English Dub Review: Tamon’s B-Side “Is It Really Okay for Me to Be Here?”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
Natsuki spills about his past history with Asuka, so Tamon and Utage try to convince Asuka to help motivate him. She agrees, but in an unexpected way.
OUR TAKE
More of the Natsuki arc, but seemingly not the end of it! This episode is primarily about Natsuki and Asuka, both in the past and the present. Which already sets Natsuki apart from everyone else in the group because none of them have ex girlfriends (as far as we know at least, Keito’s backstory is mostly unexplored and we haven’t really gotten into Rintaro yet), so that’s a whole different set of problems and drama from being a shut in like Tamon or feeling pressure from your parents like Ouri. And the story between Natsuki and Asuka is quite sweet, with Natsuki leaving a negligent father and living on the street playing music for tips until Asuka befriended him, got him a job at her dad’s noodle shop, and pushed for him to pursue his music career while she worked towards her own martial arts dreams, and eventually dating. But that all changed when Natsuki’s dad tried to get money from him, and injuring Asuka when she tried to get him to back off, ending her path towards her dreams, and then leading them fighting and breaking up when Natsuki didn’t take a job offer to look after her (though that seems like it was more from her still processing her own loss and feeling worse when Natsuki potentially gave up his own dreams for her).
Regardless, they went their separate ways and Natsuki eventually joined F/ACE, which Asuka quickly caught word of. BUT an ex re-emerging and approaching a currently popular idol would be a death sentence for his career, so Asuka continued to keep her distance, but continued to support him as a fan of his idol persona, grabbing rare merch and even making a fanpage on Instagram (or this show’s equivalent). And so, when Utage and Tamon come to her hoping that she’ll come give Natsuki some encouragement, she instead tells them to send Natsuki to her page, where a not so subtle new post lets him know that she’s still watching, so he better get it together. Reinvigorated, Natsuki gets back to work, so I guess that’s all resolved! A tad bittersweet, but a wholesome story about how some love doesn’t fully go away, even when two people drift apart by circumstance. But wait, it turns out that F/ACE will be doing a festival at Utage’s school because Keito is an alumni, so perhaps things aren’t quite done with that just yet!
