English Dub Review: The Ramparts of Ice “Stop and Go”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Cultural festival prep begins, and Miki and Yota ease back to normal.  But as Minato grapples with his desire to stay close to Koyuki, Momoka makes a move.

Our Take:
It sucks when rom-com characters end up back at square one, especially during a show’s sophomore season.  But given their complicated emotions, it’s understandable why they have to work their way back to the top, especially Minato and Koyuki.  Because of another misunderstanding in the previous episode, Koyuki is once again rejecting her feelings for Minato to stay friends with him, while Minato thinks she’s already rejected him.  So now the question we’ve been asking since then is: what happens next?  Well, for starters, the school’s cultural festival is coming up, and the students are preparing a play based on “Aladdin”.  If you’re asking if it’s the Disney version, I highly doubt it.
But of course, amid this joyful occasion, more drama is bound to follow, especially the love triangle between Koyuki, Minato, and Momoka.  I know several people have been bashing Momoka and her subtle, devious ways right after the season’s first episode.  But so far, the show has done a good job of presenting Momoka as more than just a school villain stereotype.  While she did manipulate Koyuki back then, Momoka isn’t entirely wrong about her lack of confidence to confess to Minato.  In “Stop and Go”, the episode showcased that Momoka had once tried to steal another girl’s boyfriend because she thought they didn’t love each other.  In a way, the series depicts Momoka as a misunderstood teen whose choices about love could lead her down an unhealthy path full of consequences.
Viewers should remember that we were all teenagers once, and we made bad choices all the time, especially when it comes to love.  However, those bad choices helped us grow to be better people.  Hopefully, for our sakes, the same thing will happen to Momoka once she gets hit by the rocks of reality of what love really is.  As for the episode itself, “Stop and Go” continues its path toward becoming the series’ best season, thanks to its honest approach to its humane characters, notably Minato’s fear of hurting others through rejection.  Not to mention, it offered a heartbreaking conclusion that would undoubtedly affect Koyuki’s mentality even more.