【海外の反応】氷の城壁 第2期5話（第19話）、「他人の錠前を開ける鍵は持ってるのに、自分の錠前を開ける鍵だけは持ってないんだ」

彼女は何も悪くない。

She did nothing wrong.

ずっとそう言ってるんだよな。

>>1

I've been telling this all the time.

何もかも間違ってたんだよ。また、メインじゃない女の子が振られる、あの厳しい時代に入るわけだ。桃香は、つらい現実を思い知ることになりそうだな。

>>1

She did everything wrong, we're once again entering that brutal era of sidegirls being rejected and Momoka is in for a rude awakening.

あの4人を返してくれ。

I need them back

秘密が明かされたな。

The secret is unlocked.

もうカップルみたいな服装になってるって指摘してる人がいた。
>おしゃれなアースカラーのリネン
>シンプルなモノトーンのコットン

>>5

Saw someone point out they're already dressing like couples
>stylish earthy linen
>simple monochrome cotton

小雪は、自分が泥棒猫だって認めてないだけだ。

>>6

Koyuki is a doroboneko in denial.

マヨたま。

[spoiler]Mayonegg[/spoiler].

なんで美姫は、銃を隠し持つ用のバッグなんか着けてるんだ？

Why is Miki wearing a concealed carry bag?

なんで二人、同じピアスしてるんだよ。百合じゃん。

>>9

Why are they wearing the same earrings? That's gay.

百合なんだよ。

>>10

Theyʼre gay.

うおおおおおおお！！！

Uohhhhhhhhh! !! !!

泣く。

ToT

女の子は優しい男の子が好きなんだよ。

Girls love nice boys.

見てくれ、かわいそうで純真な女の子……だよな？

Look at her: a poor innocent girl… Amirite?

純真。

>>15

Pure.

健全な天使だ。

>>15 >>16

Wholesome angel

理想的な二人だ。

An ideal pair.

阿賀沢先生、女子の最高機密を漏らしまくってるぞ。

Damn Agasawa is leaking highly classified female secrets

この作品、なんか身につまされるんだよな。

show so relatable in a way

そろそろ別れるぞ。チクタク、桃香。

Breakup soon, tick tock Momoka.

>自分じゃなくて、どこの誰だよって奴が小雪を助けた
草
さすが
大
親友
ですね

>a literal who managed to help koyun instead of her
kek
what
a
bestfriend

最後の3分の1って、あの泥棒猫に同情させるためのものだったのか？

Was the last third of the episode supposed to make us sympathetic towards the doroboneko?

なんで小雪に同情しなきゃいけないんだ？

>>23

Why should I sympathetic toward Koyuki?

自分が美姫にこんな気持ちを抱かせてるって、陽太が知ってたらな。

If only Yota knew he inspires this feeling in Miki

今回は演出がいつもより少しよかったと思う。同じ出来事や同じ時間を、違う視点で切り替えて見せるのがすごく効いてた。なんだろう、どうしても一言言いたくなった。大きな事件が起きたわけでもないのに、今までで一番好きな回かもしれない。

I feel like the direction was a little better than average this episode. The cutting between different perspectives on the same event/period of time worked really well. I don't know, I just felt like I had to mention it. It was maybe my favourite episode so far even if nothing major happened.

小雪の座り方がかわいい。

Koyun's cute way of sitting

>彼が好きなのは……熱のせいで、好意と勘違いしたのかもしれない

>I like him because.. I may have confused my affection to him with my fever

>何もしない
>勝つ

>do nothing
>win

>で、どうするつもり？

>>29

>what'chu gonna do about it?

このアニメを俺たちが語るみたいに、親世代も『スリーズ・カンパニー』や『となりのサインフェルド』みたいな、すれ違いで回るアメリカのドラマをあれこれ語ってたのかな。

you think our relatives talked about misunderstanding based american shows like three's company and seinfeld the same way we talk about this anime

ソープオペラ（昼ドラ）ってジャンル自体、1950年代からずっと続いてるんだぞ。こういうのを糧にして生きてるジャンルだ。

>>31

The entire soap opera genre has been going on since the 1950s. It thrives on this s**t.

曲がマジで大好き。このアーティストたちを選んでくれて本当によかった。どのアニメにも印象に残るOPとEDがあるわけじゃないから。

I love the songs so freaking much. Im so glad these artists were chosen because not every anime has a memorable op and ed

原作で2番目に好きなエピソードが、ついにアニメになった！！湊の過去と心の内を描く回で、ずっと待ってたんだ。アニメ勢にはすごく誤解されてるけど、最近の男性主人公の中でも特にお気に入りの一人なんだよ。

Finally my second favourite manga chapters are now animated !! The episode covers Minato's backstory and psyche which I was waiting for so long , he is misunderstood by so many anime watchers yet he's one of my favourite ml of recent times.

誰も兄みたいにならないようにって、ずっと「ヒーロー」を演じて人を助けてきたせいで、いざというときに自分自身を助けられない。
その悲劇的な皮肉は、ほとんどシェイクスピアだよ。

Spent so long trying to play the "hero" and help others so they don't end up like his brother that he ultimately can't help himself when it counts.
It's almost Shakespearian in it's tragic irony.

他人の錠前を開ける鍵は持ってるのに、自分の錠前を開ける鍵だけは持ってないんだ💔

He has the keys to open other's locks but doesn't have the one to unlock his own 💔

アニメ勢だけど、自分はずっと湊のことが分かってた（トラウマや、人に合わせすぎることについては少し知ってるから）。だから湊が叩かれてるのを見て、すごく悲しかった。

As an anime watcher I always understood him (i know something about trauma and people pleasing), and I was so upset to see people hating on him

このアニメも原作も本当に大好き。ほかの高校の恋愛漫画が避けがちなテーマを、ちゃんと描いてくれる。

I so love this anime and manga. It truly depicts some topics that many other high school romance mangas seem to avoid.

それにキャラがみんな愛おしい。服のセンスがとんでもなくいいのは言うまでもないｗ

Also the characters are precious, not to mention the mad drip lol

湊って、要するに桃香のレンタル彼氏だよなｗ
演じてる役としてはそれらしく振る舞ってるけど、心はそこにない……

Minato basically is Momoka's rent-a-boyfriend. lol
Performative for the role he is playing but his heart is not truly in it...

桃香、彼を離さないために何か城壁でも建てたらどうだ。

Momoka, you should build some kind of rampart to keep him.

恋慕の城壁。

The Ramparts of Longing

彼氏の友達を締め出すために城を建ててみた件！

That time I built a castle to keep my boyfriend's friend out!

欲しいものを手に入れたいなら、自分の欠点を乗り越えるしかない状況に、キャラたちが置かれてるのがいい。それに、どのキャラも自分の物語の主人公に感じる……本当にいい作品だ。

I like that the characters have been placed into situations where they HAVE to evolve past their flaws if they want to get what they want. Also, every character feels like the main character of their own story... such a good show.

「お菓子の箱におまけが付いてるだろ？欲しくないのが3回連続で出たことある？」
桃香の場合、お菓子は山ほどもらえたのに、おまけは外ればっかりだった。だから本当に欲しいものを見つけたら、ほかを全部捨ててそれを取りに行くのも当然なんだよな。

"You know how they package a little treat with a box of candies? You ever get the one you didn't want three times in a row?"
In Momoka's case, she got so many candies, yet so many s**t treats. It's only natural for her to ditch everything and go for the one she really wants once she finds it.

