I was in two minds whether to write a review of Episode 6 by itself or in tandem with Episode 7 since the subject of both episodes is jealousy.

Episode 6 focuses on Nanase’s jealousy which is obvious and comical. I do love how the actress portrays her character. Her facial gesture and body movements, like here, peeking from behind the wall,

or here, spying from behind the seat, while chewing absent-mindedly on a peanut,

are dead giveaways and reminds me bungling Inspector Clouseau in the “Pink Panther.”

Nanase’s unmistakable jealousy in this episode contrasts nicely with Tendo’s concealed jealousy in Episode 7. He keeps his jealousy in check because he can see through his patient Kamijo’s games. Kamijo taunts him to get him to lose his temper, and he won’t yield to Kamijo’s immaturity.

That’s why I like Episode 7’s ending scene. We saw how he told Nanase to go home lest she catch his cold. But while he was telling her to leave, his hand actually moved to grasp hers and he didn’t release it.

To my romantic self, this small gesture is quite satisfying because I watched how Nanase followed him all the way to Osaka and back. Nanase’s “clinging” moment lasted one whole episode but his lasted for a second or two. Despite this fact, it was all worth it. Why?

Because he finally understood what it means to be jealous. lol. The first stirrings of jealousy, like first kisses, are special.

So, to give separate but equal protection… err… attention to the special moments in both episodes, I decided to do two write-ups. Here are my Episode 6 highlights:

1. First responder

I mentioned this elsewhere but this bears repeating here.

This scene when she rescued the elderly man showed how far she’d come from that afternoon five years ago, when she didn’t know what to do when the elderly woman collapsed. It was fortunate that Tendo happened to be passing by.

She could only stare at Tendo in awe after he saved the woman.

When the ambulance came, and Tendo passed on the vital information to the EMT, she hung back because it wasn’t her place to stand with him.

In this episode, Nanase knew how to respond to an emergency. She placed her scarf under the neck like she did before. Then, she directed a bystander to call the ambulance and to get the address from the street post for the exact direction, while she began first aid. Because of her training, she was now able to duplicate Tendo’s rescue five years ago.

Although she didn’t shout for help, it was déjà vu when Tendo appeared at her side, asking “What happened?”

The emergency needed more medical intervention but she was able to cope and assist him because she was a trained nurse. After they resuscitated the man, it was Tendo who looked at her solemnly. Their situation had reversed from five years ago.

When the ambulance came, Nanase gave all the particulars to the EMT. She gave the name and age of the patient, then rattled off, “Chest pains caused him to lose consciousness. We started CPR. We started AED and he’s breathing again.”  Tendo hung back. He knew that she was competent to do this on her own.

He only added his diagnosis as a doctor that the chest pain suggested a heart attack.

Then, before following the EMT to the hospital, he stopped to order her to come along with him. He didn’t leave her behind.

She was looking worried but hopped to it as soon as she heard his order.

She had the same worried look on her face five years ago when she watched Tendo and the ambulance leave her behind. But now she earned her rightful spot on that ambulance ride with him because she’s a full-fledged – and competent – nurse.

And that’s why I like this scene. She had set this goal for herself in Episode 1, and it came true in a very unexpected moment.

“I wanted to get to where you were. To help people.”

2. Stealth stalking?

I thought it was funny that he knew that she was stalking him.

Nanase: But…but why were you…
Tendo: Anyone would notice your shitty stalking.

But who’s stalking whom, really?

Nanase lost track of him as soon as they left the airport, and he was the one who found her in that busy street. So I say HE was stalking her!

That’s the reason he was noncommittal when Dr. Wakabayashi (let’s call Waka for short) invited him for drinks after dinner. I don’t think he was planning to join their company for dinner at all. He knew that Nanase was wandering all by herself in that unfamiliar city so he went off by himself to look for her. He left his colleagues to find her in the main drag of Osaka. He knew that all tourists would eventually end up there since it’s tourist attraction.

That’s why he showed up beside her…when he needed to be.

3. The Takoyaki = chocolate cornet

Nanase: Are you mad I followed you?
Tendo: (does not answer because their order of Takoyaki came)
Nanase: Wait! What happened to your dinner?!
Tendo: Baka. It’s a crime not to eat takoyaki in Osaka.

He offers food to her, just like he did with the chocolate cornet. For a second, she stands there wordlessly so he walks away. He isn’t going to wait for her to make up her mind like he did with the cornet.

