Recap
Ryuji and Amane are soaking in a great, funky public bath. Ryuji asks when Amane started hiding behind jokes.
We see a younger Amane talking with friends about who they like, everyone assuming they are all talking about girls. After that he tells a friend he trusts that he likes guys, and the friend laughs, thinking it was a joke.
Present day Amane apologizes for testing Ryuji by revealing he was gay that way. Ryuji tells him he doesn’t have to force himself to smile. Amane is hurting himself when he does that.
Laying in bed, Amane realizes he could fall in love with Ryuji but–
Nothing has changed. At school the girls want to know if Amane has a girlfriend and he’s back to his joking self with Ryuji. He’s determined for things to be normal.
But it’s impossible not to notice how awesome and considerate Ryuji is with everyone. After school, Amane shares an umbrella with Ryuji in the rain and reveals to Ryuji he’s been watching him.
They tease each other and get soaking wet. Amane runs when he realizes how much he’s enjoying himself, leaving Ryuji with the umbrella.
Unfortunately Amane can’t escape the dreaded drama post-rain-cold. When Ryuji returns the umbrella, Amane collapses outside his bedroom. He’s embarrassed and doesn’t want Ryuji to see him sick.
Ryuji still helps him get into bed with fluids and medicine. Amane asks him to stay until he falls asleep. They share stories of being sick. Ryuji talks about his siblings. Amane talks about being desperately lonely because his parents both worked. Ryuji holds Amane’s hand.
Amane wakes up and realizes the kindness he received from guys like seedy hotel guy was fake. He’s stunned to find Ryuji is still at his place, chatting with his grandma. Ryuji waited because he wanted to see Amane’s face.
Amane realizes his feelings for Ryuji are genuine.
Thoughts
These are short episodes, but they’re setting up this relationship and characters so neatly.
In the first episode we meet Amane. He’s sleeping with older guys at hotels and disavowing love. Then he meets Ryuji, who is his type but not a seedy guy he can meet at a hotel.
Second episode, Amane-who-disavowed love is struggling with his feelings. He tries to go back to business-as-usual but is helpless against the force of awesome that is Ryuji. In the end, he admits that he has real feelings for Ryuji.
We also got important backstory in this episode. Poor Amane. No friends he can share an important part of himself with and no parents there when he was sick. No wonder he was in that hotel room with the guy who ate his ice cream. Compared to having nothing, it looked like love and affection to him.
All this also illustrates how subtly people can be outcasts and you wouldn’t even know it. No one beat Amane up or called him names. But he was isolated by people’s casual assumptions about him and that hurt him terribly. He had to seek acceptance in places that weren’t safe for him.
The speed with which he told Ryuji he was gay shows how fast he needed to protect himself from Ryuji. Even after that, he kept expecting Ryuji to reject him or treat him differently. But instead Ryuji listens to him and encourages him to express his honest self.
Ryuji is more adult than most adults, and it’s fitting that Amane teases him for being like an old man.
Finally, I think it’s adorable that Amane doesn’t want Ryuji to see him while he’s sick but then wants him to stay and keep him company. Can relate.
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If It’s With You is currently available in the US on GaGaOOLala