the beautiful world: Hourou Musuko- 3. Romeo and Juliet

Violet (purple hues) seem to be Nitori's colour... after all it's a mix of blue (see boys) and red/pink (see girls). Do you also remember that in the 1rst episode violet was the flower assigned to him? Violet stands for 'I'll always be true', faithfullness and modesty... let's see if he's gonna be true to himself...

Pink might be a girlish colour but my thoughts on it revolved around how we get it from the red (strength, determination, passion) with lots of white... White is a colour reflecting all the others, so someone could say it's like a mirror. Takatsuki wavers in her determination to 'be' a boy and in the end she gaves in a bit... more inside

Back to the themes of episode one, though more elaborated. Here problems start occuring; problems with their body : deepening voice and growing breasts for Nitori and Takatsuki respectively. They have to confront the changes and accept them...

The episode focuses on Takatsuki's denial of her body's growth and especially of her wearing a bra. It also begins with the comment she must wear one.

No idea who's speaking... but they are in basketball court. The plan is taken from afar and so were these words for Takatsuki some moments before they were spoken...

Her reaction tells everything...

She'll buy a bra after feeling pressured to do so... but notice that the bag with the bra is not near her.

I am not a designer nor a photographer but I've read about the rule of two thirds. That means that if you want to make an object or a person the focus of your picture, then you shouldn't place it in the middle but near one of the sides (if you divide it in 3 parts, place it on the second divider). The above screenshot goes against this somehow by placing two objects - that creates a feeling of emotional distance and weirdness. Her body language emphasizes this: Takatsuki leans away from the bag. And more so, she almost forgets to take it with her, before getting on the bus. It's a man who reminds her of it... Perhaps the man symbolizes the partriarchical society that has imposed those rules - the particular strict gender roles, the morals of shame of nudity and the fashion that either hides or exposes the curves of the body... but i'm reading too much *sweatdrop*

she tries to comply to what others ask of her...she bought a sport bra (those are elastic and with no curves), she tries it on and she's stiff: her back, her shoulders, her fists and her expression in a previous plan

After some inner struggle she tosses the bra aside- the colours here are mundane, underlining the sad atmosphere of confusion. She can't see herself in that thing (literally for us, figuratively for her)

She's angry with herself. She says: "I can't wear this with my breast"

Delighted boys- fantasy starts working with even the smallest things, namely bra lines- all of the girls wear...

...even Takatsuki in the end...

It's not only Takatsuki that has problems with her breasts. I mean who didn't have problems with the parts of their body sticking out (be it penis or breasts) during puberty? Girls and boys either are worried about the size or find those organs gross and don't want them. And there are more things to gross about, if you are a girl and get a period. I hope we'll see this situation as well.

You want to fit in at this age and at the same time be different. It's a bit of schezophrenic at first, isn't it? You see your peers acting one way or being mean to you, till you conform. In this story, that's Chi's role. She's the one standing out the first day of school by wearing boy's uniforms and I'm not sure if she claims her uniqueness or attention AND she's the unintentionally mean. Very cruelly innocent girl... She can't understand how much she hurts Takatsuki. And sometimes it's so clear she's acting insensitive, yet she appears clueless. (Is Shiori or Utena related to her? :P )

Hey, you! Takatsuki has almost fainted and you laugh??? For Takatsuki to react like that, the issue must be grave, where's your common sense? Come on! Even a weirdo like you must have some!

All the others don't find it funny... - Btw the basket balls resemble boobies... I can't say, if the imagery is intentional, though.

And she goes on speaking her mind so thoughtlessly, saying how great the genderbender play will be and how they'll bind their breasts... Takatsuki cries inside, I'm so sure.

The cherry on the top... How do you run around groping people? Much more people who are uncomfortable about their breasts? Are you dense or what?

I hope this teaches Sarashina not to mess with Takatsuki's body image

It's through the others that we understand ourselves more or suffer more. 'The others are the hell' and also a mirror. In Nitori's and Ariga's case, their mirror was Seya, Maho's boyfriend. Although it's not clear whether Seya got a cold from Maho or he's at the age when his hormones influence his voice, Makoto and Shu start pondering on their change of voice.

playing with the distant (above) and the near plan (below)

The amazing thing about this series is how it weaves the stories of different characters simultaneously and how each gets his/her time to flesh out . For example, Seya isn't there only to be the shadow of Maho or trigger anxiety to the boys with his bass voice.

Here scolding Maho for undressing her brother. She's driven to tears (she deserves it... I'm being mean, but I don't care)

The blushing that evoked Maho's jealousy. He claimed it's due to embarassment but I wonder if that's all there is to it...

See? He blushes. And there is no particular reason here.

I'm suspecting he has a strange crush on Nitori. After all in the previous episode, when Maho complained to him about how he finds her brother cute he answers : " But you look just like him". Is this phrasing indicates a lapsus linguae? Shouldn't it be, that Shu looks like her?

In this episode we have also one more dose of Maho's and Chiba's mischieviousness. I really want this behaviour to get better explained in relation to the past.

She should be painted green till now from her jealousy! Or is it that she doesn't want her brother around, because she's disgusted by him?

Makoto applaudes Shu for his good voice acting ( he recorded his voice as Nitori Maho), but Maho is obviously not just disagreeing... That's the gaze of a wild dog, before it attacks!

Yes, they were dressed in girls' clothes for the recording. And yes, Maho is undressing Shu again!!! Isn't she ashamed of doing so??? The vixen ordered Makoto to open the door, so that she could undress her bro and so that her boyfriend wouldn't see her 'cute brother'.

Thank goodness we don't get to see only her b*tchy self, but also her interactions with her friends, their photoshooting hobby (that seems quite professional- more infos pls?) and the boyfriend topic.

Maiko, a model Mahou admires

A modest Maho, wow! Her phone rang, the girl next to her leaked her secret about Maho having a boyfriend and Maho got scolded for not taking the job seriously as well as not telling anything about it.

Ooops someone got insulted here... Is the girl with the blue skirt lesbian or asexual or is it that she's not just 'awaken' romantically?

the three girl friends- tell me crazy but I have a bad feeling about this photo signifying the end of their good relationship... doesn't it resemble the Chiba, Nitori, Takatsuki photo?

And talking about Chiba... she hasn't changed much. As expected. It would be unnatural to do so from one day to another without even a 'lesson' taken.

right, we hate what we are deep down or what we don't have

She thinks she's the center of the universe? S:/

Chiba is so sneaky! Look at her gaze! I'm getting chills! Here they are in her room trying to write a script for the genderbender play she suggested for the cultural festival.

Sleep well. Nothing bad could happen with this mean, stubborn girl. Nothing at all.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the genderbender play. As already said, it was proposed by Chiba. And guess why. I'm so sure such a good girl couldn't ever have proposed this for her own pleasure and goals. I mean, would she care seeing Nitorin dressed as a girl? Let's not discuss matter-of-fact details.

Reactions before and after Chiba's proposal.

She's just slimy. Playing innocent and making people uncomfortable. Breaking her promises, too.

A parenthesis: the above screenshots get me wondering about how Nitori and Takatsuki perceive their crossdressing. Nitorin seems to feel akward to dress like a girl in situations that's not 'necessary'. Is it only due to Chiba here?

Fantasizing a different reality where people switched genders. Supposedly, for the play. - Another clever plan. Contrast between words and the world, and him and his mood.