Perhaps I’ve compared KimiKiss and Kaiji one too many times for two shows which couldn’t be more opposite in genre and tone, but once again the former surprises me with how much, speaking both outside and inside of the show’s context, it handles itself in a manner that’s almost, if not completely, not unlike that of Kaiji, in how it messes with the outcome and the characters.

Quite simply, in KimiKiss around the halfway mark or so the outcome of the show becomes fairly obvious, although to this episode it’s not set in stone, an issue that has popped up in Kaiji every now and then, when the drama is muffled a bit by the issue of not being able to kill off the main character. It’s not a deal-breaker, given that a lot of the fun in both shows is to figure out how the characters get from point A to point B.

Additionally, KimiKiss offers up a little more unpredictability, but it still would take a bit of insanity to go and argue against the relationships that seem to be developing.

But still, to quote Kaiji himself, “You have to be deviant, or else you can’t kill the devil!”

Whether it be as a viewer or as a character in a show KimiKiss really does almost play out like one long, protracted game of E-Card, perhaps a testament to that game’s representation of society. As the rounds begin to run out on KimiKiss the tension continues to increase almost unbearably, and now with just two episodes left, it’s easy to see who has the advantage, but just as easy to see how the tide could turn in an instant…

The difference between in theory and in practice is widely known, and to be entirely fair, while I continue to claim an outside shot for Yuumi time and time again the chance is next to nothing that she’ll walk away tops, especially given the way the anime has presented itself.

Still, the chance is not zero and that is the situation that leaves us guessing time and time again that just maybe – maybe – a miracle can be pulled off. That’s exactly the situation of the Slave in the game of E-Card; having a technically possible but quite monumental task to pull off (playing one card from his hand of originally five on the same turn his opponent plays another one card of five), the situation looks horribly bad, but with a little planning, a little hoping, it can be done. There’s nothing to lose, so why not?

Of course, the odds are not as simple as a straight 1 out of 25 chance (or 1 out of 16, 1 out of 9, etc. as the cards decrease) as the game is largely mental and isn’t so much a game of chance as a battle of minds, and analyzing the little details and notes in KimiKiss is every bit as vital as it is in E-Card, as all clues, big and small, can add up to the big picture.

Admittedly, KimiKiss is probably less actively trying to trick, backstab, and cheat us with the hints it drops, but the harem genre only needs one counter to the playing-it-straight defense and its name is Canvas 2, so definitely don’t count your chickens before they start flying.

(Wait, a different reference, but in any case, a light break before we get started with the real nitpicking… do try to take the following post in a sane manner without any S&M overtones.)

Asuka is the true Slave of the two battles, more of an underdog than Yuumi and, yet, the one with more power to change. Although she walked into an early trap and wasn’t really playing the game for Kazuki in the beginning, she is really beginning to understand how to play now, and with her opponent Eriko distracted, all the initiative falls to Asuka to make a move, and quite possibly pull off a stunning upset.

Granted, that’s mildly way the hell out there considering that Eriko and Kazuki have already kissed and embraced moreso than any other couple so far this anime, but it really did almost feel like a strange turn of the tide after episode 22. Eriko should be steamrolling by now, should have left Asuka flattened, but yet, somehow, she’s vulnerable and left an opening for a surprise attack. Since, y’know, Kazuki’s still too naive to figure out in the slightest that Asuka has the hots for him.

This is the pressure for Eriko of being on the Emperor side and playing first. She knows she’s got the better odds, she knows all she has to do is play the game-ending card and she’s won, but there’s still that one thought in the back of her head that gives her pause, that keeps her from finishing the job.

That thought is Asuka’s feelings and her own self-doubt, and in a high-stakes game like this there’s no way she can ignore those roadblocks on her path to victory. It’s tough to figure out which one is paralyzing her more in the 22nd episode – she went from cold to smiling to doubting faster than ever believed possible – but clearly there’s a sudden change of heart for her, which is providing for some final drama in the Kazuki triangle.

Will the tide swing in the thrilling conclusion for Asuka? I’m going to finally have to shut this one down, much to the chagrin of many Asuka supporters. Rather, I see this development not as a way to stall for time, or a hint at an Asuka reversal, but rather as the last obstacle for both Eriko and Asuka in terms of completing their character development.

Eriko has been praised for her dropping of the ice queen act in favor of a more open, friendly persona, but it’s easy to see that such a large change isn’t something that can happen easily. What likely fueled her distancing of herself from friends and classmates was at least a tinge of either cynicism or inferiority complex; she didn’t want to deal with other people, one way or another.

And now that she’s actively getting out there, and, y’know, having fun, she’s wildly out of her element. It’s something that doesn’t feel right to her, that makes her uncomfortable. Maybe she feels it’s too good to be true, the fact that she’s finally able to smile and laugh with everybody else, like she wished to since she was a kid. She still has a feeling somewhere deep inside her heart that this isn’t where, or who, she should be.

This is doubly compounded with that sense, time and time again, that her relationship with Kazuki isn’t deserving. Like she said before, the forced nature of it just doesn’t feel natural, and goes against what perhaps is a more ‘real’ romance in her eyes between Kazuki and Asuka. Even though Eriko and Kazuki have been through so much more and so much better than their slow, awkward start, Eriko does not feel this, and can only think how a romance that started like this cannot end well.

