It's Li-Ren, but with twelve times the regular angst!
Katt: The countdown to the final Hanasakeru Seishounen episode continues–just two to go! Seriously, what am I going to do with this series over? I mean, I still have other series to blog, but I’m going to miss my regular commenters for this series… *tear* Okay, okay, I’ll save the sentimentality for the finale.
For now, episode 37- let me get this straight: Li-Ren gets the girl and gives her up the second a teeny death threat is uttered. Yeesh, c’mon Li-Ren! Man up! But I suppose a conflict like this is necessary to solidify the final pairing, assuring us that they can make it through ~anything~ together.
Man, this episode was so very angsty that it’ll be odd to blog. It appeals to those who like drama in their pairings, as well as gives a few ‘aww~’ moments in between. Ah, since I’m pretty busy with school, maybe my best bet is just to look at some of those lovely moments quickly. (And don’t worry: in the midst of all of this Kajika/Li-Ren, I won’t forget poor Carl!)
Aaaangst
In the face of a death threat towards Kajika, Li-Ren chooses to abandon Kajika completely and marry Ling-Lee. This is a truly ironic scene; when it was first revealed that Harry’s aim with this husband game was to find someone who would be able to love/be with Kajika and protect her, it seemed as though Li-Ren would only be able to fulfill the former requirement. Now, he has instead chosen the latter – he is protecting her safety, but need to sacrifice their relationship to do so.
P.S.: Li-Ren’s hair was totally just gelled the whole time. How deceptive, making me think he got a haircut!
Kajika–also known as I-get-all-up-in-everyone’s-business girl–breaks down when she hears that Li-Ren has gotten engaged to Ling-Lee. She doesn’t jump up and announce that she’ll go to Singapore to get Li-Ren to explain, as I certainly would have expected her to do. Insead, she goes into her room and cries like a normal teenage girl would do in the face of heartbreak. While I have a vendetta against typical teenage girls, there is something very endearing about Kajika finally acting like one in this scene. For once, she is helpless.
Carl has the realization in this episode and, as I suspected, it didn’t have the emotional impact that Eugene and Rumaty’s scenes had in the past two episodes. Nonetheless, I was still sad for Carl. He isn’t a pro at concealing emotions like Eugene and doesn’t have someone to stay by his side like Rumaty, and these facts lead to him not even trying to pretend that he’ll be alright. I personally think it’s a little silly of him to claim that he’ll never be able to look at another woman the way he looked at her. Soon enough, Carl, I think you’ll be able to say that you’ll be okay and it won’t be a lie.
Oh. Um. POOR CARL?
Everyone together now: awwwww~
Basically, every character in this series except for Kajika realized aaages ago that Li-Ren had the hots for her. Confirmation: even Kajika’s stand-in mother figure, Maria, shows up and gives a big ol’ “well no kidding” when Kajika tells her that Li-Ren is the boy she’s dating. Yeah, Li-Ren has liked her for that long. His devotion to and unwavering love for Kajika for the many, many years that they have known each other merits a solid, “awwwww~”
Prior to this, all we got to see of Kajika and Li-Ren’s relationship were chilhood memories and the moment that it become official. Apparently the two actually had some alone time after their deal-sealing kiss and their departure from Raginei, and it completely deserves an “awwwww~” The two agree to travel to Gavori Islands together, a vacation of sorts, to indulge in memories and escape from the stresses of lives in the business world. …Rich bastards.
In a way, this is sort of an anti-Kajika/Li-Ren moment because it only happens thanks to Li-Ren breaking Kajika’s heart–nonetheless, I definitely went ”awwwww~” when Harry came in to comfort Kajika after she learned of Li-Ren’s engagement. What can I say? I just adore Harry. Even though he is such an absent figure for much of the series, when he does appear, he proves to be a really good dad and gives us some sweet father-daughter moments with Kajika. On top of that, it’s around here that we explicitly learn that Harry had raised Li-Ren as Kajika’s ideal from the beginning, and that the other boys were just back-ups.
But wait, all of this needs to go on hold in the next episode! Screw the Kajika/Li-Ren/Ling-Lee triangle- Machaty is dying! D= Finally, FINALLY we are going to get to see the true best character of Hanasakeru Seishounen! Oh. my. God. I’m excited!! MACHATY!!! (Plus this totally means that Rumaty will be back next episode too! <3)
Katt’s love-metre for Hanasakeru Seishounen episode 37 measures…9/10
Katt’s love-metre expects Hanasakeru Seishounen episode 38 to be…10/10
Well, this genuinely took me by surprise.
Part of me kept wanting to see Li-leng kill himself so he didn’t have to marry Ling-lee. Then Kajika could be all, “You killed Li-leng, so now I’m gonna destroy the Huang group!”
I know it wouldn’t make for a happy ending, but I was really pissed off.
Aaaagh! So frustrating!! Of course Machaty has to get ill just when Kajika seems decided to confront Li-Ren!
I really feel for Li-Ren but I half expected (or rather wished)like Joojoobees that he would take his life or really breakdown to show he was no use to the Huangs if Kajika was not by his side in a more dramatic way than his body refusing to take in any food.
