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Maybe the eventual message of the anime will be that two people with lots of flaws can be better together and make up for the others weaknesses? If not then we just have two people who can be likeable at times, but also really obnoxious/cruel to other people.

In the case of Yamada it has gone way further than just having the emotional range of a box of biscuits. Any person with some logic and a bit of intelligence would have made different choices or at the very least applied a bit of thought to how your words/actions can affect others. I am having trouble deciding whether Yamada cares so little for other people that he can't be bothered to think about how to react or that he is simply autistic and thus has near zero emotional intelligence.

Blood- wrote:

Episode 7 Truck-kun, where are you when we... I... need you!

I'd kind of like to see an anime about Truck-kun. Is he some nine to five delivery man, only what he delivers is otaku souls to gods and goddesses who asked for people from another world who wouldn't be missed? Lots of ways to go about it. For example, he messes up and runs over the wrong person, who happens to be a family member of a Yakuza clan...or he falls in love with his target and they go on the run. Or what was that show about some kind of bartender who stages death matches between people who just died? Had a kind of guests of the week format?...

@ Edjwald - I think I've said this before, but an anime production company should snap you up - I like your ideas! I'd watch a show about Truck-kun. Hell, all you'd need is an entire episode of him running over Yamada in slow motion and I'd probably have to rate it a Masterpiece.

@ smurky turkey - personally, I think the show has painted itself into a bit of a corner. They have gone so far in portraying Yamada as a social numbskull that we as viewers have little choice but to conclude he's on the spectrum and isn't doing this stuff on purpose. In other words, him being an occasional social turd isn't a personality flaw, he literally lacks the mental ability to be anything different. Therefore, if he changes thanks to Akane, the message is, "hey all you genuinely social awkward people out there who may have some sort of mental issue that prevents you from recognizing social cues, don't worry, all you need is to fall in love to cure you!" Which, of course, is bullshit.

Blood- wrote:

@ smurky turkey - personally, I think the show has painted itself into a bit of a corner. They have gone so far in portraying Yamada as a social numbskull that we as viewers have little choice but to conclude he's on the spectrum and isn't doing this stuff on purpose. In other words, him being an occasional social turd isn't a personality flaw, he literally lacks the mental ability to be anything different.

Mmnn, I don't think he's autistic. Like I said, if he were flesh and blood I'd say that he at least had Asperger's Syndrome, but if an anime character were about bringing awareness to that sort of thing, I think it would have been foreshadowed by now. I could be wrong.

I think we're supposed to assume that Yamada was already an introvert before he got traumatized. Now, he seems to completely shut down whenever a girl is flirting with him. He's demonstrated kindness in this show, but this is the area where he's been cruel on several occasions, and his glaze eyed attitude seems to be, "leave me alone, I didn't say or do anything to encourage this, don't even think about it. Just let me go shut myself off from human contact with my video games." His "I don't get it" seems like a BS selfish defense mechanism for "I don't want to deal with it" When he fled the apartment, it seemed pretty clear (to me anyway) that he was running as if on fire because he felt something for Akane for a moment, and it scared the hell out of him.

Anyway, I agree, it's not looking good. Yamada is way more unlikable than sympathetic at this point.

But I have to point out (cos I'm me) that it's still possible that you're jumping to conclusions, driven by an anger burning with the heat of 10,000 suns Wink

We don't know that the girl who talked about being bullied was Yamada's childhood friend.

We also don't know that the girl committed suicide, though the anime is indicating that something terrible happened. If she did commit suicide, and Yamada's reaction was to double down and be even more of a dillhole to women, then I agree that the author is emotionally tone deaf. That's a sticky wicket as the Brit's say when they're trying to put a terrible thing mildly.

But it's also still an assumption.

It's possible that the girl did something messed up other than suicide, to hurt Yamada the way she felt hurt. And it's possible that they didn't really have a deep relationship, that she was throwing herself at him the way females he doesn't know well have been doing this whole anime. If she wasn't stable, and she fantasized some deep connection because she wanted there to be one, and she did something like falsely accuse him of something, or set his house on fire, then it changes the scenario a bit. His completely shutting down seemingly shy and well intentioned strangers who come up and thrust their feelings on him without knowing him would have a different context.

But that's enough jailhouse lawyering. I honestly don't know how the past event is going to play out.

@ Edjwald - it's true that I'm making assumptions. However, the show is doing one of two things, neither of which is very cool, imo.

1) I'm right and the bullied girl did end up committing suicide at some point after Yamada said he couldn't make the kind of promise she's asking for, or

2) The show wants us to think that and is gonna pull some kind of "surprise" and offer a different explanation for what it has been hinting at. I sincerely hope this is the case but it still wouldn't make me terribly happy with this whole element.

For story purposes, all that Yamanda needed to be was an emotionally unresponsive twit who slowly becomes humanized by Akane's hot messiness. Why even bring this other crap into the picture, even as a misdirect?

