How would you rate episode 19 of
The Ramparts of Ice (TV 2) ?
This episode is all about establishing the new status quo between Minato, Koyuki, and Momoka's relationship dynamic. Now that Koyuki has gotten some degree of closure and more confidence in expressing her feelings after last week, the big question was whether or not she was going to do anything with those feelings. I'm not really surprised that she decided not to pursue Minato in a romantic way since he's already with Momoka. I'm a little surprised that the show isn't building on that conversation from last week about how everyone noticed that Minato did have a thing for her except for her. Maybe it's a moot point since he's dating Momoka, and he expressed privately that he only sees Koyuki as a friend. But one thing I will criticize The Ramparts of Ice for is the fact that it will sometimes bring up conversations or plot points and then just never really develop them later on. I don't know if this is the result of content getting cut or an example of the series having weaker moments of writing.
The main meat of this episode, though, is the new relationship between Minato and Momoka. The season started going into Momoka's backstory regarding how she views relationships, and this episode builds on that. Momoka was always the target of other people's unwanted affection, and then she would get criticism or hate when she understandably didn't return those feelings. She was annoyed about people projecting all of these expectations onto her and then making it her responsibility to like them back. Ironically, Momoka's past seems to be an inversion of Minato's where she was very comfortable not responding to people's affection for her, but she ended up getting punished for it and ended up straining relationships. I wonder how Minato would feel if he heard what she had gone through in the past. I think that would actually be something the two could bond over.
Speaking of Minato, I think this is the episode that fully grounds where he got his people pleaser mentality from. Minato grew up in a very loud, vitriolic filled household. He saw firsthand from a very young age how arguing and badmouthing each other could leave relationships falling apart, and probably feel some guilt over his brother leaving because he couldn't stand staying at that house anymore. While there is a bit of a savior complex to Minato since he does see a lot of his social interactions as helping other people that are being badmouthed by others, he is also doing it for himself. He's trying to avoid witnessing a situation where somebody doesn't feel like they belong and needs to leave. The problem is that you can't “save” everyone and he could never separate that insecurity from the romantic relationships that he engaged in. Basically, Minato was trying to solve every single social interaction the exact same way and while it did work a lot of the time, when it comes to situations that deal with his own personal feelings, this is where he falters.
The problem is that Minato has spent so much time looking after other people, or trying to fix things, that he never looked inward at himself. The visual of the giant door with a chain that no one else has been able to break through is poignant and it's probably going to be the biggest visual metaphor of the season. Momoka realizes this door exists, but instead of trying to break through it, she's just taking advantage of it. There's so much irony with their relationship because Momoka did not want to be seen as some kind of prize or go out with somebody just because they confessed to her…and yet she forced Minato into a situation where he is just going out with her because she asked. She feels needy and insecure, but it is solely a circumstance of her own creation. She's trying to turn a banana into an apple and she's going to realize soon that not only is that not going to work, but the consequences could be very dangerous for both of them. There are so many directions that Minato and Momoka's relationship can go, but one thing is for certain, this is not a relationship that is meant to last long and I'm very curious to see where the breaking point is going to be.
The Ramparts of Ice Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.