The fragile relationship that is building between Sekai, Katsura and Itou is just begging to be shattered down the road. This series -NEEDS- a BAD END, I can only hope the script writers realize that and have the guts to do it. I’m going to be optimistic and say the chances are pretty good, given that a lot of the fuss over School Days was due to the less happy endings anyways.

Episode Rating: 8/10

The inaugural date of the newly formed KatsuraXItou couple turns out to be a complete disaster. Not surprisingly, it’s mostly Itou’s fault, who tries to use a dating guidebook to handle Katsura. Rather than a date, the outing turns out to be him having fun and Katsura smiling at him in the background. To top it off, at the end of it, he makes a lame attempt to kiss Katsura across the station platform, failing miserably.

Back at school, Sekai hears of his colossal failure and attributes it to Itou not being able to understand the feelings of girls. She gives him a pair of movie tickets along with some advice with how to act to prep him for a second date attempt.

That night, Itou prepares himself for the second date, but his motives don’t bode well for the next day. Instead of thinking of how he can get to know Katsura better, he consults his dating book again and essentially plans the fastest route to get in her pants.

Meanwhile, Katsura is lamenting over the disaster that her first outing with Itou ended up being and whether she should really be dating him.

The second date proves to be just as bad as the first. The problems begin right away when Itou assumes that Katsura would want to see a romance movie without asking her opinion, when in reality she wanted to see the horror flick. Following the advice of Sekai, Itou tries to build the mood in the darkness of the theater, combined with the guidance of his dating book, he once again attempts to kiss Katsura. However, it comes off so perverted and lustful that Katsura ends up screaming and slapping Itou across the face. The rest of their “date” is spent in awkward silence and avoidance of eye contact.

With some help from Sekai, Itou finally learns the err of his ways and tries to apologize to Katsura, saying that he never took her feelings into consideration and that from now on he won’t do such things if she’s against it. But even Itou’s apology comes off too strong for Katsura to deal with and she ends up running off to a student counsel meeting before letting Itou finish.

After her meeting, Katsura is surprised to find Sekai waiting for her by the school gates. She tells Katsura that Itou is probably still waiting for her at the train stop, but Katsura plans to avoid him by taking the bus home instead.

The two end up talking for a while, Sekai explains that Itou is well intentioned and cares about Katsura, but in the end he’s still a guy and will always have perverted things on their mind. Katsura notes that she’s always had the biggest chest in all her classes and as a result was often harassed, but she knows that Itou isn’t like the others, that he really cares about her, not just her…assets. With both Itou and Katsura willing to give it another chance and this time trying to understand each other’s feelings, Sekai says she should probably stop interfering with the two and let things play out on their own. Katsura takes the opportunity to ask Sekai what she herself thinks about Itou, only to get Sekai’s “we’re just friends” bs in return.

Despite being pitch black outside, Itou is still there when Katsura gets to the train station. Itou tries to play it off, saying that he knew she’d come, but Katsura senses the relief in his voice. She apologizes for not trying to understand Itou better and promises to try harder from now on, because after all, she’s his girlfriend. And with that, she links hands with him and the two kiss.

Thoughts

Even though I’m rooting for Katsura, I’m feeling more and more sympathy for Sekai each passing moment. I guess I just have a soft spot for those girls that put their own feelings aside to help a friend find love, Mitsuki from KGNE did it and I liked her a whole lot more than Haruka. The difference this time is that Sekai liked Itou from the start, unlike Mitsuki who developed a crush on Takayuki after she promised to help Haruka. In a sense this makes Sekai more admirable, as she’s giving her support knowing full well that she’s going to be the only loser in the end. And that’ll make it all the more dramatic when/if Sekai decides to jump back into the game later on.

And some not so subtle foreshadowing suggests that she’ll do just that. The movie that Itou and Katsura went to see on their second date mirrors the situation of their own love triangle, one friend helping out the other in their pursuit of love, but at the same time harboring feelings for the same guy. But the movie goes one step further and shows us the climax in which the friend who was initially supporting the other, makes it clear that she loves him too and won’t give up without a fight.

I find it hard to believe that such blatant hints at the future of the plot line is simply a tool to mislead the viewer, so it looks like an all out war for Itou’s heart is imminent. But I suppose that was a given right from the outset, it would be boring if School Days was just about Itou and Katsura’s relationship, KareKano style. Now the only question remains is who will win and whether or not the loser will be able to maintain their sanity or whether they’ll, oh I don’t know, jump off the school roof.

Another things I’m curious about is how big a role the side characters in School Days will play. I know in the game there was a whole side story devoted to Itou’s friend, he even got to bed one of the girls. I don’t know anything specific beyond that, but I wonder if they’ll try and fit it in the anime as well. There’s also Sekai’s friend Setsuna who seems to know that Sekai is in love with Itou, but can’t do much but watch her friend self destruct. And we were introduced to Katou, who seems to be Itou’s friend from junior high. While I wouldn’t want the main story to be derailed, it’s always nice to see side characters get some love too, they can sometimes turn out to be more entertaining than the majority of the main cast nyoro~.

No game comparison this time around, as I haven’t seen anything past that first scenario. If anyone who has played the game could comment on whether or not we’re heading to a BAD END, that would be great, bonus points if you manage to keep it spoiler free.

~ Shirukii ~