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Blue Spring Ride Episode 10 – “Walking Through Night”

September 16, 2014

That’s what we all wanted to know after the ending of the last episode. Kou and Yuuri were found by Futaba with guilty looks on their faces coming out of the same room downstairs. Futaba’s trying to second guess, like the audience, what went on between them.

We do eventually find out. This episode gives us Kou’s backstory, which is what has slowly been trickling in. There’s been some foreshadowing. For instance just here in this episode we get Kou’s attitude with studying. Then his retreating from his friends after the incident with Yuuri.

Yuuri is insistent that Kou not studying won’t make anyone happy. And Futaba intercepts that there’s some underlying message there.

But even after everyone leaves, Yuuri won’t tell Futaba about what happened. And Futaba hates that she’s out of the loop. It’s driving her crazy. So she goes to confront Kou.

Except that she can’t come right out and say it. So she has several excuses lined up that don’t fool Kou in the least. He finally gets down to it.

Futaba finally spills it. She wants to know what happened between him and Yuuri. Kou goes defensive, smiling and avoiding it. But Futaba won’t give up. I think she finally makes a break through, when she tells Kou that she’s not digging into his past, she’s trying to understand who Kou is now. She want’s to know what happened to him.

He finally gives in and we are shown what Yuuri saw in the last episode. Now it’s Futaba’s turn to be surprised and ashamed.

Kou explains that the memorial is for his mom. That’s when Futaba loses it and apologizes to Kou, because she realizes that Yuuri was just trying to keep Kou’s secret. They were thinking of others when her agenda was solely about herself. She starts crying and can’t stop. At first Kou is annoyed. Then Futaba says something that gets to him. She asks if he’s going to quit school and then says that she doesn’t want him to leave, she wants to be with him. Sounds like a confession to me, but Futaba never considers it as one.

After Futaba’s confession Kou gets sentimental. He goes from patting her head to stroking her hair, then wiping away tears, and then he cups the side of her face and it looks like progress….

Only for Tanaka sensei to show up. Kou quickly explains, and guess what Tanaka sensei brings in – a bag of potatoes! That’s the culprit from last episode!

Kou quickly escapes from Futaba and Tanaka sensei as he leaves to go to work. He asks his brother to please take Futaba home in the car as it’s now dark. Meanwhile he’s recalling what happened in the house and getting embarrassed. He questions his actions. I think it was a natural reaction for him to have, as he still cares about Futaba. She was kind of vulnerable and he was too. If they hadn’t been interrupted I wonder if Kou would have gone through with that kiss? Sure looked like it.

During the drive to her house Tanaka sensei explains how he feels guilty about Kou. We get a better understanding of what Kou’s daily life was like while he was away from Futaba and how he had to watch his mom die day by day. Even Tanaka sensei had a hard time with that, so he can’t imagine what it was like for Kou all alone. This touches Futaba to the point where she starts crying again. This time for what Kou went through. Tanaka sensei tries to emphasize that Kou’s really a good kid, but Futaba already knows this. It looks like Tanaka sensei and Futaba have a bonding moment over Kou together here. Even Tanaka sensei is close to tears.

After being dropped off, Futaba makes the connection of Kou’s previous comment of “Caring for something brings a lot of trouble.” going back to his experience with his mom. He has been through a lot. And losing his mom has had a huge impact on his life and who he is.

I’m glad she had this realization, because it finally put things in context from before. Why Kou was kind of a jerk about her starting over in high school, and fake friends. How minimal her problems seemed compared to his life. Why he gets sentimental when she cries. Why he tries to push her away when she starts to come too close or he starts to care too much in order to avoid any more pain. This episode puts the whole rest of the story into context, really. And along with the next episode it will become a turning point for Kou. If only the episode had ended there.

But we instead get to see Futaba and Yuuri have a heart to heart and make up on the roof of the school building. Yuuri actually admits she was trying to keep things to herself out of selfishness, and Futaba confesses her love for her. More crying ensues. Geez, I’m glad this scene was rather short. It’s time for Yuuri to start getting over Kou. She obviously knows it is kind of hopeless for her. We all want to ship Kou x Futaba anyway.

Anyone who’s read the manga knows that there’s a foreshadowing scene missing here. Which makes me wonder if we’re going to get Touma in this anime at all. We’ll see, as he and Futaba’s initial awkward meeting comes up in a scene that should be in the next episode.

The episode concludes with Kominato giving Kou study notes for Math, and Futaba offering to make him science ones. Then Futaba remarks that even though Kou acts grouchy, he’s still kind. And she resolves that the group will become his sign to lead him to the exit of his walk in the darkness.

So did you get all the feels in this episode? I know my eyes were leaking at one point. Lots of tears cried for Kou. I so wanted him to kiss Futaba there, too! Sakisaka-sama is such a tease – that’s twice for an almost kiss now. Hopefully third time is a charm. Can’t wait to see what happens with Kou and Futaba next.

See you next episode!

Blue Spring Ride Episode 10 – “Walking Through Night”

September 16, 2014

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