Tendo: I’ll eat it all if you don’t want it.
Nanase: Wait! Wait! Wait! I’ll take them.

Do you see it how this scene reminds me of the chocolate cornet?

Just like she missed the significance when he gave her the chocolate cornet for Valentine’s Day, she also doesn’t get the significance of his being there with her, instead of being with his medical colleagues. He skipped a sit-down dinner with the expensive blowfish delicacy and chose to eat street food with her. There’s simply no comparison.

If Nanase thought this through, his choice to spend time with her should have told her where she stood with him, and how he felt about her.

4. Baka!

Do you see the change in the meaning of “Baka!” when he uses it?

To me, that time when he called her “Baka!” on the bridge was a turning point.

I’ve come to understand that he no longer means to denigrate her competence at work when he calls her “baka.” Instead, he’s poking fun at her innocence and cluelessness. She’s such an ingénue that he takes perverse pleasure in shocking her. That’s why he kissed her on the bridge, and said that it was for treatment purposes.

In this episode, he called her “baka” because she mistakenly thought that he would prefer an expensive dinner with his medical colleagues than share a meal of octopus balls with her. Sure, Osaka is the birthplace of octopus balls. That meant that the restaurant he and the other doctors were planning to eat at would most likely have tokoyaki on the menu, too.

She was “baka” because she was “stupidly” worried about inconsequential things like his team dinner and couldn’t tell that he much preferred to be with her.

As it turned out, he was true to his word, like a Japanese man. Remember, Nanase lectured him that “A Japanese man never go back on his word”?

He took her out on March 8th for a dinner date as he promised.

5. Sleeping Arrangements

Poor girl! The second she went through that door, she was overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions.

It was obvious by her reaction to the double bed that she wasn’t ready to sleep with him. She looked horrified, and whispered, “A double bed…”

Then, she forced gaiety and made a wisecrack, “Ruoko is such a prankster. She should have been named Joker!”

To switch topic, she faked excitement at the view outside the bedroom window.  She gushed, “Ooohh. Wow. Look at this! You can see the entire Nanba Street here.”

But she was extremely jumpy. That’s why she overreacted when she bumped Tendo and fell on the bed, dragging him with her.  “Huh—ah!”

Tendo was embarrassed too. That was an embarrassed cough.

I was surprised that he didn’t call her “Baka!”

So she apologized, and tried to cover up her embarrassment. She offered a “brilliant” idea. “Sorry. Oh, I’ve got an idea! Let’s have a pillow fight like a high school graduation trip.”

Tendo probably couldn’t remember the last time he had a pillow fight. He said no.

Her brain was working overtime. She needed to distract herself from that big double bed looming in her immediate future. She rushed to her bag, and began taking out games.  “Oh, right. I bought a lot of stuff! Here’s a chess set. And playing cards. A game of President?” He said no again.

She was at her wits’ end. She jabbered, “Right. Then, I have a fun phone game! It’s an escape game where you solve puzzles on the wall to find clues to figure out.”

She was shocked to see the lingerie. “Huh?!”

Ryuko’s note on the lingerie was the last straw.

She mumbled, “No. Uh. I’m getting… uhh..sleepy. Excuse me,” and ran off to the bathroom.

Tendo didn’t need any more proof that his sister had put her up to this. First, Nanase was chattering nineteen to the dozen. Second, all she had in her bag were games…and they weren’t even “ADULT” games (if you know what I mean, ha!) Third, she was nervously keeping her distance from him and hopping from one place to another like a trapped grasshopper.

No, sex was the last thing on her mind. Tendo was aware of her anxiety so he gave her a wide berth. He didn’t say much and he let her zig-zag here and there in their bedroom suite.

On a sidenote, I thought Mone Kaimishiraishi carried it off beautifully. Her panic attack was real. Even the way she ran away was very convincing: crouching low, making herself small.

My only comment: In real life, they should have checked the room and bed arrangements at check-in. Separate rooms or two beds in a suite.

6. Hiding in the bathroom

Ryuko chose pink for her. I believe she chose black when she tried to seduce him in Episode 8.

I heard somewhere that Sato Tekaru joked about this scene. He said that Mone had to “sacrifice” her shoulders (i.e., bare her shoulders) for the success of the drama. lol. I’ve to look for that clip and post it here.