「月子と話したの。
自分から動いてみるとか、どうするか一緒に考えてくれた」
「おっ？」
「自分に何ができるかも考えてみた」
「おおっ？」
「それで決めたの……」
「おおおっ？？？」
「何もしないことにした」
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
みんな、今期は最後までこのまま苦しむことになりそうだぞ！orz

I had a chat with Tsukiko about it.
She helped me think through my options, like possibly making aove myself
"Oh?"
I also had a think about what I could do about it
"Yeah??"
And I decided...
"Yeah?????"
I'm not going to do anything
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Guess we are suffering through the rest of the season folks! ORZ

オーケー、桃香のことは分かった。でもやっぱり、小雪への接し方は大嫌いだ。

OK I get Momoka now, but man I still hate how she treats Koyun

桃香の最後の台詞、ちょっと心配になった。あの言葉から、ヤンデレの気配がするんだよな。
正直、いつか桃香が湊に、小雪と縁を切ってって直接言うんじゃないかと思ってる。そのとき湊はどうするんだろう。湊がそれに従うとは思えない。そんなことをしたら仲良しグループが壊れてしまう。

That last line from Momoka got me a little worried. Like, I smell a hint of yandere in those words.
Honestly, I do wonder if Momoka will directly tell Minato to cut ties with Koyuki at some point. What will he do? Because I cannot imagine that Minato would follow through with this. It would destroy their friend group.

湊は、ノーと言うことを覚えなきゃいけない状況に追い込まれて、それで自分が悪い人間になるわけじゃないと気づくのがいいと思う。

I feel like it would be good for Minato to be pushed in a way where he has to learn to say no and realise that doesn't make him bad.

湊は何も悪くない、第19話。
「キャラが観客に向かって自分の事情を独白する」タイプの場面はあまり好きじゃないけど、今回は意味があった気がするから許す。

Episode 19 of Minato doing nothing wrong.
Not really a fan of "character monologue'ing their deal to the audience" type scenes, but they did add something i guess, so i'll allow it.

また別の女の子に気を持たせるのが、何も悪くないって？

Leading yet another girl on is doing nothing wrong?

相手の女の子は分かったうえで湊を操ってるんだよ。湊は付き合いに精いっぱい向き合ってる。湊に問題があることも、彼女は分かってる。だから今の時点では、桃香のほうに非があると思う。

The girl knows and manipulated him. He is trying his best on the relationship. She knows he has problems. So i'd say momoka is more at fault in this moment

今回は、第1期でカットされた湊の家族の過去を戻してきたね。
第2期で、湊が物語上の「どん底」にいるタイミングに入れたのは正解だったと思う。視聴者の記憶に新しいうちに、どうして湊がああいう考え方をするのか共感できるから。
スタジオが湊のキャラを潰してるって早とちりしてた人もいたけど。まあ、ベストとは言えないカットをすることはあるにしてもｗ

This episode added back the cut from S1 with Minato's background with his family.
I think it was a better call to have that in S2 to be more fresh in people's minds when his character is at his narrative "low point" in S2 where they can empathize for why his thought process is the way that it is.
Some people jumped the gun to say the studio was assassinating his character, even if they can make some less than optimal cuts. lol

みんなが文句言ってたカット部分、ついにやってくれたの？やった！

So they finally showed the cut parts that ppl were complaining about? Yay

「友達として好きでもいいし、恋愛として好きでもいい。どっちかを選ぶために、もう片方を犠牲にしなくてもいい」ってところ、結構好きだった。美姫も、自分と陽太のことで何か気づいたみたいだね……

“I can like someone as a friend, and I can like them romantically. Choosing one doesn’t have to be at the expense of the other.” I kinda liked that part. Looks like it’s helped Miki make a realization about her and Yota…

桃香は自分の気持ちを湊に押しつけてて、湊は人に合わせるのが染みついてるから、自分の気持ちを押し殺して彼女のためにできることを全部やってる。
湊「君が望むことを俺も望むよ。君はどうしたい？」
桃香「あなたに私を望んでほしいの……自分の意志で」
よくある悲劇だし、人生ではたぶん避けようがないやつだ。

She’s pushing her feelings onto him and he’s conditioned himself to be a people pleaser so he’s doing whatever he can for her while suppressing his own feelings.
Minato: "I want what you want. What do you want?"
Momoka: "I want you to want me... of your own accord."
A classic disaster, one that's probably impossible to avoid in life.

桃香が無理やりキスして、そこに情熱がまったく無かったらと思うと……。

Imagine she forces a kiss on him and there's utterly no passion behind it.

>「友達として好きでもいいし、恋愛として好きでもいい。どっちかを選ぶために、もう片方を犠牲にしなくてもいい」ってところ、結構好きだった。美姫も、自分と陽太のことで何か気づいたみたいだね……
やっと、友情と同じくらい恋愛としても陽太を大事にしていいって気づいたんだな。ずいぶんかかったなｗ

“I can like someone as a friend, and I can like them romantically. Choosing one doesn’t have to be at the expense of the other.” I kinda liked that part. Looks like it’s helped Miki make a realization about her and Yota…
Finally realizing that she can value him romantically as much as she does their friendship. Took her long enough lol.

小雪がどうするのかも気になる。「絶対に何もしない」と決めたのは、たぶん正しい選択なんだろう。人の恋路を壊す奴なんて誰も好きじゃないし。でも、消極的だったせいで当然の報いを受けたのに、今度は同じ消極性で報われたらがっかりだな。横で湊と桃香が自滅するのを待ってるだけじゃなくて、自分の欲しいものを手に入れるために少しは努力してほしい。

I'm also curious about what Koyun is going to do. She's resolved to do "absolutely nothing" which I guess is the right move. No one likes a homewrecker, but after her passivity got rightfully punished I'd be disappointed if she gets rewarded for that same passivity. I want her to do more than just sit on the side waiting for Minato x Momoka to implode. I want her put some effort into getting what she wants.

それに、湊のことももっと見られたね。小さい湊がお兄さんに別れを告げるところは、見ていてつらかった。救世主コンプレックスでも何でも好きに呼べばいいけど、自分に見えるのは、ほかの子が暗いところに取り残されるのを放っておけない、いい子なんだよ。見た目がいいのも、ある意味マイナスなのかもな。まだ受け止める準備ができてない好意を、たくさん引き寄せてしまうから。

And we got more of Minato too. It hurt seeing young Minato saying goodbye to his big brother. You can call it savior complex or whatever, but all I see is a good kid not wanting other kids to get left in the dark. I guess his good looks in a way is a negative cos it invited all these interests that he’s not equipped for.

>それに、湊のことももっと見られたね。小さい湊がお兄さんに別れを告げるところは、見ていてつらかった。救世主コンプレックスでも何でも好きに呼べばいいけど、自分に見えるのは、ほかの子が暗いところに取り残されるのを放っておけない、いい子なんだよ。見た目がいいのも、ある意味マイナスなのかもな。まだ受け止める準備ができてない好意を、たくさん引き寄せてしまうから。
家族の中で、ちゃんと海斗を見送ったのは文字どおり湊だけだったんだよな。

And we got more of Minato too. It hurt seeing young Minato saying goodbye to his big brother. You can call it savior complex or whatever, but all I see is a good kid not wanting other kids to get left in the dark. I guess his good looks in a way is a negative cos it invited all these interests that he’s not equipped for.
Minato was literally the only member of the family who actually saw Kaito off.