Last edited by ACｘS on Mon May 15, 2023 8:43 am; edited 1 time in total

7:

So what exactly is Tsubaki's role here? We are halfway through the season, and we have a new character who is somewhat similiar to Yamada in demeanor. Is she another antagonist to Akane like Runa used to be, for enticing me into MMORPG and making him rusty in FPS instead? Or an observer who sees how Yamada has changed, for better or worse?

As for Yamada's seemingly lack of empathy towards women, I still can't quite understand his personal issues yet. He has a heart, but apparently it could have been (or was?) misplaced at some point. Autism or simply antisocial behavior, I'm not sure yet. In fact, now I am questioning whether he has always had a heart in him, or his kindness toward Akane is the result of what happened in the past.

The fact that a group of highly intelligent, suave, incredibly hunky posters like us are confused over exactly what Yamada's deal is is PROOF that there are characterization shenanigans afoot... AFOOT, I TELLS YA!!!

And yeah, I'm curious about Tsubaki's role myself. She has literally been plopped in out of the clear blue sky. Oh noes, college girl Akane might have herself a high school age rival for her high school age crush! What's a 20-year-old to do?

She might indeed be there to eventually indicate that Yamada has changed. For that to happen Yamade actually needs to show some improvement though. Also, the discussion about empathy versus common sense/caring is an important one here. Not having empathy and thus not understanding certain situations is one thing, but not caring enough about other people to take action no matter what context is something different.

Then again, Yamada did agree to try to fix Akane's broken laptop while he could have spend time doing something he wants to do more. On the other hand, he was kind of strong armed into doing it.

Oh, I don't think there is any question that the show is showing how Yamada is changing... at least with respect to his feelings for Akane... he took her hair clip off while she was sleeping... I mean, he may as well ripped her clothes off, amirite???

I had no idea that ripping off a hairclip is considered a sensual act, oh the sheer depravity of it all.

Well, smurky turkey, you are not as fluent in the international language of love as moi-self. Hey, don't feel bad - few can match my proficiency. Twisted Evil

Last edited by Tony K. on Tue May 30, 2023 12:57 pm; edited 1 time in total

Episode 07: You Want To Feel at Ease?

Summary: Yamada buys a drink and upsets an employee who asks his name. He returns to find Akane and Runa asleep, and Akane has tied her hair back. Yamada feels guilty and unties her hair without waking her. Akane gets a job and resumes FOS. Meanwhile, Yamada declines to participate in the school festival pageant as Eita informs him he, Runa, Takezo and Akane will attend the festival as FOS representatives.

Comments: A pretty soft-spoken character expansion for Yamada. I feel sorry for the cashier girl and the abrupt reply she got from him. But I'm sure there's a story behind that, which we'll probably get before the end of the season.

As for his interaction with the snoozing Akane, I feel like him letting her hair down was a gesture of forgiveness. At this point, I think he's been around her enough to know she likes to have her hair down. But she felt so bad when whacking him in the eye (which wasn't even her fault), that she tied it up as a future precaution. And in his signature Yamada-esque fashion, he didn't say much and just let his actions do the talking.

Maybe I should approach analyzing his character from a different perspective. Since he doesn't particularly say a whole lot, I'll go with the old adage, "actions speak louder than words." He does some fairly thoughtful acts for Akane. But on the flip-side, because he's so soft-spoken, it can make his social aloofness seem a tad jerkish, like how he was with cashier girl.

I do like the fact that as popular as he is around school, he wants nothing to do with the attention he gets. It reminds me of my senior year in high school towards graduation when peers in my class were voting for the title of "most [whatever]," and then they presented the titles to the student at Senior Breakfast at an off-campus location.

I didn't even go to it and just stayed in my first period class with some other classmates who also decided to skip. The irony was that I was voted "most quiet," and I wasn't even there to acknowledge it in person Laughing

.

I applaud Yamada for avoiding the limelight.

Screen Caps:

8:

I never realized that Yamada has never called Akane by her name. For real?

When Akane popped the question on what Yamada would do if Akane agrees with Eita on dating, I was a bit peeved that she interrupted her own question. It's a classic trope that delays the plot, the old trick that drives me nuts on why a relationship gets nowhere in many rom-coms. Imagine the relief when Yamada does answer her question eventually.

Of course, the way his answer was phrased was weird, but it did reveal something. By claiming that Yamada is like "this prize that he can't reach", and how he's a "nobody", he sounded as though 1) he's completely oblivious to people's feelings or how people perceive him (clearly obvious), and 2) he doesn't deserve someone like Akane (self-esteem issues?). The second one is what interests me; it could a clue to something more about him.

Of course, Akane being Akane, this bit completely flew over her.

You know, given how Yamada is when it comes to noticing things, I am not at all surprised by that. He can barely tell what other people are trying to indicate to him when it is not spoken outright, let alone how much of an interest they have in him. Meanwhile Akane is making it ever more difficult for herself, but not that is nothing new either.

So I had this weird thought while I watched Yamada 999 today.

Could his seatmate with glasses be the same girl as the one in his childhood flashback?
For some reason, when she told him not to make Akane run, the words seemed to be carrying some extra baggage.

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