The Dangers in My Heart Season 2

Episode 24

Oh boy, we're approaching the end and I legitimately don't know what I'm gonna do with myself. This week's episode is primarily set up for the big season finale and everything seems relatively mundane at first. It's time for the school trip—which means plenty of potential for a lot of classic romantic comedy hijinx!

However, I like that this episode seems to be very self-aware about those tropes and kind of turns them on their head—particularly the one where the two leads kiss while out together on said school trip. The trope itself is highlighted over and over using a fictional manga within the anime—but that very same manga ends up being the catalyst for the emotional conflict of the show's finale. Kyotaro is reading that manga and subconsciously forming expectations—feeling that this is the ideal time for romantic developments between him and Anna. He's legitimately using the trope to get excited—which is also indicative of his character growth since when the show first started, he would never go out of his way for something that wasn't a sure thing. This episode even brings up the fact that he skipped his last school trip because of his avoidance tendencies.

Anna, on the other hand, sees that same manga and those tropes as a source of anxiety. It's one of her favorite manga and she has the opportunity to star in a project based off of it. The date of the audition and the date of the school trip overlap but because she doesn't want to miss out on the character growth that Kyotaro has gone through, she's putting her dream on hold for the sake of being there with him—potentially so that she too could fulfill the same school trip clichés. There are so many layers of irony going on here but they don't feel like they're here for the sake of being cheeky. This setup and these decisions are all indicative of the character growth that everyone has gone through. Kyotaro is trying to be more carefree and optimistic while Anna is trying to be more serious and hard-working.

This isn't even getting into all of the other outside forces putting pressure on our two leads. They can't even have a conversation about the situation because, if overheard, they might be peer pressured into giving into those tropes by their classmates—who are looking to play cupid while on the school trip. It's another layer of irony that the one time Anna and Kyotaro have a moment to talk quietly to each other is when Kyotaro gets dragged into the girl's room and is forced to indulge in another romantic comedy cliché. I wasn't expecting this episode to be this meta, especially this late in the season, but it's clear we're setting up a major emotional revelation for the end. If the show can stick the landing, then we could be left with something truly special here. Fingers crossed!

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The Dangers in My Heart is currently streaming on HIDIVE.