湊は人に合わせて喜ばせるように育てられたんだな。お兄さんの「女の子にモテるぞ」が本当に実現してるのはちょっと笑える。
かわいそうに、自分が何者なのか分からないまま、今もまだ分かってない。何をしたくて、何をしたくないのか。他人に引っ張られるままに進んでる。

Minato was raised to be a people pleaser and it’s funny that his brother telling him he’d be good w ladies actually manifested.
poor guy can’t figure out who he is and still hasn’t. What he wants what he doesn’t want. He lets other people guide him along.

桃香は本気で湊の彼女になりたかったし、湊の支えになりたかったんだよね。やり方は完全に間違ってるけど、どうしてああなったのかを見せてくれたのはよかった。湊も同じで、慢性的に人に合わせすぎるのは、実は心の健康にとって危険なんだよ。湊がいつもはみ出し者や独りぼっちの人のそばにいたのは、お兄さん自身がはみ出し者で、誰も味方してくれなかったからなんだ。

Momoka genuinely wanted to be Minatos gf and wanted to be there for him. Even though her methods are completely wrong, I'm glad they showed insight on how she came to be this way. Same goes for Minato, his chronic people pleasing is actually dangerous for his mental health. The reason why Minato was always there for the outcasts and the lonely ones was because his brother was an outcast himself and no one was on his side.

中学時代のせいで、小雪は自分の殻に閉じこもって、消極的すぎるくらいになった。
中学時代のせいで、桃香は本物で意味のある何かを求めるようになった。たとえ絶対に手に入らないものでも、全力で追いかけるくらいに。

Middle school made Koyun retreat into herself to the point where she was passive to a fault.
Middle school made Momoka long for something real and meaningful that she would chase with all her heart even if it was for something she could never really obtain.

二人の関係には、もう問題が見えてたよね。湊は桃香にひたすら優しいし、本気でいい彼氏になろうとしてた。でも関係を続けるには、優しさだけじゃ足りない。湊は一度も桃香に心を開いてない。それは付き合ううえで欠かせないものなのに。
>「絶対に離さないって誓う」
これからヤンデレ桃香を見ることになるんだろ？

We could already see a problem with their relationship. While Minato’s nothing but kind towards her and genuinely tried to be a great boyfriend, it takes more than being kind to maintain it. He had never opened his heart to her, and that’s an essential element for a relationship.
I’ll swear I’ll never let you go.
We’re about to see yander Momoka, won’t we?

誰もが自分の物語のヒーロー（あるいはヒロイン）なんだよ。
桃香は女友達を大事にするタイプじゃないし、計算高い。でも結局は、ほとんどの人と同じように、自分なりのやり方で愛と幸せを追いかけてるだけなんだ。どんなに分が悪くても、自分の気持ちに正直でいる。ただ、一方通行の気持ちが急に奇跡を起こすことはないけどね。

Everyone is the Hero (or Heroine) of their own story.
Momoka's not a girl's girl, she's manipulative, but ultimately she's just chasing after love and happiness in her own way like most people are. She's being true feelings even against all odds. But one-sided feelings aren't going to suddenly make a miracle happen.

美姫は小雪と湊の様子を探るのに夢中で、エアホッケーで完全にボコボコにされてたな。小雪と湊はかなりいいコンビだし、一緒にいるのがすごく自然だ！

Miki so focused on trying to suss out what's going on with Koyun and Minato that she completely gets dominated in table hockey. Koyun and Minato are a pretty great team and utterly natural together!

まさにそれ！湊が桃香と付き合ってるのは桃香のためだけじゃなく、小雪のためでもあって、その間ずっと苦しんでるってことを、ほとんどの人が分かってなかった。みんな小雪のほうの目に見える苦しみに気を取られて、仮面の裏にある湊の痛みに気づかなかったんだ。

Exactly! Most people have failed to understand that Minato is dating Momoka not only for her sake but for Koyun's sake, and he's been suffering this entire time. However people were so focused on Koyun's more overtime suffering that failed to notice Minato's pain behind his mask.

湊は素晴らしいキャラだよ。あえて言うなら、個人的にこれまで見てきた恋愛ものの主人公の中でもトップクラスだと思う。

He's an amazing character and dare I say one of the best Romance leads I have watched personally.

湊は救世主コンプレックスっていうより、共感力が強すぎて人に合わせてしまうタイプだと思う。さらに悪いのは、人をがっかりさせるのが怖いだけじゃなく、みんなの気持ちや望みにまで責任を感じてるところ。いつも他人を優先して、自分の居場所がほとんど残らないなんて、疲れ果てるよ。

I feel like Minato is more of a really empathetic people pleaser than someone with a savior complex. What makes it even worse is that he’s not just afraid of letting people down, but also feels responsible for everyone’s feelings and needs. It sounds exhausting, constantly putting others first until there’s barely any room left for himself.

でも湊に一番近いタイプを考えると、なぜか衛宮士郎っていう面白い奴が浮かぶんだよな。しかも驚くほど似てる。

For Minato though, somehow, the closest archetype I can think of is a funny guy called Emiya Shirou. Strikingly so even.

自己犠牲で自滅していくヒーローって、好きになっちゃうんだよな😔💔

we love a self-sacrificing & self-destructive hero 😔💔

うまく言えないけど、この作者は思春期の悩みを大げさにしすぎずに描くし、それでいて手加減もしないんだよな。そのバランスがちょうどよくて、三角関係はそこまで好きじゃない自分でも、すっかりハマってる。

I'm not exactly sure how to describe it but the author really portrays teenage angst without being too over the top and they don't pull their punches either. It's like a good balance and it's keeping me hooked despite me not being that much of a fan of love triangles.

桃香を嫌うのが楽しいのは分かるけど、あの子も幸せになろうと、恋をつかもうと頑張ってるただの十代なんだよ。ほとんど歩く負けヒロインで、抗おうとしながらも心の奥では自分でもそれを分かってるとしてもね。

I know it's fun to hate on Momoka but she's still just a teen doing her best to be happy and pursue love, even when she's basically a walking Losing Heroine who deep down knows it even when she tries to fight it.

そう、今回は桃香の動機だけじゃなく、自覚まではっきり描いてた。最初の戦いには勝ったかもしれないけど、心の奥では今、戦争そのものには負けつつあるって分かってるんだ。だからって諦めるわけじゃないけどね。

Yeah, this episode really spells out not only her motivation but also her self-awareness. She may have won the first battle but deep down she kinda knows she's currently losing the war. Doesn't mean she's giving up though.

