How would you rate episode 21 of
The Ramparts of Ice (TV 2) ?
This episode is all about those final realizations before the big, climactic messy break up. The first half of this episode focuses on Momoka really coming to terms with how completely out-classed she is by Koyuki. It's so funny that she's trying to have this big Mean Girls-style dramatic confrontation with Koyuki, but all it ended up doing was highlighting just how badly she's already lost this game . She wants Koyuki to yell and be jealous of her because it would be easier if Koyuki turned out to be just as spiteful as she is. The problem is that Koyuki is answering every question in a way that doesn't give Momoka that satisfaction at all, and the source of her answers is what's highlighting exactly why Momoka is showing insecurity in the first place.
I really can't feel bad for Momoka, even if I can agree with some of the things that she is saying. I do think that people need to be able to put themselves first in a lot of situations and if there is something that you want or if there's somebody that you wish to pursue, then having the confidence to go on the pursuit is very important. I believe Koyuki when she says that she is jealous of Momoka's ability to go after something that she wants because this season just reinforced the fact that if Koyuki was a bit more selfish with her desires or less scared of potential outcomes, then maybe she would've gotten what she wanted. However, the conflict comes from the fact that Momoka is putting that selfishness above everybody else's feelings, including Minato's, with the justification that it's just how things are. In a weird way, Momoka's behavior is a toxic inversion of what I typically see in a lot of other romance series where the pursuit of somebody is often portrayed as enough to win somebody over. But here, things are a lot more complicated.
You can't convince somebody to like you just by pursuing them and you're not guaranteed their feelings just by dating them either. There is so much irony around Momoka because she wants Minato to desire her on an emotional level while also acknowledging that he is someone who keeps those feelings locked up. He's always looking at things from a logical perspective and that mirrors Koyuki's perspective on things as she has reached a point where her logical way of thinking and emotional maturity has finally synced up. Koyuki is open about the fact that she likes Minato now, but her idea of being selfish is putting Minato's feelings first which is how you should treat somebody that you like. Momoka on the other hand is constantly seeking blood from a stone. Minato is not going to give her exactly what it is that she's looking for to feel secure about the relationship, even though she is the one that created this environment in the first place.
Speaking of Minato, it looks like he's just one step away from fully realizing his emotional climax. I was right that a lot of the physical ailments he was going through were the result of emotional stress and suppression. I wasn't expecting the episode to breeze through that realization or Minato's development so directly though. The second half of this episode was basically Minato's brother randomly coming back and explaining to him what he thinks the problem is. I was originally going to call that lazy but considering that Minato further expands on his brother's thought process made things a lot more interesting. I think both are right in their assessment of how Minato goes about things as it is consistent with how Minato has been throughout the show.
Minato sees how fickle other people are and how it's very easy for others to just be unapologetically cruel for the most benign reasons. Deep down, he's scared that it's only a matter of time until he is also turned on by others. If he keeps helping others and unlocking their doors, then maybe somebody else will do the same for him if that eventually happens. Clearly Koyuki is supposed to be that character for him and she's already sort of done that when talking about Minato to other people, she's just never done it to him directly. So I'm curious exactly how that confrontation is going to go, especially since Minato has finally realized that he can't go on like this for everyone's sake.
The Ramparts of Ice Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.