‼️Read THIS after the Finalé: Thoughts on "What They Learned About LOVE", Easter-Eggs etc

Here's my final episode thoughts from a thread I created on Bluesky. There's overlap with things already said above, sorry for the redundancy!

Unfortunately, the last ep wasn’t at the same level as the rest because of real life problems: Fumino fell ill several times during the shoot and the Raul’s schedule couldn’t be adjusted so it was cut from 12 to 11 episodes with last minute rewrites. Alas, it shows.

Even so, there’s some lovely moments in the last episode. For example, the scene on the rooftop when Manami is helping Taiga prepare for his beauty school entrance exam. It’s telling that he’s wearing black and white in this scene to reflect his thinking: pass the exam or break up.

When the students find out that Manami is leaving they instantly challenge the vague and false story they’re told by the school. And Sakura again demonstrates what a strong and loyal friend he is. Manami’s integrity and sincerity have changed everyone around her.

A lot of people struggled with the scene where the students confront Manami because it seemed cruel But a comment on MDL shed light on what was going on. It was the same dynamic we saw in episode 5 when Taiga tells Manami he hates her which really means he loves her. But here’s the start of my criticism: even though I loved the scene with the students, it took time that should have gone to Manami and Taiga. It’s something that probably should’ve been cut since they had to lose episode 12.

Meanwhile, Taiga is sweating blood to prepare for his exam. But he’s bathed in the golden light that always represents the love he and Manami have for each other. His struggles are his expression of love for Chihuahua Sensei and on some level it’s  making him happy. But then the room goes dark, foreshadowing what comes later in the episode.

This is something I’ve seen in real life: people who are eligible for reasonable accommodations don’t want to ask for them because they feel ashamed as if they are getting a special privilege. It’s really sad.

Look at Taiga compared to the other students taking the exam. He’s practically twice as tall as them and the only person not wearing a high school uniform. My poor bb is so far behind and it’s for completely unfair reasons. Also note that he’s in black and white again.

Kawahara had a fitting ending but the chant with the tourists was just dumb. We could’ve had him going to the airport and deleting her contact and it would’ve been enough. But he was my favorite character aside from our main pookies so thank you for your service 🫡

Momoko is a shit friend and while I’m glad she admitted it I wish Manami had dumped her for someone better. I think this is another relationship that would’ve benefited from an extra episode where they went through a real breakup before becoming friends again.

Another scene where I wondered what could’ve been with more time: this seemed to imply that maybe Manami and Taiga would take in his little brother to keep him from becoming another casualty of their exploitative mother. A new little found family would've killed me tho so maybe just as well 🥹

There’s some pretty heavy foreshadowing in this scene with the black floor and gray light 😢

This was a very interesting misdirection. This is the cliche ending Taiga (and many of us) wanted but didn’t get.

This freakin’ broke my heart, especially because he texts her in hippos like the hippo on the rooftop 💔💔💔 It’s also heartbreaking that Manami got the news while she was making the bed. A symbol of their romance being unfulfilled.

So this is where the shortened run time really starts to affect the storytelling. The arc of Taiga failing his exam and spiraling out was necessary to his development but it wasn’t given enough time to play out properly. This could easily have been its own episode. (Taiga’s face here is 💔😢)

At first I was surprised to see warm light in this scene since it’s always represented their love and that wonderful day at Miura Beach. But then on rewatching I realized it had an orange tinge. It’s showing the sun setting on their love as Taiga pushes Manami away. Also heartache omg 😭😭😭

I don’t agree with all of this critique but they do make some good points. Taiga's trauma response was 💯 understandable and he needed time to grieve. But what this person missed is that if it wasn’t for their love, he never would've been able to dream of something better in the first place. Him grieving alone is just an extension of the abandonment he's experienced his whole life, not a necessary step but rather a retreat into a harmful pattern. 

This was so sad. Not a single person related to Taiga by blood was willing to step up for him. Raul was amazing in this scene. There were points where he went too big, too theatrical, but in this scene he was perfect.

Too much sadness y’all. Manami trying to repair the hat and Taiga dressing the hippo like sensei broke me.

But then this brought me back. Look how beautifully he signed his name! The way writing is a metaphor for Taiga’s healing and their love for one another has been one of the most beautiful aspects of this drama.

Manami is now teaching at a cram school which is nowhere near as prestigious as her teaching job at the Catholic school but she looks much happier. And her interpretation of the poem is a beautiful metaphor for Taiga’s struggles. It’s very different from when she tried to teach the poem in ep 1.

When Manami goes to Miura Beach her hair is tied up in knots because of her anxiety and sadness. But she wears a red ribbon in her hair, the symbol of her hopes for seeing Taiga again.

Oh god, Taiga is such a pookie, I can’t take it. Also his handwriting has improved a lot!

Somebody pointed out on MDL that Manami usually addresses Taiga with the honorific -san but here she shouts his name with no honorific. It’s almost like she’s dropped a last barrier between them. Also her blue dress with yellow flowers feels very like their colors.

He’s wearing the same colors Manami wore when they reunited the last time. I’m not well. Also the way Manami's red ribbon pops in the frame is so well done. 

I loved this scene of them writing the kanji together. It reminded me of an Ursula K. Leguin quote from The Lathe of Heaven: “Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” Only for them it’s remade through writing.

Finally we get LOVE ♾️ which reflects exactly how I feel about this drama. Yes it bobbled at times but it touched me in a way that I’ve rarely experienced. Manami & Taiga became real people for me and they gave me a lot of joy. Thank you to everyone who joined me & also fell in love with them 😘🫰