Gomen ne Seishun ep 7 | Thoughts

Episode Highlights

• Hara shows the world he’s the only sane person in amongst the folks of Seishun High
• Seishun High’s fabulous fairy, Cosume, officially comes out the closet as a transsexual
• Risa proves that she’s even a bigger nutcase than we originally thought
• A heart felt goodbye makes Kacho’s departure even more bittersweet
• Gratuitous fanservice: Nishikido playing a piano

If not made anymore obvious, Episode 7’s moral lesson of the week was about being faithful to others around you. Our hero spends a half episode beating up his brother to come forward about his affair and break up with Donmai-sensei, only to not have the courage himself to admit that he was the hormonally overdriven teenager that set fire to Saint Mishima High School 14 years earlier.

While, on the other hand, the beloved yet hard driven student council president, Nakai, is unable to admit to her fellow classmates that she is about to transfer out of the school before the cultural festival takes place. It’s even harder for her to admit this to Hara-sensei, the man she’s in love with.

The episode is spent with everyone trying to find some way to finally admit to others how they feel. How these truths come out though are anything but expected. Either secrets slip or the situation wasn’t entirely how it seems. Though while most of the students and adults of Seishun High are able to clear their consciousnesses, Hara Heisuke is still unable to find the opportunity to admit his guilt, something he expresses to the ghost of his mother in tears of frustration.

” I want to be at peace ”

Hachiya Risa, the high strung English teacher and residential disciplinary figure of Seishun, is undoubtedly in love with Hara. Her tsundere character backfires on her, causing the Japanese teacher ultimately lash out at her. Later on he apologizes to her for losing his cool, but that “fire”, that “anger” was the icing on the cake for the younger woman who’s now determined to make sure that Hara Heisuke, her unofficial fiancee, marries her.

Episode 7 was a bit more refreshing than the previous two episodes, which were dragging behind at an unbelievably slow pace. The jokes were pretty funny, such as the St. Mishima gym teacher randomly yelling phrases during the St. Mishima school song recital,

” Whenever we sing the school school, he simply yells out whatever comes to him. ”

” Yes, like good luck, you can do it, never give up and Justin Beiber! ”

and Risa calling up Nakai’s parents to chew them out about taking their own daughter out of school before the cultural festival. Her blunt brashness is just too funny.

Ippei’s dilemma was a very interesting, and funny, story that had a really nice conclusion. For nearly two episodes, it made it seem as if Ippei was this perverted man taking advantage of a sexually inexperienced woman but in a surprising twist its revealed that she was only using him as a stepping stone towards the man she really had her sights on, Saint Mishima’s eccentric gym teacher. You learned that Ippei didn’t necessarily not love his wife, but seemed to not have understood her. The only disappointment was that he never truly confessed to her about his tryst…. But considering how emotionally delicate his wife is, perhaps this was a secret best left not said.

I enjoyed the fact that the approach towards the whole Nakai → Hara dynamic didn’t come off as a completely creeper relationship. Once Hara finds out that Nakai is leaving Seishun, he tries to give her all the time he can… But its not out of pedophiliac attraction, but one of a teacher guiding and helping his student in a time of need. I like how the scenario is not played through the eyes of either person but from the outside. You can sense the crushing, yet, innocent feeling of young love… But you are also left with this feeling that, yes, she feels this way now but she will move on, grow up, and begin her own life. Its was a short period but one containing a profound impact.

Once Nakai is out the storyline, we think Hara is finally going to come out and admit his sins but suddenly Cosume (Japanese for cosmetics, a nicknamed given to him by the girls of St. Mishima) pushes himself onto the center stage. Again, Hara’s left to deal with his dirty little secret… But since there’s about three more episodes left, I doubt Hara’s coming out with his secret anytime soon.

There’s been hints dropped about Cosume’s sexual preference, and potential gender identity, as the story progressed to this point, but this episode did not hesitate to drop the bomb everyone had known, Cosume is not only gay but a transsexual. Attending school in the St. Mishima girl’s uniform (no one questions this), he seeks approval from his classmates about his lifestyle change.

” I’m gay. I’m gay… But in my heart, I feel as if I’m a girl. I’m attracted to boys.”

Everyone accepts him because they already knew but this all leads into the next episode when his father comes to his school, sees his son in a female school uniform, and blows the fuck up. Next episode seems like the moral lesson is going to be on tolerance… Which is interesting since gay characters in Japanese media are usually reduced to comedic props than actual “people”. Though since Cosume is transgendered, I hope they don’t come up with some weak conclusion to his story.

Also, next week, Risa confesses to Hara. I doubt Hara is going to accept her confession since he’s still hung up on her sister (and well, because of him, he screwed over her entire family’s lives) but I’ll be looking forward to it none the less. I’m just confused on how long Kankurou can draw out this story for another three more episodes. It looks like the cultural festival won’t be happening until the last episode if that countdown wall shown in this episode was any indication. Will Hara confess during the festival? Will he confess after? Before? Will Risa’s affections for him change once she finds out? What about the future of Seishun High?

I guess I gotta keep watching…