And what with Zao not realising that Li-Ren was “that into Kjaika”?! Has he been by Li-Ren’s side the last odd ten years or not?? Everyones else knew as you wrote! He who is so observant managed to miss that out?? That was breaking his character a bit I’m afraid…
I did also go all aaaaaaw! at the father-daughter scene. It was so endearing! Harry got a very different way of raising his daughter which shows how much he loves her, but it makes her life slightly complicated. On one hand he wants her to be independent and make her own choices, on the other he made her compleatly dependent on other people by first isolating her, and then having her surrounded by people who’d do anything for her. She is always saved by them. No wonder she gets confused or acts in ways normal teenage girls would not…
That Li-Ren was chosen by Harry was not so suprising, I’ve wondered how come only the leader of the Huang was invited to the Island over and over again to play with Kajika. Also that he closed the deal to have Li-Ren by Kajikas side for the husband-hunting game seemed to be to force them to relasise their true feelings. What was suprising to me was that he said it out loud to Maria (though she sort of knew already)
On the Carl note, he is still very much Carl, don’t know how else to express that =P He does things his own way which does not put him in a favourable possition for Kajikas hand, but if he did he would not have been Carl.
What suprised me in this episode was that it was only Carl who actually tried to see Li-Ren, I kinda expected all the men to jump off their chairs and try to see what could possible have made him desert Kajika and make her unhappy…
I should probably not say this, but I actually feel sorry for Li-Ling. She’s so young and got dreams. She would understand when she grew up if she and Li-Ren actually would get married, but could she accept that the person she loves is unhappy due to her?
Katt: A last comment (it got rather long I realised!) -couldn’t help but laugh when I read the “rich bastards” comment. When I saw that scene I was reacting somewhat similar thinking I wish I could go away just like that! Maybe I have to marry rich after all
…and thank you again for this blog, I do love to read your comments and analysis!
This episode kind of made me slightly annoyed
I mean, I understand Kajika’s reaction(and it was endearing since she never acts like a teenager) but I thought she would have attempted to reach Li-Ren face to face to talk.
It seems Ling-Lee will be able to back off. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but the raw for 38, she doesn’t look entirely happy. Maybe she’ll grow up a little ‘Tiptoesaround’? by accepting that Li-Ren isn’t happy?
The Rich Bastards comment made me laugh^-^
And Carl. Oh, Carl…
I feel bad for him, since he has no one to stay by him, but not as much as the other two. He just entered way too late for me to have that much of a reaction as Eugene’s. Rumaty’s scene made me sad, but he has his brother, so…:)
But I named my husband Carl in the game LIFE. Does that help? XD
And MACHATY!!! Does this mean Rumaty will find out about Kajika’s bloodline? Probably. Does this mean he’ll feel threatened? Probably not.
JJbees– Y’know what? Despite all of the angst, the possibility of Li-Ren killing himself never even crossed my mind. It would have been a really cheap way to end the series, though, hahaha.
Tiptoesaround– If the distraction were anything else, I’d be annoyed…but it’s Machaty, so I am pleased. XD
Come to think of it, it really is ridiculous that Zao didn’t notice how attached to Kajika Li-Ren was. People who have known them for, like, five minutes realize it. What is up with that? Maybe he just isn’t perceptive in the ways of ~love~…like a robot. (New plot twist! Zao is actually a killer robot.)
While I didn’t mention it in the post, Harry’s love for his wife was also very endearing. It kind of justifies his contradictory style of raising Kajika; he must have panicked when an attempt on her life was made, so no wonder he isolated her on an island and surrounded her by guardians of sorts. Even as she got older, it still didn’t eliminate the risk in his mind.
I definitely wasn’t surprised at Harry having intended Li-Ren to win this whole thing, but it was still a little out-there for that to have been his intention from the time that Li-Ren and Kajika were just kids. I would have expected more of a, “Oh, he’s fallen for Kajika–better make him man up and deserve her” at a certain point, not from the beginning. Harry, you are too conniving!
Carl really is the (mentally) weakest of the bachelors, but you’re right, that’s just Carl. He couldn’t hide everything from Kajika, yet that doesn’t stop him from being a good guy. He’s undoubtedly going to see Li-Ren for Kajika’s sake, which is a great show of character: he acknowledges Li-Ren as a good person, good for Kajika, but he won’t just let things be if Kajika becomes heartbroken.
Ling-Lee is very… well, she doesn’t have enough of a personality yet for me to think much of her, ha ha. Naive, I guess – she’s blind to the cause of Li-Ren’s misery, and that does make me pity her.
Bahaha, I am so pleased that the “rich bastards” comment went over well. Seriously, these characters just hop onto private jets at random! Argh!
Thank YOU for leaving such extensive comments~ This is the main thing that I am going to miss about blogging this series. My readers are wonderful. <3
Airi– That would have been the typical Kajika thing to do, yes, but she’s more serious about Li-Ren than any of the other guys. It would make sense for her rationality to completely fail her and to just think, “Oh God, he’s left me,” and break down. I think that that’s meant to be frustrating for us, though, ha ha.
I hope Ling-Lee steps aside! Just in regards to it building a nice character for her. Right now she is just Little Miss Naive, but she can’t stay like that forever. And she’s met Kajika too, who has been nothing but kind to her.
Again, so pleased that the ‘rich bastards’ comment was well-received. XD Seriously, “Let’s go to the Caribbean islands and only come back when we’red bored! Nevermind money supply; that’s infinite!” Sighhhh.
Well, naming your husband Carl in LIFE counts for something since you gave him some acknowledgement. XD
I can only imagine that Rumaty will find out–I mean, the fact that the whole gang goes to see Machaty is kind of a hint! I’m picturing a whole “why are you here? why is your father here? why is HIS father here?” chain of questioning, hahaha!