Boys Over Flowers Season 2: Episode 8

Ota tells Tenma that from the time her father lost their money, she has been living a life of deceit and has only been hiding under Tenma’s shadow. She says she will not run away from Eitoku and will join Momonozono like any other transfer student with pride. She says she wants to be his equal and walk beside him proudly. Tenma calmly listens to her and supports her decision. The two of them are unaware that Konoe has been eavesdropping on them and looks highly displeased with Ota’s decision.

Megumi offers Haruto her tiffin box apologizing for not being able to cook anything for him. Haruto instead scoffs that he was under the impression that she will never cook again. Airi fumes with rage seeing Megumi sticking to Haruto and Megumi clarifies that she is now Haruto’s temporary girlfriend which to her surprise Haruto too admits to. She jumps with glee when he finally acknowledges her as his temporary girlfriend. He then asks her if she is fine that he may not be able to love her immediately and she says she has no problem with that. She then urges him to call her Megumi instead of Megurin which he feels shy to do so. Kaito tells them that Haruto’s decision to halt peasant hunting has ticked off a lot of students and that they should be ready for some kinda opposition. He adds that Megumi and Haruto’s couple is now their only hope. Megumi then clings onto her new boyfriend and he feels something pricking in his waist and finds the lucky pig in his pocket.

Haruto scolds Kobayashi for putting the lucky pig in his pocket despite him throwing it away. Kobayashi justifies that he was worried for Haruto who has been looking gloomy since the past few days so he thought Washington might help him which it did as Haruto looks a lot happier today. Haruto asks him who is he is talking about and Kobayashi replies that he named the lucky golden pig ‘Washington’. With a reluctant smile tugging on his lips, Haruto thanks Kobayashi for it.

Tenma’s step-mother Rie looks furious over Ota’s decision and he tries in vain to pacify her. She tells him that he is being pushed around by his fiancée and leaves in a huff which disturbs Tenma.

Next morning, Haruto and C5, along with the rest of the students are stunned to see their schools’ name slab defaced with red paint. The students start blaming Haruto and C5 for failing to protect their school.

Just then, they hear someone giving an order to make way. Everyone turns to see Ota standing with a bucket of water in her hand. She walks from the middle of the crowd and admonishes everyone for pointing fingers at C5. She then twists a damp towel and starts wiping off the paint. Megumi follows suit as she arrives with a cleaning trolley and hands C5 mops to clean the message written in red paint.

Issa and Sugi happily join the cleaning unfazed by the fact that their actions have irked other students. But Haruto looks pleased with all that is happening. He gently squeezes Washington in his pocket and thanks it for being so lucky for him.

Hiding behind a bin, Haruto observes Ota cleaning and wonders if she stayed back at Eitoku for him. He then imagines her running into his arms and confessing her love for him. Haruto ends up screaming in surprise only to see Ota looking confused at finding him behind the bin. Embarrassed, he asks Ota to teach him how to clean the cloth wipes. As he twists the cloth she tells him about her decision to not transfer to Momonozono. She says that she was tired of living under Tenma’s shadow and wants him to be proud of her.

She says she wants to accept herself the way she is and that she realised this when she heard Haruto’s public outbreak the previous day. He then tells her that Megumi is now his temporary girlfriend as Ota’s rejection broke his heart and he thought of moving on with Megumi so they can also be a good couple like Tenma and her. He then extends his hand and asks for them to be friends which Ota happily agrees to with a handshake.

On checking the CCTV footage, C5 are only able to spot a unique bracelet around the culprit’s wrist. They then send a snapshot of it over LINE and ask the students to inform them in case they spot anyone with that bracelet. Students, however, mock their efforts as they find their need for help from other students as a sign of their inability to protect Eitoku.

After practising Kendo, Konoe asks Tenma if he heard about what happened at Eitoku and Tenma answers that Ota told him about it last night. He asks him if Tenma is cool about his fiancée going to such an unsafe school and Tenma appreciates his concern for her. Konoe says he respects her because she is his fiancée and Tenma says that he is not as nice as he thinks he is. He says he feels scared that imposing his decisions on Ota will drive her away from him and will make her hate him. Konoe tells him that sometimes it is okay to be imposing on someone as he would certainly like someone to be that way with him. (What? Is Konoe gay? It looks like he ‘likes’ Tenma.)

Haruto’s father calls to meet him to tell him how happy he is with his decision to date Megumi. He tells him to not screw it up as his company is in talks with Nishidome (Megumi’s father) for some business.

At the mart, Ota’s friend Konno asks her what she feels about Haruto and Megumi dating and Ota admits that it did prick a little when she first heard about Haruto’s decision. But she is happy as she wants to be close to Tenma and is only concerned with him.

Tenma calls Ota and asks her if she can join him for a movie date tomorrow. Surprised, Ota tells him that she was about to call him to ask for the same as Konno gave her some extra tickets to a movie. (awww….they look so cute blushing like that)

Megumi comes excitedly to Haruto to tell him that she wishes to celebrate her upcoming birthday in school with her new friends and C5 which will help unite all of them. Haruto is happy to hear about her plan and she shows him the invitation card to prove that she has already put her plan into action.

