#AniTwitWatches Round 3: School Days 8 – 9

 

Previous Episodes

• Ep 1
• Eps 2 – 3
• Eps 4 – 5
• Ep 6
• Ep 7

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Episode 8

(Proofreading!Aria: In retrospect, I was quite analytical this episode.)

• “I don’t have much time left.” – That’s an interesting sentence to use, Setsuna…particularly when I put it out of context.
• What does the feather at the end of the OP mean…? In cases like DN Angel, they mean something because Dark is portrayed with wings at times (and has With to become his wings), in DakaIchi they’re some kind of symbol of purity (I guess…?)…does that DakaIchi meaning carry over here? Update: Well, I do know that DakaIchi’s feathers are symbolic, but I don’t know exactly what of. The “purity” thing was a guess.
• Ahhhhhhhh…good [insert deity’s name of your choice here]. This is why people say that harems would be resolved if society would be more open to threesomes…and although I don’t really like encouraging that stuff normally, that seems to be the only way anyone in this main Katsura -> Makoto <- Sekai love triangle will be happy.
• The text to Sekai says, “Itou is probably outside your house right now.” (using a grammar pattern – hazu – that says Setsuna’s expecting Itou to be there) I don’t think the subbers dealt with it, which is why I am.
• I noticed that Sekai just goes “yeah” without confirming or denying anything, which – according to other people – is a bad habit of mine as well. As an example, there were two points where I lost money at the bank. I was inserting low-value coins on behalf of someone else the first time so losing a few was no big deal, but the next time it was a note of my own money. I ended up justifying it to myself that I don’t take any action if said action would inconvenience only myself, but will take action if others get involved. This is because there were people waiting to use the deposit machines and consult the teller on duty both times, but truth be told (and this is what these other people were yelling at me for – it left me in a really bad self-esteem rut for an evening) it’s just because I’m not assertive at all, despite my actions to the contrary.
• “I like you more.” – The sentence starts with yappari, which has a connotation of “of course”.
• Why do I get the feeling Setsuna is going to get stuck in the cupboard at one point and find out exactly how screwed up this love triangle is???
• AT Field…? Who knew there was an NGE reference in here?! (LOL)
• I feel like maybe they should’ve done this “Setsuna can be strong in her own way” flashback earlier in the episode. That way we would’ve known there was actually a precedent for her being the way she is.
• Exhibit A of “Makoto can be a decent dude sometimes”: He encourages Setsuna to run for the Class Prez position.
• Please don’t let Setsuna say, “I’m falling in love with you” or something like that…
•  “I’m going to take a peek…”
• *Setsuna kisses Makoto while he’s sleeping* – Ohshitshitshitshitshit…(continues for a while and then ends with a facepalm and an “Oh, f***!” once Setsuna moves to reveal Katsura in the back) It went exactly how I predicted it to go and in the worst way possible, too. Then again, I still haven’t seen the yandere yet, so keep going.
• I like how Setsuna’s casually doing a peace sign at the phone. Also, this ep’s ED is called Usotsuki (Liar).

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Episode 9

• Pay attention to the play…it’s basically like the classroom lessons all over again!
• Makoto’s lucky to have a girlfriend, but unlucky to get a boatload of ‘em…
• Ohhhhhhhh! Right in the “family jewels”! (In a sense, I guess Makoto deserved it…)
• How many girls is Makoto going to get in his harem??? This is like a rugby pileup! Or a car crash on a freeway!
• Sekai’s yandere vibes come back…*spooky music plays*
• You gotta feel sorry for Katsura when you see those chibis, y’know.
• Why do I get the feeling Uzuki’s teacher is also romantically involved in this love dodecahedron (to use a TV Tropes term) somehow…? (Please don’t make it a teacher-student romance, though!)
• “…even if you’re turned down once or twice…”
• I have to wonder, is this dance all in Katsura’s imagination? Theirs (Makoto/Sekai/Setsuna’s)? Or is this really real…? Hmm? Update: I had this thought because someone once said that they believed one of my stories – One Wish They Never Wanted – had an unreliable narrator. I’ve never really figured out how to write an intentional unreliable narrator (key word being “intentional”), so that’s why I’m questioning it so hard.
• The title of the episode literally translates to “Last Night of the Festival”.

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The Journey So Far

I wasn’t particularly excited to watch School Days at first. In fact, going back to episode 1’s notes, I was nervous. So to realise that I’ve gone from being nervous -> angry at the screen -> going along with the twists as they come (similar to how I live with Stars Align – I think it’s rather overwhelming in terms of how much drama it tries to serve upfront). I’ve basically come to the realisation that I’ve been watching for the yandere – whether that be Sekai, Katsura or any other girl in the harem – which kind of gets me out of apathy (alongside the “don’t stop now” incentive from watching with the #AniTwitWatches group), but if I didn’t have such an incentive I probably would’ve dropped the show like a hot potato by now. (Note that I use the exact words “keep going” in these notes when I reluctantly continue a show despite wanting to drop it.)

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So, what did you think of these episodes? There was a lot going on in them, so thre’s no shortage of potential discussion points.

You can watch School Days on Crunchyroll.