So much for procrastination… here’s this long overdue deep frying!

No wonder I thought my deep frying for episode 1 turned out too short, I forgot to mention some more stuff regarding the Doujou x Iku lobby scene! >_< It’s not all that much but it would’ve made the scene more dramatic =D

The Lobby Scene: Iku’s Monologue

Going back to the lobby scene, there should’ve been this Iku monologue which showed us how she came to terms with what Komaki and Doujou was trying to tell her before, Komaki with his thought-provoking question, “Are track-and-field and P.T. similar?” (which Iku obviously didn’t get), and Doujou’s scolding, “If you’re always going to think of this [lightly] like some sports, then you better quit!”

Unlike in the track and field (or any sports for that matter), where you can just slack off after you reach the finish line, you cannot let your guard down at all times in the battlefield. The moment Iku realized this, she felt so pathetic for having misinterpreted Doujou’s intentions when he scolded her for slacking off (first part of episode 1). She was so full of herself for finishing first in that training, when in fact that doesn’t mean anything at all. The admirable ones are those who persisted on despite having reached the finish line, because they knew well that the point of this training is not to win. In an actual battlefield, making your opponent stumble and fall does not translate to victory, because this will even cause them to rise up and fight back. Now if you don’t anticipate that comeback and proclaim victory early on, like what Iku did, the result will be disastrous, far worse than what happened in the scene with the chubby stabby otaku, if ever. (Then the pat from Doujou came after this thought monologue :3)

And onto episode 2~

The Tezuka Files

Tezuka’s appearance was cut-short in the anime, again, due to time constraints. Having read these omitted parts of the novel beforehand, I found the Tezuka confession at the end of episode 2 to be really abrupt. But I guess I was just jaded by having this point of comparison, considering that Kabitzin actually thought it was all good~ Nonetheless, here goes all those missing cut scenes, and well, you be the judge

#1 The First Close Encounter

When Iku and Tezuka were summoned to the Director’s office for their official appointment as members of the Library Task Force, Iku actually took the initiative to befriend Tezuka, before they proceeded inside the room. She started this conversation, confiding about her relief after finding out that she’s not the only one recruited in the task force. Had Iku stopped what she said right here, I think Tezuka would’ve just ignored her, but no, Iku went as far as saying, “…it’s unbelievable that we were chosen to become part of the Task Force. (in a really innocent & friendly tone)” orz. Given Tezuka’s prejudice against Iku even before this (details later), he found this an insult more than anything, and thus corrected Iku by saying it’s only unbelievable for someone like her. *insert Iku’s tsuntsun reaction here*

#2 The First Scolding From Doujou

This is just a minor scene, but I thought I’d mention it nonetheless, just because I can :p

After Doujou scolds Tezuka for insulting Iku (“I can’t believe someone who doesn’t know [about the Hino incident] can be in the task force”), Tezuka supposedly reacted rather normally (aka tightfisted + grumbling kind of reaction). He also waited a bit until the coast was clear, then glares at Iku and tells her not to get so cheeky because of this. Iku was just left dumbfounded because she never even thought that Doujou defended her.

Additional note: Doujou made this remark to somewhat cover up the fact that he was scolding Tezuka in defense of Iku, which sadly, I couldn’t quite understand =.=; What I know is that after that, Iku breathe a huge sigh of relief because the thought of Doujou defending her was already giving her the creeps (though of course Iku was just being tsuntsun about this since her heart skipped a beat when Doujou defended her)

#3 Inside the Mind of a Tezuka Hikaru

This is what I’d say the “chunk” of the Tezuka omissions in this episode, which could’ve made us see more of the roots of his prejudice against Iku… but then again it’s nothing plot critical, so it’s probably why they decided not to include this… :’(

Genius Tezuka thought that would be the only one to be recruited in the Task Force that year, much to his surprise when Genda told him that there’s another candidate, a girl at that. With this, he observed Iku for a little while — during class, the judo sparring (yes he witnessed the Iku x Doujou EPIC fight), among others — interested to see what kind of girl she was. And well, he was sorely disappointed to see that Iku is the type of person he hates the most — an incompetent all-brawl and no brain kind of person who lets their emotions get the better of them. Not to mention Iku always gets into petty fight with Doujou, whom he looks up to as the perfect superior. With this, it was as if Iku was also ruining this cool image Tezuka had of Doujou ^^;;;

Given this, the moment Tezuka met Iku face-to-face (as mentioned in #1), what was running through his mind was “Don’t put me down in the same level as you are.”

