Seven of Seven: Episode 23 Commentary
Early Acceptance Retracted! My Love Life and My Exams are Out of Control!
Mutsumi returns! Yay! Not only that, but he clearly remembers Nana, and congratulates her on getting the early acceptance. Mutsumi’s too awesome. I’d say he needs his own anime series, but that would take the mysteriousness away from him.
I think maybe Hitomi looks up to Mutsumi even more than I do.
Nana’s class sure knows how to give someone the cold shoulder and make her feel unwanted. Whenever things are starting to go Nana’s way, they only go downhill from there. That’s how to write a good story, after all.
I always knew Mr. Maruoka was tall, but seeing him at the door to get Nana from class, I now see he must have to duck down to go through doorways, otherwise he’ll knock his forehead at the top of the doorway. I wonder if he has done that before…
Jamanana sure works fast. Thanks to her, Kayano gets to test with non-Yasaka Oogi students. That’s gotta’ be knocking her down a peg. The question is: Did Jamanana even consider that Nana’s early acceptance would be rejected? Is she trying to help Nana or hinder Nana? Is this one of those “I’ll make things difficult for you so you’ll become a stronger person” trials? Or perhaps it’s a dose of “You need to work for what you want, so you can appreciate it”?
Mr. Handa gets perhaps the best speech of the entire series when he defends Nana. That’s the kind of speech that brings a tear to ones eye, especially after the short scene with Nana standing out in the hallway just prior.
The emotion simply builds up as Kamichika blames Nana repeatedly for what she did to Kayano. Hitomi’s my hero for giving him that slap across the face. Her dialogue to Kamichika about not knowing Nana’s feelings was what finally brought tears to my eyes. This episode is very well set up, paced, and executed.
Jamanana continues to make no sense and make perfect sense at the same time. By not lying at the interview, Nana was lying to herself about just how much she wanted to get in to Yasaka Oogi. And by lying in the interview, Kamichika was being truthful to himself about how much he wanted to get in.
As evidenced by the fish pillow on Nana’s bedroom floor, Nanakko left Billy behind. That’s more unbelievable than anything else.
The true Jamanana becomes more and more clear. She’s the doubts, and uncertainties, the disbelief in her own abilities.
Mutsumi’s radio show really is impacting the lives of its listeners. That could make for a really good American drama/sitcom/comedy mix with a radio host whose program helps the lives of the listeners, one one-hour episode at a time.
The light on the radio in the dark room gives a good feeling, a nice focus on the radio as the guiding light for Nana.
Hitomi’s letter about how she worked hard to keep up with Nana really surprised me. Kamichika being Y.K., however, wasn’t a suprise. Just as he lied to try and get the early acceptance, he too lied to Mr. Handa and Mr. Maruoka when they asked if he was Y.K., to avoid getting into any sort of trouble, to avoid ruining his chances.
Things are going well with Mr. Maruoka and the omiai. Hopefully things work out in the long run for him.
Nana was able to get by without the other Nanas this time. She faced her doubts, her fears, her uncertainties, and almost gave up. She has friends supporting her, classmates on her side, and even her vice principal is personally rooting for her. She might just survive as one Nana.
