Fuuka: Season 1/ Epiosde 9 “Date!” – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

With Hisashi setting up a gig for The Fallen Moon, and Fuuka wanting to have an original song for their debut, she is forced to address her suppressed feelings in order to write.

The Gist

Yuu and Koyuki have not officially become boyfriend and girlfriend yet. However, with Koyuki seeming to not care what her management said and with her going on dates with Yuu, seeing him whenever she can, and calling him whenever she can, pretty much they are dating. Which as the band teases Yuu about it, cause their first date causes him to be late to rehearsal, Fuuka is the only one not commenting on his lateness or date. Part of the reason could be that Hisashi gig noted in the intro, but also because she doesn’t want to deal with the emotions she has suppressed. Emotions which seemingly are geared toward Yuu but, with her saying she would support Koyuki in her pursuit of love, it seems she has mixed feelings about how to feel. Something Makoto takes note of.

Commentary

At this point, it seems like the show wanted to have a love triangle, a good one, but it came to realize Koyuki’s part wasn’t strong enough so it just completely shut down Fuuka’s part in it – abruptly. Also, it cut out Sara who still blushes and seems possibly into Yuu, but doesn’t pursue him what so ever. All because Koyuki had to be built up into a true competitor for Yuu’s heart. So now that they seem cute together, are going on dates, and honestly are a believable couple, they reintroduce the love triangle.

Something which I’m not that over the moon about. If only because I feel just as they finish the foundation for a relationship or plot, they switch to something else. Take Fuuka and Yuu’s relationship. Just as soon as it seemed they were firmly on their way to becoming a couple, them becoming a band becomes the focus and them being a couple gets slowly and surely forgotten about. Then it seemed Sara would become Fuuka’s competition, if not Yuu’s first real love interest, but then that plan and Yuu’s relationship with her got abandoned [1]. So comes the project to build up Koyuki as a love interest. First by playing on that old trope of childhood friends turning into a OTP, and then realizing that didn’t work. So, instead, they had Koyuki act out of character, to me anyway, and announce on national TV that Yuu was the one who inspired all her greatest songs. Something which led to him being assaulted by a bottle and seemingly being hated by a huge amount of people.

Yet, that hate is instantly gone with Fuuka’s singing as if public opinion could be swayed by one performance/ duet. I could go on and on but while Fuuka still gets a reaction out of me, it is one of those shows which almost seem like it is discovering itself as it goes. It’s like it is without an outline and so it just playings with an idea or relationship until it gets boring and then moves onto something else.

Making me hope that with Fuuka seemingly having to do some soul searching, perhaps not clamming up but dealing with her feelings, we may get some sort of development out of this show. For everyone seems so fluffy and shallow due to the inconsistency of this program. So I hope Fuuka is the one who gives us some sort of emotional depth and makes this more than, for this season, a slightly above average romance anime.

Things to Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. I’m honestly trying to understand how Sara was perhaps one of Yuu’s sole friends before Fuuka came around, yet these two only hang out as part of the band/ group. The one person Sara doesn’t feel like she has to be reserved around, she isn’t trying to pursue a relationship with? She isn’t trying to get one on one time so she can be uninhibited and giddy more? Are we just supposed to forget that whole Twitter plotline and how she acted when she realized who Yuu was?
2. I do wish this show would develop Sara, Nachi, and Makoto a bit. They all seem so interesting and we could use a break from Yuu’s drama. Especially since this show has that vibe where it seems like it wants to feature its ensemble yet seems to think its selling point is Yuu’s love triangle.