Denji desperately wants to be around a girl and to eat toast with jam, so when a beautiful woman shows up and offers him these things he’s willing to ignore his intuition. But in his case, it’s been blocked by necessity. This is equal parts tragic and amusing, because one of Denji’s primary traits, like every good main shōnen character, is a very strong intuition. But Denji certainly can’t see this–or rather, doesn’t want to. There’s not a lot we know about Makima-san ( Kusunoki Tomori) but she’s obviously manipulative and we get glimpses that she has very clear goals of her own. These boys should just stick to kneeing each other in the nuts it’d hurt less, I promise! And are they both into the same girl? I’m afraid that if so, they’re both in for a heartbreak ride like none other. Denji and Hayakawa are equals in their peer dynamic.

It was fun to watch their sort of perceived competition and sense of rivalry that only makes itself even more compelling by their personal authenticity, straightforwardness, and fearlessness toward one another. But this week I found myself fascinated and craving for more interactions between hilariously reluctant roommates/partners Denji and Hayakawa ( Sakata Shougo). I certainly wasn’t tuning in on Bleach every week because Ichigo’s dynamic with Chad, Uryuu, Orihime or Rukia was amazing.

Rather, it’s quite common that these one-on-one interactions come third or fourth behind the characters themselves, their personalities and values, uniqueness and quirks, and the plot itself. This already stands out, seeing as it’s not often right off the bat that relationship dynamics are the most appealing aspects of a shōnen narrative. Tokyo Touchaku was an excellent set-up for what I think will be a lot of very complex and interesting relationships.

Kara no shoujo nahu