English Dub Review: Masamune-kun’s Revenge “It’s Been Called Love and Affection”

Twists.

Spoilers Below

Neko is missing, she doesn’t have her phone, her wallet, or her medication. And if the crew doesn’t find her soon, she could be in life-threatening straights! Masamune admits that he had gone to see her to reject her- to choose Aki- But that admission went completely ignored. The most important thing, find Neko and get her to a hospital. The gang searches high and low, everywhere she might have gone. But Masamune and Aki both have the same thought, the school. They search around for her, but can’t find her in any of the rooms. They are about to give up. Frustrated, and feeling guilty about the Neko’s state, he decides he’s going to drop the farce. “Aki, does the nickname ‘Pig’s Foot’ mean anything to you?” She recognizes it, and he is about to go on, when a paper airplane hits him in the back of the head.

A flock of paper planes spiral lazily out of the sky. Masamune recognizes this from the mangas he read. Mangas that Neko read because of him! She was recreating a scene where the heroine turned all her love letters into paper airplanes and threw them off the roof of her school She was planning to throw herself off after, but the boy she loved appeared and scolded her for trying to kill herself. He runs up the stairs to her, delivering the same line as that boy from the manga. Fortunately, Neko realized partway through this whole thing that she lacked the resolve to go through with it. Instead, she collapses, unconscious.

In the hospital, it seems that Fujinomiya is recovering. At least, she is doing better. She calls in Aki for a brief chat, then Masamune. This chat takes a bit longer. She reveals her reasons behind chasing him. Ever since she was young, she knew she was sick. As she got older, though, that deadline became more and more pronounced. She became acutely aware that she was going to die, and soon. She decided that she was going to make the most of it. She wanted to find out what it felt like to fall in love. So, she picked Masamune. From a stack of photos. At random. He was astonished, but now he understood why he always felt like that love was fake. He was just a random choice. She warns him, that if he continues down his current path, he will end up just like her. He leaves without acknowledging anyone, distraught. The lies will always come out in the wash. When push comes to shove, will Aki see through him?

Back at the hospital, Neko’s valet asks about the whole conversation. Is it really okay that she didn’t fight for him? Neko holds up a photo. The photo of young Masamune and Aki? No. A photo of young Masamune and Neko at their wedding party. Long ago, before he ever met young Aki, he was betrothed to Neko. He was chosen at random from a stack, but by her parents. She fell for him then, and was coming now to collect her husband. But…

Oh, and what was her conversation with Aki? Well, it was about how Aki could trust Masamune. How he really did love her, and she should go for him. The whole thing cranks her inner turmoil up to eleven. Just as her heart might have worked it out. Someone shows up in her garden. A pudgy young boy, who seems to know Aki. He introduces himself as Masamune Makebe. And he’s back for good.

THAT’S NOT MASAMUNE!

Hahaha, oh this episode. I’ve got to say, Neko-san is one tumultuous roller coaster of emotions. Literally, every word out of her mouth is a lie, but it’s so true at the same time. The episode is well written, and that goes double for Neko. Animation-wise, there wasn’t much that stood out, but I was really taken with the art in the paper airplane scene. I had to put it in the review. This vocal cast has done a really great job of bringing these characters to life, and it can be tough to do with such a down-to-earth anime. You don’t have high fantasy or sci-fi problems to add tension, so you just have to make the characters have heart. They’ve got it here. Fujinomiya’s scenes in the hospital, and her flashbacks, really carried a voice of someone who had been through this crappy life. It makes me sad she didn’t get her happy ending, but I give this episode eight paper airplanes out of ten.