Honey and Clover Ep 10

On 29 Dec, the group of five go on a river cruise and grumble at Mayama for suggesting this since it is very cold. Takemoto and Mayama marvel at Morita, Hagu and Yamada for buying so much snacks and munching on them non-stop. Yamada says that she had meant to make bento for them but Mayama and Takemoto insisted on her bringing boiled eggs only. This is because the two are worried about the type of food that Yamada and Hagu may come up with and think that boiled eggs are a safer option.

Takemoto realises that Hagu has been stealing glances at Morita who is sitting beside her and feels rather uncomfortable. He is in a daze while on the deck when Mayama comes to talk to him. Mayama points out the fact that Takemoto seems to be occupied with something related with Hagu ever since the school festival began but the latter tries to pretend that nothing is wrong. In the end, Takemoto tells Mayama about the fact that Morita may be in love with Hagu and that he gave her a brooch which was what Hagu had designed. Mayama asks Takemoto what he intends to do but Takemoto hates to fight with others. Mayama says that Takemoto has already admitted defeat even before having a fair fight with Morita and asks if he can give up his feelings for Hagu despite liking her at first sight 2 years ago. Since Hagu means a lot to him, Takemoto should not give up without trying. Takemoto thinks of the days he has spent with Hagu and wonders what he should do.

Meanwhile, Mayama is down with seasickness and Yamada grumbles that he always causes her trouble. She then heads for the deck where she meets Morita and Takemoto. Morita asks Yamada why she is still loving Mayama despite her grouses about him being a fool. Even though Mayama had made it clear that he cannot reciprocate Yamada's feelings, it's not possible for her to hate him immediately. Besides, love cannot be erased just because she was rejected. She remarks that she's really lousy at handling such feelings but Takemoto feels more ashamed of himself as he is thinking of giving up without even trying.

The group alight at Kasai Bay Park where there isn't anyone around besides them. Since there's only a Ferris Wheel in that park, they decide to take a ride. However, they find that each carriage can only take 4 people and Takemoto feels that he would be left out since Hagu and Morita should take one carriage and Mayama and Yamada should take another. As such, Takemoto says that he's afraid of heights and will give this ride a pass.

Unexpectedly, Morita plays a prank on Mayama and Yamada which results in them being trapped in the same carriage for 17 minutes. The remaining three then board the same carriage but the atmosphere gets really awkward as nobody is talking. Takemoto thinks to himself that he didn't see the meaning of the Ferris Wheel's existence in the past but now, he starts to think that it exists for people who love each other to spend time together. Suddenly, Morita jumps in the carriage to break the silence and scares Hagu so much that she keeps screaming. Morita apologises for his action and Takemoto laughs at hearing this since he has never heard Morita say sorry. Takemoto starts to wonder if Morita is also feeling apprehensive about Hagu's feelings so that's why he never told Hagu about how he feels.

Mayama is kind of similar to Morita in a sense. He's sharp when it comes to other people's relationship matters but when it comes to his own problems, the same attitude and way of handling things cannot be applied. He realised right from the start that Takemoto likes Hagu but I don't think he actually noticed Morita's feelings for Hagu. Nobody did until Takemoto found out that Morita made a brooch for Hagu. I started to suspect this when Morita bought the sandals for her but at that time, I guess nobody knew. It just wasn't normal for a guy who didn't like a girl or regarded her as an important person to take note of her preferences and buy gifts out of the blue.

It was so funny to see Morita pushing Mayama into the Ferris Wheel carriage. Although it was a prank, I think he meant well by giving them some time alone which would probably be what Yamada wants despite the fact that she feels sad about being rejected. In a sense, I think Morita is very enthusiastic about bringing Mayama and Yamada together as a couple.

As to Takemoto's observation that Morita is apprehensive about how Hagu feels, I guess that stems from the fact that Morita keeps seeing Hagu and Takemoto together so this made him unsure whether Hagu likes Takemoto. However, to Takemoto, he can see very clearly that Hagu has eyes only for Morita and that seems to be obvious after that onsen trip when Morita showed his talent in front of Hagu. All along, Morita has been playing pranks on Hagu which made her frightened of Morita. However, when she saw his serious side, I guess that made her fall in love with Morita. Maybe Morita is a bit childish in the fact that he resorts to pranks to get Hagu's attention as compared to Takemoto who uses concern to build up his friendship with Hagu but I guess Morita could also be unwilling to show his true self and uses a frivolous attitude to conceal his emotions.