[REVIEW] One Pound Gospel - Round Six
This one's a bit later than usual as I only downloaded the hardsub this morning. It'll also be my last review for about a month, because I doubt I'll get a chance to watch episode 7 before I leave on Friday, 8 I'll watch on TV in Japan the night I arrive, and 9 I'll miss because I'll be on my way back from a TOKIO concert. So it'll be a while, okay? That said, on with the show.
One Pound Gospel - Round Six
Plot: Still high from hearing Sister Angela confess that she likes him, Kousaku acts out the tender scene for the guys at the gym. They're a little sceptical, understandably, but enthusiastic for the most part - although Ishizaka's support naturally comes with a practical reminder of how troublesome dating a nun is going to be. At least he understands this concept, which is more than anyone else in the series has managed! Kousaku decides that he's going to become Sister Angela's dream by becoming a champion - hang on a sec, isn't that more like Seiko's dream? Well, Seiko and Mitaka think it's a good thing that the boy's so enthusiastic, but worry that he'll crash at some point. So long as the sandbag holds out, he should be fine - there is nothing cuter than the sight of Kousaku clinging to it with lovestruck fervour.
Back at the convent, Sister Angela just can't take her mind off Kousaku, not even to play with the kiddies. Confessing you like someone is a big deal - even if you're not a nun! - and she's not sure if she really meant it. Sadly for the Sister, talking to herself doesn't solve any problems.
Kousaku doesn't think he's got any problems until he has to scout out his next opponent, Tiger Panya Ku from Thailand, a cheerful but insanely strong chap who's never lost in his native country but has no record in Japan. At the Noguchi Boxing Gym, which appears to have far more street cred than the Mukoda Boxing Club, Kousaku slips out from under the ring just in time to watch Tiger's sparring partner get KO'ed - Tiger was so quick that Kousaku missed the entire fight. He hits hard, but at least he apologises afterwards. Shame he doesn't look like he means it. Kousaku is stunned by this. We can tell because he's doing the blinking thing again. He's even more impressed when, using the stalking technique he perfected on Sister Angela, he witnesses Tiger crushing an apple - though he's less bothered about the guy's fist than the fact that he's just wasted a perfectly good apple.
Out and about, Sister Angela has progressed from talking to herself to full-blown hallucinations as she is now seeing Kosaku everywhere, including one memorable moment with four Kousakus in school uniform. (Multiple Kame-chans! I wonder how Sister Angela feels about doujinshi?) Just when she thinks she's got it under control, the real Kousaku bounces up, toothpaste-advert style, and gives her a grin so dazzling that there's no way she can duck out of going to a restaurant with him.
Kousaku's not supposed to be eating, of course, but in addition to sneaking unauthorised food and having a date with the Sister, he has another good reason for eating in this particular venue. Tiger works there, and he demonstrates, in true Ranma 1/2 style, that cooking and martial arts are better connected than most people think. Despite Kousaku's best efforts to make it look like he and Sister Angela are just a normal couple (with her dressed like *that*?), Tiger knows exactly who he is and wishes him well. I'm still waiting for Kousaku to fight an actual mean guy.
Sister Angela's not wild about Kousaku eating, but that's not what she's so mad about. When he tells her he plans to become her dream, she gets confused and storms back to the convent to put herself under house arrest. Mother Superior finds this all most amusing.
Katsumi's also not a happy bunny. He's off for a run, which Ueda hopes means that he might be considering boxing, but it's actually just for a marathon. (What *is* it with Japanese schools? I had to do one a year for my first two years of high school, and only because we had a lake nearby.) Ueda offers to play bodyguard, but the kid's not interested. He also maintains that he has no interest in taking up boxing, no matter how happy it would make his mother, but when Ueda tries to talk him into just one punch, he's all prepared to do it...until Kousaku runs in complaining about his love life. The Sister can't go outside, which means he can't see her. Aww.
The best person to help Sister Angela put Kousaku out of her mind is the man-hating Sister Millie, who would be quite happy to smite him with a thunderbolt if she could. She does her best to help, but Angela's heart's not in it - it's back at the gym, somewhere.