Ota and Tenma arrive hand-in-hand at the theatre to watch their first movie together. As they head towards their movie screen, Megumi messages Ota to meet her urgently. Megumi and Haruto arrive at the theatre when Megumi hands Ota her birthday invitation. She tells Ota that she wanted to give her the invitation right away as she was her first friend at school. Tenma then congratulates her for finally becoming a couple with Haruto and then looks over at Haruto who cannot stop scowling at him. Finding themselves at the theatre, Megumi suggests Haruto and she too join Ota and Tenma for the movie which startles the three of them. (Ugh! Megumi stop getting on my nerves!)

When they take their seats, Ota and Haruto happen to sit beside each other. Megumi tries to switch seats with Haruto but he refuses to change his seat. Seeing Haruto and Ota sit together, Tenma feels a little insecure and he is unable to enjoy the movie as his eyes only move to look at the two of them.

At one point he happens to lock eyes with Megumi who like him is only looking at Ota and Haruto. Awkward, they both look away while Haruto and Ota enjoy the movie.

After the movie, they go to a restaurant where Haruto is surprised to see a mountain of shaved ice on his plate. Megumi and Ota urge him to eat the ice-cream which he cautiously does. He then notices that Ota’s tongue has gone purple after eating the ice-cream.

She then shows him a mirror to have him see his tongue that has gone green.

Paranoid, Haruto runs from his seat believing that the food is poisoned. Ota too has fun at his expense but then runs after him and explains that it is actually syrup that turned his tongue green. They look like a couple bickering oblivious to the Megumi’s longing stare and Tenma’s discomfort.

Tenma’s father has a chat with him on Tenma’s step-mother’s insistence. He tells him that he too feels that Ota is pushing him around and that he wants to have matters cleared with her and her mother. He picks 2^nd June as the day of their meeting. Tenma tells him about Megumi’s birthday but Rie interjects that Tenma is only making excuses to delay the meeting.

Haruto asks Megumi if she would like a south island as her birthday gift. She instead asks him to call her Megumi as her gift.

Tenma arrives at Ota’s house and requests her to decline Megumi’s birthday invitation as his father has asked to meet them for lunch. Ota’s mother leaps out to meet Tenma’s father right away to clear any matter. Tenma tells her that his father has left for work already. She assures him to be there with Ota on the said date.

Megumi informs Haruto that she received a call from Ota saying that she will not be able to be there for the party as she has an appointment with Tenma’s family. The news puts a gloom over Haruto which Megumi cannot help notice. She offers him a bite of cake which he refuses to eat. She then rushes out of the room to hide her tears. He walks over to the cake table where he sees her agenda for her birthday party and realises how hard she is trying to re-unite C5. Feeling ashamed of his behaviour, he rushes out after Megumi. He then asks her to entrust him with her birthday plans as he wishes to plan the best birthday ever for her.

Next, we see Haruto with a group of professionals elaborately decorating the school and planning Megumi’s birthday. Ota wishes him luck with the party and starts to leave when he runs after her. Bending at the waist he says he notices something weird about her and urges her to share her problem with him as they are friends now.

Next, we see then sitting on a park bench where Haruto sighs over Ota’s nervousness about meeting Tenma’s father the next day. He scolds her for being so under-confident and not sticking to her decision to do things her way. He then tells her that after Megumi’s cake cutting he plans to ask her to officially date him and not be a temporary girlfriend.

Ota clearly looks affected by the news. Haruto tells her that since he is moving on with Megumi it is only wise of her to not screw up things with Tenma. She thanks him for his advice and for being such a good friend to her.

Megumi ends up at Ota’s place to learn Ota’s recipe for Haruto’s favourite stir-fried vegetable. Meanwhile, the C5 boys fling Haruto into the pool wishing him lots of happiness with Megumi.

At school, Haruto and C5 ensure that everything is going as planned. Ota arrives at the party to gift Megumi a pair of swimming goggles so she does not shed a tear while cutting onions. She notices that C5 look a little tensed and Megumi tells her that they received a threat message with her photo on it.

As Ota walks with her mother to the restaurant, she sees a live telecast of Megumi’s birthday on a widescreen on the street and notices the hand wearing the same bracelet as the culprit who defaced their school’s name slab. She asks her mother to go ahead and join Tenma and his family for lunch as she runs back to school.

The moment she reaches school she screams for Haruto to shield Megumi and taking her cue he dives taking Megumi down with him as her birthday cake explodes before everyone. The waiter then tries to escape but C5 overpower him on time. So that the students don’t see this as another failure on the part of C5, Megumi quickly gets back to her feet and screams ‘surprise’ saying that the blast was just to shock them and that she did not know they would get this surprised. Surprised, Haruto looks a Megumi admiring her presence of mind and her efforts at re-uniting C5. 

