Recap
Amane has barely arrived in Enoshima, he hasn’t even left the train station,, when he has a flashback.
A few days ago Amane was in a seedy hotel room with a seedy older man who didn’t save his ice cream flavor for him. Both seedy man teases Amane that if he meets anyone his type at his new High School he’ll probably just sleep with him.
Present day Amane agrees that love isn’t going to happen for him.
No sooner has Amane declared this than a mishap with his lunch and a cat leads him to meet Ryuji. Ryuji is Amane’s type.
Ryuji’s family has a restaurant with a gorgeous view at the top of a lot of steps. Ryuji works there and makes Amane lunch. Amane floods him with compliments for the meal and his hard work. Ryuji demures that it’s normal for him, and Amane says normal isn’t always easy.
As he leaves Amane nearly takes a header off the stairs and Ryuji grabs him. At his grandma’s home, Amane soaks in the bath and thinks about Ryuji. He wants to meet him again.
And he does! The next day at school, Ryuji is sleeping in the seat next to his. Ryuji teases him about falling down steps and Amane admires him playing basketball. He invites Ryuji on a date after school.
Ryuji gets both flavors of ice cream Amane wants so he can try both and keep the one he wants. There’s some ice cream sharing which counts as an indirect kiss.
Ryuji asks about Amane calling this a date and Amane laughs and explains he’s gay, first like a joke and then saying it’s true. Ryuji says it doesn’t need to be a joke. Amane gets serious and drops his ice cream.
Ryuji cheers Amane up with sunsets and photography, but when Amane thinks about the older man in the hotel room he gets sad. Then he gets a phone call from grandma.
The bathroom faucet is busted! Ryuji can’t fix it, but he invites Amane to a public bath house. Amane is all for it.
Thoughts
Amane is a rare BL creature: A gay teenager who knows it and wants to have sex. I love seeing him admire the guys on the basketball team.
He’s also got interesting contradictions. While smiling and laughing on the outside, he’s hiding something darker inside. Something that makes him think love isn’t for him. Something that makes him turn his sexuality into a joke. Something that has driven him into seedy motels with seedy men who eat his ice cream flavor.
Poor Amane, it says something that he’s so overwhelmed when Ryuji casually gets both ice cream flavors he wants so that he can choose. He’s not used to someone treating him that nicely.
While the near-fall at the top of the stairs is a trope-y skinship moment, to me it seems to have larger, story symbolism. Amane is in free fall before he comes to Enoshima, and here is Ryuji to grab him.
But there’s hints this won’t just be a story of Amane’s rescue. Ryuji seems super capable, running the family restaurant and giving Amane plumbing advice. But then he’s sleeping in class and looking anxious waiting for Amane’s verdict on his cooking. Capable Ryuji maybe needs help too, from an eager cheerleader like Amane.
And we’ll see all that in the next episodes!
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