And pretty soon she follows it, showing up during practice and taking everyone by surprise. She wants to become stronger as she feels that she is weak-willed, and training as a boxer would help her develop her mental strength. (Meanwhile, the nuns have a crisis as Sister Angela sneaked out without telling anyone.) Everyone is taken aback as Sister Angela turns out to be pretty good! She says she's just imitating what she's seen, which means she's been hanging out at the gym far too much. Love the shiny white boxing gloves. Go, Sister Angela, Go!
Kousaku is absolutely thrilled that his girlfriend is now working out alongside him, and thus is even chirpier than usual. Unfortunately for Nori-chan and her father down at the cafeteria, he explains that this is because he's happy being with someone he loves all the time, causing Nori-chan to get completely the wrong idea again... Kousaku's smiles are so big and bright this episode that I just want to screencap them and pin them up on my wall to keep me happy on gloomy days.
The Sister and Seiko have a little heart-to-heart in the kitchen, where Sister Angela has taken up cleaning duties. Seiko's happy for her to stay - at least it means Kousaku's working hard, and not comfort-eating himself into a higher weight class!
Brief interlude in Hell, a.k.a. Katsumi's Junior High School, where he's just had the pages of one of his books glued together by the same gang of bullies as usual. How they got hold of it in the first place is anyone's guess, but all the poor boy can do is glower mutely at them as they walk smugly away down the corridor. Thoroughly disheartened, Katsumi attempts to speak to his mother when he gets back to the gym and gets told not to talk to her during practice.
Luckily, distraction comes in the form of Sister Angela. Katsumi is, understandably, a bit surprised to see a nun in boxing gloves, and even more so that she needs to get stronger.
That night, Sister Millie's all in a tizzy, but the Mother Superior thinks it's okay and that Sister Angela will come back when she's ready. Sister Millie, it seems, joined the convent after having some bad luck with a man, which would explain a lot.
Ueda and Kousaku have been kicked out of their room so that Sister Angela can sleep there, but she's too busy gazing at pictures of Kousaku then telling herself off for doing so. They can't sleep properly in the ring because they feel they should be standing up, and Kousaku probably wakes everyone in the neighbourhood when he yells goodnight to his beloved.
Next morning, and Sister Angela is all smiles in the kitchen, making a lovely breakfast for everyone at the Mukoda Boxing Club. Everyone except Kousaku, that is, who gets stuck with Mitaka's cooking. Tiny portion = unhappy Kousaku. He cheers up during practice, though, when Sister Angela goes round and hands out towels.
The young not-quite-couple go for a walk (training! training!), and I don't know why Sister Angela isn't freezing. Kousaku's wearing a couple of layers, a coat and gloves, as are the people walking past, and Sister Angela's not even wearing a coat. They go to a park, where Kousaku proudly shows his beloved all the best places to hide to avoid being seen while eating clandestine snacks. He's so proud of himself, bless him, having perfected these techniques for skipping practice over quite some time. To his dismay, Sister Angela, being the conscientious, hard-working sort, does not approve of his attitude.
They see Tiger out training, and he happily explains his motivation to them. There are twenty people in his family, all very poor, and he has to become a champion to improve their lives. (I'm having Yamada Tarou flashbacks.) It's a heartwarming reason, to fight for the sake of one's family, but Sister Angela doesn't have a family. Kousaku doesn't quite come right out and propose marriage, but he does point out that if they were to get married, he'd become her family - and this is what he would like very much. Unsure how to deal with Kousaku's sudden serious honesty, Sister Angela does her usual and runs away - well, rides away. Good thing she's always got her bicycle handy, because Kousaku runs *fast*. Just not right now, because his face sort of crumples in anguished confusion as he watches her leave. Poor Kousaku has no idea what he's doing, so he tries to do his best, but he doesn't have a clue how to go about romancing a nun. (Really, who does?)
