Flowers of Evil - Episode 8

Having laid waste to their classroom in an orgy of self-destructive, and indeed self-obsessed, insanity, Kasuga and Nakamura find themselves returning home in what can only be described as a "walk of shame" of sorts.  Not that there seems to be much shame involved, particularly on Nakamura's part...

With that long, silent traipse through down as sunlight breaks across it taking up almost half of the episode, the rest of the instalment brings us to the inevitable fallout of the pair's moment of madness, as the next morning sees classmates and teachers shocked at the havoc that has been wrought upon class 2-1's room.  Inevitably, Kasuga is left feeling more than a little uneasy at the prospect of investigations and being found out (having fortuitously had his name scrawled on the blackboard blocked from view by the paint thrown around the room), but perhaps there is something even worse than being confronted by the teachers - having Saeki herself realise that Kasuga is involved in both this wanton vandalism and the theft of her gym uniform.

When an episode spends eight full minutes allowing two of its characters to walk around slowly hand-in-hand, it becomes hard to verbalise just why it's so great, but having been reminded of the madness of the previous week's instalment that time was well justified as an opportunity for us to try and get our heads around Kasuga and Nakamura, both as individuals and in terms of the relationship between them.  Given Kasuga's inscrutable personality it's genuinely hard to tell whether these events really are his mask slipping to reveal his true nature, or simply a weak personality exploited by someone with malicious intent.  Regardless, it makes for a continuation of the show's superb blend of drama and an unwavering focus on the manifestations of teenage angst, and no matter how uncomfortable it might become I simply can't tear myself away.