I'm not ready to write a lot right now (planning to come back tomorrow with screencaps and a deeper analysis) but here's some quick initial thoughts:
- This was my least favorite episode so far because it was very melodramatic and didn't focus enough on the main ship. I felt especially meh about Akina coming back in such a cliched way. But I did love that Manami wrote a letter very similar to Taiga's letter but unlike Taiga she immediately broke her promise. I also loved the final scene at the hospital, so beautifully written and performed by both leads.
- Even though I felt like the writing wobbled a little, the director continues to reward us for paying close attention. Things like who is wearing yellow in this episode, the significance of sunlight streaming into Manami's room, the symbolism of Taiga getting tiger underwear as a gift and a lot more. One scene in particular that stood out was Manami calling Taiga while standing next in front of a rail crossing. She was bathed in the red stop lights while a train passed through, representing missed chances. So well done!
- Also, Raul was amazing in this episode. You can still tell he's a newbie actor but his acting has been getting better and better with each episode and he's doing a wonderful job of breaking our hearts with the emotion in his eyes. I did find it funny to see him stuffing his 190 cm/6'3" body into a standard Japanese hospital bed 😆
A final request, as always: PLEASE DON'T POST SPOILERS FOR FUTURE EPISODES IN THIS THREAD. Someone on the Jdoramas subreddit posted an image from the last scene of the last episode in a post header and I saw it as I scrolled through my homepage. So freakin' inconsiderate, it really pissed me off.