Back in the office at the Mukoda Boxing Club, Seiko, who admits that she's a lousy mother, finally learns that Katsumi's being bullied. Not that he tells her, of course. She discovers by looking through his conveniently-left backpack. She confronts her son, chases him down the stairs and proceeds to yell at him in front of everyone in the gym that she didn't raise him to be weak and let himself get bullied. Ueda tries to intervene, to point out that Seiko's suggestion that Katsumi simply beats up his persecutors is not going to work, but Seiko's embarrassed to have a son like that.
Well, Katsumi's not too thrilled about the family he's been born into either and he takes off, with Sister Angela and Kousaku in hot pursuit. While they track him down to the park from earlier, Seiko enlightens us as to the whereabouts of Katsumi's dad (he walked out) and says she can't understand Katsumi's situation because she's never been bullied before. Big surprise. But Mitaka has, and he tries to explain it to her. She wants to know how he got over it, and he says he doesn't remember...which means it has something to do with Seiko, obviously.
Downstairs, Ueda, Horiguchi, Kojima and Ishizaka discuss the situation, wondering if it would be appropriate to step in and beat up the bullies. Ishizaka makes the unexpected suggestion that perhaps Katsumi wanted to be saved by Ueda, which sort of makes me wonder where his mind is going, as that's usually a set-up for romance. (Having failed to sort out his own love life, Ishizaka is now looking to meddle in everyone else's?) Ueda feels bad that he didn't do anything when he found out Katsumi was being bullied, and invites Kojima to hit him. The latter does, but it turns out Ueda didn't really mean it!
Outside, Sister Angela's getting in some good training, jogging all over till Kousaku suggests trying the park. When they find Katsumi, Sister Angela proposes that they all work hard against bullying. Katsumi, completely lacking in motivation, says he can't work hard because he doesn't have anything to strive for. Sister Angela has her faith, Kousaku and the other guys have boxing, but he's got nothing. He doesn't believe people can change so easily - Sister Angela proves otherwise, having changed considerably since she first met Kousaku. Katsumi asks Kousaku if it's true. Kousaku, looking deadly serious and completely exhausted, asks if he can say something. It's cold, he's hungry, and he wants to go home. Even Katsumi cracks a smile at that; the heavy atmosphere is broken.
When they get back, Ueda's made stew (how far away is this park?) but Sister Angela can't stay to eat it. She's made up her mind - it's time to go back to the convent. Katsumi agrees to have stew, but actually looks like he's trying not to throw up. I don't blame him - sorry, Ueda, but it doesn't look very appetising! Seiko's relieved that her son's home, but she's too macho to say this (unlike Mitaka) so she just promises to beat him up later. The boxers smile indulgently, posing in the kitchen doorway like a quartet of wannabe models.
Sister Millie refuses to let Sister Angela return to the convent - she violated the rules, and must be cast out. Kousaku, displaying unusual foresight, follows and pleads for Sister Angela to be allowed back. He agrees with Sister Millie that it would be better for him if she didn't...but the convent is Angela's home, and it's not his place to make her leave it. He offers himself up for punishment but Sister Millie just wants him gone, so she reluctantly lets Sister Angela return, on the understanding that no further leniency will be shown.
Sister Angela is rather mean here, and explains to Kousaku that she went to the boxing club to make sure of her feelings...but she doesn't tell him what her conclusion was. He vows to become a champion and definitely win against God, but don't ask me how they're going to go about arranging *that* fight!
We then see small snippets of Kousaku's fight with Tiger - the man fighting to help his family versus the man fighting to give the woman he loves a family...and eat a lot of her cooking. Tiger's tough, but he's nothing against Kousaku's love of food, and our favourite glutton wins the fight.
Touching moment back at the boxing club, as Mitaka recalls how he overcame the bullying. Seiko wrote him a message of encouragement on his boxing gloves, which he keeps in a cute little bag. Aww. This ties in nicely with the next scene: Katsumi in class, having to read from the book with the glued pages. Slowly, he gets to his feet, looking down at the book with dread...until he sees the message of encouragement that his mother has written on the underside, telling him to open it with all his might.
And open it he does! The bullies look alarmed as Katsumi manages to force open the ruined book - he must be stronger than they thought. He can't read from it anymore, of course, but that's not the point. He has to admit he can't read it and everyone laughs, but he sits back down with a triumphant little grin. Score one against the bullies.
