How would you rate episode 20 of
The Ramparts of Ice (TV 2) ?
I wanted to call this episode the “calm before the storm,” but that would downplay the sheer amount of anxiety everyone was feeling. Originally, I worried that this episode would be boring, considering that there are a lot of scenes that just felt like a recap. The first half of this episode can be summed up by Koyuki, Miki, and Tsukiko all just rehashing everything they're feeling in the auditorium. Koyuki is depressed because she can't get over Minato, Miki is getting progressively more self-aware about her developing feelings for Yota despite constant denials, and Tsukiko is just trying to make sense of everybody's position.
Thankfully, a lot of parts of this episode start delving a bit more into what I imagine will be a big emotional fallout. I was very curious about what Minato was feeling when the show shifted to his perspective. The way he describes a lot of the physical ailments he's going through, like his skin crawling or how it was getting progressively harder to breathe, made me think he was on the verge of a full-on anxiety attack. Sometimes the body will manifest physical ailments as a result of emotional suppression, and because Minato's emotional suppression is at its peak, both with hiding his true feelings and trying to placate a girlfriend that he really doesn't have feelings for, he could have a massive crash out. He might think he can keep that door in his heart locked forever, but one way or another, it will burst open. It's just a question of whether or not it can be opened in a way that he can deal with.
This episode culminates in that really nice conversation between Minato and Koyuki towards the end. I originally thought the show had done a poor job of properly communicating why Koyuki likes Minato in the first place, especially since she was originally very put off by how forward he was. This time, the two have a proper conversation where Koyuki reveals that deep down, she was always thankful for how forward and inclusive he tried to be. Koyuki is a bit more of a loner and is an introvert, but Minato opened up her world to more friends and people. If given the choice, she would probably rather keep things to herself, but she likes Minato because he's always willing to invite people in, including her.
It's probably the first time that Minato has ever been told that someone was thankful for something that he deliberately tried to do. A lot of people see Minato's actions in a general sense; they see him as a nice, caring guy and they're attracted to that, or they see him as invasive. But Koyuki is actually attracted to the real him, someone who wants to make sure that everybody is happy and looked after. While there is a selfish component to it that Koyuki isn't aware of, Minato probably feels very seen by that confession, and it might actually make it harder for him to get over her because Koyuki is one of the few people who seems to actually get him.
This makes the post-credit scene all the more haunting with Momoka overhearing at least part of that conversation. Momoka is confronted with a very direct and very real reality that she is not the right match for Minato, which is so ironic because it's a complete inversion of all the bravado that she approached Koyuki with at the end of season one. She made it seem as if all she had to do was match Minato with an equal level of kindness for them to be happy together. It looks like she took the wrong lesson from that conversation. Maybe she sees it competitively, maybe she sees it as a personal sense of pride, or maybe she is much more insecure than she has ever let on. All the fears brought up last week are finally rearing their ugly heads. How this will manifest is yet to be seen, but the bomb is finally ticking.
The Ramparts of Ice Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.