Tendo waited for her and noticed that she was taking a long time in the bath. This was another sign that she wasn’t looking forward to spending with him. I think this was when he decided to go to sleep and not to wait up for her. He knew that she was worrying about their night together. So, rather than explain to her that he had no intentions of touching her (and making the situation more awkward), he pretended to be asleep.

And he was right. Nanase was in the tub, working up the courage to face him in bed.

Nanase: I’ve had this crush for five years. I’ve got this!

Advice to young girls (and boys, too): It’s not really a good idea to “give up” (for lack of a better phrase) your virginity simply because you’ve had a crush on a guy for years. Sex isn’t like an item that you HAVE TO cross off a checklist or it expires. It’s a gift of yourself. And because you are that precious gift, you should give yourself to somebody who’ll cherish you. If and when sex happens, it should be because you want it and it’s the right time, not because you’re pressured to do it.

Noteworthy: Tendo could have called her “Baka!” for getting all keyed up about their first night together. But he didn’t. I love that he was very sensitive to her feelings and anxieties…when it mattered the most.

7. First Night

Nanase: (coming out of the bathroom and addressing the back of Tendo) Sensai, I don’t have much experience but please teach me and be patient with me. (bowing)

I honestly don’t know which one I found more comical: The fact that she addressed him as “Sensai” and asked him to teach her as if sex was a science course, or the fact that she bowed after her declaration. I don’t know…if I were a guy and a girl bowed to me, I’d lose my libido right there and then. I don’t know how Tendo managed to keep himself from snickering.

Nanase: (seeing him asleep and laughing) He already fell asleep! What a prince!

Awww… I thought it was cute that she still saw him as a prince. That’s what she wrote on her notebook, remember?

She knelt by his side and leaned in to kiss him. lol.

You know what this scene reminded me of? That Sleeping Beauty scene when the prince kissed Sleeping Beauty, except in reverse.

But she changed her mind in the last second and whispered, “Goodnight.” She got into bed beside him and fell promptly asleep. She was snoring ever so softly when Tendo turned around to check on her.

And he smiled. Nanase promised that she would make him, “happy happy happy” and she was keeping her word, too.

He should be proud of himself for “sparing” Nanase from the pressure of having sex with him. But I guess he couldn’t help but kiss her while she was sleeping.

BTW, I heard that Sato Tekaru didn’t really kiss Mone in this scene. His lips were puckered up, but unfortunately, they couldn’t reach Mone’s lips. pwahahaha.

When I find that clip, I’ll post it here.

8. What it means to be a doctor

I like his answer here because I think Nanase was instrumental in his change.

Question: What do you consider the most important thing about being a doctor?
His answer: That’s a good question. I used to think that the job of a doctor was to fight against the illness. That I could never lose the fight. But I was wrong. Because the moment I lose the fight, it’s the patient who pays the price. Not the doctor.

He continues: There’s nothing I can sacrifice in the place of the patient. Unlike superheroes, we can’t save everyone. There are lives out there we can’t save.

(flashback to Minori)

He goes on: For all the lives I couldn’t save, I accumulate them as a debt and in order to reduce the debt even just a little bit, I give my everything to heal my future patients. That’s my destiny as a doctor.

Minori’s sister, Waka, thought that he was referring to her sister’s death. But I don’t think so. After Minori’s death, Tendo pressured himself to save everybody. He worked like a demon, and lost his smile.

It was Nanase who “inspired” him to readjust his focus. He wasn’t just fighting an illness; he was also healing the patient. His focus gradually shifted from the disease to the person.

And he must have seen it when Nanase attended to the elderly man who’d collapsed on the street. After he resuscitated the man with the defibrillator, it was Nanase who went into action and talked to man to reassure him that he was fine.

Nanase’s focus was always on their patients. That’s what Dr. Rokuru wanted to share that at the nurses’ orientation. He wanted to tell them that, “A hospital has a lot of patients, and while doctors treat diseases,

nurses care for the people.

It’s a place to get better, but also a place to help you through life. That’s what hospitals are about.”

If you replay that scene in Episode 1, you’ll notice that the camera was focused on Tendo, then on Nanase as Dr. Rokuru said in a voiceover, “It’s a place to get better, but also a place to help you through life.”

To me, that was on purpose. It was to foreshadow Nanase’s role in Tendo’s life.

9. Confessions

I thought it was funny that they both received love confessions. I’ll continue this tomorrow.