©Chihiro Yuzuki/SHUEISHA, Kimikoe Production Committee

I feel like you can almost call this show “well that escalated quickly.” After the breather last week where we didn’t really have anything spicy happen, this episode brought us right into the overwhelming sexual tension between our main cast members. There are feelings being confessed, physical lines crossed and a tragic love triangle blossoming. Aida’s feelings for Mari were touched upon in the last episode, and it felt a little bit weird considering how he had acted at the beginning of the show. I think it was trying to establish that he hasn’t fully fallen for her yet, but he’s always always found himself sort of drawn to her. The question is, does the climax of this episode push him to be more proactive in pursuing her or is he going to continue to do what he has always done before: act as a wingman to help bring these two together. I feel bad for this guy and I hope he gets some form of a happy ending.

I have to admit, there was a part of me that was genuinely wondering if Mari and Tsunagu were going to have sex right there in the classroom in the middle of the day. The way things were framed made it seem like that’s what they were about to do or in the middle of doing before the two stopped themselves. There’s a lot about this episode from an animation standpoint that felt very weird and janky. I mentioned last week how the fluctuating animation styles can feel very distracting. We didn’t get as many, but there was a lot of movement and scene transitions that felt very choppy. I think that the basketball scene and the intimate scene in the classroom are prime examples. I hope this isn’t a sign that the production of the show is already kind of falling apart just four episodes in.

Regarding the emotional development between our two leads, I do think it’s interesting that the show seems to be setting up this almost self-aware tragic romance. Getting to see these two interact as friends a bit more definitely warmed me up to their romance more than episode one, where it just seemed like the two were very physically attracted to each other in a primal sense. Now I do believe it when they say that they can’t really hold back their feelings anymore, even though they know it would be very difficult for them to have a romance at all. If their relationship went public, Tsunagu would have to walk on more eggshells than he already does and you know that Mari would be targeted. It makes me wonder if there are rules and specific restrictions that go into beastfolk having relationships with humans. Tsunagu already is the byproduct of a beast and human relationship, but he also has a lot of specific restrictions on him, like how he can’t hang out with people outside of a school or a library, which is very sad.

This feels like the point where the story actually starts because while there was a lot of growing tension in the background, now we have an actual main focus that everything can revolve around. The general racism and distress of beastfolk was interesting, but because Tsunagu is such a well-behaved character, it’s hard to feel like the show is legitimately building up to anything and the romance primarily focused on the passionate side of things. Now that these two are confessing their love for each other, they’re going to have an internal struggle moving forward. Now the physical passion they have for each other is going to conflict with their self-aware rationale. I know that they are going to screw up at some point and get found out. The question is what kind of consequences are they going to have to deal with and how exactly are they going to deal with?

**Rating: **

Bolts also streams regularly on Twitch as an indie Vtuber called Bolts The Mechanic where they talk about and play retro media!

• With You, Our Love Will Make it Through is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. *