#4 Tezuka x Genda confrontation

The night after the first day of training, Genda asked Tezuka what his opinion of Iku was, and he simply replied “Nothing special… I’m not interested in her anyway.” Genda just laughs at Tezuka’s remark, knowing well that he’s soooo interested in finding out why she was lumped together with him in the task force. Tezuka recalls what Doujou told him earlier, and just tells Genda that he doesn’t have the right to question this decision anyways. Genda adds that he shouldn’t be comparing people with his level of excellence, considering that there would only be a handful of people who can actually be at par with him. Tezuka reasons out that he’s not really excellent or anything like that, he just works hard and that’s that, and Genda just tells him to at least try becoming more friendly with her ^^;;;

#5 Whatever happened to Tezuka after the bear attack?

This was just implied in the anime, that after the bear attack Tezuka reacted the normal way — he screamed and cowered in fear LOL.

The Iku x Doujou antics

(and some happenings behind the scenes)

The Bear Attack Precaution

If you’d recall timeline 7:29 of episode 2, Doujou drops a little hint of concern for Iku, who was fretting over the possible bear attack during their hike. In the novel, this supposedly happened during a private Iku x Doujou moment, where both of them were taking a rest from their long hike. Doujou consoles Iku that there hasn’t been any bear sightings during their hike so there should be nothing for her to worry about, and Iku thanks him for this =3 AND, Doujou supposedly SMILESS during this scene!

And here are more additional scenes from the shoujo manga:

Aftermath of Tezuka’s Scolding

While it was said in the anime that Doujou called up Shibasaki to accompany Iku after the harsh scolding from Tezuka, it wasn’t really portrayed as sweet as it was supposed to be in the manga. And I just thought I had to include these bits for the fangurls out there~ X3

First of all, Iku didn’t cry until after Shibasaki came to fetch her (after Doujou told her about the situation Iku was in), so the tears she shed was that of joy because she came to comfort her. Shibasaki tells her that she should be thankful to Doujou instead, and she did (as far as the manga is concerned)~ She thought of how Doujou helped her, yet again. <3

In the novel, the topic quickly shifted to Tezuka so we don’t get to see Doujou in Iku’s thoughts ^^;;

Iku supposedly thanked Doujou for this, and in the manga, it was shown that he pats on the head and encourages her to do her best =D

Tezuka x Doujou and Tezuka x Komaki Confrontation

In timeline ~14:35 of the anime, we see Doujou telling Tezuka to recognize Iku’s efforts, but instead of saying “I’m sure there’s something you can gain from her” (which was supposedly from Komaki), Doujou told him “…thinking logically is right, but using logic as a means of leverage is not.” Tezuka somewhat took these words to heart, and he refused to talk to Doujou after that.

The following day, Tezuka seems to have calmed down a bit and asked Komaki for some counseling regarding his issue with Iku, knowing well that Komaki is the very person who uses logic at its finest. Tezuka started by asking whether it’s must for him to accept (or come to terms with) Iku, and talented logician Komaki managed to provide an insightful multi-faceted disquisition over that vague question Tezuka gave.

Among the words Komaki imparted to Tezuka include:
“You can still work with someone you hate”
“You can’t expect to work with people you like all the time”
“Even if you don’t like the person, you can still acknowledge his/her abilities”

Komaki explains that they didn’t evaluate Iku based on her abilities, because obviously, she really lacks it. What makes her so interesting is this zeal and passion she has, which gets her all FIRED UP most of the time. According to Komaki, Iku and Doujou are two peas in a pod with regards to this aspect — a fact that Tezuka will have a really hard time coming to terms to, considering how he looks up to Doujou as the perfect (and ever-cool) superior.

This got Tezuka wondering if the reason why Doujou defends Iku so much is because he finds her similar to him, and Komaki tells him that he’s misinterpreting Doujou’s actions. When Doujou scolds Tezuka about something, it’s not because of his bias for Iku, but rather because he thinks it’s necessary for Tezuka’s betterment.

It was after this that Komaki mentions that he thinks Tezuka can gain something from Iku, which he believes will make things even more interesting than it is now~ (and I really think this conversation with Komaki is what Tezuka decide to ask Iku out, to settle this once and for all! XD)