TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You

Episode 6

At one point this episode, Nasa laments about not being able to sleep on a bus. I can totally sympathize; I am usually not able to sleep well (or at all) on buses, trains, or planes myself. Also, Tsukasa's notion about getting a hamburger from a vending machine at a rest stop is not at all unrealistic; I have personally seen vending machines with hot dogs and French fries at such places in Japan.

All of that comes about because of the one significant event in what is otherwise a very low-key, very slice-of-life episode: Nasa finally telling his parents that he's married. Remarkably, this only comes up because Nasa is entertaining the notion of getting a bigger place that can accommodate a two-person bed, and since he is under the age of majority in Japan (i.e., 20), he still needs a co-signer. That's a sign of how distanced he has become from his parents – both figuratively and literally, since they live in Nara Prefecture (i.e., near Osaka). That doesn't mean that his mother doesn't still know him well, however, as she is quickly wise to his reasons. I do not blame her for insisting on a meeting. The possible bug in this plan is that Chitose is not happy about this and is following along to potentially interfere, though her maids seem more inclined to just let it go.

That's it for the plot. The rest of the episode is just a lot of Nasa and Tsukasa cutely getting embarrassed over each other's quirks and learning to get comfortable with one another, while Nasa ruminates over one issue or another concerning his relationship with Tsukasa. It starts off with jokes about sleep habits, moves on to jokes about the methods Nasa uses to convince Tsukasa that a new place is warranted, progresses through Kazuma tossing her advice in, and then winds up with jokes about the travel experience. Along the way a whole series of humorous moments involve the acquisition of a digital camera. Tsukasa has an interesting reason for it – she wants to take one picture per day as a sort of diary of where they've been and what they've done – while Nasa's habit of obsessing over things results in him endlessly taking pictures of Tsukasa. It's all pretty funny, even more so because a lot of this is similar to stuff that couples I know have done. Really, the series could keep doing stuff like that for the rest of its run and I would not mind much.

However, I suspect that this trip could set in motion some genuine plot developments. The Next Episode preview shows that Chitose will not stay in the background for long, as she is fully intent on disrupting this “honeymoon.” Also, as sweet a notion as Tsukasa's reasons for the camera are, I cannot help but feel that they also imply a deeper meaning: something that she can treasure when she can no longer be with Nasa.

One reference in the episode requires some explanation this time: “Narita divorce” refers to married couples who get divorced shortly after they come back from their honeymoons, as a result of discovering on the trip that they were not as compatible as they thought. (The “Narita” part refers to Narita airport, where they would be coming in if returning to Tokyo from an overseas trip.) That is clearly not going to happen to Nasa and Tsukasa, as they get along too well, so Chitose is doing some wishful thinking here.

The technical merits still fail to impress, but the series is hitting comfortably enough on its humor notes that they do not matter at this point.

Rating:

TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.