過去の経験から、桃香にも自分だけの氷の城壁があるのが分かるよね。序盤の小雪が自分を守るためにみんなを締め出してたのと同じで、今の桃香の振る舞いも、前の学校と同じ状況にならないように自分を守るやり方なんだと思う。

You can see that she has her own ramparts of ice from her previous experiences. And just like how Koyun shutting everyone to protect herself earlier in the series, I think the way Momoka is behaving now is her way of protecting herself from ending up in the same situation as in her previous school

桃香が湊に「もう小雪と遊ばないで」って言えばいいのに、って気持ちも少しあった。湊が桃香と小雪のどっちを傷つけるのか見てみたくて。この状況だと、誰かは傷つけるしかないから。

Part of me wanted momoka to tell him not to hang out with Koyuki anymore, just to see if he'd choose to hurt Momoka or Koyuki, because in this case he'd have to hurt someone.

それに桃香は言ってることとやってることが違う。よく知りもしないのに男子が寄ってきて告白してくるのは嫌だって言っておきながら、湊に同じことをしてる。

She is also a hypocrite. She say she doesn't like boys coming up to her and asking her out without getting to know her. Then goes and does the same thing with Minato

えっと……でも桃香は、湊のことを普通の人よりずっと知ってたし、当時の湊の親しい友達よりもよく分かってたよ。湊が小雪を好きなことも含めてね。まさに今回の話でも、湊がどういうタイプなのかを見抜いてた。付き合う前にも話をしてたし、一緒に過ごした時間もあった。だから、湊のことを知らない・知らなかったって言うのはちょっと違うと思う。

Ehm… But she knew about Minato a way more than average person, and even better than his kinda closest friends at that time, like that Minato likes Koyuki. Even in this exactly episode she find out what exactly a type is Minato. And they spoke and had common time before she succeeded to date him. So saying that she doesnʼt or didnʼt know Minato is kinda not true.

>「本当の恋がしたい」と言いながら、ほかの子を好きだと分かってる男を選ぶ
でも、心は求めるものを求めるし、誰を好きになるかは選べないことが多い。
特に湊はほかの男子と全然違ったんだから、それを責められる？

"I want true love" and chooses a guy who she knows loves someone else
Often, the heart wants what the heart wants and we don't choose whom we love.
Especially given how different Minato was from every other guy, can you really blame her for that?

ただ、うまくいかないのは分かってるんだよな。たまたま今まで誰も好きになったことのない男を好きになって、その男がやっと本気で好きになった相手は自分じゃなかった。

Its just we know its not going to work out. She ended up liking the one guy who coincidentally never liked anyone before and the one girl he finally actually liked isn't her.

湊はただ悪者になるのが怖いだけなんだっていう桃香の見立てが的確すぎて、自分も最初にそれに気づいたとき、すごく刺さった。湊の心はそこに無くて、それで湊自身が苦しんでる。一番近くにいる彼女に見透かされるほどなのに、湊は自分を開いて、自分にとって一番いいこと（桃香にとってはつらいこと）をしようとはしないんだ。

Momoka's observation is so spot-on and hit me really hard when it first occurred to me that Minato simply is afraid to be the bad guy. His heart is never in it, it's making him miserable, so much so his closed one (girlfriend) can see right through it, yet he just never opens up himself to do what is best for him (and bad for Momoka).

今回は本当に湊のことで胸が痛んだ。人に合わせすぎる癖も救世主コンプレックスも、子どもの頃のトラウマに深く根ざしてる。共感力が強くて、優しくて、自分より他人の気持ちを優先するのに慣れきってるから、自分が何を望んで何を必要としてるのか、ほとんど考えられないみたいだ。
でも今回痛いほどはっきりしたのは、友達の中にいてさえ湊がどれだけ孤独かってこと。湊がどれほど苦しんでるか、誰も気づいてないように見える。間違いを指摘したり、変な行動にツッコんだりはするけど、その心配はいつも湊の行動が他人にどう影響するかで、湊自身のことじゃない。
一番の親友の美姫と陽太でさえ、湊を叱るのはいつも誰か別の人のためだった。小雪のためだったり、湊の「女たらし」ぶりや優しすぎるところが周りの女の子を意図せず傷つけるかもしれないからだったり。でも、その行動が湊自身を傷つけてるとか、自分の気持ちをいつもないがしろにするのは健全じゃないとか、湊だってほかのみんなと同じくらい大事にされていいんだとか、そう言ってくれる人は誰もいないみたいなんだ。
だからこそ、湊はみんなの批判をなかなか理解できないし、受け止められないんだと思う。湊からすれば、ただ人を助けて、喜ばせて、必要なときにそばにいるだけなんだから。何しろ、兄の海斗を本当に受け入れられたのは湊だけだった。人生を通して、この自己犠牲はいいことだと強化されてきたんだ。ずっと優しさだと信じてきたことが、どうして急に間違いになるのか？それが自分に何をもたらしてるのか、誰も理解を助けてくれないのに？
自分にとって、湊はこの物語で一番孤独なキャラだ。本当に心を開ける相手が誰もいないし、一番悲しいのは、もう心の開き方すら分からないのかもしれないってこと。自分の感情を押し殺して人の世話をしてきた時間が長すぎて、誰かに世話をしてもらう方法が分からないように見える。
小雪にはずっと美姫がいたし、やがて陽太や月子にも支えてもらえるようになった。でも湊には誰がいる？湊が苦しんでるとき、誰が気づく？魅力的な笑顔や間違いの向こうを見て、大丈夫かって聞いてくれるのは誰？
湊はいつもみんなのためにそばにいるのに、自分が崩れそうなときには、受け止めてくれる人が誰もいない。
それが本当に胸が張り裂けそうなんだ。

My heart truly broke for Minato in this episode. His people-pleasing tendencies and savior complex are deeply rooted in his childhood trauma. He's so empathetic, so kind, and so accustomed to putting everyone else's feelings before his own that he barely seems capable of considering what he wants or needs.
But what this episode made painfully clear is just how lonely Minato is, even among his own friends. Nobody seems to notice how much he's suffering. They recognize his mistakes and point out his strange behavior, but their concerns are always about how his actions might affect other people, never Minato himself.
Even his closest friends, Miki and Yota, have always reprimanded him for someone else's sake: because of Koyun, or because his "womanizing" and excessive kindness might unintentionally hurt the girls around him. But nobody ever seems to tell him that this behavior is hurting him, that constantly neglecting his own feelings isn't healthy, or that he deserves to be cared for just as much as everyone else.
And that's precisely why I think Minato has such a hard time understanding and internalizing their criticism. From his perspective, he's simply helping people, making them happy, and being there when they need him. After all, he was the only one who could truly accept his brother Kaito. Throughout his life, this self-sacrificing behavior has been reinforced as something good. So how can something he's always believed to be an act of kindness suddenly be wrong? Especially when nobody helps him understand what it's doing to him?
To me, Minato is the loneliest character in this entire story. He has no one he can truly open up to, and perhaps the saddest part is that he might not even know how to open up anymore. He's spent so much of his life suppressing his own emotions and taking care of others that he doesn't seem to know how to let someone take care of him.
Koyun has always had Miki, and eventually she found support in Yota and Tsukiko as well. But who does Minato have? Who notices when he's struggling? Who looks beyond his charming smile and his mistakes and asks whether he's okay?
He's always there for everyone else, but when he's the one falling apart, there's no one there to catch him.
And that's just heartbreaking.