One final family matter to be dealt with. Ueda's dad shows up at the gym, stunning the other boxers, and promptly decks him without saying a word. What's Ueda's dad so annoyed about? Guess we'll find out in episode 7.
Things really have changed a lot between Kousaku and his beloved nun. When he runs up to her outside now, instead of riding away at top speed she smiles and talks to him. Now *that's* progress...as is her declaration that she looks forward to Kousaku showing her her dream. Cheered on by his girlfriend, a fired-up Kousaku runs off to train, screaming her name and making me wonder why no one's had him arrested yet. Perhaps Japan has odd definitions of mental health.
Obligatory Kame commentary: Today I'm going to focus on Kame's beautiful smile, which made many, many appearances in this episode. I know Kousaku's done a lot of smiling in the series so far, but having the woman he loves working so closely with him has an obvious effect and makes it seem even brighter than usual. So bright, cheerful and honest, you can't help but love it. Why waste him on chocolate and chicken? The boy should do toothpaste ads.
Best scene: Probably the one that made me laugh hardest was Sister Angela mentally turning everyone into Kousaku - the four schoolboys were the best, especially the one suddenly shocked by his cell phone. But for sheer cute, awkward, emotional scenes, I'm going to go with Kousaku suggesting that he and Sister Angela become a family. He doesn't look at her at first, and pulls all sorts of odd expressions, as though he's trying to figure out how best to say it, but in the end just goes with straightforward, hopeful honesty.
Conclusion: This episode was all about family - the family you might not want, might not know how to deal with but are stuck with anyway (Seiko and Katsumi); the family you don't have but might gain if you're willing to take the risk (Sister Angela and Kousaku) and the family you make for yourself when you care about the people around you (everyone at the Mukoda Boxing Club). Through staying (even for only two days) at the club Sister Angela got to experience a completely different life to the one she knows at the convent, which seems to have done her good - she smiles a lot more now, and I think she probably has a better understanding of the dynamics between all of them. She could certainly fit in there, if she wanted to, but would it be enough to lure her from the convent? Who knows. Kousaku's starting to think more about what she wants now than what he wants, which will add up to the same thing in the end if he can make her happy.
One Pound Gospel - Round Six
Plot: Still high from hearing Sister Angela confess that she likes him, Kousaku acts out the tender scene for the guys at the gym. They're a little sceptical, understandably, but enthusiastic for the most part - although Ishizaka's support naturally comes with a practical reminder of how troublesome dating a nun is going to be. At least he understands this concept, which is more than anyone else in the series has managed! Kousaku decides that he's going to become Sister Angela's dream by becoming a champion - hang on a sec, isn't that more like Seiko's dream? Well, Seiko and Mitaka think it's a good thing that the boy's so enthusiastic, but worry that he'll crash at some point. So long as the sandbag holds out, he should be fine - there is nothing cuter than the sight of Kousaku clinging to it with lovestruck fervour.
Back at the convent, Sister Angela just can't take her mind off Kousaku, not even to play with the kiddies. Confessing you like someone is a big deal - even if you're not a nun! - and she's not sure if she really meant it. Sadly for the Sister, talking to herself doesn't solve any problems.
Kousaku doesn't think he's got any problems until he has to scout out his next opponent, Tiger Panya Ku from Thailand, a cheerful but insanely strong chap who's never lost in his native country but has no record in Japan. At the Noguchi Boxing Gym, which appears to have far more street cred than the Mukoda Boxing Club, Kousaku slips out from under the ring just in time to watch Tiger's sparring partner get KO'ed - Tiger was so quick that Kousaku missed the entire fight. He hits hard, but at least he apologises afterwards. Shame he doesn't look like he means it. Kousaku is stunned by this. We can tell because he's doing the blinking thing again. He's even more impressed when, using the stalking technique he perfected on Sister Angela, he witnesses Tiger crushing an apple - though he's less bothered about the guy's fist than the fact that he's just wasted a perfectly good apple.
