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Summary:
Hachi remembers how ever since she was a child, she’s always said that she wants to be a lovely bride. Now, over the phone, Hachi learns from her mother that the money in her bank account was supposed to be her wedding funds. It seems that her mother somehow came to the conclusion that Hachi had eloped based on the fact that Hachi’s younger sister Nami had said that Hachi had gone to Tokyo to live with her boyfriend. Her mother tells Hachi that she can use the money how she wants, as long as she doesn’t come back home. A drunken Nana finds this exchange between Hachi and her mother really funny. She’s actually so drunk that she kisses Yasu when he returns back from getting her cigarettes, and declares that she loves him. Once Nana falls asleep, Hachi is left to do the dishes, but Yasu offers to help her out. From Hachi’s point of view, Yasu is a good person, the type of person she’d want to marry. Afterwards, Yasu leaves, refusing Hachi’s offer to let him stay there.
In bed, Hachi starts thinking about if Yasu has a girlfriend and how even if he did, she couldn’t have been very important if he left her. This causes her to start thinking about her relationship with Shouji. Knowing that Shouji is still in school and unable to pay for the wedding that she wants, Hachi thinks that she needs to start saving money herself. She starts planning as far ahead as getting a house with a garden. The next morning, when Nana wakes up with a hangover, she finds Hachi all dressed up and ready to go out for an interview at a publishing company. Hachi is excited about being able to get a job and maybe even become independent. As Hachi is leaving, Nana invites her to the band’s practice session that night, now complete with Yasu on the drums.
At school, Junko tracks down Shouji and confronts him about his relationship with Sachiko. Junko’s advice is for him to cut his relations with her so that he doesn’t hurt her. She even goes as far as to ask if Sachiko is more important to him than Hachi. Shouji denies this, saying that he’s resolved to making Nana his bride. After Junko leaves, Shouji turns around and sees Sachiko standing there. She overheard most of the conversation and tries to apologize, but Shouji gets so embarrassed that he runs away. He thinks about the situation over lunch and becomes determined to stay with Hachi. And so, that night he and Sachiko go home together like they have been doing. He tells her that he has something to say to her, but then silently fights with himself about what he should say.
By the time he turns around to address her, Sachiko is in tears. She begs him not to break it off with her, saying that even being friends is ok. Seeing Sachiko’s crying face, Shouji can’t help but embrace her. Hachi, meanwhile, tries to call him after she had spent the evening listening to Nana’s band practice. She wants to tell Shouji that about the publishing job, but she can’t reach him. Nana suggests that maybe he’s cheating on her, but Hachi refuses to believe it. Hachi is instead happily thinking about the bonus she can get if she becomes a full employee, which will put her one step closer to her dream of a house with a garden. Hearing that this is Hachi’s dream, Nana says that she’ll build it with the money she earns from her songs. Hachi thinks retrospectively that at that time, she had believed that if Nana were a man, they could have a once-in-a-lifetime love. But having only happy memories would surely not happen. Because with love comes pain – to the point of drowning, that’s how painful it is.
ED2:
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The ending animation changed this week, though the song is still the same. This new animation shows an upward pan of a bicycle, a lake, two people standing by the water, and a town in the distance, all while the sun is going down. I liked the style of the last ending animation better, and I don’t know why they decided to change it to this (other than for the sake of having a new ED sequence).
For all that talk about not betraying Hachi, Shouji still goes and sleeps with Sachiko. It seems to me like he was pushing himself too hard toward Hachi, and that ended up sending him towards Sachiko. But given his almost-distance relationship with Hachi, I think that he and Sachiko are better for each other, so I really don’t hate either of their characters.
I’ve actually started reading the Nana manga again, trying to get caught up to the most recent chapters (not quite there just yet). So it was hard for me not to notice that this episode continues to establish Nana’s close relationship with Yasu and Hachi’s close relationship with Nana, both of which will be recurring themes as the story moves on.
And finally, this week’s raw was in high res, so I included large versions of all the caps.
