By the time you guys read this, I would have already announced the next hiatus. I am so sorry. I am preparing for graduation, my birthday, my out of the country trip, and the holiday season. So on Twitter, I announced starting Nov. 18 - Jan. 6 I will not be doing and "fresh" posts. On the other hand, I will try to create pre-dated posts prior to my hiatus. But mainly off the post starting in 2020 will be Spring releases or whatever I was able to watch during my holiday. I will be active on all platforms.
Akira Tachibana is a quiet and reserved 17-year-old high school student and former track star. She is unable to run track anymore due to a severe injury. Although she is considered very attractive among her peers she is not interested in men of the high school environment (bare with me). While working part-time at a family-owned cafe she was able to lose interest in rejoining the track team. She did, however, gain interest for her 45-year-old manager, Masami Kondou. Yes, there is a huge age gap, but Akira does not care, she is drawn to him by his kind and soft nature. By taking on more hours and shifts she is able to spend more time with him.
As a warning, this will be a short review because it is a very short and simple series. It is only 12 episodes and many of the characters are just extras. The entire plot revolves around Tachibana and Kondou.
During the duration of the entire plot, Tachibana does not smile. She is very straight-faced and blunt. But she is very kind-hearted. I don't know why she thought dating someone who was within the age limit of "sugar daddy" digits was okay.
It was obvious that she is very misunderstood because of the fact that she is so blunt and reserved. She doesn't talk much. As a result, she is unable to convey her emotions properly.
I do feel as if the only reason she started working at the cafe to avoid having to go to track practice. She was afraid of not being able to run at the rate she was used to. Avoiding her childhood friend and her passion because she was scared of the unknown so to transferred her feelings and love of track to her manager.
Haruka Kyan is Tachibana's childhood friend. They joined the track team together and made a promise to always run together when they were younger. After her accident is when they stopped speaking. Tachibana basically cut her off. Haruka has been worried about her since her accident and has been trying to get her back on the team but Tachibana dodges her at every chance. In one scene, Haruka's brother mentions that she has stopped talking about Tachibana, while they were in a book store. This can imply that she felt and thought of Tachibana very highly.
Im not placing her into sexuality beyond the obvious deep friendship. But I feel like there was potential for a love triangle. There could be a possible love interest between Haruka and Tachibana. I say this because when Tachibana is trying to get a specific rare keychain out of a toy machine, Haruka was able to find one and give it to her but left her a note that basically said that she notes their relationship went beyond the track. When their relationship was built off of the love of running originally.
The main person I'm judging is Masami Kondou. This man knew taking a 17-year-old on a date would be a "no-no," a big NO! All it did was increase her feelings. I feel like he should've said no from the beginning. But he is such a pushover and kindhearted man. He did have feelings for Tachibana though. He may not have specifically identified them as love but he did have feelings are her. He also did admit that being with her made him feel younger, which is obvious because she could be his daughter.
But pause his son is in elementary school so he also decided to wait to have children "late."
Everything that revolves around the relationship is just weird and nasty to me because, at 45-years-old, I was 12-years-old and in middle school compared to my parents and just ew no.
I am proud of how he dealt with his confess in the end. Instead of confessing his feelings to a minor, he ended their awkward and complicated relationship in the mentor/student state. They left off on a good note. Tachibana went back to running track keeping her promise and Kondou went on a journey to finish his novel that was revealed towards the end that he started it prior to marrying his first wife. He decided to elope with his wife, rather than going to a writer's retreat to finish his novel.
Side note this man has rapist potential. I said what I said, you have to go to Amazon Prime Video to understand.
This series does have a manga. I doubt that I would read it because it was a simple plot and had a somewhat satisfying ending for both the main characters. It does leave a cliff-hanger whether or not there will be a sequel that they may meet up later on when Tachibana is older and Kondou finishes his book. Honestly, I would not want to see a sequel either but its the age gap that's bothering me. By the time she is 21, he will be 49 which he would still be in his forties because its whatever they're comfortable with, to be honest. Age is just number as long as its legal.
