Be My Favorite - Retrospective On Episode 1 And Repression Of Desires Due To Fear

Be My Favorite - Retrospective on Episode 1 and Repression of Desires due to Fear

For a full day in the pilot of Be My Favorite, Kawi operates as if he’s in a dream when he time travels back to the past. This is one of my least favorite tropes, usually. What’s the fun in a character in an exciting scenario if the character isn’t even cognizant of it? Often, I yawn and simply rock back and forth in my chair waiting for the protagonist to realize what has happened and to start thinking with their brain. And when I first watched the show, I also expected a time loop rather than what we got, and didn't realize what was actually going on.

Be My Favorite, would make me love Kawi spending an entire day back in his college life without realizing his actions have actual consequences, because of how many consequences this actually has, and how his remedies what Kawi's first vice was, or at least the first that I feel was tackled.

Kawi – and we realize later, Pisaeng’s – vice is cowardice and letting things happen around them out of fear. This manifests very differently for both of them, but in the case of Kawi, when we examine a lot of his biggest hangups, it is all centered around inaction. Not making friends. Not telling Pear he’s her secret buddy. Not convincing his dad to go to the hospital. Not getting his friend back. Not doing any of these things that he still regrets. And Kawi, when faced with issues, runs away. He always, without fail, used to run away from all of these scenarios.

But thinking he’s dreaming, we can see Kawi for who he really is. A menace! An annoying, bratty, childish menace. And Pisaeng is immediately attracted to Kawi because he’s genuine, and acting out, and is oozing with the same pain he has – loneliness. This is ultimately what changes the past forever. Kawi can’t go back from now on. He’s bonded to Pisaeng irrevocably, to the point that one night is enough for his future to be as his best friend and future best man (and for Kawi to be doing what he never did before, dancing confidently while drunk in front of everyone in that timeline in a way he never would have).

Pisaeng is similar to Kawi, not living his life in full self-actualization. He’s hiding his sexuality, unable to confront it despite knowing about it. He’s unable to fully be honest with Pear, and in fact, we see that in his original life, he never confronts it And it makes sense. We see that he rejects the superficial “friendship” he has with his former friends, namely Not, but while this is better for Pisaeng (and the correct decision to make, as Not is a total asshole) Pisaeng doesn’t have a friend except for Pear, and he cares for her dearly.

And so of course Pisaeng decides to marry Pear instead of confronting himself honestly. Is it a good idea, and what truly caring for someone should mean? No. It’s an awful idea for everyone. But he does it out of fear and an unwillingness to live his life honestly and to act on his true wants and desires (and later, it is Kawi who gets Pisaeng to break from this and to confront Pear head on, being honest in a way the original Pisaeng was unable to).

And what Kawi has to struggle with now is that now that he’s acted, there’s no going back. He’s changed the past by being himself and taking action for once, and he has to stay that way (this is also why Be My Favorite's type of time travel works so well for the show – what Kawi does in the beginning, taking action and fundamentally changing things – it can't be undone).

There is no way out of the maze he’s walked into without choosing things, making decisions, and becoming a fuller person. At this point, he wants Pear. Pear wants Pisaeng. And Pisaeng, now, he will soon realize, due to his actions in the past, wants him. Kawi has acted. And now Kawi has to go down the painful path to gaining maturity, which he avoided in his bubble of miserable inactivity the first time he lived his life.

Redoing your life is the main conceit of this show. But as the future starts to be rewritten, what the perceptive viewer realizes is that what Kawi needs to learn is what he truly wants, and what kind of a life is a truly fulfilling life. And to get what you want, to be happy, you need to always be truly present. You need to live your life with no regrets. To think back on the past a decade later and think I’ve got everything I wanted. For all you'd ever do different after time traveling back be nothing.