These two feelings are forcing Eriko back into her shell, where she feels comfortable away from the world, and finally smashing this shell once and for all, with the help of Kazuki, her friends, and most of all, herself, is the step that Eriko needs to – and very much will – take in the last few episodes.

Asuka has a much longer, if not less complex, road in front of her as well. Her feelings for Kazuki, especially in their undelivered state as it is, will not go away, and it’s easy to see in her demeanor on and off the field that these thoughts are absolutely consuming her.

Ironically enough, despite being the polar opposite of Eriko, Asuka’s happy-happy state is just as much of a hiding spot for Asuka’s true feelings as Eriko’s ice queen mode. Like Eriko, Asuka is a fiercely independent person and can’t stand coming to others for help. It’s admirable in that she still does interact with and help others, and show her true energy and passion through her sport of soccer, but when it comes to herself Asuka just continues to feed herself and others lies.

I can’t help but think from the hints in this episode that Asuka and Eriko’s situations are intertwined beyond just being involved with the same guy. Both of them really do have a surprising amount in common, despite dealing with their inner problems in different ways. Eriko, who perhaps got the better deal in the end here, might end up making a full circle and complete her character evolution by helping up the girl who originally extended the hand to her in patching amends between Eriko and Kazuki: Asuka. It certainly would be a sweet way to tie up the loose ends between the two of them… not to mention the fact that Kazuki isn’t going to catch on any time soon.

Or, would the correct thing for Eriko to do be to march to Kazuki and tell him, “Asuka wants you. Do something about it,” and let him field the issue? It only seems right that Asuka’s feelings go heard after so much pining, even if it is a sort of fruitless confession.

Either way, although the competition for Kazuki, barring a bizarre shock ending, is essentially over, there’s still some ends to be tied up with the conflicted Eriko, the distracted Asuka, and too-much-like-a-normal-naive-harem-lead Kazuki. Sure, the show might be moving a bit slowly, but at this point it’s less action and more reaction, watching the waves settle and seeing where all the pieces land, and that’s still something quite intriguing.

The Mao and Yuumi battle is one far more murky, and one that is at this point just perplexing.

Mao’s on the Emperor side with an obvious advantage and Yuumi’s on her last legs, yet neither character has laid down the killer card that they possess, instead passing up opportunity after opportunity. Perhaps this is what the chairman in Kaiji meant by a battle that is no fun, since both particpants are too scared, or at least, too conflicted to make a move.

What move Yuumi can make at this point is unknown; all the signs point to her on the downfall, yet she and Kouichi continue to drag out their relationship, as viewers wait for an implosion like that of Koko’s in Da Capo II. Certainly Yuumi looks resigned to failure, but the crying Yuumi we saw in the preview turned out to just be a tearfully happy Yuumi having a farewell party thrown for her, and she still can’t bring herself to ask whether Kouichi is serious about Mao… so is it possible Yuumi is still in to win?

Mao continues to cement her lead in this episode by thinking very kindly of Kouichi on her own; the fact that she’s finally got her own legs and control of her own life could have pointed to her being over Kouichi but instead it seems more like she’s gotten back on a stable mental state, and now it’s just Kouichi’s turn to realize his feelings. Not to mention, all the talk from the frog girls about “Kouichi and Yuumi staying together forever” seemed awfully foreboding in implying the opposite.

Even though Mao and Yuumi have done their fair share of deluding themselves as well, what makes this triangle different from Kazuki’s is that Kouichi takes a much greater role in his own fate … although, he hasn’t been doing much recently. Kazuki spent a lot of time being pinballed around by Asuka and Eriko but Kouichi is mostly the one in control of his relationships now, being about on par with the shy Yuumi and gaining an advantage over the emotionally-troubled version of Mao. It’s certainly his choice to make between the two of them, and a choice that he’ll have to make soon.

Kouichi is being painfully harem-lead typical by refusing to realize the truth, in both clinging to the past in Yuumi and ignoring the present of Mao; it’s been said before how she really has helped him during her stay at his house, and truly she is quite deserving, after it all.

It seems to all come down after the school festival when Yuumi takes her final walk with Kouichi. It seems almost painful that the two of them haven’t faced the facts, whether to themselves or with each other, especially with considering how sweet and idealistic this relationship was earlier compared to its almost forced state now (although certain Makotos and Takayukis would be lucky to have a relationship this pure), and hopefully the two of them can send it off with some meaningful and heartfelt closure.

It’s tough for me to analyze the Mao / Yuumi situation at this point simply because of this point as well, that Yuumi hasn’t given up the ghost yet, and by extension neither have I. In the end I’m still a Yuumi fanboy through and through and I can’t decide whether letting her hopes live is a gift from heaven or some form of cruel torture, as I can’t imagine how Yuumi is going to face up to the words that she doesn’t want to hear…

Unless, miraculously, she pulls it off in the end. The question is, would that end be truly rewarding, forced, or a simple impossibility? There’s one way to find out – remember, they call it a miracle because it has a chance of happening…

-CCY

(YUUMI FIGHTO! Standing aboard the sinking ship until the very end~)