This episode of Tada Never Falls in Love (Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai) has instantly raised my expectations for the rest of the series, and in my opinion, it was the best episode since we heard Nyanko Big’s brilliant narration. This was the first episode where I truly FELT those familiar feelings of teenage love. Let’s gets straight to the review, shall we?
Japanese title: 泣かれるよりはいいだろ
“It’s hard being a conspicuous guy”
Yui is enjoying reading her favorite mystery novel series when she realizes that Nyanko Big has not come home, leaving behind a mountain of food. In the morning, she tells her brother and his friends how worried she is about the cat, and they all head out to search for him. Yamashita and Ijuin join the Tada siblings as they search for Nyanko Big, with Teresa and Alec eventually postponing their plans to meet Charles in order to help out. After running around the neighborhood, we eventually learn that Charles actually saw Nyanko Big by the river, who had dropped his favorite cat toy into the river. After Charles helps the cat out, Nyanko Big headed off towards the flower shop. The gang head to the flower shop and lo and behold, there is Nyano Big! Yui’s brain gets into gear and she works it out- Nyanko Big is in love! Of course, we remember that Nyanko Big laid eyes on Cherry the cat for 8 seconds, therefore according to his logic, he’s in love with her! It turns out the shop opposite the flower shop is Cherry’s home and is the hair salon owned by Yamashita’s unrequited love, Chia. Yui sees how beautiful Chia is and the way that Yamashita looks at her, and clearly feels upset. Later at the festival, Yui and Yamashita get a moment together. She gets straight to the point and asks Yamashita if he likes Chia. He is equally as frank and says ‘yes’, but also mentions that it is one-sided. He’s just content to see her happy. On the way home, Yui’s feelings take control of her, and she confesses to Teresa and Alec that she can’t feel that way. She can’t just be content to see him happy.
I’m glad we got to see a lot of Yui this, week. Although at first she seems to be the most normal of the eclectic cast of characters, she has her own quirks and charms. Her admiration for the fictional Poiron is very cute, and I enjoy how she doesn’t try to stop her emotions from showing on her face. However what I really enjoyed most about this episode was the depiction of her feelings towards Yamashita and her reaction to Chia. Yui so far has been the only character to have a pure, innocent and VERY obvious crush. From the very beginning, her face has lit up at the simple mention of Yamashita’s name. However, we learned in the bathhouse that he has an unrequited love, and Yui’s heart clearly was not prepared to see not only that she is a beautiful, mature woman, but she also saw the way that Yamashita looked at her. It’s no wonder that she couldn’t help but walk straight off with Nyanko Big in her arms. Later, she asks him clearly if he likes Chia (which is a very bold move, to be honest) and he talks about his feelings for her. Yui is a sweet girl, and Yamashita is clearly her first love. So it must have been painful to see him talking about her with that look in his eyes.
As Yui walks home, she bursts into tears. She can’t feel the same as he does. She can’t just be happy for his happiness. She wants to be with him. I’m sure most viewers relate to this. Some people say that if you are in love with somebody, you have to be able to let them go. However, there is no correct answer. Maybe some people can feel like that. Btu some people can’t. Yui is a kind soul, but the heart desires what the heart desires. I actually found myself praying that Yamashita will start to see Yui in a new light, and I haven’t felt that about the relationships between any of the other characters so far. Don’t give up, Yui!
Charles continues to confuse me with his angelic qualities. While out on a run (an Adonis has to take care of himself), he didn’t even think twice about jumping in the river to help Nyanko Big. He even stopped for a while to have a chat with him (turns out he can talk to cats). I just can’t help but get more and more suspicious of him. How can one man be so perfect? His tendency to claim everything as a joke also frustrates me, but I think he was telling the truth about his feelings for Teresa. Ahhhh, beautiful guys confuse me both in anime and in real life.
I love how Ijuin used selfies of himself to help search for Nyanko Big. The girls love it!
The guys all stop by a local festival. There you can see many of the usual festival fare, such as grilled squid, Takayaki and shaved ice. Summer festivals are a staple in high school romance anime, with the girls typically appearing in yukata and the guy’s jaw’s dropping to the floor at their beauty. The couples will then share a tender moment under the fireworks. However, in this episode, the festival was just a normal backdrop for the story, and it was very bittersweet. I enjoyed how it went against this trope.
This episode was my favorite so far other than Nyanko Big’s episode. Yui is a much better character than I was first expecting. She is just so pure, and in my opinion even purer than Teresa! Her adorkableness almost puts Teresa’s to shame, and her crush on Yamashita reminds me so much of my own days when I was her age. As much as I want Yamashita to start seeing her in a different way, they are both still very young, so who knows how their relationship will develop. There were plenty of funny moments, such as Yui’s posing, Nyanko’s jump, and Pin-sempai’s cameo. The depiction of emotions was also very well done, and if the rest of the series stays at this level then it may be one of the first romance anime I can really get behind.
The first season of the new year is just one month away from its finale. It was a great start with many amazing titles that made these past months worth the extra hours we put in front of our sets. Now, it is time for the cold wind to give way to the pink hues of the sakura tree and for the Winter 2018 season to give the anime baton to Spring 2018.