上のお兄さんとお姉さんがあんなに互いを嫌い合ってるのも、ちょっと悲しかったな。あっという間に険悪になったし。海斗は渚をきょうだいとも思ってないって、はっきり言ってた。虐待のある家庭ってわけじゃないけど、居心地がいいわけでもない。

It was also kind of sad just how much his older siblings hated each other. Like, that got vitriolic quick. Kaito straight up said he didn't even see Nagisa as a sister. It's not like living in an abusive household but it's not comfortable either.

みんな変わりたいと思ってるのに、結局いつもの癖に戻ってしまう。
小雪は湊とちゃんと向き合いたいのに、また壁を作って気持ちに蓋をしてしまう。湊を友達として好きなだけでいいんだと自分に言い聞かせてるけど、本当は心の中ですごく傷ついてる。
桃香は好きな男の子と一緒にいたい。気持ちに基づいたちゃんとした関係を築きたいのに、見せびらかすためだけのトロフィーとして湊をそばに置くのでもいいと思ってる。自分が男子からそういう扱いを受けてきたにもかかわらずだ。何回かのデート以外、二人が大したことをしてるようには見えない。それに今は小雪が桃香の頭に住み着いてて、桃香の湊との関係は、湊が好きだからというより、小雪が嫌いだからで決まってるように見える。
そして湊は、慢性的に人に合わせすぎる癖を乗り越えようとしてるのに、ノーと言えないからってだけで、桃香相手にまったく同じことをしてる。
こういう癖はどれも破滅のもとで、3人とも幸せどころか、みじめなんだよな。問題は、誰が最初に崩れるかだ。

Everyone wants to do better, but falls back in all the old patterns.
Koyuki wants to properly interact with Minato, but just puts up her walls again and closes off her feelings. She tells herself that it's okay to like Minato just as a friend, but actually hurts like hell inside.
Momoka wants to be with the boy she likes. She wants to have a legitimate relationship based on feelings with him, but is okay to have him as a trophy only so she can show him off. All of this despite her being treated like that by boys. Outside of some dates it doesn't look like they're really doing that much. But now Koyuki is living rent-free in her head and it seems as if Momoka's relationship with Minato is less defined by her liking him but instead her hating Koyuki.
And then we have Minato who tries to overcome his tendency to be a chronic people pleaser, only to do the exact same thing with Momoka only because he can't say no.
These patterns all are a recipe for disaster, and none of the three is actually happy, but rather miserable. The question is who is the first to crumble.

公平に言えば、桃香は本気で湊と愛のある関係を築きたいんだと思う。ただ、この関係がうまくいってないと分かっていながら、今はとにかく湊を自分のものにしておこうとしてる、っていうのは同意する。

To be fair, I do believe that Momoka genuinely want to have a loving relationship with Minato. However, I do agree that she’s currently just trying to keep him for herself - despite knowing that this relationship isn’t working.

小雪が実際に動いたり、自分から何かしたりするのは、湊のためにそうしなきゃいけなくなったときだと思う。今の小雪は、基本的には足踏み状態だから。

I think it's going to take having to do it for Minato's sake for Koyun to actually make a move or take the initiative because she's still basically in a holding pattern.

小雪は自分の気持ちを整理する間は何もしないと決めて、湊は完璧な彼氏を演じながらますます心に鍵をかけて、桃香は何が起きてるか分かったうえで必死にしがみついてる。
膠着状態だな。誰が最初に引き金を引いて、この行き詰まりを破るんだろう。それにしても、桃香の過去は本当によくできてた。あと、美姫も恋心が芽生えてきたみたいだね。

Koyun has decided to do nothing while she works through her feelings, Minato is locking himself away even further while he roleplays as the perfect boyfriend, and Momoka is holding on for dear life even though she's figured out what's happening.
Looks like we got a stalemate, I wonder who will be the first to pull the trigger and break this deadlock. Momoka's backstory is really well done though. Also, seems like Miki is catching feelings.

桃香はほかの子たちみたいに湊を振ったりしないって言ってたから、どう見ても大事故に向かってるのに、たぶんこのまま続けるんだろう。ってことは、湊が一度くらい自分を優先して、逆に桃香を振ることになるんじゃないかな。
小雪は、湊が自分を必要としてるって気づくまで動かないと思う。小雪と一緒になれないせいで心を閉ざしてることが、湊を精神的に押しつぶしてるから。

Momoka said she won't dump him like the other girls so she's probably going to keep going even though it's clearly heading for a trainwreck. Which probably means Minato will have to put himself first for once and dump her instead.
I don't think Koyun is going to make a move until she realizes Minato needs her do to something because closing his heart over not being with her is crushing him emotionally.

桃香と湊がどうやって別れるのか、すごく気になる。桃香は湊が自分を振らないって気づいたから、たぶんもっと積極的に好意をぶつけるようになるし、要求も増えるかもしれない。湊は完璧な彼氏でいようと桃香に合わせるだろうけど、桃香の押しの強さに削られて、内心の「幸せじゃない」って気持ちはどんどん大きくなりそう。
別れを切り出すのは、たぶん湊のほうだと思う。特に小雪が自分の気持ちと折り合いをつけて、湊にずっと親しげに接するようになったから、桃香との関係が落とす影に対して、小雪が光になるんだろうなｗ
男子にモテる桃香側の視点は面白かった。人にトロフィー扱いされてたって気づけたのはいいことだ。でも、自分もそういう経験をしてるのに、湊と付き合うまでのやり方は見過ごせない。昔は告白されるとき自分の気持ちも考えてほしかったのに、湊には付き合ってって頼み込んで、湊の気持ちを無視したんだから。
美姫が陽太に恋心を抱き始めたのは意外な展開じゃないけど、頭から追い出そうとして必死に筋トレしてたのは笑った。あと、ボウリングのときの小雪がめちゃくちゃかわいかった。

Oh I am very intrigued to see how Momoka and Minato will break up. Momoka has realized Minato won't dump her, and this will likely lead her to be more aggressive with her affections, and maybe more demanding. Minato will try to appease her to be the perfect boyfriend, while inside his own feelings of not being happy will likely grow as Momoka's aggressiveness chips at him.

Minato will likely be the one to break up the relationship, especially with Koyuki treating him a lot more friendlier after coming to terms with her own feelings, she'll be the light to the shadow his relationship with Momoka causes lol.

Momoka's perspective of being popular with boys was interesting, it's a good thing she realized people treated her like a trophy. But the way she's gone about getting together with Minato is hard to overlook when she's had that experience too. She wanted people to consider her own feelings when being asked out in the past, but she disregarded Minato's by begging him to get into a relationship with her.

Miki catching feelings for Youta is not a surprising development, but it's funny how she tried working out intensely to get it out of her mind. Also, Koyuki looked so cute at the bowling outing.

>桃香は湊が自分を振らないって気づいたから、たぶんもっと積極的に好意をぶつけるようになるし、要求も増えるかもしれない。
それはもう見えてると思う。男友達と出かけたことを報告してほしがってたし。くっついていたいのと、相手を信用できないのは別物だよ。

Momoka has realized Minato won't dump her, and this will likely lead her to be more aggressive with her affections, and maybe more demanding.
I think we've already seen this. She wanted him to report his outing with the guys. There's difference between being clingy and having trust issues.

