Summary

[spoiler]

And we’re back to season 2 of Ritsu’s life and he’s totally not being taken seriously by the other people in his office. Being the program director is not an easy to perform when people arn’t taking you seriously….and if you’re as straight laced as poor Ritsu. Lets all pat him on the back and give him our sympathies. Yes baby, you are being teased just a bit *pats his head* and the printers arn’t taking your seriously either…must be your baby face *pats his head again* Takano presents the harsh reality of an editors job to Ritsu, who in turn is just OTL. After a bit of flirting, I mean, talking with Takano, Ritsu heads home. A week later, Ritsu is in Marimo Books (YUKINA HIIII~~~~~) discreetly checking out the sale of Mutou sensei’s newly published book. Unfortunately for him, he bumps into Yokozawa, who bluntly tells him to keep his nose outta the Sale Office’s job…and to leave Masamune alone already. Ritsu asks if the reason why Yokozawa is being so persistent in his verbal attacks because hes going out with Takano? Yokozawa simply asks “So what if we are?” and that shocks Ritsu greatly.

Ritsu tries to process this new piece of information but doesn’t really manage to do that well. AW poor baby *ruffles his head* The next day at the office, Ritsu is still yelling for his manuscripts but…yeeeeeah no luck. With the printers breathing down his neck, Ritsu can only apologize for the late manuscripts. As he ponders how stressful the job of program director is (and which drink he should get), he fails to notice Takano sneaking up from behind (and snagging a black coffee for himself). Takano hands him a number of steps he should follow in order to deal with the printers and then asks him out to dinner (to celebrate the release of his first work and a possible re-run of the works) and drinks with the others. Takano just steam rolls all over Ritsu  and alsihdo;aishdasophds ITS MISAKI HI HI HI *frantic hand waving at the screen*

So Ritsu heads home, thinking that Takano’s instructions really helped him out and he gets a call from Takano about the celebration they were supposed to be having. Before Ritsu can beat a retreat, he gets snagged (literally) by Takano and they head to his apartment for drinks. Takano reminds him not to step on the toes of the Sales Department as Ritsu despairs that they dont really have any good or common topic to talk on, he doesn’t really know Takano that well either and that fact irritates him greatly. Which drives him to drinking …. a lot. I’ll give you three guesses who’s an amusing drunk and winds up falling into Takano. If you can’t guess where this is going then….go read more romance stories! Right now!

Ritsu asks Takano to not kiss him or anything when he’s going out with Yokozawa. Declaring his intent to go home doesn’t work out too well cause Ritsu slips on a puddle of beer and winds up flat on his face. Takano tries to him dry off but Ritsu winds up angrily telling him to not be so frivolous with him and to stop teasing him (both at work and outside) because he winds up agonizing over every little action that Takano makes. Tearfully he wonders out loud why he has to get irritated over every little thing that Takano does. Takano is surprised at his sudden revelation by Ritsu (and cause of some slippage and attempting to stop Ritsu from falling down), he has Ritsu on the ground and he asks how Ritsu can think that he isn’t affected whenever Ritsu is around. Takano warns Ritsu to not provoke him or else he won’t be able to hold himself back.

As Takano starts to kiss him, Ritsu yells at him to stop because he’s already got Yokozawa. Takano clearly tells him that he only loves Onodera and that he should stop jumping to stupid conclusions. He also tells Ritsu that he doesn’t care of Ritsu has a fiancee or not, he still loves Ritsu. THE NEXT MORNING~ Ritsu wakes up in a bedroom he doesn’t know…in a bed he doesn’t know….completely naked and with love marks all over his body. AND WITH NOT A MEMORY OF WHAT HAPPENED. Declaring Ritsu as a really horribly guy, Takano sips his coffee and watches Ritsu quickly put his clothes on…and fall to the ground cause of his aching hips (Oh yes baby, you did what you think you did~) Takano asks him again about Yokozawa but Ritsu ignores it/brushes it off. Takano points out that perhaps Ritsu is more in love with Takano than he likes to admit.

