3-gatsu no Lion – Episode 10

Last week, I talked about how 3-gatsu made me laugh and snivel at the same time. This time, it made me clamp my mouth shut for the entire episode.

A little caveat here, because I still feel the emotions freshly after rewatching the episode, and I have a hunch this post will come out as scattered as always (I’m lazy, and I don’t usually edit my posts. I just write whatever comes into mind in no particular order). After all, if there’s one thing that I can call a conundrum when blogging anime, it’s that it’s difficult to translate something as abstract as an emotion into words. It’s a simple case of a need to sink those emotions in rather than lash them out in the open, something that I find interesting given how viciously oppressive Rei’s outburst was this episode.

In any case, I’d break this down into… uh, 3 parts, I guess. The first part being one of my favorite moment this episode: the match between Rei and Yasui. I know most of you folks would say that the piano and violin piece made you all emotional — and I agree wholeheartedly. I’m not sure if it’s an original soundtrack or what (if you know the name, let me know), but if you have the time to rewatch the episode, you can almost feel the ebb and flow of what’s happening, without even watching the scene itself. Like, you just close your eyes and allow yourself to be consumed by the melody, and you won’t have any difficulty knowing who’s in control of the game. Yeah, that’s a bit corny, but I did it, and the results were surprisingly eerie.

Or, no, I could be wrong, because that piece plays like no one is winning. It’s like… it’s whimpering how bitter Rei must be feeling, and it’s also screaming how bitter Yasui is feeling. The match ended with neither of them going home a winner. Goddamn depressing, if you ask me. But, hey, beauty in suffering, anyone?

Of course, that was only half of the fun. The occasional use of pillow shots here and there aided the flow of the visual storytelling on top of the audio. The pillow shots were cheeky — albeit cuts to the next shot a bit quicker than normal — but I goddamn adore it. It breaks the monotony of the match, and allows us to digest and contemplate what is happening and what is going to happen. Returning to that scene again with the knowledge that Yasui’s daughter is going to spend her Christmas alone, and the feeling that Rei will inevitably suffer afterwards has this lingering sting to it that only made the shot of a friggin’ water heater haunting and ephemeral.

Second… do I need to explain more how emotionally vibrant that last part was? The overly saturated color of the sunset, the guitar playing in the background, Rei choking on his sobs, the dramatic meta-commentary… yeah, I honestly don’t need to explain it any further. That scene had me taken aback — just shut up. Watch. Listen.

Last thing I’d like to talk about is how 3-gatsu poses the idea between good and bad in such a way that you would have to question yourself if it even exists in the first place. 3-gatsu does color its characters as a binary of a good and a bad character, though the underlying point is that there would neither be a good or a bad person at the end of the day — it’s a matter of whose perspective you’re looking at, and that, I think, kinda makes Kyouko even more interesting, hell, even Yasui/Matsunaga for that matter. I guess that explains how potent Kyouko’s words are — she’s guilt-tripping Rei, framing him as the culprit.

To this side of the fence (much lesser in the case of Yasui), they see themselves as the victim — the good — whilst Rei, on the other hand, is the Grim Reaper — the antagonist. An intruder. An outsider. A nobody, who casually walks into their life turning it into a shithole. I guess, I can somewhat relate to this, considering that I am an illegitimate child who unknowingly made a mess in our family. Then again, at the end of the day, I came to realize that finding someone to blame does nothing but prolong the idea that there is someone to blame — that there is bad person out there trying to make your life miserable. It was a difficult notion for me to consider, granted that I think of myself as someone who values empathy — the same case with Rei. The problem here is that yes, it would make you a — as what Kyouko in her poisonous tongue said — nice person, however, it leaves you open to vulnerabilities. Rei had no business whatsoever with meddling with Yasui’s family but the fuck with that — he wants Yasui’s daugther to have a memorable Christmas, something that I feel he’s conflicted because he wants to make up for every “wrong doings” he’s blaming himself for.

Short thoughts:

• I guess… Rei must have been feeling hesitant with blaming others. Prolly he’s living his life like he owes these people a favor.
• I’ve mentioned a couple of times that Rei shouldn’t underestimate us normies but… yeah, life’s too intricate for it to bow down to your expectations.
• C-can we just have some cats, plz?
• Contrary to what everyone else says, I honestly can’t say that Yasui is a shitty guy — it’s just that 3-gatsu needs a person to juxtapose Rei’s situation, but that doesn’t mean we should objectify Yasui as nothing but a shitty person. That’s the underlying point of it.
• 3-gatsu isn’t good for my health. I’m really sorry but… I will have to drop this show.
• Nah, just kidding.

Whew. Like a boxer who is floored, but never knocked-out… Rei, you have my admiration and praise. I’ll treat you to a nice cold beer once you’re of legal age. I’ll see you next week, folks!