自分はもともと桃香アンチじゃなかったし、桃香が本当に湊を好きなんだって分かって、その理由も見られてよかった。ほら、湊が心の金庫を開けて愛を受け入れさえすれば、この状態のままでも、みんな幸せになれたかもしれないのにね。
でも湊は、ぐちゃぐちゃにしながらこの状況に入ったんだから、抜け出すときもぐちゃぐちゃにするんだろうな。

I was never a Momoka hater and I'm glad to see that she really does love Minato and why. Y'know, this status quo could continue and everyone could be happy if Minato simply unlocked his heart's vault and let love in.
But he made a mess getting into this situation and he's gonna make a mess getting out of it.

心は求めるものを求めるし、湊は自分の心が求めるもの（小雪）を手に入れられないなら、自分を求めてくれる人（桃香）の心を傷つけることもできない。それが結局、全部を悪くしてるんだ。

The heart wants what the heart wants and if Minato can't have what his heart wants (Koyun) he can't hurt the heart of someone who wants him (Momoka) which is ultimately making everything worse.

それはそうだけど、湊は前にも気持ちが無いまま付き合ったことがあるし、今回の桃香とは本気で向き合う覚悟を決めたと思ってたんだよ。なのにまた形だけこなしてる。この子が違うのは、事情を分かったうえで湊を助けたいと思ってるところで、それは湊が彼女をどう思うかに少しは影響してもいいはずなんだけど。

Sure, but he has dated without interest before and I thought he was resolved to actually try this time with Momoka. He's just going through the motions, again. What's different about this girl is that she knows what's up and wants to help him through it, which should count for something in his thoughts on her.

湊との関係が大事故に向かってるとしても、桃香の気持ちが本物だって分かったのはよかった。最初はそこがもっと怪しく見えてたから。

Even if she is headed for a train wreck for her relationship with Minato, it's nice to know she has geniune feelings for him, which initially seemed more questionable.

小雪中心の回から、今週の美姫・湊・桃香中心への切り替えが本当に見事だった。体感では何億年ぶりかの陽太×美姫の小ネタもあったし、キャラたちの心の内を見られたのもすごく面白かった。湊は人に合わせすぎるのが欠点になってるし、桃香は壁にぶつかってると分かってても、今まで付き合った誰とも違う相手を諦めない。それぞれの視点が人間関係の違う面をとらえてて、痛いほど身につまされる。みんな、ここにいるどのキャラにも何かしら共感できるんじゃないかな（誰も喜ばなくなるまで人に合わせ続けること、誰かが悪口を言われてるのを聞いたときのモヤモヤ、固く鍵をかけた自分の手前までしか人を入れない人と向き合うこと、あるいは自分がそうであること）
もはや「氷の城壁たち」、複数形のSが付くみたいだね :>

This was such a great pivoting going from Koyun centric episodes to this week’s Miki/Minato/Momoka focus. After what feels like a billion years some YotaMiki crumbs, but it was also super interesting to see the psyche of the characters. Minato is a people pleaser to a fault, Momoka knows she is facing a wall but won’t give up on someone who’s unlike anyone she’s ever been with. Each POV captures a different aspect of interpersonal relationship that feels so painfully relatable - I feel like everyone can relate to some aspect of every character here (people pleasing until it pleases no one, the nagging feeling when you hear others being badmouthed, facing or being someone who lets others in up until a tightly locked self)
Almost like it’s rampartS of ice with an S :>

（元の文章は中国語で、放送よりかなり前に書いたもの。今週の話に合うように手直しして、GPTで翻訳した）
これまでの話では、小雪が陽太や美姫のように、ほかの人の気持ちの整理を手伝う側になることが多かった。でも自分のことになると、自分の気持ちはそれほど分からないみたいだ。湊と桃香が付き合ったショックと、そのあとの五十嵐との会話を経て、ようやく小雪は自分の内側に目を向けて、今の自分が本当は何を感じているのかに向き合い始める。
今回の小雪と美姫の会話は、それまでの2話で小雪が考えてきたことのまとめと言える。ポイントは実は2つ。
小雪は湊と桃香の関係に割って入るつもりはないけど、自分の気持ちをちゃんと理解して、受け入れられるようになりたいと思っている。友情と恋愛を共存させるつもりなんだ。この時点で小雪がまだ気持ちを完全には整理できていないのは分かる。そうでなければ、これからどうするかなんて話はしないはずだから。でも正しい方向はもう見つけている。もっと大事なのは、一歩引いて自分を冷静に分析できるくらい、心が強くなったことだ。
（もちろん、ここで美姫もようやく何か分かり始めた兆しを見せるんだけどねｗ）
一方、湊と桃香の関係は、前回描かれた中学時代の小雪と五十嵐の関係と重ねて見ることができる。二つにはかなり共通点がある。
五十嵐と桃香は本気でその関係を望んでいる側で、小雪と湊はどちらも、形は違えど無理をしてその関係にとどまっている側だ。
今の時点で、そもそも桃香がこの関係を望んだ理由の一部も明かされた。誰かと付き合うことで、自分の中の空っぽを埋めようとしているんだ。そして付き合っている間、五十嵐と本質的に同じ過ちを犯してしまう。付き合っている相手を本当に理解しようとはしないんだ。
湊が上の空で、心に鍵をかけていると気づいたあとでさえ、桃香がまず思うのは、湊を自分のそばにつなぎ止めておくことだ。
一方で湊は、小雪がしたようにきっぱり区切りをつけるきっかけを見つけられない。小雪を諦めたあと、ようやく桃香の彼氏という役にちゃんと収まれそうにも見えるけど……
本当にそんなに簡単にいくんだろうか？

(the original text is in Chinese and was written well before the ep aired. I just adjusted them to fit the ep this week, and translated them with gpt)
In many earlier parts of the story, Koyun is often the one who helps other people sort through their emotions—for example, Yota and Miki. But when it comes to herself, she seems unable to understand her own feelings nearly as well. It is only after the shock of Minato and Momoka getting together, followed by her conversation with Igarashi, that she begins to turn her attention inward and focus on what she herself is actually feeling in the present.
Koyun’s conversation with Miki in this episode can be seen as a summary of everything she has been thinking about over the previous two episodes. There are really two key points:
Koyun has no intention of interfering with Minato and Momoka’s relationship, but she does want to properly understand her own feelings and learn to accept them. She will let friendship and romantic love coexist. You can tell that Koyun still has not completely sorted out her feelings at this point; otherwise, she would not be talking about what she is going to do. But she has already found the right direction. More importantly, she has now become emotionally strong enough to step back and analyze herself calmly.
(Of course, this is also the point where Miki finally starts showing signs that she might be figuring things out too, lol.)
Meanwhile, Minato and Momoka’s relationship can be seen as a parallel to Koyun and Igarashi’s relationship back in middle school, as shown in the previous episode. There are quite a few similarities between the two.
Igarashi and Momoka are the ones who genuinely want the relationship, while Koyun and Minato are both, in different ways, forcing themselves to stay in one.
By now, the story has also revealed part of the reason Momoka wanted this relationship in the first place: she is trying to fill an emptiness within herself by dating someone. And during the relationship, she ends up making essentially the same mistake Igarashi did—she never really tries to understand the person she is dating.
Even after noticing that Minato seems distracted and realizing that he has locked his heart away, her first instinct is still to keep him tied to her side.
Minato, on the other hand, does not manage to find a chance to make a clean break the way Koyun did. After giving up on Koyun, it almost seems as if he can finally settle into the role of being Momoka’s boyfriend properly…
But is it really going to be that simple?

