuu that is following the "explain the backstories" approach to complete this second season, giving a lot more depth to characters like Minami Shimada and, in this episode, Shouko Kirishima.
Yes, strangely, this series is focusing on the two charactes I like most of this whole series (I'm generally unlucky with the character-to-love choice) and is giving them a lot more weight in the story compared to Mizuki that was the main girl till the first season/OVA.
This episode was, yes, Shouko centered and every second of it is represented like some sort of discussion between Yuuji and Shouko. The former trying to explain that her whole infatuation is pointless based on her dreams, and the latter showing him that her love is the real deal and that she won't budge so easily in the fight to conquer his heart.
Shouko was cute even as a child and her physical appearance isn't changed much over the years, I liked how she tried to get Yuuji attention by mentioning her growth and the more I re-watch the whole situation, the less I understand why Yuuji don't just fall to her advances...
I mean, marrying with such a beauty/smart/dere girl? Where do I have to sign?!
The story behind the beginning of their relationship (the focus of the story) was the typical child bully story spiced up by Yuuji's bad personality of the past. He couldn't care about anyone other than himself and he thought himself superior to anyone else in everything. (great mistake in life, but nothing really strange to see in many childs)
I can sort of understand why he became a delinquent student in the current days, it may be a sort of rebellion against the system that in this case is represented by the class system of Fumizuki Academy. This system judge a person just by watching at the raw votes without any context and end up making bad judgement in some particular cases. (the most eclatant example of injustice is on Mizuki's position in the F class only because she was sick the day of the test)
I'm also liking Yuuji's mother personality with her strong will to get his child to not focus only on the studies (that are anyway important), but also at growing up as a man in the society. Watching the confession scene between Shouko and Yuuji's mother was somehow refreshing and funny at the same time!
I mean she got the family approval. Who can stop her now from making Yuuji her own?!
This series has sure redeemed itself with the last couple of episodes and is up for a great season finale. I surely hope to see another adaptation of the original work sooner or later (OVA or 3rd season) as there are many other characters backstory to explore. (Aiko Kudou/Tsuchiya Kouta anyone?)
See you soon,
feal87