This is what Be My Favorite teaches us. To live honestly, bravely, and to inspire the others in your life to do so as well. Kawi learns to make the most out of his life, and because of him, Pisaeng does as well. And they live happily, holding each other's hands, together. And they're so much better off for it.

partners in crime 🔪

website & etsy

My taste in romance has less to do with how romantic the relationship actually is (though that is a bonus) and more to do with how interesting I find the dynamic between the couple. Which is why fluffy vanilla romance usually bores the hell out of me. I want to see how these characters dramatically affect each other and fundamentally change each other and their individual understandings of the world!!! I want to see a beautiful tie-in between the romance and the themes + messages of the story and how it all builds to a climax!!!

okay but imagine a pre-canon pinehack one night stand on the anniversary of the day pine lost august. there’s a festering emptiness inside pine. and hack, his close friend, is there, trying to keep his spirits a bit up with a stupid joke. pine needs to not think anymore, and there’s hack. one of the few people he trusts. so he kisses hack, and it escalates quickly. he’s thinking about august the whole time.

hack is thinking about irin. about how she loves pine and not him, and how he’s sure pine could never open up again and obsessively love anyone the way he did august, whether it’s irin or whether it’s *him,* his close friend. he comes to realize this is something a part of him cares about as he takes his shirt off, plants kisses on pine’s neck, and looks into pine’s completely empty gaze.

it’s about the friends with benefits who love other people but have something odd between them anyhow. emotionally miserable but physically satisfying sex. being consumed with thoughts of other people the whole time.

Side A Round 1

Remember, we're voting for the best bait, not necessarily the best ship

Propaganda under the cut:

Chika/Riko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCgMjxayqow Chika and Riko's romance builds up throughout all of Season 1, culminating in this scene. After this scene, the rest of the season is dedicated to Chika's best friend getting jealous over how close these two are. Then in Season 2, the writers decided they wanted to pander to YohaRiko fans so they just decided to throw ChikaRiko under a bus and forget they had a literal love confession scene.

it's fascinating really the lengths that this series goes to bait and then leave the viewers on read for years. The previous gen in LL were baity but Sunshine was where they really started to lean in on the marketing and going "this is the pairing we will focus on but never confirm". For these two, the first single their group released had them as the center of the show and ended the animated music video with them falling asleep together on the bus. https://youtu.be/I3NmHsDXeFc?t=370 time stamp included.  Like ok.. alright. And then the anime airs and within the first episode we got Chika calling Riko a "miracle" and asking her to join their group. And in the next episode, Chika goes through all the trouble of helping Riko get her love of playing the piano back and then they have the AUDACITY to end the episode with them reaching out to touch each others hands from the separate balconies they're on during the middle of the night. Chika nearly falls off her balcony for this. We're on Episode TWO. And then there's the fact that the first event in the gacha for this group had them together and their outfits had rainbows on the skirts and the event title was "The night sky knows all" like...... OK......... And then there's like, a gag that Riko buys yuri doujins and one of the titles is like "chin in hand kiss" and you know what these two are doing in the ending theme for the first season?? https://youtu.be/dsdfEeINcGk?t=39 Time stamp included. The song is also great but like. Insane. And then there's like all the small moments where Riko is calling Chika a weirdo while smiling at her, and they have this inside joke about pretending to be kaiju to cheer each other up. And then the end of the 10th episode has Riko, looking directly at chika, while holding her hands,, while the sun is rising behind them to say  "I love you". AND THEN THEY NEVER ADDRESS THIS SINCE. IT'S MADDENING. THE GACHA DOESN'T HAVE MUCH FOR THEM INTERACTION WISE NOR FOR PAIRED CARDS, THEY DON'T HAVE AN OFFICIAL DUET, NO DIALOGUE AT ALL IN THE THREE GACHA STORIES...... LIKE OK....

Claudine/Maya

havent watched it but theres this seriously mega gay 11 minute video on youtube and its like what the hell. genuinely. wait let me look for it. https://youtu.be/c3rrQpwKwPI theres like a fight scene and a dance at the same time while romantic music that says lines like “only look at me” plays. umm they also compliment each other and call themselves rivals. things like that. iconic quote: “maya!” “claudine!” “for heroes there are trials…” “for saints there are temptations…” and in unison, “for me there is you!” as they say this there is less than an inch of distance between their faces. btw. its basically a wedding if you think about it. also according to the comments maya gives her soul to claudine?? so tag. you know

devotion that corrupts is my favorite btw there's nothing wrong with it ever & it should be encouraged