でもまあ、桃香は人を読むのがうまいよね。友達にも、もう少し湊のことを気にかけて理解しようとしてほしかった。

But yeah, she is good at reading people. And I would've hoped his friends would pay more attention to understand Minato.

うん、桃香はある程度は湊の錠前を分かってる。でもその原因は知らないし、知ろうともしないし、湊を助けることにも興味がない。ただ自分に縛りつけておきたいだけなんだ。

yeah to some extent she understand Minato's lock, but she doesn't know, and doesn't want to know the cause, and has no interest in helping him. She just wants to tie him around her

今週の回を見ての今の感想：小雪の成長が大好き。湊がどうしてああなのか、もっと見られたのもうれしい。湊が心に鍵をかけてるのは嫌だ。桃香の背景が少し分かったのはよかったけど、それでもやっぱり無理。湊が過去の恋愛がダメになった理由を話したら、桃香はそれを「もっと強くしがみついていい」っていう青信号だと受け取った。桃香は自分を傷つけてるだけだし、湊も自分を傷つけてるだけ。本当に悲しいよ。桃香が目指してるのが本当の恋なら、やり方は完全に間違ってる。
追伸：考えのまとめ方はあまりうまくないけど、言いたいことはみんな分かってくれると思う。

My current thoughts after watching this weeks episode: Loving Koyuns growth, love that we’re seeing more of why Minato is the way he is, I hate that he’s locking his heart up, I like that we got to understand a little more behind momoka, however I still cannot stand her. Minato told her about why his past relationships failed, and she took that as a green light to hold tighter. She’s only hurting herself and Minato only hurting himself. It’s really sad, because if it’s true love she’s aiming for, she’s definitely going the wrong way about it.
P.S. probably not the best organization of my thoughts but I think you all get the point.

この膠着状態を抜け出すには、次の3つのうちどれか、または全部が起きる必要がある。小雪が受け身でいるのをやめて、湊に気持ちを伝えること。湊が「悪者」になってもいいと受け入れて、他人じゃなく自分の気持ちのために動いて桃香を振ること。あるいは桃香が、どれだけ頑張っても湊から望む本当の恋は得られないと気づくこと。
自分は全部起きると思ってる。桃香はもうある程度気づいてるけど、それを受け入れたとしても、湊は絶対に自分を振らないと踏んで、意地で手放さない気がする。そこで小雪が湊に気持ちを伝えて、湊は最初どうしていいか分からず、桃香を傷つけることになるから返事もできない。そして最後には、なんとか自分のために動くと決めて、桃香と別れて小雪に自分の気持ちを告白するんだと思う。
美姫も陽太に気持ちが芽生えてきたように感じる。ずっと赤くなってるし、最初は陽太の気持ちを知ってるから照れてるだけだと思ってたけど、一人で陽太のことを考えてるときにもそうなってるんだよな。

So one of 3 or all of the above needs to happen to break out of this stalemate. Koyun needs to act instead of being passive and tell Minato how she feels. Minato needs to accept its okay to be "the bad guy" and do something for his own feelings instead of others and reject Momoka or Momoka needs to realise no matter how hard she tries she won't ever get that true love she wants from Minato.
I expect all of them will happen, Momoka kind of already has realised it but if she accepts it I can see her refusing to let go out of spite expecting Minato to never reject her, then Koyun will tell Minato how she feels and at first Minato won't know what to do and won't answer her because that would mean hurting Momoka and finally he will somehow decide to do something for himself and dump Momoka and confess his own feelings to Koyun.
It is starting to feel like Miki is developing feelings for Yota. She is blushing all the time and at first I thought it was just embarrassment from knowing how he feels for her, but she's doing it on her own while thinking about him.

美姫は、湊に対する小雪の気持ちや態度を、陽太の自分への接し方に重ねて見てるんだと思う。一方の陽太は、心の声こそ描かれないけど、行動からすると美姫への気持ちにはもう区切りをつけて、今は美姫よりずっと上手に友達としてやれてる気がする（まだぎこちない美姫を責められないけど）。最後に陽太を思い出す場面は恋心が芽生えるフリっぽかったけど、いろいろ考えると今はそうなってほしくないし、自分の思い違いであってほしい。
物語の最初から湊の家族の事情を知ってたら、もっとずっと同情してたと思う。人に合わせすぎる人って、いつも嘘っぽく感じるから好きじゃないんだけど、家族のケンカやお兄さんとの関わりのせいでそうなったと分かって、しかも今回、湊にとってそれが恵みであると同時に呪いでもあると描かれたことで、自分の中で湊の評価がひっくり返り続けてる。
桃香は、最初は同情できて物事全体が見えてる子だと感じさせておいて、そこから一転して自分が悪い側になる、の典型だよ。見た目と人気の代償として、好きだからじゃなく男子に追いかけられてきたっていう気持ちには同情する。でも、湊が望んでないと分かってる関係に押し込んで、湊が自分から終わらせられないタイプだと分かったら「別れないから」って告げるのは、あまりにも残酷だ。結局、湊に最後は悪者になることを強いるか（たぶんそうなる。分かりきった予想だけど）、自慢するためのお飾りの彼氏としてそばに置き続けて、桃香が嫌ってた男子たちみたいに、二人の間に気持ちが無いままになるかのどっちかだよ。

Miki is projecting Kohyun’s feelings and attitude towards Minato into how Yota interacts with her. Meanwhile Yota while we don’t see his inner thoughts based on his behavior I feel he has moved on from his feelings about Miki and is handling just being friends much better than her rn (although can’t blame her for still being akward). The final scene of her remebering Yota felt like a tease of her developing feelings but rn considering everything I don’t want to see it happen and hope its a wrong assumption by me.
If I had known Minato’s family history at the start of the story I would have sympathized with him a lot more. I dislike people pleasers because they always feel fake to me but seeing why he became one due to the fights of his family, his interactions on his brother and how this episode shows that to Minato it is just as much of a curse as it is a blessing for him it continue the 180 he has had for me.
Momoka is the definition of starting with something where you feel sympathetic for her and that she sees the full picture but then she takes a turn where she is the one in the wrong. Like I feel bad about how she felt about just being chasen by men as a price for her looks and popularity and not because they like her but you have also pushed Minato into a relationship you know he doesn’t want and when you find out he isn’t the type to end things you then decide to tell him you won’t break up with him is just so cruel. You are either going to force him to finally be the villain (which is what will happen, that is an obvious prediction) or you will keep him around as the token boyfriend to brag and there are no feelings between the two of you like the boys she hates.

