Tada Never Falls in Love

Episode 12

What's this? A well-constructed episode of Tada Never Falls in Love? With just one week, I'm glad that this series has become the best of itself, even if it's way too late to save this romcom from being overall humdrum.

The episode focuses almost entirely on Tada's first few days in Larsenburg. He's unexpectedly joined by Kaoru, who tagged along in order to keep an eye on him. Kaoru also makes for great comic relief against the backdrop of Tada and Teresa's romantic drama. Befitting his vanity, Kaoru can't stop collecting posters and photos wherever he goes, especially selfies. With the episode focused so tightly, these little asides are welcome distractions, rather than taking the viewer out of the narrative. We also get some gorgeous landscapes, if not quite so many as I expected for our first visit to this mountainous monarchy.

Basically, Tada arrives and makes his way through the various attractions of Larsenburg, with Kaoru not far behind. While Kaoru takes more time to smell the roses—which is how he learns about Teresa's royal lineage (at a gift shop!)—Tada is a man on a mission, heading straight to the palace. He has something to deliver, after all (more on that in a bit). This inevitably puts him in Teresa's path, while she's preparing for her upcoming wedding and coronation. We get to see everyone from the Larsenburg gang again, like Alec and Charles. When Teresa gets some time alone with Tada, she reveals everything to him: why she left, who she is, and what's expected of her. When he finds out that she's engaged to someone else, of course Tada is devastated. He does what every stupid TV love interest does and storms off without hearing more, even as a mysterious message awaits him that could change everything.

Tada Never Falls in Love set up a heart-wrenching finale perfectly with this cliffhanger, but it also worked through all the other necessary plot beats to get us there. This is one of the few episodes where it felt like the script treated the characters as people with realistic emotions and not just a pile of archetypes. It made me really feel for our protagonists. Tada's so shaken by Teresa's confession at the end, he's even crying! It makes you want to reach through the screen and hug him, as does Teresa's listlessness near the end.

There's also a compelling hook to keep fans guessing beyond the romantic cliffhanger. This episode finally returns us to the mystery of Reiko "Rachel" Ryuzaki. Rachel was a friend of Tada's grandfather Shozo, who also happened to be familiar with Teresa and the royal family. Teresa first mentioned her a few episodes ago, while we also saw Alec jumpstart Shozo's memories. This time, we learn that Rachel worked in Shozo's café during her college years, but not much more than that. She has an important envelope for Tada though, and she manages to shove it into his backpack right as he's leaving in distress after Teresa's big reveal. It's got to have something that will lead our hero and heroine back into each other's arms, but I have no idea what. Will Tada have some distant Larsenburgian ancestry? Or conversely, is this the info proving that Teresa and Charles are too closely related to wed, seemingly hinted at several episodes ago?

That leads into the B-plot of this episode, which is the question of Alec's love life. Alec was given several potential love interests throughout this series, but this episode definitely reveals who really has her heart—Charles! That could throw another wrench into Teresa's wedding plans, if she decides to sacrifice her beau to her friend who loves him more. At the same time, it can't be a coincidence that Kaoru, the club member with whom Alec had the most romantic chemistry, accompanied Tada to Larsenburg. He's also just Tada's closest friend, but it seems too convenient for there not to be a resolution to this love triangle as well. Suddenly, Alec is being treated more like an important part of this story and not just a mother-hen to Teresa. At the same time, it seems a little strange that we're getting a resolution to this romantic subplot when the one between Hinako and Hajime is still dead in the water. (The club members stuck in Japan only get one scene this week.) Even if I care more about this set of characters, it still feels like a glaring omission.

On its own, episode 12 of Tada Never Falls in Love is maybe the series' strongest episode so far. It's firing on all cylinders plot-wise, and makes you feel for these characters in a way this show rarely accomplished. Even the aesthetics were a step up, like the way the show uses its elegant soundtrack. Overall, it is a poignant reminder of the show that Tada Never Falls in Love could have been. If the finale can keep up the promise of this penultimate installment, at least Tada Never Falls in Love will leave us on a happy note.

Rating: A-

Tada Never Falls in Love is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

Rose is a Ph.D. student in musicology, who recently released a book about the music of Cowboy Bebop. You can also follow her on her Twitter.