My Clueless First Friend

Episode 10

Recovery can make us all do weird things. When my mother was recovering from her brain injury, she developed a temporary vendetta against chipmunks (“It's unsettling how much they can stuff in their cheeks”). Nishimura being able to ask Takada to stay with her while she's in the throes of a high fever because she's lonely maybe isn't as strange, but it's every bit as much out of character for her – she's learned not to admit to her emotions in front of others, so making that request and admission in front of not only Takada but also Adachi and Hino is huge. It's a rare moment of vulnerability for her, and even if it was made while she was burning with fever, it's important because it shows her growing comfort with and dependence on her best friend.

Being able to admit to something is in the air in this episode for Kasahara, too. Her recovery from being a mean girl is continuing, and I really like that it's not a case of instant reformation for her. She realized in episode nine that she was behaving badly and hurting herself with her words and actions, and that's still true here. When she hears two of her friends making fun of Nishimura's white coat, she hangs her head and keeps to herself, not joining in on the cruelty. She's not ready to tell them off yet – her murmured comment about how she thinks they're the lame ones, not Nishimura, isn't said loudly enough for them to hear. But that she thinks it and goes the further step of saying it out loud indicates that she's beginning to gear up for real change. Every time Nishimura is nice to her or compliments her, Kasahara visibly struggles with her feelings. She's been mean and behaved badly for long enough that the understanding of what she was doing is something she can't just brush aside. It shouldn't be, honestly; having been in Nishimura's position, I can tell you that words and actions like Kasahara's cause an injury that never goes away, although it sometimes does fade. But the most important thing here is that Kasahara is gearing up for change. Even if we don't see it, knowing she's started that journey is crucial.

That goes double since Kitamura doesn't seem to be anywhere near figuring out that he's being a bully and a jerk. He's also Takada's unwitting wingman a lot, giving him opportunities to turn the cruel words around and lavish Nishimura with praise, but that only partially helps. It has, however, become apparent that Takada knows what Kitamura and his cronies are doing to Nishimura. When he walks in on his sister saying that she just can't help teasing Nishimura, he freaks out, raising his voice and telling Yukiko that she's not allowed to be mean to his friend. The genuine concern and agitation in his voice and body language indicate that he's aware that people aren't nice to Nishimura, and while he clearly believes in her inherent awesomeness, he's also perhaps actively turning their words around to help her. Does this all trace back to the moment he broke down in tears after learning her mother died? Maybe. But what's more important is that he's not as clueless as he was at first (or at least appeared at first), showing that he, like Kasahara and Nishimura, is growing more aware.

Although this is another piecemeal episode, with lots of short, tangentially related segments, it still manages to stick not just the landing, but all the little moments leading up to it. Nishimura's nervous excitement about having friends over, her dad's quiet help, two adorable scenes of Nishimura and Takada holding hands (one following the best eyepatch scene ever), and even Hino's weird tank top dream all come together to show us why My Clueless First Friend is a show that not only understands its subject matter, it loves its characters, too.

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My Clueless First Friend is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.