There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless...

Episode 11

Did this show just end an episode by invoking a powerful emotional reaction in of me? There have always been moments in There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless...… that I thought were very thoughtful and well written. I relate a lot to the situations the main characters are going through, and despite all the incredibly crazy antics, there are a lot of well-written conversations. The show has always been very loud and in your face, so I was legitimately caught off guard by an episode that really took its time. There's still plenty of dialogue and the occasional off joke, but overall, this was almost a slow-burning episode, letting the characters hang out with each other before hitting the emotional crescendo at the end.

This is probably the episode that got me to like Mai the most. The show definitely cut something out when it was trying to communicate how she knew where Renako and Ajisai were, but I do believe her explanation when she said that she was concerned. Mai showed a surprising amount of restraint here, and if she had acted this way after her arc at the beginning of the season, I probably would've liked her a lot more. She seemed to be insightful and sensitive to other people's feelings; she didn't make herself the center of attention, and anytime she felt entitled, she played it up as a joke. That whole conversation between her and Ajisai at the end of the episode felt like I was looking at a completely different character from the end of the last arc. Is it consistent? Absolutely not, and I wouldn't be surprised if that came down to this adaptation cutting out a lot of her development from the original material. Still, I welcome the change and I hope this more mature version of Mai will remain for the rest of the season, as little as there is left.

As for Ajisai, I really hope this is not the end of her arc, because not only is it incredibly bittersweet, but it just doesn't feel like it hit the emotional climax the show was building towards. Ajisai's whole arc is about her dropping her facade like everybody else. She has always needed to present herself as the smiling ball of sunshine everybody else needed when deep down she wants to be able to let loose. Declaring that she was going to run away was probably the most prominent act of rebellion that she's ever had in her life, and she was immediately going to go back until Renako showed up. You can really tell that this was the first time someone had really indulged her and didn't shame her for it. Similar to how Renako is starting to feel comfortable around the other girls despite her own anxieties, Ajisai is starting to realize that she can let herself be open around people. That final line about her saying that she finally found her wings genuinely got me a bit choked up at the end.

But that's just it, it wouldn't feel right for this to be the place where her arc ends compared to all the other girls. At the end of the day, she ended up falling back into her own familiar trap by stepping aside to not get in the way of Renako and Mai's relationship. The smart thing to do would be to ask Renako how she feels about all of this, especially since Mai rather selfishly frames the relationship as something that WILL happen in time. That felt like a bit more of the old Mai slipping out, honestly, but the point is that this should have been the moment where Ajisai pushed back. Instead, she just took on that big sister role again and sacrificed her own happiness for the sake of others.

No, I don't know how Renako would react to any of that, and I like how the episode really makes it clear that how Renako feels about everything is very different from how the other girls feel about everything. Renako is having the time of her life, enjoying a night out with her friends, which is what she always wanted. However, this whole situation is not what the other girls want, or at the very least, they want more out of these situations than what Renako is getting. This is the first time the show has created a more direct love triangle situation, and I actually feel invested. I hope the finale pushes the envelope with Ajisai's character.

Rating:

There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless... is currently streaming on YouTube.