©Janome/Kodansha/”Twilight Outfocus” Production Committee
The love story of Jin and Ichikawa is fundamentally different from the love story of Mao and Hisashi. Part of this has to do with the sub-genre (or trope, if you will) the story deals with; as I said last week, we’re currently in an enemies-to-lovers story rather than the original friends-to-lovers story. But I think the more important point is that we start with Jin and Ichikawa. By the time we meet Monk Mao, they are already moving in a romantic direction, although they are unaware of this fact. When the story begins, they have been roommates for a year and their close relationship has developed. But as far as we know, Jin and Ichikawa barely interacted before their arcs. Yes, they talked as members of the same club leading their respective factions, but that was just surface-level interaction. they don’t speech Until they become roommates, which we witness in real time.
This also changes the game significantly, as neither boy seems keen on real-world romance. Yes, Kim has dated (Ichikawa said this week that he has a reputation as a playboy, though we know it’s not entirely deserved), and Ichikawa reads romance novels, but the former feels performative and the latter just Not a word is said about Ichikawa’s taste in real life not that he likes romance stories – reading a romance story doesn’t mean you want a story of your own, just like reading a suspense novel doesn’t mean you want a murder. Their relationship, even in its formative stages, surprised them both. God, their friendship This was a shock, especially to Jin, who had never seen Ichikawa in home mode. As far as he knew, the other boy was always nervous and had a temper. For Jin’s part, he suddenly found himself attracted to his new roommate, and even Ichikawa seemed surprised that his taste in reading was translating into an increased awareness of Jin.
This episode does a great job of showing them the situation. Ichikawa had a hard time understanding why Jin seemed to him to be so lackadaisical about his direction. He couldn’t understand why King would allow a major actor to change roles for a trivial reason, and he immediately pointed out that the whole “I had exams” excuse didn’t hold up. The King he knows, or at least assumes he knows, should be able to see through Toby’s words, implying that if King doesn’t take his movie seriously, it’s devaluing the competition. Ichikawa was serious, he wanted Jin to be invested in their games as well… maybe he didn’t like seeing the older boy being taken advantage of either. In his view, it’s not just a matter of different directorial styles, but how much you care about the project.
Ichikawa hopes Jin will care. He can’t quite admit that he wants Jin to care too hewho was shocked by the other boy’s confession. To be fair, Jin reads BL Manga serves as Ichikawa’s sexual awakening? I’m not sure, but he was thinking about King in ways he didn’t expect, and the reading seemed to confirm that. He doesn’t just want to share his favorite books, as we see him do in the story of Mao and Shangzhi. He wanted the way Jin read them to feel more intense, or at least at a different frequency. Ichikawa is not a vulnerable person, and Jin seems to understand this.
It makes sense for him to do this since he seems to have known Ichikawa for a long time. He mentions that being a director has been Ichikawa’s dream since childhood, and the photo Ichikawa found at the end of the episode shows us that they met years ago. Will this affect their burgeoning relationship? The bigger question may be whether they can overcome their insecurities and make things flourish.
grade:
Twilight out of focus Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
