Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to that utterly hopeless couple Adachi and Shimamura, as the two do their best to navigate the perils of Valentine’s Day. Adachi raised the specter of Valentine’s Day through what has become her signature romantic gesture: asking Shimamura to hang out on what she frames as an arbitrary day, and then reacting with shock when she learns this day is apparently Christmas or something. Her gambit is obvious, adorable, and kinda sad all at once, but at this point she’s two for two on tricking Shimamura into dates, so something must be working.
As for Shimamura, it seems like she may have reached a genuine turning point in her emotional struggles. Shimamura has spent most of this series in a depressive haze, seeing no color or joy in the world around her, and mostly just going through the motions of high school life. With nothing to inspire her passion or drive her forward, she felt detached from the world around her, and too distant to reciprocate Adachi’s feelings. Now, having long grappled with the fear of Adachi disrupting her sense of self, she is beginning to see the world in color once more. Adachi has begun the work of restoring her passion, and I’m eager to see if this date will represent another step forward. Let’s get to it!
Episode 8
We open on Adachi in the tub, in the midst of another of her rich mental simulations. “Shimamura… Chocolate… Shimamura…” Her brain is so simple and I love it so much. The contrast between Shimamura’s eloquent, circuitous internal monologues and Adachi’s perpetual “girl… boob… soft…” will never stop being funny
“Homemade… is probably a bit heavy.” I like this turn of phrase. It pops up in subtitles from time to time, and doesn’t have a clean english counterpoint, but the intent is perfectly clear. Using “heavy” to imply an unwanted excess of emotional baggage just makes sense, in the same way we’d call a piece of fiction heavy
Back to the letterbox fantasies, with them now sharing a Valentine’s day carousel ride. As always, the color work of these fantasies is excellent
Hah, I like the formatting joke of our transition out here, with the letterbox bars widening to reveal Adachi bubbling in the tub
“I need to make sure I don’t regret anything.” Oh Adachi, that’s adorable. Good luck with that
On TV, Shaman Taoka is offering romance horoscopes
Shimamura missed a call from Tarumi
And at school, Adachi has returned to stalking her prey like an extremely nervous leopard
Hard to believe Adachi briefly seemed like the cool and mysterious one. She’s less intimidating than your average guinea pig
Extremely in character for Shimamura to take a moment to remember her own goddamn birthday
Adachi handles her insecurity over their horoscope compatibility with her signature grace, by saying she left the stove on and fleeing the classroom
“I think I’m a fan of milk chocolate. It goes down easier.” Another extremely Shimamura line – she doesn’t actually like anything, but milk chocolate is the least disruptive of the chocolates
“Your ponytail’s cute. Though I like you just the way you usually are.” Damn, Shimamura! Not only was that far more forward of a compliment than she usually offers, but it also seems like she might be recognizing Adachi’s insecurity, and actually working to put her at ease. That’s some major progress for someone who generally treats emotional drama with the clinical disinterest of a doctor removing a mole
But of course, this display is far too much for Adachi, who flees yet again
“Shimamura is my sun.” Adachi doesn’t really intellectualize her feelings in the way Shimamura does, but Shimamura’s impact on her is clear in her actions. Going to school is just the norm now, because why wouldn’t she want to sit next to Shimamura?
“I didn’t do anything to get thanked… wait, what?” Shimamura’s bewilderment is also a seemingly limitless vein of comedy
“I’m not sure if I became more positive or just stupider”
Very cruel of this show to immediately jump out of Shimamura’s head after the last episode, and give us this chocolate-based mental breakdown instead of following up on that point. The show pretty regularly uses this system to build suspense – rather than revealing both of their internal perspectives in real time, it dedicates an episode or portion of an episode to one head specifically, letting us feel the same anxiety of not knowing how they’re being perceived that the characters feel
Tarumi calls Shimamura again, simply to say she was happy to see her old friend. Considering Tarumi once occupied a similar emotional role to Adachi, we may have some rivalry brewing
What the fuck the space girl can fly. She can literally fly. And yes, her hair actually is making those sparkles in real life
I think we’ve reached the point where they’ve pushed her so far that I’m actually on board. Sure, include a tertiary character who breaks the laws of physics for no narrative purpose. It is extremely funny, and it’s not like the laws of physics have much bearing on AdaShima’s drama in the first place. Nothing wrong with a dash of magical realism!
Shimamura invites Adachi over to play games at Nagafuji’s place. Nice to see how considerate she’s become regarding Adachi’s social insecurities – not only does she phrase the offer in a noncommittal way, but she even asks privately afterwards to make sure Adachi’s comfortable with this, and not just forcing herself to participate
As always, this show can’t help but make use of the golden hour, offering another perfectly lit bike ride as Adachi takes Shimamura home. There’s an interesting point of separation between these girls’ mundane lives and these larger-than-life romantic moments; the letterbox formatting seems to underline an emotional truth, that part of such moments’ intensity is that they are an act of will on the part of the participants. At times like these, they verge on actors attempting to embody the versions of themselves that could actually navigate such fraught, heightened emotions
“I’m pretty sure Shimamura is just stealing my time. But that time, unlike the colorless days I’ve spent, is so filled with light, just like a jewel.” Oof, what an admission. She understands that Shimamura is less passionate than simply curious, but would still rather stay by her side for as long as possible
Shimamura runs into our alien friend again on her way to school. “I’ll have you know Shimamura, I’m around 680 years old.” Sure, fine, I’ll believe it
“Ninja art, my ass. I just came back because I’m a really good person.” I really like Shimamura’s snarky side. She’s clearly learned to tune it down in order to avoid causing social disorder, but she’s sharp and funny, and I hope she eventually finds friends who can appreciate that. The alien is sort of handy in that regard – Shimamura couldn’t care less about impressing this creature, so she’s free to be her entire self
Nice illustration of Adachi’s experience at school without Shimamura there. The colors are darker, all the other classmates are anonymous silhouettes, and the frame hangs close to the desk, creating a sense of being cornered. Shimamura is literally the sun that brings light to this alienating place
Shimamura offers Adachi some conciliatory headpats for missing school
“Adachi wants something to lean into that’ll support her. Once it was the gym wall, but at some point it turned into me.” Part of the “strength” Adachi sees in Shimamura is simply her emotional distance from everything. If they were to truly get closer, this dynamic could not last – Shimamura would have to introduce Adachi to the sea of insecurities informing that alleged “strength”
Oh shit, now Tarumi actually wants to hang out with Shimamura. Considering how Adachi took her simply walking around with Nagafuji, I can’t imagine this ends well
Aaagh, they’re using letterbox formatting for their reunion! Damnit AdaShima, you can’t imbue a visual motif with that much resonance and then use it like this!
And Done
Well, shit. It’s Valentine’s Eve, and we’re still no closer to any sort of honest dialogue between our hapless heroines. Rather than further exploring Shimamura’s reaction to her revelation last time, this episode cruelly trapped us in Adachi’s head for almost its whole running time, as she endeavored to make buying chocolate seem like Hercule’s thirteenth labor. That said, in spite of her bubbling anxieties, Adachi is taking meaningful steps forward, and also coming to better understand Shimamura’s feelings. Let’s just hope this Tarumi-Shimamura outing doesn’t ruin everything before anything can begin!
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