New Pai Has Me Having Anxiety Flashbacks To High School (and Even College) Group Projects Theres Always

New Pai has me having anxiety flashbacks to high school (and even college) group projects 😂 There’s always the one member who doesn’t bother to show up to meetings, doesn’t contribute to the work, unless it somehow helps him catch the attention of someone else, then there’s the one that is “helping,” but isn’t really good at anything, and then just ends up being a hinderance, and then there’s the one that’s actually putting in 100%, and carrying the entire group project on his back 🤣 In the end, they’ll all get the same grade, but Pai will know who really deserved the A.

Give this man a raise

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, my mind is still going crazy from episode 6! 🤯

So, we didn’t get to see the StrawBell Bell Version Up. Part of me is ok with that because it does feel a little too soon for that (even though I wanted my theory to be true 😭), but I’m also kind of disappointed we didn’t get it because I really wanted to see how they were going to animate this ridiculous looking thing 😆

Hopefully we’ll see it in a later episode (and maybe then my theory will be proven correct! 🤩). My disappointment though is completely overshadowed though by the fact that we got to see Ichigo and Ryou FaceTiming each other!

😍 Keep shoveling on the false hope, please! The deeper I’m buried, the better! I want to be so deep into that ship that I’m utterly devastated when it inevitably sinks! 😆😫

The episode we’ve all been waiting for (or at least I have 😁), one complete with an armada of ships (unless you’re team Kishigo, sorry guys, this episode is not for you 😅)! I thought it’d be fun to count off just how many ships we saw during this voyage. These are in order of appearance, and not a ranking order (because we all know who I’d put at the top 😆). Climb aboard the love boat and set sail with me, and get ready for a ton of boat jokes, because why yacht?

1. Leading this fleet of ships, we have the cannon ship: Ichigo and Aoyama.

They kind of had to at least show these two together at some point in this episode since they are the main couple, but for an episode called “Romance on the high sea” they got very little screen time together. 😅

I find it kind of funny that Ichigo doesn’t mention that two of her coworkers she’s going on this cruise with are guys, and one of them she’s seen shirtless, and then made him a snack after seeing him shirtless. 👀 But I guess it’s not technically lying if you’re just omitting information, right? 😆 That seems to be Ichigo’s philosophy in this relationship anyway.

Aoyama completely fails at asking Ichigo out; hey, maybe sometime, at some point, we can maybe, sort of, go to the ocean together, maybe. Dude, when you ask a girl a out, you need to have an exact day and time picked out, she has a very busy schedule, and she needs to know an exact time to pencil you in for (that’s why you haven’t been on a date since episode 3!). Get it together boy! We’re jumping overboard here.

2. Second in this flotilla, a non cannon couple in the original, but I’m starting to think it might be in this one: Mint and Zakuro.

I mean, it’s pretty hard to argue with giant letters that say, “I love Zakuro.” Now, I do believe that it is possible to love and admire someone without being “in love,” or wanting a romantic relationship with that someone, and I think in the original series, that was the case between Minto and Zakuro, but in this series, I’m not so sure. I’m still holding out for my own personal head cannon ship of Zakuro and Seiji 😆 I think if Mint was going to lose out to someone, she would be ok if it was her brother, because then she could really call Zakuro “Onesama.” And look!

My new boy is in the next episode! There’s hope for my ghost ship! 😁

3. The third ship in the convoy: Lettuce and Ryou. I feel like this ship is really pushed by all the Ichiyama shippers because it takes care of the Ryou problem; Ryou puts a kink in the Ichigo and Aoyama ship (because Ichiryou is just so much more natural and they’re freaking adorable together!), so they have to put Ryou somewhere, why not with Lettuce? She likes him! But does he like her? Well, he doesn’t not like her, I’ll give you that. He’s very nice to her, probably more to her than anyone else, but I think that’s because he knows she’s sensitive, and she wouldn’t be able to handle a joke like the others would. He knows she lacks confidence, and so he does what any good friend would do, and he tries to help build her up.

My first thought when I saw this: Ryou, you can’t give alcohol to a minor! Second thought: where’d you get Felix felicis?

