Thursday, January 20, 2011

Review of Yasashii Jikan 優しい時間 Episode 7

Ep 7: Musuko (Son)

In the hope of letting Master and Takuro reconcile, Azusa brings Master to Takuro's workplace. However, when Takuro hears that she has brought his father here, he gets very worked up as he is not prepared to meet Master yet and runs away. Master happens to see that and is very shocked when Azusa calls out "Taku-chan" but he pretends that nothing is wrong.

On New Year's Eve, Master's ex-colleague Kawai brings his wife and son to Furano for a holiday. Kawai's wife happens to see the mug which Tomoko gave to Master on behalf of Takuro during his birthday and remarks that she bought a similar cup at Kaikakuma (Takuro's workplace) yesterday. At the mention of the place, Master tries to conceal his uneasiness since it reminded him of seeing Takuro running away in the night.

Master goes to Kita Tokei to meet Tomoko and notices that Kita Tokei uses cups which has the same design as the one Tomoko gave to him. From there, he tries to find out more about Kaikakuma in an attempt to get Tomoko to talk about Takuro. She admits that she was the one to introduce Takuro to work in Kaikakuma as she sympathized with him who wanted to be near Master and yet was not forgiven. Master then fires a series of questions at Tomoko as he feels that Takuro befriended Azusa because she is working at Mori no Tokei and wonders aloud whether he has any ulterior motives. Upon hearing his words, Tomoko flares up and scolds Master for thinking so badly of his son. It is precisely because of this attitude Master has adopted which is preventing him to reconcile with Master and asks him whether he has taken a good look at his own son. Master is stumped for words upon hearing this.

At the same time, Takuro's teacher, Rokusuke gives him a brochure of the Hokkaido Newcomer Pottery Exhibition and encourages him to take part in the contest held in March. He tells him to put in his best effort and Takuro remembers Tomoko's words that he has to work extra hard than any other youngsters his age so as to gain his father's trust and forgiveness for what he did in the past. As Azusa keeps calling Takuro after Christmas Eve when she brought Master to Kaikakuma, Takuro decides to concentrate on the contest and sends an email to Azusa telling her not to call him anymore as he cannot meet her for a period of time. Azusa is shocked by this and feels that this is because Takuro cannot forgive her for trying to arrange a meeting between him and Master.

During closing time, Master's ex-colleague, Kawai returns to Mori no Tokei and persuades him to come back to the company. However, Master rejects the offer and prefers to be in the company of his family and friends rather than return to his previous hectic lifestyle. After Kawai leaves, Master stares at the mug which Takuro made for him and laments to Megumi that he has never taken a close look at her or Takuro. However, Megumi assures him that he did care for her and that from now on, he can take the time to look at Takuro closely.

After paying a visit to the shrine for New Year, Master heads to Kaikakuma where he sees Takuro hard at work alone on a day where he should be celebrating or in the company of his family. He has mixed feelings seeing his son - glad that he has turned over a new leaf and is serious about his work but sad because he still cannot face up to his feelings and get over the pain of that accident. Master leaves behind the amulet he got from the shrine at the sculpture near Kaikakuma's entrance and leaves quietly...

In short, it's another bittersweet episode where we see Master obviously caring for Takuro but still lacking the courage to see him. At the same time, Takuro resolves to achieve something before he can finally meet his father. Seems like from the trailer of the next episode that something is going to happen to Takuro which might finally get things moving between father-and-son. It always takes something like this for people to realize the importance of people around them but I hope that they still have a chance of mending their relationship...

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