Hatsukoi Limited - Episode 8

Oh, what tangled webs we weave.... Episode eight of Hatsukoi Limited brings us to Valentine's Day, and if the various situations full of unrequited love weren't complicated before this episode begins, they sure as Hell are by the end of it.

Despite the forever tense and decidedly odd atmosphere between the two of them, Kei and Kusuda's relationship actually looks pretty simple compared to this lot - We have Ayumi who is in love with Mamoru, who is himself in love with Yamamoto. Then we have Koyoi whose brother complex is taking on ever-more worrying depths (a chocolate wedding cake as a Valentine's Day gift? Uh-oh...), despite the fact that his thoughts are constantly with... you guessed it, Yamamoto.


It's this love dodecahedron (or something) which is the focus of this episode, as Yamamoto (who is herself in love Ayumi's brother Yuuji) has to decide whether or not to give any chocolate to the object of her affections; a decision made more difficult as both Mamoru and Koyoi's brother's feelings towards her becomes clear. And why does she even love Yuuji anyway, does she even have a reason? Does she even need a reason? Such is the question that this episode posits, with the answer seeming to be that what you instinctively feel is more important than what you think. Hmm, I'm not so sure about that one to be honest. Anyhow, this whole situation comes to a head as Ayumi and Koyoi plan a way of breaking the hearts of their loved ones (which seems pretty counter-intuitive when it comes to getting someone to like you to me) by showing them Yamamoto giving Yuuji her chocolates, a situation which becomes even more disastrous thanks to a good old-fashioned slapstick chocolate mix-up.

I guess it's a testament to this series, and this episode in particular, that it can throw together so many relatively complicated relationships and yet somehow make it all stick together in a coherent and actually pretty entertaining manner. While it's no classic, this instalment proves to be amusing enough while also throwing in a few thoughts on the absurdities of love and how to show your feelings into the process. Perhaps the biggest "hurdle" (and I use inverted commas as it doesn't bother me but I'm guessing it will others) this series is facing is that it makes it difficult to decide who you want to root for in all of these tales of love with so much going on. Still, that aside there remains something slightly refreshing about the way this series has played the "love game", despite its blatant moments of fan service, and I suppose it's that that has kept me watching with any degree of interest.