English Dub Review: Real Girl Episodes 19~21

A slice of three, one for each couple.

Overview:

Everyone gets their time to shine.

Our Take:

The first of the three episodes conclude the divorce issue, where together, Tsutsui and Igarashi confront Tsutsui’s father on his wrongdoings, especially why he felt that way. In the end, it’s seeing that Tsutsui has reached out and has cared about other people, especially Igarashi, that reminds his father of his love for his wife, and the time they shared together. Realistically speaking, to prevent a divorce, especially after the mother was so set on breaking up, is a pretty hard thing to do. At the same time, they did finally come to a common goal and acknowledge their wrongdoings. A lot of divorce cases feature couples trying to find something that they don’t have, and using an affair to fill in whatever that missing gap is. In this case, the two parents realized that what they had was there all along, and were able to reconcile. The issue of distrust never really goes away, but that kind of needs to be ignored so Tsutsui could remain in the city. Understandable for plot reasons, but in retrospect, it seems like a big of too heavy of a plot to tackle sufficiently.

The other two episodes end up focusing on the other two main couples, and those are a lot less impactful admittedly. While they brought up some good points, I felt like I was significantly less invested in them being together and staying together, likely because they are side-romances.

The first one centers around Itou and Ayado after they start going out with each other. Ayado is nervous, for similar reasons that Tsutsui was nervous; she’s never had a relationship, and almost all of her attractions are to 2D instead of 3D. Because she has been repeatedly teased for her lack of interest in real people, she isn’t sure what to do, or how she should advance in a real relationship. Even though she’s interested in Itou and being around him, she’s not sure how to conduct herself in her very first relationship. Due to her hobbies being treated as a joke, even in the episode itself, she is unwilling to talk about the things that make her happy, which closes her off. It isn’t until she makes the push herself to admit that she’s nervous and reaches out to Itou is their relationship allowed to continue.

Ishino and Takanashi are the other featured budding couple, where Ishino wonders about if she is attractive enough, and Takanashi offers to take her out on a date to remedy that. Ishino is a self-driven, outspoken girl, traits that are admittedly not very attractive to men. Although she claims to not feel bad about it, she is clearly down by it at least somewhat. Another thing which, in a pinch, Takanashi also tells her isn’t attractive, is her nosiness. While it can be a little daunting, Ishino goes into things with the best intentions in mind and usually devotes herself into protecting her friends. If anything, she has a very strong sense of morality, including stopping Takanashi from stopping his younger sister from having harmless fun, just because he can’t get over his prejudices. While he does say this in a fit of anger, people don’t say what they don’t truly feel when they’re upset. Get a better man, Ishino!

It’s a very shoujo pace for a shoujo manga, and there’s nothing wrong with that, there’s nothing particularly outstanding about it either. It’s just alright.