In the last episode of Hourou Musuko, we are introduced to Nitori and Takatsuki, which entered middle school. They have gender identity issues, which results in wearing clothes of the opposite gender. The first episode primarily focused on Nitori, a male crosdresser that felt accepted by people in the past. Unfortunately, things don’t stay the same since his sister bullies him when he crossdressed and everyone thinks that he’s sick. In this episode, the focus is on Takatsuki and her friends… in particular on Chiba Saori, which feels seemingly upset.
In the beginning of the episode, I was unsure why Saori is so upset and has a feeling of hate, but eventually explained later in the episode. Her unusual behavior is shown happens when she called Chii “weird.” After practice, Takatsuki walks out of the school with her friends. When she notices that Saori was walking ahead, she does too and Sasa became upset. When Takatsuki becomes upset in her bedroom, there was a flashback where Saori yells at Takatsuki for her reaction towards Nitori’s confession. The way Saori acted is evident that she is one of Nitori’s best friends pictured in the first episode and has a crush on him. The way she acted can possibly mean that she has an extremely hard time keeping things that bother her in her mind. As a result, she needs to let it out and be emotional.
While Saori may still be pent up with all the angst, Takatsuki finally realizes this and tries to make up with her. She skips practice and invites her and her friends to walk home together. They even have ice cream and eat it in the park. Fortunately, Saori warms up towards Takatsuki a bit after having fun with everyone. I guess a bit of ice cream can resolve some of the problems with your friends.
Lastly, there were two rather notable things in the episode besides the situation between Saori and Takatsuki. First off, Maho, Nitori’s sister has a boyfriend named Seya. He seemingly thinks that her brother is cute, but does not explain why. This missing scene is shown in the source material, which possibly explains why she became bitter when she catches Nitori crossdressing. The second notable thing is Nitori’s friend, Makoto, which face gender issues as well the possibility of being gay. Unfortunately, the episode did not explain enough or make it evident that he wants to dress like a girl like Nitori so he can be more attractive.
I positively think that this episode of Hourou Musuko was a bit better than the last episode since it was less confusing and it was sweet. Unlike Nitori’s situation, Takatsuki’s is a bit complicated as she desires to wear in boys clothing, but afraid at the same time afraid to wear the boy’s uniform to school. Saori on the other hand is caught up in this issue with Nitori and Takatsuki. Her feelings for Nitori are evident based on his looks and personality. As a result, she wants to protect him since she knows that he is fragile. Ultimately, Saori and Takatsuki got into disagreements, but they will eventually shake hands and start to make up gradually.
While this show is confusing since a lot of material is left, I think this is one of the best shows out of the season besides Madoka by the way they handle a very sensitive topic. It seems so sweet and it remains an interesting issue that the character face and eventually resolve.
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