Episode 2 — My Romance
The first episode of Ore Monogatari concluded with Takeo promising himself that he would do his best to support Sunakawa and Yamato’s relationship, thanks to his flawed assessment of the situation. Takeo realizes early in the second episode, however, that in all of the years they’ve been friends Sunakawa and him have not once talked about girls. Takeo rectifies this by marching directly over to Sunakawa’s place and immediately beginning a discussion on women without any sort of preamble. The ever aloof Sunakawa takes this all in stride and proclaims what the audience already knows, that Takeo wears his heart on his sleeve and is prone to falling for any girl he interacts with that smiles a lot and can “get along with everyone”, which fits Yamato’s character to a T. Sunakawa’s type is much harder for Takeo to pin down, and eventually Sunakawa confirms that he finds the idea of a relationship to be “tiring” despite being interested in women. Takeo files away all of the information he gleans in this conversation away for future use, not recognizing that his friend’s disinterested answers may be his way of telling Takeo that he does not want Takeo’s help in romantic matters, without saying so directly.
Takeo, while still an incredibly likeable leading man, can be incredibly frustrating at times. This is not due to any willful actions on his part, however, he is just so set on the idea that he is undesirable romantically that events that are huge red flags to the audience (and likely to Sunakawa as well) just fly right over the poor guy’s head. For example, Yamato contacts Takeo regularly via text message, and in none of them does she even bring up Sunakawa, even in passing. This is an obvious sign of Yamato’s interest in Takeo himself, but Takeo’s mind downplays the significance of this. The most obvious of these “hints” is when Yamato calls Takeo at the end of the episode and asks that the next time they meet they do it without Sunakawa, which Takeo — once again — twists into being about Sunakawa. I only hope that Takeo’s preconceptions get shattered soon, because I can definitely see this aspect overstaying its welcome if it continues for too long.
Takeo’s propensity to compare himself negatively to those around him, particularly Sunakawa, is definitely the focus of the second episode, and results in one of the funniest scenes of the episode and one of the most sad. When Sunakawa leaves Yamato and Takeo alone to get drinks — an obvious move to provide the two an opportunity to get closer — Takeo spends the entire time trying to highlight his friend’s positive traits, primarily at his own expense. This tendency to put himself down is likely not something that Takeo is even aware of doing, as he himself is surprised at the content of the stories he chose to share with Yamato. Overcoming this tendency of comparison and learning to recognize his own positive qualities is a positive character arc I would like to see from Takeo over the course of this series, but time will tell if that is the case or not.
The episode once again brings up the parallel between the story of The Red Ogre That Cried, this time in direct conversation. It turns out that Takeo and Sunakawa performed in a school play version of the story in their youth and Takeo and Sunakawa literally took on the roles that they play metaphorically — Takeo as the Red Ogre, and Sunakawa as the Blue Ogre. While this play was an opportunity for Sunakawa to display his legitimate acting talent, Takeo was thrust into the role of the Red Ogre solely due to how he looked. This event is likely one of many that contributed to the present Takeo’s unconscious view of his and Sunakawa’s relationship: Takeo having no noteworthy or desirable attributes but his intimating appearance, and with Sunakawa as the proverbial “knight in shining armor”.
Episode two of Ore Monogatari provides a lot of interesting details on Sunakawa and Takeo’s friendship, and continues to build up the Takeo/Yamato relationship without missing a beat. With many more episodes to go I am really hopeful as to the direction that this series and its characters are heading, and I’m glad to be along for the ride.
Ore Monogatari!! | MY love STORY!! is simulcast weekly on Crunchryoll.
