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Now in Japan
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Friday, 19 January 2007 00:00 |
 From romantic comedy to romantic drama, as another dip into the backlog produces another few episodes of Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora. I had Natsume-sensei labelled as a genuine bastard, but is he just acting in Yuuichi's best interests by trying to keep him away from near-certain heartache? One thing's for sure: Rika's condition isn't getting any better...
3 - The End of Ezaki's Collection ~ and
Yuuichi cuts out of hospital to pay a visit to his friend Tsukasa, who's smart enough to figure out that something's happened that's bothering him - not that Yuuichi's prepared to talk about it. An approaching thunderstorm gives him the chance to get back into Rika's good books, though - her book is still stuck on the ledge of one of the hospital windows, and with Tsukasa's help he's able to recover it before it's ruined by the rain. In Yuuichi's dreams, Rika's suitably thankful for getting her book back - and more surprisingly, in real life, too. All he needs to earn her forgiveness now is burn the infamous Tada Collection. Natsume-sensei, on the other hand, seems determined to make sure they don't enjoy their time together...
4 - The Only One School Life
Natsume-sensei doesn't seem to remember giving Yuuichi a thorough kicking the night before, but he does at least apologise for it. A little too much whiskey there, perhaps - although now there seems to be a better understanding between the two of them. Later, Rika asks a favour of Yuuichi: there's a photo she wants him to take. With his camera at home, he has to sneak back to get it. When he's caught at the hospital door by Akiko, she offers to drive him home - although her driving's almost a lethal condition in itself. One request leads to an even stranger one: thanks to her illness, Rika's never been to a school, and just once she'd like to try it out - so Yuuichi arranges to sneak her into his own class for a day...
I did have to do a double-take on Natsume-sensei here. He knows more about Rika's precarious condition than anyone else, and what her chances of survival are, even if she has the operation she needs. Does someone as young as Yuuichi need to bear the likely pain of the death of his girlfriend? Or is it better to be cruel now in the knowledge that it will probably turn out to be a kindness in the long run? Natsume clearly has an attachment to Rika himself, and he's already having problems dealing with her likely death. It's a difficult subject for them all to deal with - as Rika reveals to one of Yuuichi's friends during her sneak trip to his school. Someone should teach that girl about the power of positive thinking.
Watching HanTsuki is in some ways like watching a train crash - you know there's "bad stuff" coming (it may have a happy ending - I don't know yet - but it's crystal clear there are going to be some major emotional issues along the way), but you just can't tear yourself away from the screen. A large part of that is because Yuuichi and Rika work so well together - Yuuichi has developed a backbone and become less of the stereotypical anime male, and he's obviously so much on the same wavelength as Rika that you can't help but want it all to work out for them.
But Rika's collapse at the end of episode 4 signals that the end may already be near. Her chances of survival with no operation are nil, with an operation woefully small - and Yuuichi's already attached enough to her that losing her would be a major emotional wrench. I'm jaded enough with anime that I think I know where the story is going to go next, and I hope that I'm right, but only time will tell. In the meantime, HanTsuki gets a heartfelt recommendation from me - genuinely engrossing anime. |
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