美姫について自分が受け取ったのは、陽太が「俺にとっては、美姫は美姫だ」って言った意味に気づいたってこと。恋人候補としてだけじゃなく、友達としても大事なんだって～ありのままの美姫が好きなんだよ（小雪にとって、その両方が大事なのと同じでね）。陽太の気持ちが違って見えてきて、あんなに照れてたんだから、恋心が芽生えてきてるって思いたい 🙂

What I understood about Miki was her realising what Yota meant when he said 'To me, You're just Miki', that she is important to him not just as a potential romantic partner, but as a friend ~ He loves her for who she is (just like how both are impt to Koyun). Seeing Yota's feelings in a new light, I'd like to think it's making her catch feelings from how she got embarassed 🙂

桃香の理屈：本当の恋がしてみたい。だから、ほかの子を好きだと分かってる男（しかも相手の子も彼を好きなのに、本人は気づいてない）を無理やり付き合わせよう。本当の恋を見つけるには確実な方法だよね、きっと。
ともかく、EDで砕かれる湊の錠前が、ついに本編で出てきた。それが起きる瞬間はめちゃくちゃスカッとするだろうな。湊に正義を！
それに、友情と恋愛についての小雪の言葉を考えてるうちに、つい陽太のことを考えて赤くなる美姫……キャーッ。
全部動き出してる。いけー！

Momoka logic: I want to experience true love, so let me strongarm this guy that I know likes someone else (who also likes him back, but he doesn't know it) into going out with me. That's a surefire way to find true love, surely.
Anyway, we finally get to see Minato's lock that gets smashed in the ED. It'll be so satisfying when that happens. Justice for Minato!
And Miki blushing after involuntarily thinking of Yota when pondering over Koyun's words about friendship and romance...squeeee.
It's all happening. Let's go!

正直、桃香が湊を求めること自体には怒れないんだよね。過去の恋愛がどうだったか、どうして今の桃香になったのかを見たあとならなおさら。気に障るのは、付き合ってって湊に頼み込んだあと、その関係を小雪に見せつけたところだ。

Honestly, I can't really even be upset at Momoka for wanting Minato, especially after seeing what her past relationships were like and how she basically became who she is. What irks me about her is how she basically rubbed her relationship with Minato in Koyun's face after begging him to go out with her.

桃香は恋する女の子だけど、女友達を大事にするタイプじゃない。中学時代、桃香の人気にほかの女子がどう反応したかのせいで、本物の女友達を作りにくくなったのもあるのかな。まあ、小雪が桃香の個人的に気に入らないタイプの子だってのも、良くない方向に働いてるけど。

Momoka is a girl in love but not a girl's girl. I wonder if part of that is because the way other girls reacted to her popularity in middle school made it harder for her to have genuine female friendships, though it doesn't help that Koyun is the type of girl she just doesn't like personally.

この作品は大好きだけど、ここ数話はほとんど回想なんだよな。話が全然進んでない感じで、宙ぶらりんのまま止まってるみたいなのはちょっと残念。少数派の意見かもしれないけど、どうだろう。
とはいえ、今回も本当にいい回だった。

I love this show, but the past couple episodes have been mostly flashbacks. It's kind of disappointing that it feels like there isn't any progression happening here, it feels like things are kind of stuck in limbo. Maybe that's an unpopular opinion, I dunno.
With that said, this was still a really good episode.

宙ぶらりんの感じは意図的なものだよ。まずボウリング場を小雪の視点で新しく見せて、小雪が前に進んでて、感情を壁の裏に隠すでも感情に振り回されるでもなく、健全に向き合ってるのが分かる。
それから同じ場面を湊の視点でもう一度見せるけど、新しい情報がほとんど無いのは的を射てる。湊自身が前に進んでないからだ。気持ちに鍵をかけて昔の癖に逆戻りして、同じことを繰り返してる。作品が同じ場面を繰り返してるのと同じようにね。だから、あなたが言うように宙ぶらりんの感じが残るんだ。
でも最後にボウリング場を桃香の視点で見せるとき、小雪のときみたいに新しいものを見せるでも、湊のときみたいに同じものを見せるでもなく、そもそもボウリング場にいない。代わりに、自分たちの関係のことや、自分がいないところで湊が何をしてるのか、気を揉んでる桃香が映る。桃香が同じことを考え込んでいて、作品もまた同じことを繰り返してるんだ。

The feeling of limbo was intentional. We get fresh eyes on the bowling alley from Koyun's perspective, and we can see that she is making progress and dealing with her emotions in a healthy way, not hiding them behind her walls but not being controlled by them.
Then we get to see it all again but from Minato's perspective, and the fact that we don't really get any new information is apt because hes not moving forward himself. He's locked away his feelings and has fallen back into old habits, repeating himself just like the show is repeating itself with the scene, leaving us with the feeling of being stuck in limbo like you said.
But then we finally get to see the bowling alley from Momoka's perspective, where instead of seeing something new like with Koyun or seeing the same old thing with Minato, we're not even there, instead getting to see her worrying about her relationship and what Minato could be doing when she's not there. She's ruminating and so is the show

少なくとも、仲良しグループの関係性と、呪われた桃香×湊の組み合わせが見られて、二人が何者で、どうしてああなのかが分かった。今期で一番好きな回だったよ。

At least we are seeing the dymanic of the friend group and the cursed momoka-minato pairing explaining who they are and why are they like that. I loved this ep the most this season yet

桃香ちゃん、優しい言い方が分からないんだけど、あなたが求めてる本当の恋を見つけられるまでには、まだ長ーーーーーい道のりがあるよ。気持ちは分かる、本当に分かる……でも、それじゃないんだよ。
あと、桃香パートの劇伴がいつもその時の気分にぴったり合ってて、すごくいいパートだった。たぶん今回で一番好き。まあ、桃香はしばらく前から一番好きなキャラだから、驚くことでもないけど。

Momoka-chan, I don't know how to say this nicely but you have a looooooooooooooong way in front of you until you'll be able to find your coveted true love. I feel for you, I really do...but this ain't it, girl.
Also the OST in her part always matched her current mood so nicely, amazing segment probably my favorite one from today's episode. But she has been my favorite character for a while so it's not exactly a surprise.

最後の場面で感じた怒りが、正直ヤバい。
今回もいい回だった。けど、もうこれ終わってくれないかな。湊、いい加減目を覚ませよ！

The anger i am feeling on that last scene is honestly insane.
Great episode again, BUT CAN THIS BE OVER ALREADY. MINATO WAKE THE F**K UP MAN

正直、桃香の過去は飛ばした。興味ない。一回、自分を見つめ直したほうがいいよ。

Honestly just skipped momoka's backstory. I don't care. You need a serious ego check.

状況を全部自分に都合よく操ってなければ、桃香に同情したんだけどな。湊と小雪が両想いなのを知ってたのに、二人の心に入り込んで割って入った。
早く退場してほしい😫

I would feel bad for Momoka if she didn’t manipulate the whole situation to suit herself. She knew Minato and Koyun liked each other, but she got into their heads to get in-between them.
I can’t wait for her to be out of the picture 😫

自分で言うのも変だけど、今回の後半で桃香のキャラがちょっと好きになった。だからって応援してるわけじゃない。でも、前より桃香のことが分かった気がする。

This is weird for me to say, but the back half of the episode has made kinda like Momoka's character a little more. That doesn't mean I'm rooting for her. But I kinda now understand her more.

あの受け身な感じ、すごく分かる。波風を立てたくない。自分のせいで船がひっくり返って、グループの関係が壊れるのは嫌なんだ。安全だけど壊れやすい泡を作っちゃったんだよな。いつまで持つんだろう。

Man that passiveness is so relatable. You don't want to rock the boat. You don't want to be the reason it tips over and ruin the dynamic of the group. You have created this safe but fragile bubble. How long will it last?