On the day of the middle school reunion, Tomoe shows Sakuta a concerning #dreaming post that claims an incident will soon occur at their high school. Sakuta is unconcerned however as he’s actually the one who wrote the post. Knowing that Ikumi will believe just about anything in the hashtag, Sakuta once again fabricates a lie to lure her out. As for why Sakuta chooses to make Ikumi meet up with him at Minegahara, the choice is actually deliberate on his part. It denotes that he’s finally figured out what’s going on with Ikumi.
So as it turns out, the Ikumi we’ve been following since the start of Santa Claus isn’t actually the Ikumi from Sakuta’s reality. Rather, she’s the one Sakuta briefly met at the alternate reality we saw in Knapsack Kid. This one attended Minegahara alongside Sakuta, hence Sakuta choosing to meet up with her there. Apparently, Ikumi envied her reality’s Sakuta for being able to overcome his adversity and save Kaede from getting bullied. Feeling inadequate by comparison, Ikumi failed her university entrance exams and she began living an empty life. At some point, Puberty Syndrome kicked in and she traded places with the Ikumi in the main reality. Feeling better about being a world with a “worse” Sakuta, Ikumi decides to take advantage of the opportunity to start anew and finally become the selfless hero she always wanted to be.
In truth, the “poltergeist” is actually a sensation triggered by trading places with her alternate self and the writings on her body is how both versions of the character communicate with one another. While Sakuta has a role in how Ikumi developed Puberty Syndrome, he actually has no direct role in how it works for her. The part about needing to forget Sakuta or Sakuta to remember something important is actually something Ikumi made up. Ikumi claims she held the contest in the hopes that she could finally beat Sakuta at something for a change but as Sakuta notes, Ikumi was subconsciously hoping that he’d win in the end. Deep down, she knows she’s living a lie and that she’s cheating her way out of her predicament. She really wants someone to finally call her out on it and there’s no one more fitting for the job than Sakuta.
I quite like the twist that Ikumi’s arc has predominantly featured the alternate reality’s version this whole time. It was strange how this character was first introduced via the alternate reality during Knapsack Kid. In hindsight, that could only have been justified by having that version, and not the one we’re “supposed” to have, take the spotlight later down the line. I suppose the twist does make the arc harder to follow for a bit but I’m willing to give it a pass since Ikumi’s character has been so interesting these past couple of episodes. The crazy logistics aside, it’s been really cool learning about Ikumi’s connection to Sakuta and how the latter has inadvertently affected the former. I also dig how this arc sort of expands upon the effects of being in an alternate reality. In Knapsack Kid, Sakuta decided pretty quickly that he doesn’t want to live a life there. That was perfectly fine for Sakuta to do but I am glad that we now have a character who actually took advantage of such an opportunity and grappled over that decision.
Having finally been caught in the act, Ikumi decides that it’s time that she returns back to her reality. Before she leaves however, she shows Sakuta a message written on her leg by the main reality’s Ikumi, urging Sakuta to come to the middle school reunion. There’s a brief yet peculiar moment where Mai the Knapsack Kid shows up once Ikumi goes back to her reality but she quickly disappears after that and there’s no time for Sakuta to investigate the matter anyway. I really do wonder what the deal is with this character, though. I thought maybe she’s just some sort of vision but it’s probably more likely that she is a variant of Mai who has Puberty Syndrome that somehow lets her move about in the multiverse.
Sakuta rushes over to the middle school reunion and he figures out that Ikumi (the one we’re supposed to have) is invisible, due to Puberty Syndrome. Much like with Mai during Bunny Girl Senpai, Sakuta is able to make Ikumi visible again by calling out to her. This is deliberate on Ikumi’s part. By suddenly appearing in front of everyone, Ikumi now has proof that Puberty Syndrome is real and she uses this to reprimand everyone for not believing Sakuta about the phenomenon and treating him poorly during their last year of middle school. How hilarious then that Sakuta completely undermines this gesture by telling everyone that it’s just a prank and bragging about how he’s dating one of the most popular celebrities in the country like he said he would.
I joke but I do understand why Sakuta doesn’t simply make peace with everyone and instead let them continue to hate him. For one, Sakuta probably feels he can’t forgive them, not because of he still holds a grudge but rather, he just doesn’t have one anymore. As he explained a couple episodes ago, it’s been around four years since all that drama happened. Since then, he’s found an incredibly supportive girlfriend and his own circle of friends. He’s already moved on. Another hunch is that in true Sakuta fashion, he simply can’t be bothered to deal with these people anymore. Not meeting them ever again worked perfectly fine so why change that now? Plus, we see these people try to make up excuses when Ikumi admonishes them, acting like they’re actually the victims or argue that they shouldn’t feel bad when it’s too late to do so now. It’s hard to tell if they truly regret how they treated Sakuta and Sakuta isn’t in the mood to find out. The only exception Sakuta is willing to make is Ikumi, as it’s clear that Ikumi really did reflect on the past and came to the right takeaway.
Speaking of which, I appreciate that we still get to learn this particular Ikumi’s turmoil at the last minute. I really dig what this arc did with the alternate Ikumi but there’s no denying that the tradeoff is that we only got to know about main reality Ikumi indirectly. The show absolutely needed to rectify this by giving her the spotlight once she returns. The writing in this scene certainly doesn’t disappoint. What’s great about this scene is learning how this Ikumi’s struggle compares and contrasts with the alternate version’s. Seeing Sakuta move on from the past while she hasn’t made any progress in that department causes Ikumi to reach the same feelings of inadequacy and the desire to live a different life. Even though she’s stuck living the life of a college reject, she finds comfort in living in a world where all the middle school drama was much more short-lived and like her alternate self, decides to take the opportunity to start things anew. The details are different but this Ikumi shares the same introspection and self-loathing we see in the alternate one, making her feel familiar even when this scene is the first time she’s actually in the show.
The following day, Sakuta admits about his bragging to Mai and apologizes for it, which is somehow fitting of both his rascal image and his true personality. I half-expected Mai to bonk him as per usual and while that kind of feels like a missed opportunity for a joke, it’s rather charming that Mai sees a silver lining that Sakuta sees her as a girlfriend he can gloat about. The cuteness of the moment is cut short however when Ikumi pays the couple a visit and delivers a message left by the other reality’s Ikumi and Sakuta, warning our Sakuta that Mai is in danger and he needs to find Touko. Obviously, it’s hard for me to tell right now how Mai and Touko are even connected but I’m also not too surprised to find out that might be one. There remains a shroud of mystery around Touko, as well as the Knapsack Kid version of Mai, and the show simply is due to put Mai back at the forefront again.
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