A placebo? Clever boy 😏 Way to make that girl fall in love with you. Back to the question of does Ryou like Lettuce the way Lettuce likes Ryou...

The boy is oblivious! 🙄

4. Number four in this cruise line, and my personal favorite: Ichigo and Ryou! I was floating blissfully when these two were on screen together. I love the background jokes these two make with each other, I love how they both just end up staring at each other from across the hall, I love how gently Ryou takes her hand (he’s so timid 😭), I love how sweetly he encourages her (it’s not just Lettuce he speaks nicely to, guys!),

I love how naturally Ichigo just leans into him, I love everything about this scene, even the gut wrenching feeling I got when Ichigo hurt his feelings! 😭 He was so sad!

Ichigo, if you have to tell yourself you only have eyes for Aoyama, you don’t only have eyes for him 😆 Also, you’ve been on like two dates with him, it’s not like you’re married. You might just find you like Ryou more. 😏 Prediction for the next episode: Ichigo is now avoiding Aoyama because she feels guilty about dancing with Ryou, so the other girls set up a date for her. And if we’re really lucky, we might get to see Aoyama and Ryou meet for the first time 😈 I hope it’s as good as the manga meeting! Give me more fuel for my fantasy cruise!!!!!!

5. This is my second favorite ship from this episode: Pudding and Tarto (or should we call him “Tar Tar?”)

What can I say? They’re just adorable kids being adorable together! 😍 I love how soon we’re getting they’re introduction, because it means we’ll get more time develop their relationship. They definitely have the most hope of becoming the next full fledged cannon couple!

6. Brining up the rear of our armada: Lettuce and Pai. Ok, there’s not much to this ship, but I wanted to give the LettucePie shippers some hope anyway. Here we have Pai looking at Lettuce in a way that he hasn’t looked at anything else in the two episodes he’s been in so far.

A glimmer on the horizon! You’re welcome.

We’re one episode away from the end 😭 (of season one, anyway)! Before this season wraps up, I have some thoughts on these last two episodes I wanted to throw out there. First, Seiji and Zakuro were in the same scene together!

My ghost ship lives! Well, until this scene happened, and I could hear all the Mint/Zakuro shippers scream through the airwaves. 😆

Not going to lie, I thought they were going to kiss too.

The Ryou/Aoyama meeting lived up to my expectations.

I love how Ryou was just joking with Ichigo like he always does, and doesn’t even bother to acknowledge Aoyama until Aoyama forces him to; and then he purposely ticks him off. 😆

The cat shenanigans was about what I expected, although I was a kind of surprised they kept the bath bit 😅

I found it awkward, mostly because of how unrealistically buff Aoyama is 😆 Moving on.

Kitty Ryou was absolutely adorable! I’m not a cat person, but he makes me want a cat 😻 I have mixed feelings about the scene in which Ryou finds Ichigo. I’ll start with what I liked:

I love that they kept the rants from the manga, and that after they both get what they’ve been holding in off their chests, they’re completely fine, and not mad at each other anymore (nothing like healthy relationship behavior to keep my ship afloat!); sometimes you just have to let it all out, and then move on, and that’s what they did!

I also love that Ryou brought her a sandwich! Not only does this make us come full circle from the time Ichigo brought Ryou a snack, but it shows how much Ryou cares about her; he was legit out all night looking for her, with a sandwich in tow, because he knew she would be hungry and need a snack when he finally found her! Ryou is best boy! Aoyama didn’t even bother to look for her. And don’t give me this, “he didn’t know she was in trouble!” He found his jacket, that Ichigo had run off with, in a RIVER! She could have been dead in that river! (Which is pretty close to the truth!) He should have been searching that river for her! Instead, he finds a cat, and takes it home all happy and giddy, not even bothering to even call Ichigo to make sure she was fine after he found his jacket she discarded. 😒 I was starting to like the new Aoayam, but I’ve gotta say, he really dropped the ball here. Short rant over, back to the original topic!

What I didn’t like about the Ryou/Ichigo reunion: they left out the follow up from episode two’s scene. 🥺

Now, I hope it’s not being omitted completely, and they just decided not to put it there because there was already a lot happening in this scene, and that they’ll have it either in the next episode (unlikely, I think), or in the next season. I wouldn’t be upset if the next season starts with Ichigo realizing how much Ryou cares about her 😏 The only problem is, the second half of that scene in the manga was already thrown into this scene!

