© pom・JOYNET/LINE Digital Frontier・”Senior is a Man” Production Committee
After Sacchi’s announcement last week, you might have expected a big follow-up, where walls are torn down, confessions are made, and the status quo is irreversibly changed. However, anyone who remembers their teenage years knows that high school students are very good at avoiding big and scary emotions by pretending they don’t exist. So this episode had a big impact on everyone involved. Our three main actors all know something is going on and something has to pay eventually, but no one wants to be the one to start the snowball. This makes the episode feel rather depressing, but there are strong ideas at play here.
First, a timely planning questionnaire was given to Ryuji and Makoto, prompting them to think about what life would be like after high school. For Ryuji, it’s mostly about whether he’s willing to separate from Makoto in order to go to a promising school, and how that puts a strict deadline on their relationship. Suddenly, a small clock ticked in the back of his head, counting down the time until he could tell Makoto how he felt. At the same time, however, that end date made it harder to think about confessing, because the last thing he wanted to do was ruin the rest of their time together. Granted, any adult knows that going to a different college isn’t enough in itself to tear a friendship apart, but when you’re a kid and your entire social life is based on seeing the same people every day for years, that kind of thing Distance makes people feel uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Makoto must now consider what he wants to do to himself. His father assures him that no matter what Makoto chooses to do with his life, he’ll be there for him, which is really sweet. However, it also quietly reinforces the idea that Makoto must choose between a man or a woman. Makoto’s dad is trying his best, but you can tell he’s approaching this from an outsider’s perspective, almost viewing Makoto’s gender battle as trying to choose between a boy and a girl PC. Pokemon game. So I’m glad that through a hilariously blunt metaphor, Saki helps Makoto realize that he doesn’t have to make a choice. He doesn’t need to solidify his identity and commit to appearing only in one of two ways for the rest of his life. One might hazard that identity need not be binary at all, but we’ll see where this particular bead goes.
There’s also a funny moment in between when three kids watch the same romantic TV show. Ryuji finds tense inspiration in the main couple’s confessions, while Saki finds more alienation. At the same time, Makoto ponders what it means to be a boy or girl, while focusing on rather stereotypical depictions of cross-dressing/gender non-conforming characters in the background. I don’t know if this was intentional, but it struck me as some silent commentary on how media and representation within it shapes people’s—especially young people’s—self-image. How many other forms of romance are these kids exposed to besides standard heterosexuality like that show? How many (if any) examples are there of trans or trans Jian Anxi Aside from stereotypes, what other characters has Makoto seen?
It was just a small moment in the episode, but it made me think, and these various little thoughts made the episode feel substantial. That’s key for an entry built almost entirely around the cast, avoiding conflict and burying their feelings. I hope we’ll get more important material next week, but for now, Senior is a man Have bought yourself time to build things.
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Senior is a man Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
