I feel bad that I’m not as emotionally invested in this episode as it wants me to be. This is supposed to be it right? This is the big emotional climax of the show where the two main characters kiss and affirm their feelings for each other, right? I honestly can’t tell if that is the case because it feels like the episode was building up to something different before, once again, making a hard turn into something else. The setup for the episode was pretty good, making it about Hananoi’s past and how his lack of honesty with Hotaru might affect things in the long run. He’s hiding his past for his sake but Yao makes a good point that important details should be shared by people that they involve. I especially like that line about how even Hananoi telling Yao to just tell Hotau is just him trying to dodge responsibility. It’s natural to assume that all of this buildup would result in a climax where Hananoi finally talks about why he feels so insecure about talking about his past and how it relates to the relationship. We get so close to that being the crux of the episode.

Hotau cuts off Hananoi from telling his story. While the reason makes sense on paper (she could tell that it’s something that bothers him and that he shouldn’t have to force himself to reveal something about his past) narratively it feels extremely frustrating. I don’t know why the show keeps doing this thing where it stops our two leads from learning more about each other and then tries to cover that up by making them emotionally and physically more intimate. Now that I think about it, A Condition Called Love has done this a few times and I think that’s why I have never been fully invested in the relationship. The characters talk about how little they know about each other and I wonder why they should even like each other. I know Hananoi likes Hotaru because we know everything there is to know about her at this point but I don’t know why the reverse is also true. Sure he’s cute and attentive but the latter is inherently tied to these insecurities that we keep dancing around without fully resolving.

Speaking of leaving things unresolved, I’m guessing I was wrong and the old man we saw in the flashback wasn’t Hananoi’s grandfather. If he is his grandfather, he would’ve just said that during his story at the end of this episode. Am I supposed to assume that Hananoi’s best friend and the one responsible for piercing his ears as a middle schooler was some random old guy he met at the park? When you say all that out loud, it leaves me with a lot of questions—but I don’t think the show cares enough to answer them.

Rating:

A Condition Called Love is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.