English Dub Review: Adachi and Shimamura “Adachi Question”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Shimamura reflects on how at ease she is around Adachi, but her serene daydream is suddenly interrupted. The “spaceship kid” has appeared to ask if the fish are biting.

Hino introduces Shimamura in a “flashy” manner, but then quickly ditches her. Shimamura sits with Yashiro, the little astronaut, as they explain they’ve come to Earth from the future to find their partner. Yashiro further reflects that all you can do in life is cast your line and wait.

Adachi curls up on Shimamura’s lap while they hang out in the loft together. Shimamura remarks that she seems tired, and Adachi explains that she’s had a hard day at work, but doesn’t want to say where her part time job is at. Despite Shimamura “ruining the mood” when her feline-mannered friend turns toward her, rather than away, Adachi agrees to go to class that afternoon, so the two can attempt to pass and become second years together.

After school they get donuts together at the mall, swapping bites of each other’s treats. Adachi grabs Shimamura’s hand, and while she’s taken by surprise, she doesn’t let go.

Yashiro appears, and demands to know the source of the delicious smell emanating from Shimamura. Shimamura agrees to give the astronaut a donut, hoping for a peek under the mysterious helmet (to no avail.) Yashiro says their face isn’t ready yet.

Shimamura and her family go out for dinner. Adachi is the waitress at the restaurant they choose. Shimamura’s mom asks if they’re friends, and says that Shimamura never has anyone over to visit.

Later, Adachi asks to go to Shimamura’s after school. Shimamura shows her to her room, saying she can sit wherever she likes. Adachi asks if she can sit between Shimamura’s legs, but is overwhelmed by her thoughts of admitting her true feelings, and leaves suddenly.

Shimamura’s little sister comes in, and the two play video games, while Shimamura wonders if it would have been different if she’d done so with Adachi.

A mysterious young girl (presumably Yashiro) excitedly buys some croquettes from the store.

Our Take:

While the pilot of this series kicks things off at a seriously slow pace, this episode picks things up nicely.

The opening scene clearly shows Shimamura does envision a romantic future with Adachi. Adachi has a similar vision at Shimamura’s house. There was never much doubt as to where things were going for the two of them, but this episode reveals that their feelings are reciprocal, if, at this point, undisclosed.

Adachi, while awkward, is the more bold of the two of them. Although, despite her frequently initiating physical touch with Shimamura, she still seems unsure of what their relationship actually is.

Throughout the episode (particularly in the class scenes), she seems to think that a close friendship is what’s destined for them. She even goes so far as to try to convince herself that’s what she wants, despite dreaming of sharing a kiss with her supposed “friend”, nearly blurting out her true feelings at Shimamura’s house, and feeling intensely distressed afterwards.

While in general girls are allowed to be more cuddly with each other without indicating romantic interest, it’s interesting to see the cultural difference between what’s considered friendly affection in Japan vs. the U.S. It’s certainly not frowned upon for girls to hold hands with their friends, but it would be considered to have romantic implications for high schoolers to be strolling hand in hand. It can be a double-edged sword for lesbians, however, since even if they’re being far more affectionate with each other, both U.S. and Japanese societies tend to assume friendship first.

Of course, this also serves to highlight the source of Adachi’s confusion. Since all of their affection can be theoretically read as merely friendly, despite neither of them feeling strictly platonic towards the other, the yearning is intensified by the lack of clarity.

Yearning in and of itself can make for a compelling story, but I am glad that Shimamura’s surprisingly forward thinking vision of a future for the two of them will be interspersing some traditional class scenes in between their loft sessions, for variety’s sake.

I’m also glad, that at this point, they’re each other’s only romantic interests, and that they feel the same way about Hino and Nagafuji’s intrusions on their time together. It’s possible there may be some love triangle shenanigans coming up soon, however, with the next episode being titled “Isosceles Triangle”, but I’m holding out hope it’s about their renewed interest in math class instead.