Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT Episode 12 Discussion

vaeriury said:
That Kodaka, He's nothing compared with Keima ( God only know ) in Romance life !!!
He just ran away when Sena confessed her feeling, poor Sena :(

Even though, both of them have no experience in romance

Gamudan said:


What's that got to do with this? I think running was certainly the best option. Initially, that is. Staying away completely, I'm not so sure, but initially running away, I think was the best option. Have you read the Light Novels? They elaborate a lot better on why Kodaka ran off like that.

elkensteyin said:


I've started reading them. Not sure I completely agree with the theory that running away was the best option, but I'm pretty sure Sena knew that he'd come back to her. Rika should also get some thanks.

ToshiroChan said:
OMG what a cliffhanger ending.. they should make season 3.. no they MUST make another season, it can't be ended like that, this episode felt so long, but so good. It is definitely getting another season, well i hope, i hope kodaka would take Sena's route <3, she's adorable

Nae_Gevurah said:
Despite his heartfelt exchange with Rika, Kodaka didn't exactly grow. He at least admitted he acts dense on purpose to escape things he can't deal with, but then it's just left at that, and I feel like that didn't even get resolved all the way.

OneOpinion said:
This second season addressed some the grievances I had with the series (though not in a very graceful way). for example the "i didn't hear what you said" gag was getting old so they explained it away as Kadoka feigning ignorance; however it would have been more convincing if they hinted at prior to that point.

ChronosXIII said:
Yozora leaving because she felt she lost all reasoning for her to remain in the club any longer because of Sena and Rika assimilating the roles she hoped to be.

Takuan_Soho said:
Also don't forget that Yozora was watching this (she was the one who closed the door), and as such to her Rika was replacing her as the friend Kodaka could count on to help him when he was down. That was why she left crying. That was the ONLY thing she thought she could do for Kodaka, be the friend who was always there when he needed her. But for the second time in their relationship she failed (the first being when fear prevented her from showing up when they were children).

The connection between Rika and Yozora is that they are friends (notice that Yozora has never really abused Rika and the first episode "stacked hair" they had obviously coordinated on having fun with Sena). Rika at least thinks that way, but Yozora, even worse than Kodaka, really can't understand this because, even worse than Kodaka, Yozora cannot believe anyone would want to be her friend. Kodaka was "grandfathered" in, which is why Yozora is so attached to him, and so crushed to think that she has been replaced.

The clues to this are obvious: Yozora always saying that anyone who would want to get close to her will either betray or abandon her, the cat memory scene, that she can't take a complaint about being thought cute (which so totally embarrasses her that she switches to a sexless track suit), her being utterly shocked in the galge that a character would actually like her, but then being strangely comforted that she ended up alone.

Abaharaki said:
Yozora being unable to cope with her feelings after Sena's confession is expected since she created the Neighboors Club with the sole purpose to be reunited with Kodaka. "Oh, but she is so selfish" some may say, but that is because she is in love with the guy! Of course she don't want to lose him and she recognizes Sena as her rival (she says that in one of the episodes, wishing that Sena did not exist). The final rooftop scene was to much for her, 'cause Rika "took" the place of Kodaka's first friend in the school. In a way, she feels like loosing her space in the life of the boy she likes.

Takuan_Soho said:
Not saying that Yozora is better than Sena on this aspect. But outside of Yozora's issues with Kodaka, she has proven to be friendly with Rika, and has talked with Yukimura and Maria. We just don't see those parts, they are only alluded to, though people are grateful to her for her doing it. Outside of buying Maria a ticket, Sena has never once did anything for the group.

Again, the point isn't that Yozora is better than Sena, but rather when the Sena-fantatics attack Yozora they always use things that apply equally or even more to Sena. That tunnel vision is what most people are making fun of.

Takuan_Soho said:
I am going to engage in a little over-analysis. You know, my favorite thing to do.

In this episode Rika breaks the glass over Yozora at the exact second her and Kodaka talk about Yozora. She is several floors below, but they are screaming so chances are she can hear them. As the glass breaks Rika yells: "Yozora senpai lost all her nerve thanks to that."