Out and about, Sister Angela has progressed from talking to herself to full-blown hallucinations as she is now seeing Kosaku everywhere, including one memorable moment with four Kousakus in school uniform. (Multiple Kame-chans! I wonder how Sister Angela feels about doujinshi?) Just when she thinks she's got it under control, the real Kousaku bounces up, toothpaste-advert style, and gives her a grin so dazzling that there's no way she can duck out of going to a restaurant with him.
Kousaku's not supposed to be eating, of course, but in addition to sneaking unauthorised food and having a date with the Sister, he has another good reason for eating in this particular venue. Tiger works there, and he demonstrates, in true Ranma 1/2 style, that cooking and martial arts are better connected than most people think. Despite Kousaku's best efforts to make it look like he and Sister Angela are just a normal couple (with her dressed like *that*?), Tiger knows exactly who he is and wishes him well. I'm still waiting for Kousaku to fight an actual mean guy.
Sister Angela's not wild about Kousaku eating, but that's not what she's so mad about. When he tells her he plans to become her dream, she gets confused and storms back to the convent to put herself under house arrest. Mother Superior finds this all most amusing.
Katsumi's also not a happy bunny. He's off for a run, which Ueda hopes means that he might be considering boxing, but it's actually just for a marathon. (What *is* it with Japanese schools? I had to do one a year for my first two years of high school, and only because we had a lake nearby.) Ueda offers to play bodyguard, but the kid's not interested. He also maintains that he has no interest in taking up boxing, no matter how happy it would make his mother, but when Ueda tries to talk him into just one punch, he's all prepared to do it...until Kousaku runs in complaining about his love life. The Sister can't go outside, which means he can't see her. Aww.
The best person to help Sister Angela put Kousaku out of her mind is the man-hating Sister Millie, who would be quite happy to smite him with a thunderbolt if she could. She does her best to help, but Angela's heart's not in it - it's back at the gym, somewhere.
And pretty soon she follows it, showing up during practice and taking everyone by surprise. She wants to become stronger as she feels that she is weak-willed, and training as a boxer would help her develop her mental strength. (Meanwhile, the nuns have a crisis as Sister Angela sneaked out without telling anyone.) Everyone is taken aback as Sister Angela turns out to be pretty good! She says she's just imitating what she's seen, which means she's been hanging out at the gym far too much. Love the shiny white boxing gloves. Go, Sister Angela, Go!
Kousaku is absolutely thrilled that his girlfriend is now working out alongside him, and thus is even chirpier than usual. Unfortunately for Nori-chan and her father down at the cafeteria, he explains that this is because he's happy being with someone he loves all the time, causing Nori-chan to get completely the wrong idea again... Kousaku's smiles are so big and bright this episode that I just want to screencap them and pin them up on my wall to keep me happy on gloomy days.
The Sister and Seiko have a little heart-to-heart in the kitchen, where Sister Angela has taken up cleaning duties. Seiko's happy for her to stay - at least it means Kousaku's working hard, and not comfort-eating himself into a higher weight class!
Brief interlude in Hell, a.k.a. Katsumi's Junior High School, where he's just had the pages of one of his books glued together by the same gang of bullies as usual. How they got hold of it in the first place is anyone's guess, but all the poor boy can do is glower mutely at them as they walk smugly away down the corridor. Thoroughly disheartened, Katsumi attempts to speak to his mother when he gets back to the gym and gets told not to talk to her during practice.
Luckily, distraction comes in the form of Sister Angela. Katsumi is, understandably, a bit surprised to see a nun in boxing gloves, and even more so that she needs to get stronger.
That night, Sister Millie's all in a tizzy, but the Mother Superior thinks it's okay and that Sister Angela will come back when she's ready. Sister Millie, it seems, joined the convent after having some bad luck with a man, which would explain a lot.
Ueda and Kousaku have been kicked out of their room so that Sister Angela can sleep there, but she's too busy gazing at pictures of Kousaku then telling herself off for doing so. They can't sleep properly in the ring because they feel they should be standing up, and Kousaku probably wakes everyone in the neighbourhood when he yells goodnight to his beloved.
