Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Review of Yasashii Jikan 優しい時間 Episode 5

Ep 5: Kioku

Takuro tells Azusa about the accident which caused his mother, Megumi's death. That night, Takuro was driving the car while having a heated argument Megumi. He made a wrong turn and caused the car to crash thus killing his mother on the spot. Azusa is very affected by Takuro's words that he can understand why Master cannot talk to him because his beloved wife was killed by his own son.

At the same time, Master is worried about Azusa who has not returned home after she ran out of Mori no Tokei. Tomoko comes to him and she talks about her lending of 3 million yen to Otonari and not expecting it back from him in the first place. Master thus wonders if he had done the right thing when rejecting Otonari's request for a loan which could have helped him and prevented his suicide. Azusa's elder sister, Riri then calls Master to let him know that Azusa has returned home but Azusa is still in a daze over Takuro's revelation of his relationship with Master.

Azusa goes to Kita Tokei to look for Tomoko and asks about Takuro and Master's relationship. Tomoko realizes that Azusa is the person who had been seeing Takuro and she's shocked that Takuro told her about this matter. Azusa finds it hard to understand why Master has not forgiven Takuro after all these years. Tomoko explains that Megumi had kept everything to herself thus Master did not know about Takuro going astray until he returned home for the funeral. As he trusted Megumi and Takuro enough to immerse himself fully in work, he felt that he was being betrayed and felt very shocked when Takuro had joined the gangs and caused Megumi's death as a result.

Takuro calls Azusa and tells her to go back to Mori no Tokei and try to understand what his father had told her. Azusa asks why Takuro can be so nice and understanding to his father when he has refused to see him but Takuro cannot answer her.

After the funeral, Otonari's wife comes to Mori no Tokei and returns the koden (donation) to Master because the amount is apparently quite significant. Megumi asks Master if he had made such a big donation because he was feeling guilty for not lending Otonari money in the first place but he does not answer. Master laments that he could have been too harsh on Azusa and has even contemplated apologising to her. At the same time, Azusa returns to Mori no Tokei and helps to clear the snow from the path as an apology for her outburst.

Well, there aren't major developments in this episode other than knowing the circumstances of the accident involving Megumi and Takuro, Master wondering if he had made the correct decision in not lending money to Otonari, Azusa and Master bridging their differences.

First of all, if the accident really happened under the situation shown in this episode, I don't think Takuro is fully to blame for it. How can Megumi keep "disturbing" Takuro while he was driving even though they were supposed to be in an argument? In that situation, it is a wonder if Takuro can concentrate on driving while trying to keep Megumi's hands off him and quarelling with her at the same time. OK, I admit that it was reckless or rather careless driving on Takuro's part but I'm sure he would be in anguish all his life because of this incident.

About the decision to lend Otonari money, well, if Master knew that Otonari would resort to suicide because of the failed business, he would most probably have lent the money to him. The thing is, nobody can anticipate the fact that Otonari would commit suicide. Just as what the regulars at Mori no Tokei mentioned, if they had known earlier, they would have lent him whatever little money they had, be it 10,000 yen or 100,000 yen. Most of the people Otonari turned to did not have spare cash to lend him in the first place so it's a matter of circumstances that prevented them from helping. In the case of Master, he did have the means but his intention in not lending money is also valid. It's really hard to judge whether he made a wrong decision in this case.

As for Azusa and Master, she's always been very sensitive to other people's words even though they may not mean anything bad. In my opinion, Master was trying to explain things to her but she understood it as an accusation of her being a thief even when she topped up the shortfall when the takings don't tally. I guess because of what Takuro told her, Azusa seems to see that she should take the first move in apologizing but she is really irritating the hell out of me when I saw in the next episode's trailer that she actually brings Master to Bie to see Takuro but the latter gives them the slip as he is not ready to meet his father. Azusa could help them reconcile or create more trouble in this bimyou situation.

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