Kodaka responds: "What am I supposed to do. Her memories from 10 years ago meant everything to her. They are what kept her going."

Think about that for a second. That isn't true. Yozora had moved forward, after all she asked Kodaka out on a date; she also admitted to him (after she fled from Sena) that now is just as important for her. So, despite that, despite her putting herself out for him, taking a risk in asking him out (not to mention all the muttered asides that Kodaka has purposely ignored), despite forming a club for him to make friends, she know finds out what Kodaka really thinks of her: she is pathetic, stuck 10 years in the past. Why did she flee, what else could she do?

And on top of that, the ironic thing is that until Rika forced Kodaka to be honest with himself, he was actually the one really trapped 10 years in the past. He was the one that was truly pathetic (at least Yozora tried to ask him out (3 times at least I count)), Kodaka never has once. The whole point of Sora turning into Rika was symbolic that finally he was going to move past being stuck in the past, to find new friends and maybe even love. But in doing so he is rejecting his past, rejecting his shared experience with Yozora, which is really rejecting Yozora again. Not only does he think she is pathetic, but now he has taken the one memory she did had that she felt proud of.

The cruelest cuts are often the slight ones, the ones where the offender doesn't realize the harm they have done. That is Kodaka in a nutshell, and of all the people he has hurt, Rika, Sena, etc, no one has been cut more than Yozora.

Takuan_Soho said:


I think the key to understanding this series is that it is acting out like a Eroge for Kodaka and a Galge for Yozora. Kodaka is like a bad Eroge player, he raises flags and misses them (which is reality, there are no safe points in reality, as Sena pointed out), and he is in danger of losing the girls, both as partners and friends, until Rika changed the dynamic.

With Yozora she is living her life exactly as she played the Galge. She has ignored all other male characters (Yozora is smart and attractive, even with a bad personality plenty of boys would have put up with that as Sena's fans show), she has focused on the one character she likes (this of course was obviously Kodaka), at the end of the game she confirmed this, and while though Kodaka missed it Rika obviously understood it. The reason why Yozora can't win is that male character has issues (in the game class distinction, in the series Kodaka's intimacy issues), and just like in the game, Yozora could have won by interacting with the one female who could help her (Rika), but just like in the game, Yozora is intent on doing this on her own.

But just in case we didn't get this foreshadowing, how exactly did this game end? The game Yozora is walking alone down a path near a river into the sunset.

How did this final episode end: Yozora walking alone down a path near a river into the sunset.

Takuan_Soho said:
This clarifies the roof-top conversation. People think Rika was agreeing with Kodaka's conclusion that she is trapped in the past, but Rika knows better, she knows Yozora likes Kodaka and has moved on. That is why she said "if she is then she should be still at her mother's breast..." line. She was telling Kodaka to stop treating Yozora like a child. Kodaka misses this point, saying how complicated the human heart is. But that isn't the case, Yozora on this isn't complicated. What is complicated is that Kodaka likes Yozora, but he thinks she only wants to be friends and he is afraid of both her not loving him AND her stopping being his friend if he did something. This interpretation is strengthened by Yozora's issues (dressing like a boy, being paranoid about being thought to be cute or by anything erotic). This would make him think she is totally NOT interested. This is also why his "falling in love with Hinata" line infuriated Rika: Hinata's personality is Yozora's personality. What is "so much worse" to Rika is that Kodaka still doesn't get it.

FinalFlash18 said:
I just hope that is the case...

mironicus said:
Rika means that Yozora is behaving like a baby who always wants to suck on her mothers breast and immediately starts to cry and gets aggressive if she don't get want she wants.

mironicus said:
Yozora is monopolizing Kodaka the whole time, she is jealous about any girl who tries to get closer to him. She relies on her old relationship and that makes her believe that she has the only right to be Kodaka's friend.

mironicus said:
And Kodaka is only interested in maintaining peace and happiness, so he is always dishonest and let Yozora continue to believe in her wishes about their old relationship while Kodaka himself is only interested to spend time with Sena, the girl he felt in love with from the first time he saw her.