Sing “Yesterday” For Me: Season 1 Episode 4 “Scene 4: As the River Flows, Shinako Returns Home” – Recap/ Review with Spoilers

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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In a Rou focused episode, we learn about his life in his older brother’s shadow and watch Shinako’s grieving process.

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Directed By	Fujiwara Yoshiyuki
Written By	Fujiwara Yoshiyuki, Tanaka Jin
Aired (Crunchyroll)	4/25/2020

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

In My Brother’s Shadow – Rou, Shinako

Since Rou was a child, he existed in his older brother, Yuu’s, shadow. Both in terms of his relationship to Shinako and the fact both he and his brother were artists. But, one thing Rou had over Yuu was he was more talented, and that garnered him some attention at home and a lot at school.

However, the way things are presented, one of the main people Rou wanted attention from is Shinako, and that remains to this day. However, Shinako, despite moving away from home and now working in Tokyo, or its nearby areas, it seems she left home not to move on but deal with Yuu not being around.

Which, for Rou, is disheartening, in many ways, but like Haru, despite the uphill battle expected, he doesn’t desire to give up.

The Push To Move On – Shinako

With going home for a break, Shinako finds herself in Yuu and Rou’s childhood home with their father and just taking it all in. Partly to mourn, of course, but also deal with Yuu and Rou’s father prepping to rent the house. Leading to the need to deal with Yuu’s things and with seeing an eraser that says, “Idiot,” Shinako is reminded of when she met Yuu.

Now, unfortunately, this is still mostly a Rou focused episode, so getting to fully understand Shinako’s relationship with Yuu isn’t here. However, it does seem like the start of a much bigger story is on the horizon.

Highlights

Understanding Rou’s Relationship To Shinako On A Deeper Level

One of the things we get from Rou that we don’t from Haru is the kind of history that makes his feelings seem like more than a simple crush. With Haru, it seems to be Rikuo was nice one day, while she was a student, and now that she has a fighting chance, hence her crush.

On the opposing end, Rou grew up around Shinako, and while their relationship does look like a brother/sister situation, when you take into account she showed him attention, you get why the crush developed. Thus helping you understand why he doesn’t understand Rikuo having any weight in this game considering he isn’t just competing against him, but also his older brother.

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