Ramparts of Ice

Episode 4

Just what was Igarashi's relationship to Koyuki?

That's the mystery that appears to be at the heart of Ramparts of Ice as it currently stands. That's the root of Koyuki's trauma, as something that happened between them seems to have been the flashpoint of teasing turning into bullying. When she found out Minato knew him through sports, I assumed she was upset partially because she wanted to avoid anyone involved with her trauma. We've seen wordless shots of Igarashi reaching for her hand; it's only natural she'd want to stay away from someone so central to that conflict.

Now, however, it seems like Igarashi wasn't just the spark that turned the hostility-disguised-as-friendliness into open animus. Hints are sprinkled throughout the episode that there was more to the situation than we yet know. The most prominent of these is when Minato innocently asks Koyuki what she does in her spare time, since she isn't in any clubs and only works sporadic shifts. As she thinks through her hobbies, with such shocking inclusions as “reading,” and “watching movies,” she remembers Igarashi's sneering face, belittling her taste in exactly these. 

The jeering is hardly surprising; she could have liked the most basic of blockbusters, and if he wanted to make her feel bad about it, he'd find a way. What I find interesting is that in one shot, he appears to be sitting in a movie theater chair. Did they actually date? If I'm right about this, it takes Igarashi's shittiness to a whole new level. The word “abuse” gets thrown around quite easily these days, enough so that I'm hesitant to apply it to this situation at risk of contributing to its overuse. However you choose to describe it, though, what he did to Koyuki is inexcusable: he took someone he was in an intimate relationship with and used his knowledge of her to cut her down and make her feel small, metaphorically as well as literally. Koyuki was lonely and vulnerable and he wormed his way into her inner life, only to cut her down further and make her feel small, metaphorically on top of literally.

Meanwhile, as we see, rumors were flying around their middle school. Invasive questions about how far they'd gone, her clubmates on the basketball team calling her a “pick me” behind her back, and other relentless casual cruelties that famously can make her life hell. She endured this without even a loving partner as a shield against or refuge from the psychological damage, only someone who used their supposed closeness to continue to pile on more hurt.

Koyuki wonders why people gossip. I firmly believe that a degree of gossip is baked into human behavior and part of our nature as a social species. We want to know what's going on with the people around us, process our thoughts and feelings about others, and connect to one another through the common ground that is our relationships with others. The flip side is that you do so knowing you can cause hurt, whether you're gossiping out of cruelty or curiosity. I've been in Koyuki's position, listening from the other side of the wall while people said unkind things about you. I caught my own twin doing it while I was in the room. I've sat and listened, I've silently walked away, and I've stuck my head in to tell them to cut it out. The wisdom of age tells me that there is simply no good response, and even now, with a rock-solid marriage and support network of friends, it cuts through me every time I remember it.

We also get to meet present-day Igarashi when his soccer team comes to the school for joint practice, and I have to say… This guy sucks. He's constantly scowling, insults Miki's looks when his classmate calls her cute, and seems to look down on everything and everyone around him. Minato makes some friendly chitchat with him, but as the series has well established, he's like that with everyone. What is his problem? Is there some deeper cause at the root, or is he just rancid?

The other source of intrigue in this episode: Miki's role in this whole thing. We know that her current image is very different from how she was seen by her peers in middle school, and the peppy school idol is a new development. But Igarashi asks about broken windows, connecting her to a flashback from the first couple episodes. She also cryptically mentions not wanting to “cause more trouble” for Koyuki, phrasing that Minato immediately picks up on but she does not elaborate on.

On a lighter note, Asagawa continues to be delightfully accurate in how she portrays teenagers hanging out and goofing around. Left alone in the classroom, Koyuki and Yota try out the classic barely-disguised flirtation technique of comparing hand sizes. Of course he has huge hands and she has tiny hands; that's how it always goes in fiction. (Though not in real life, or at least not for me.) When the group goes out to off-brand Saizeriya, they play a spot-the-difference game meant to occupy young kids. Between this and You and I Are Polar Opposites, I don't know if there's anyone else in the manga game who's better at depicting the distinctive way teens can be playful, still children in many ways when they're not focused on surviving the pangs of adolescence and whatnot. 

Ramparts of Ice has such a delicate touch when it comes to examining the tangled webs of teen socialization at a critical period, it's no wonder that Asagawa is one of the biggest up-and-comers of the industry. The balance between answering questions, but using those answers to lead to further questions is just delicious.

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Ramparts of Ice is currently streaming on Netflix.