Next morning, and Sister Angela is all smiles in the kitchen, making a lovely breakfast for everyone at the Mukoda Boxing Club. Everyone except Kousaku, that is, who gets stuck with Mitaka's cooking. Tiny portion = unhappy Kousaku. He cheers up during practice, though, when Sister Angela goes round and hands out towels.
The young not-quite-couple go for a walk (training! training!), and I don't know why Sister Angela isn't freezing. Kousaku's wearing a couple of layers, a coat and gloves, as are the people walking past, and Sister Angela's not even wearing a coat. They go to a park, where Kousaku proudly shows his beloved all the best places to hide to avoid being seen while eating clandestine snacks. He's so proud of himself, bless him, having perfected these techniques for skipping practice over quite some time. To his dismay, Sister Angela, being the conscientious, hard-working sort, does not approve of his attitude.
They see Tiger out training, and he happily explains his motivation to them. There are twenty people in his family, all very poor, and he has to become a champion to improve their lives. (I'm having Yamada Tarou flashbacks.) It's a heartwarming reason, to fight for the sake of one's family, but Sister Angela doesn't have a family. Kousaku doesn't quite come right out and propose marriage, but he does point out that if they were to get married, he'd become her family - and this is what he would like very much. Unsure how to deal with Kousaku's sudden serious honesty, Sister Angela does her usual and runs away - well, rides away. Good thing she's always got her bicycle handy, because Kousaku runs *fast*. Just not right now, because his face sort of crumples in anguished confusion as he watches her leave. Poor Kousaku has no idea what he's doing, so he tries to do his best, but he doesn't have a clue how to go about romancing a nun. (Really, who does?)
Back in the office at the Mukoda Boxing Club, Seiko, who admits that she's a lousy mother, finally learns that Katsumi's being bullied. Not that he tells her, of course. She discovers by looking through his conveniently-left backpack. She confronts her son, chases him down the stairs and proceeds to yell at him in front of everyone in the gym that she didn't raise him to be weak and let himself get bullied. Ueda tries to intervene, to point out that Seiko's suggestion that Katsumi simply beats up his persecutors is not going to work, but Seiko's embarrassed to have a son like that.
Well, Katsumi's not too thrilled about the family he's been born into either and he takes off, with Sister Angela and Kousaku in hot pursuit. While they track him down to the park from earlier, Seiko enlightens us as to the whereabouts of Katsumi's dad (he walked out) and says she can't understand Katsumi's situation because she's never been bullied before. Big surprise. But Mitaka has, and he tries to explain it to her. She wants to know how he got over it, and he says he doesn't remember...which means it has something to do with Seiko, obviously.
Downstairs, Ueda, Horiguchi, Kojima and Ishizaka discuss the situation, wondering if it would be appropriate to step in and beat up the bullies. Ishizaka makes the unexpected suggestion that perhaps Katsumi wanted to be saved by Ueda, which sort of makes me wonder where his mind is going, as that's usually a set-up for romance. (Having failed to sort out his own love life, Ishizaka is now looking to meddle in everyone else's?) Ueda feels bad that he didn't do anything when he found out Katsumi was being bullied, and invites Kojima to hit him. The latter does, but it turns out Ueda didn't really mean it!
Outside, Sister Angela's getting in some good training, jogging all over till Kousaku suggests trying the park. When they find Katsumi, Sister Angela proposes that they all work hard against bullying. Katsumi, completely lacking in motivation, says he can't work hard because he doesn't have anything to strive for. Sister Angela has her faith, Kousaku and the other guys have boxing, but he's got nothing. He doesn't believe people can change so easily - Sister Angela proves otherwise, having changed considerably since she first met Kousaku. Katsumi asks Kousaku if it's true. Kousaku, looking deadly serious and completely exhausted, asks if he can say something. It's cold, he's hungry, and he wants to go home. Even Katsumi cracks a smile at that; the heavy atmosphere is broken.