[/spoiler]

Score: B+/A+

Boys~ Its good to see you all again! :’D I hadn’t had the highest of hopes for a season 2 so this is just…icing. It was a cute episode to start season 02 with and it felt like falling back into old patterns without any sense of gap. Though I thought that the animation was a tad iffy at some points. THAT or Ritsu’s neck grew a bit…or he got a hair cut *shrugs* One thing though, I don’t mind the lack of sex in the episode. Hell, I felt that the way they pulled it off in this episode was a lot more sweeter than it was in the manga. I dunno which was the best scene of this episode….Ritsu being drunk as hell or when Takano tells Ritsu that he doesn’t care if Ritsu has a fiancee.  I’m leaning towards drunk! Ritsu. Uguuuu such a cute rambly drunk~

Lets talk a bit about the music. I found the OP to be….alright. I think it’ll grow on me as time goes on but I really did love the ED more. The opening of the OP just…kinda feels weird? I mean whats with those guitar riffs? T_T Well other than that, I love that we see Yukina and Kisa straight up. THANK YOU for that Deen. Tell me we’ll get more of em this time around. PLEASE I BEG OF YOU. Want more Yukina and less Tori. (I’ll get to that in the Tori episodes) Actually with the OP, other than that strange guitar riff, its not a bad OP at all. Fun, upbeat and cheerful for sure. The ED on the other hand, has more of a lazy, love-song feel to it doesn’t it? Almost like a serenade song. Seeing all those clips of the couples just lazing around and hanging out was just brilliant and heart warming. It really matched up with the mood of the song itself. And Takano kissing Ritsu’s cheek and Ritsu blushing was just adorable. And omg SO MUCH TINKLE EVERYWHERE. The score/BGM was beautiful and moving just like in season 01. I mean, that music when Takano and drunk!Ritsu are talking? Beautiful, simply beautiful. In the manga, I never found myself *too* moved by that scene but in the anime…the music just made that scene SO moving.

So lets talk about the story now. Ritsu has progressed from last time and is now the program director and he has to collect the manuscripts from all the other editors in his department and also deal with the printers. And its NOT an easy job given that the others are totally giving him flake. Adding to his work troubles are Yokozawa and his wonderful ability to create misunderstandings between our favorite couple. Yokozawa….*shoves him into a ditch* Stay there till Sorata comes and saves you T_T Stay outta Ritsu and Takano’s way AITE? Oh boy I seriously CANNOT wait for the episode where Takano tells him to butt outta his life. I think we’ll manage to get to that chapter y/n?  Seeing Ritsu trying to balance his work and personal life was really life and even more so because the episode balances both issues well enough. We see Ritsu worrying over his work and then worrying over his personal issues and the two intersecting…how many of us haven’t been there? I think that makes it easier to relate with Ritsu. COURSE most of us don’t have stubborn bosses like Takano who force us into their homes for celebrating a good event.

As much as I don’t like Yokozawa, I gotta admit that in many ways, he’s a particularly realistic character. I mean, if I was in the same situation that he’s in (in real life) I think I’d be a bit like him. Well, atleast in the point of saying something which can be taken in another way y’ know. I mean, when Ritsu asks him straight up if he’s going out with Takano, Yokozawa never says “Yes I am” instead he says “What if I am?” which isn’t an affirmative. Its simply wording it in a way which will put the other person in a defensive position. Ritsu being the silly lad that he is just took it for the affirmative when it wasn’t. Yokozawa continuously testing Ritsu in this way is irritating but in ways, it does make sense. He doesn’t want the guy he loves to be hurt again…COURSE I wish that he’d stop hurting Ritsu in the course of it T_T That’s what pisses me off. Yokozawa is just too blunt and well RUDE in his attempts to ‘protect’ Takano. And if only he’d remember that Takano doesn’t really need protecting (Hell, if anything, RITSU needs the protecting T_T)

Drunk! Ritsu, you were SO damn adorable. Just ADORABLE. His drunk accent and ramblings were ADORABLE. But him as a sad drunk ;_; no me gusta. That was just sad and heart breaking. That was the first time that he actually voiced out loud how much Takano was messing up his feelings and its clear to understand how much that shakes Takano. He really wasn’t expecting the confession that he wound up getting. Actually, on a related note, serious kudos to Takashi Kondo AND Katsuyuki Konishi for a great job. Seriously. Back on the old note, IF ONLY Ritsu didn’t get alcohol amnesia and forget whatever Takano told him (and what he said and then what they did) Though it was seriously hilarious when Ritsu wakes up and doesn’t remember at all what happened XD Silly boy~ You shoulda just looked at your chest…and of course the hips give away what happened ne. (The SFX they used when he falls down AHAHAHAHAHAHAH /diez laughing)

Some of the animation was iffy, as I previously mentioned. I think the best example is when Ritsu is bending on the ground and trying to get up. I’ll just say this. WHAT IS PERSPECTIVE LOL. And hmmmmmm is it just me or does Ritsu look…well a bit older than in season 1? I mean, I get a sense that “hey he’s grown up” in this episode y’ know? Or ma I imagining this? Or maybe I just noticed this? *ponders*