Haruto asks Ota about her lunch date and she only says that she did things her way which might not have gone down well with Tenma’s family. Meanwhile, Tenma’s father and mother feel annoyed at Ota’s absence and they start to leave but Ota arrives just on time and apologises for being late. Before she can explain herself, Haruto walks in behind her and apologises for keeping Ota from coming to the lunch date. Rie asks him about his relationship with her and he admits that Ota is indeed a very special person to him.

In a typical drama hero style, he tells Tenma’s parents how much Ota loves Tenma and often stresses over not being able to match up to his standards. He tells them how happy and relieved she felt when Tenma confessed his feelings for her and told her that he loves her unconditionally. As Haruto speaks about Ota’s feelings for Tenma, Tenma notices how close they are for her to share her feelings with Haruto when he is her ‘boyfriend’. He looks extremely dejected by it.

Tenma’s father then walks up to Ota and tells her not to worry as he knows how she feels for Tenma. He thanks Haruto for being such a good friend which makes Tenma looks even more crestfallen.

Delighted Haruto starts to leave and Ota runs after him and thanks him for everything. Haruto then heads to school where he sees Megumi all alone by herself trying to prepare stir fired vegetable for him. He notices her tears and then pulls her into a tight hug. He apologises for leaving her alone and then calls her ‘megumi’ which moves her and she breaks down.

Meanwhile, just as Ota tries to apologise to Tenma, he pulls her into a hug that baffles her as he does not speak anything to her.

 

 

Comments

I just hate it when two people who have had or have feelings for each other call themselves ‘friends’. The term ‘friends’, I feel, is always thoughtlessly abused by everyone. Now, Haruto knows that he still likes Ota and Ota too is aware of how she feels for Haruto but they still have agreed to be ‘just friends’ which gives them the liberty to flirt with each other in front of their respective partners. Ugh!!

It is funny how the students of Eitoku rely on C5 for managing everything in the school including its security. Aren’t C5 too students just like them? But it isn’t entirely their fault as C5 has vowed to maintain the schools’ reputation in every way possible so, bear the brunt guys. It was good to see Ota, Megumi and C5 clean the slab themselves. It shows how truly they care about the school and do not mind getting their hands dirty (literally) to uphold its name.

Though I now find Megumi cute I also hate her sometimes for her over-accommodative nature. She is supposedly a very famous star coming from a wealthy family so then why does she allow Haruto to treat her so badly? She is aware of how Haruto feels for Ota and still has the audacity to suggest they have a double date with Ota and Tenma. Like really? Girl are you stupid? And then she is ignorant enough to have Haruto sit next to Ota during the movie only so she can look at them cross-eyed. I can imagine a person being foolish but I cannot imagine a ‘girlfriend’ being so damn idiotic. Since when did girlfriends start being so dim-witted? Ah! Drama world and its typical drama characters.

Thank God Tenma is not unreasonably noble like Megumi. He knows what’s going on and tries his best to ignore it so as to not look possessive in front of Ota. He truly believes in her and wants to leave it up to her to make her choice. He is willing to fight it out and I like his confidence.

Coming to actor Taishi Nakagawa (who plays Tenma) I have to add here that I think he is doing a great job as the sweet and perfect Tenma.

He seems to have worked really hard on the character and his facial expressions totally prove that. He does occasionally seem to pout but it looks nice on him so I have no complaints. 🙂 I loved the lip quiver in the scene where his father praises Haruto for being a good friend to Ota. Taishi nailed the combined look of shock and disappointment on his face. I was sad that he was to play the second-lead in this drama but now I see why the producers picked him to play the part. He is such a scene stealer that playing second-lead only works in his favour as female audiences easily warm up to such positive characters. Also, Tenma is such a good character that I am dreading his heartbreak scene. He has been so patient with Ota and has shown so much faith in her that the day she picks Haruto over him will truly be devastating for him. I just hope he himself backs out instead of Ota turning him down. This way I will feel less bad for him.

Having said that, I don’t mean that the main lead is weaker than Tenma. Actor Sho Hirano (who plays Haruto) may have tremendous scope for improvement but he does play his part decently. Haruto’s character is shaping well in the drama. He is a heavily flawed hero who is slowly heading towards major self-improvements. Such characters seem more real than Tenma.

As far as Ota is concerned I cannot help feeling extremely envious of her for having two hot guys fight over her. She’s got to be the luckiest heroine as she is in a win-win situation as both the options in front of her are amazing. It’s sad that she has to repress her feelings for Haruto because she feels indebted to Tenma for always being there for her. What is even sadder is that she does not really feel for Tenma whereas I am crying my eyes out because I feel just too much for him. Argh! Damn you drama heroine! When will you learn to make the right choice?    

 

Image Courtesy: Tokyo Broadcasting System

 

Boys Over Flowers Season 2: Episode 9

Boys Over Flowers Season 2: Episode 7

 

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