With You, Our Love Will Make it Through

Episode 3

What's this? A non-spicy episode? I didn't think that was possible! Seriously, the conversation revolving around the more provocative nature of the show does make episodes like this that lean a bit more towards the innocent conventional side of things feel kind of funny. It's interesting that, arguably, the most passionate thing that happens in this episode is Mari working up the courage to ask Tsunagu out on a date at the end. In fact, you could argue that most of the episode isn't even about the romance between our two leads. I was a little caught off guard by the sudden perspective shift and a little confused as to what direction the episode was going. But by the end, I liked the step it took in potentially expanding the cast, even if the narrative wasn't that smooth.

This episode focuses on Mari's friends, whom we only got a glimpse of in the first episode. Ritsuka and Ayano appear to be childhood friends, with the latter wanting to be a novelist. Her parents don't approve, but to allow her to continue writing her stories, she needs to maintain the highest grade average in her year. Tsunagu ends up overtaking her, and suddenly her world is thrown into disarray. I was concerned that the episode was going to mirror last week, where we had that bully comment on how the introduction of beast folk threatens to disturb the natural order of things. We know human society is generally wary of beast folk for what we assume to be safety reasons, but others are just prejudiced over the idea of interacting with people who seem to be naturally stronger than they are. I wasn't sure if the show was implying the beast folk also have the potential to be much smarter than humans, but the implication is that's a red herring and that Tsunagu is just a really studious guy.

I thought the episode was setting up Ayano to scapegoat Tsunagu and blame him for all of her problems. Turns out this was only a momentary frustration as both Ayano and Ritsuka make it clear that the real issue is with the circumstances, not with Tsunagu. It is really cute that the incident ended up being the catalyst for them to get to know Tsunagu better and see him as the chill guy he is. It's a little weird that the show doesn't really follow up on the main conflict at all, though. If the implication is that Ayano can't write novels anymore because she's not at the top of her class, then what exactly is going to happen to her from this point forward? The show dropped it for getting back onto the main romantic plot of our protagonists. It almost feels like this was introduced more so as a way to get Mari's friends involved in the main cast instead of expanding the growing frustrations with the beast folk. In that way, the episode is a little bit uneven and definitely not the strongest narratively. I like the setup and even the initial way that things play out, but there wasn't really a payoff here.

Speaking of feeling uneven, the visuals felt a little weird. This episode might've had the most stylistic changes of the show thus far. That's not really saying a lot, considering this is only episode three, but I swear that Mari was drawn like four different ways throughout this episode, and not all of them felt intentionally comedic. I didn't take a good look at the staff list, but I hope this wasn't a sign that the episode went through multiple artists to finish. I like the base style for the show and its occasional dips into a more simplistic style for the sake of hitting a comedic note. But if the style ends up shifting too much, it could take away from the drama and heaviness that I think the show wants to play with.

Speaking of heavy, I knew William Ofoegbu was a good actor despite only really hearing him in side roles or as background characters. Letting him get the opportunity to lead a show with his incredibly deep voice was amazing. He strikes that perfect balance as Tsunagu, where he can sound both really laid-back but also slightly and unintentionally intimidating. There's a good amount of vocal fry to his voice that also helps him sound distinctly different compared to the rest of the cast. Amber May also does a really good job as Mari. I like how she's able to sound energetic and reserved at the same time. You can tell she's got a lot of energy, but doesn't really know where to channel it, especially when she gets flustered. I know episode two is where things get even more intense, but the actors were able to sound so natural and intimate in the gym storage room scene where a lot is going on. Can't wait to listen to more of it down the road.

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With You, Our Love Will Make it Through is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.