When they get back, Ueda's made stew (how far away is this park?) but Sister Angela can't stay to eat it. She's made up her mind - it's time to go back to the convent. Katsumi agrees to have stew, but actually looks like he's trying not to throw up. I don't blame him - sorry, Ueda, but it doesn't look very appetising! Seiko's relieved that her son's home, but she's too macho to say this (unlike Mitaka) so she just promises to beat him up later. The boxers smile indulgently, posing in the kitchen doorway like a quartet of wannabe models.
Sister Millie refuses to let Sister Angela return to the convent - she violated the rules, and must be cast out. Kousaku, displaying unusual foresight, follows and pleads for Sister Angela to be allowed back. He agrees with Sister Millie that it would be better for him if she didn't...but the convent is Angela's home, and it's not his place to make her leave it. He offers himself up for punishment but Sister Millie just wants him gone, so she reluctantly lets Sister Angela return, on the understanding that no further leniency will be shown.
Sister Angela is rather mean here, and explains to Kousaku that she went to the boxing club to make sure of her feelings...but she doesn't tell him what her conclusion was. He vows to become a champion and definitely win against God, but don't ask me how they're going to go about arranging *that* fight!
We then see small snippets of Kousaku's fight with Tiger - the man fighting to help his family versus the man fighting to give the woman he loves a family...and eat a lot of her cooking. Tiger's tough, but he's nothing against Kousaku's love of food, and our favourite glutton wins the fight.
Touching moment back at the boxing club, as Mitaka recalls how he overcame the bullying. Seiko wrote him a message of encouragement on his boxing gloves, which he keeps in a cute little bag. Aww. This ties in nicely with the next scene: Katsumi in class, having to read from the book with the glued pages. Slowly, he gets to his feet, looking down at the book with dread...until he sees the message of encouragement that his mother has written on the underside, telling him to open it with all his might.
And open it he does! The bullies look alarmed as Katsumi manages to force open the ruined book - he must be stronger than they thought. He can't read from it anymore, of course, but that's not the point. He has to admit he can't read it and everyone laughs, but he sits back down with a triumphant little grin. Score one against the bullies.
One final family matter to be dealt with. Ueda's dad shows up at the gym, stunning the other boxers, and promptly decks him without saying a word. What's Ueda's dad so annoyed about? Guess we'll find out in episode 7.
Things really have changed a lot between Kousaku and his beloved nun. When he runs up to her outside now, instead of riding away at top speed she smiles and talks to him. Now *that's* progress...as is her declaration that she looks forward to Kousaku showing her her dream. Cheered on by his girlfriend, a fired-up Kousaku runs off to train, screaming her name and making me wonder why no one's had him arrested yet. Perhaps Japan has odd definitions of mental health.
Obligatory Kame commentary: Today I'm going to focus on Kame's beautiful smile, which made many, many appearances in this episode. I know Kousaku's done a lot of smiling in the series so far, but having the woman he loves working so closely with him has an obvious effect and makes it seem even brighter than usual. So bright, cheerful and honest, you can't help but love it. Why waste him on chocolate and chicken? The boy should do toothpaste ads.
Best scene: Probably the one that made me laugh hardest was Sister Angela mentally turning everyone into Kousaku - the four schoolboys were the best, especially the one suddenly shocked by his cell phone. But for sheer cute, awkward, emotional scenes, I'm going to go with Kousaku suggesting that he and Sister Angela become a family. He doesn't look at her at first, and pulls all sorts of odd expressions, as though he's trying to figure out how best to say it, but in the end just goes with straightforward, hopeful honesty.
Conclusion: This episode was all about family - the family you might not want, might not know how to deal with but are stuck with anyway (Seiko and Katsumi); the family you don't have but might gain if you're willing to take the risk (Sister Angela and Kousaku) and the family you make for yourself when you care about the people around you (everyone at the Mukoda Boxing Club). Through staying (even for only two days) at the club Sister Angela got to experience a completely different life to the one she knows at the convent, which seems to have done her good - she smiles a lot more now, and I think she probably has a better understanding of the dynamics between all of them. She could certainly fit in there, if she wanted to, but would it be enough to lure her from the convent? Who knows. Kousaku's starting to think more about what she wants now than what he wants, which will add up to the same thing in the end if he can make her happy.