Ryou asking to kiss... I like the genuine look of curiosity on his face, like he is actually thinking about it in a logical way 😆 But the actual question, just doesn’t feel right, and he immediately says he’s joking. I feel like there should have been more of a pause in between him asking, and then saying he was joking. Whether he’s serious or actually joking, the response still felt to quick either way. Maybe he’ll ask again in season two? (I can dream 😝)

One last thing, after my annoyance with him in episode 9, Keiichiro has redeemed himself:

He is team Ryou! Although, Keiichiro, maybe if you actually said what you were thinking out loud to him, he would be more likely to say his own feelings out loud 🙄

Season 2 is less than 24 hours away!

Before the premiere, I wanted to quickly jot down (in no particular order) some things I hope to see in this new season.

1: Parents. The whole time rewatching season 1, I kept thinking, “where are these kids’ parents?” 😆 Even when Ichigo is taken to Aoyama’s house as a cat, his parents are no where to be found. Mint and Ichigo at least mention their parents, but we never see them. Now, we do have confirmation that Ichigo’s parents will make an appearance in the first episode (about time!), but I really want them to explore the other girls’ parent situations.

2: More backstory for the other girls. We’ve gotten some for Mint already (but I won’t say no to more), and Pudding has at least had her siblings introduced early on, but we have virtually nothing for Lettuce and Zakuro. Those two were snubbed in the manga and OG anime too, so I really hope they don’t get the shorter end of the stick yet again. Give us Lettuce’s brother! Seiji got to be a prominent side character, why can’t Uri?

3: I want the follow up to the IchiRyou scene in episode 2!

Ryou has to walk her home (for whatever reason, it doesn’t really matter why), and he has to apologize, it was such a huge moment for his character development in the manga, and if they throw it out, I’m going to riot (ok , maybe not riot, but I will be very upset, and this version will lose points for me)!

4: I want a birthday episode. I know that’s really random, but I just want it 😆 Since this seems to start at the beginning of the school year (so like mid April in Japan), Ichigo’s birthday is out, and probably Lettuce too. The next birthday would be Ryou in June, which I think would be hilarious, because he totally seems like the kind of person that would like to ignore his birthday, and it would be funny to see the girls (and Keiichiro) make him celebrate it! 😆

That’s assuming we didn’t pass his birthday (because season 1 does seem to end around June, given the rain, and the fact the Mint only has a couple days to decide if she’s going to an American school), in which case, the next birthday would be Pudding. That could be a lot of fun!

5: More original episodes that help expand the story and develop all the characters better. In other words, I don’t them to try to finish off the series in this season, I want them to take their time, then they can wrap things up in a third season. There was so much build up to Mint using the Mew Aqua rod, that I feel it would be too fast paced if the other three all used the rod in the same season. The mid season climax can be Lettuce using the Mew Aqua rod, and then the season finale can be Pudding using it; season 3’s mid season climax can be Zakuro using the rod, and the finale would obviously be the fight with Deep Blue. Then we can have a season 4, where Berry actually gets introduced properly, and the story isn’t a rushed mess 😅 Maybe we can get a movie adaptation of the PS game and see Ringo animated. And then we can end the series with an expanded ReTurn; and since we start the series with them all (except Pudding) in high school, we can end the series with them graduating, and Ichigo and Aoyama actually getting married. In fact, I hope they don’t end the first series with the mock wedding, because I feel like an actual wedding would be a much better pay off (as much as it will hurt Ryou’s little heart 😭)

I attempted to make my own vision a reality. 😅 I was a bit limited on what I could do on an iPad; I couldn’t separate the original background song from the dialogue, so it was tricky to pick the right volume so you couldn’t hear background music on top of the song I inserted. It’s definitely not perfect, and if anyone else wants to attempt to make it better, I would love that (send it my way)! I’ve included a link to the song I used, because I think it’s beautiful, and it was worth the buck.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/my-heart-will-go-on-from-titanic-piano-version/1522248794?i=1522248795