Recap
Aoki wants to go to college but his grades are really bad. Akkun talks to him about changing to an easier track, but Ida doesn’t want him to leave the class because he’ll be lonely.
That’s all it takes. Aoki gets special tutoring from a college-age tutor who seems similar to Aoki, right down to wanting to get good grades for the person they’re dating. The tutor then gets way too interested in Aoki’s sex life.
Already self-conscious, Aoki feels even worse when he and Ida discover another couple being cute on the roof. Aoki later tries to touch Ida’s hand and Ida flinches away, Aoki is upset but pretends everything is ok.
Aoki’s grades improve and he shares the good news with Ida. He then learns that Ida only flinched from Aoki touching his hand because Aoki’s hands were cold. Ida takes his hand and tells him that he doesn’t think Aoki is gross. They hold hands sweetly.
The tutor sees them and becomes uncomfortable around Aoki. He backs out of taking him for ramen as a reward and explains that he saw him with Ida. Aoki laughs and apologizes.
Ida sees Aoki is upset and gets the truth from him. Ida wants to confront the tutor, but Aoki just wants to have ramen with Ida. Ida gets stuck late at school, but a teammate helps him leave.
Meanwhile, Aoki helps an old man and the tutor sees and misunderstands. Aoki tells the tutor that his prejudice is disgusting. Ida arrives, glares at the tutor, and invites him in to have ramen.
The tutor joins and apologizes for breaking his promise and misunderstanding things. Then all three of them ordering different ramen flavors becomes a metaphor for people liking different things.
After all that, Ida ends up giving the drunk tutor a piggyback. He wants to leave him in the street but Aoki is against the idea. He thanks Ida for wanting to stand up for him. Ida thinks Aoki is really nice but thinks to himself that he still wants to dump the tutor on the street. You and me both.
Thoughts
It’s funny how often characters having different tastes in flavors or toppings comes up in Japanese dramas. It’s less funny how often authority figures take an inappropriate interest in teenagers’ sex lives.
I think we’re supposed to see that the tutor is close to Aoki’s age and befriending him. But still, ew. In the comic at least the tutor is unrelated to the school, it’s more gross in the drama because he’s part of the school system.
So the tutor goes from inappropriate interest to grossly prejudiced out to understanding that people are different, like ramen preferences. I don’t love it. But it’s a nice fantasy that people can get past prejudice that easily. Also, the episode ends with Ida ready to dump the loser on the sidewalk, so I don’t think it’s trying to fully redeem the tutor or anything.
Ida and Aoki are the better part of the episode. Aoki is still struggling with his self-esteem and self-consciousness, and it’s totally understandable why he’d misunderstand Ida’s flinching from his touch. After that, the tutor’s reaction to him would be like his worst nightmare. But through all this Ida is there to nudge Aoki to explain his feelings. Aoki is too nice to the tutor, but that’s very in character for him and why he and Ida fit together well.
I also think there is a tendency to write off teenagers as sex-obsessed, hormone-dripping monsters. I see plenty of that in Western stuff. And while that is true of plenty of teenagers, it’s really not true of all of them. Some are as innocent as Aoki and oblivious as Ida. (This is one of many reasons why an older authority figure teasing and pressuring a younger student about their sex life is really inappropriate.) It’s nice to see teenagers like Aoki and Ida talking about intimacy and what they are comfortable with, rather than any assumptions being made.
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