A wreath of thorns weaves itself around her head, it tears at her skin as small streams of blood flow beneath her sharp crown. The pink flower tucked behind her ear remains though withered, the last remaining sign of ‘her’.
Tsukasa’s chest aches at the sight. What have I done?
He had been too careless, too arrogant. How could he have let such a simple mistake slip from his grasp? How could he endanger his own sister while being so willfully ignorant?
No. No. This is not his doing, it certainly isn’t. Yes, the blame can only belong to–to him. He, who conveyed Tsukasa a façade of kindness. He, who has nothing but the worst intentions towards him ever since he was honored as a knight. For there is nothing good to expect from demon kings, or human kings, or whatever royalty there is to plague the world with their greed.
Even as he served a prosperous kingdom, even as he lived in palaces and mansions that has given his fallen family luxury and safety, Tsukasa can never bring himself to devote to a crowned man who has done nothing but glorify his sins. For a while, he had thought that he could endure forcing smiles and pleasantries around people he itched to draw his blade with but now—
Now, Saki is cursed with the same crown that has eclipsed his whole life into ruins and he feels a pain so unbearable that he weeps.
I enjoyed this a lot. It's far from Yuji Sakamoto's best work, but even his lesser scripts still have above-average quality. I must admit I didn't really care for the murder-mystery part of the story, although the final twist did surprise me more than I expected. That being said, I definitely liked the romcom parts way more. The writing is as witty as one could expect from Sakamoto, and Ryo Yoshizawa and Aoi Miyazaki know how to play off each other. The banter between their characters is delightful. The rest of the cast is also great, and it's clear the actors had fun making this movie. On top of that, I also loved the social commentary that permeates the plot without overwhelming it. Overall, I had fun with In Love and Deep Water.
unpopular opinion, me projecting and definitely not what the writers intended but I still don't forgive shiho and especially honami for how they treated saki.
they were her childhood best friends, ones had been by her side since very early childhood and then when saki was going through one of the hardest times in her life they just ditched her. I know the story gives us their reasons for it, but honestly those reasons are bullshit.
shiho didn't want saki to be affected by her bad reputation and the bullying, but that falls apart real quickly. shiho didn't visit the hospital at all, which, what, are the bullies hiding in the bushes? she also didn't text or call and gave saki total radio silence. how do you justify not even texting your decade+ old best friend while they're fucking hospitalized? bullying is horrible and deserves to be taken seriously, but these are high schoolers, they're not wiretapping her phone.
furthermore, it should've been saki's choice, not shiho's. the bare minimum she could've done is tell saki she didn't want to talk right now, even without a reason, but no. not a word. you can argue shiho didn't want her to worry about her, but how is never responding or showing up NOT going to worry her even more? she also should've trusted saki and not babied her.
honami's reason is even worse. nobody deserves to be bullied, and her fear of it getting worse is entirely understandable. throwing your friend under the bus to save your own skin is not. honami pushed saki away and hurt her because of honami's own problems and that's the literal definition of selfish, no matter the reason behind it.
this is coming from someone very timid and terrified of rejection or criticism myself, but if you can't stand up for your friends, you don't deserve those friends. no excuse. I just can't buy any of the other stories portraying honami as someone so kind and caring and selfless when she completely abandoned saki for her own benefit, regardless of how sympathetic that benefit is. no visits, no calls, no texts, no support, nothing.
when saki does come back to school, finally getting to experience the life she's wanted so badly, having to work so hard to just get the chance to be with her friends, they abandon her. again. honami and shiho ignore her, avoid her, and shiho even tells other students saki's not her friend WITH SAKI STANDING RIGHT THERE. that's bullying! you can't pull the bullying victim as an excuse card and then do that to your dear friend!
saki would give anything for her friends, and they spit in her face. she desperately wished more than anything to just be with them, to spend time with them. when saki's sobbing in her bed alone, hating herself and the life that she'd been given, she comforts herself with her family and friends.
friends like shiho and honami, who weren't there for her. who neglect her, and when she finally can leave the fucking hospital - we don't even know the extent of her illness, she may have never recovered/had a remission or even died for all we know - treat her even worse. she had to fight so hard for the simple dream of getting to just go to school and see her friends again, and they decided that just wasn't important enough.
FOUR MINUUTEESSSNone of you understand ive been waiting for this song. for a YEAR. because im too stubborn to download the jp version. AND ITS FINALLY ALMOST HEREEEEEEEEE AAAAUAUGHHHHH
another music video—but not nightcord at 25:00 this time! in fact, i decided i wanted to replicate the april fools groups, as they didn’t have any 3dmv’s. i assumed that ichika would still be the lead, and saki would still play the keyboard. i remember reading in a post somewhere that it is implied that ena plays the drums, so that left airi to play in shiho’s place. i would love to put n25 in for a leo/need mv, but there’s a certain song i’m waiting for to release before that happens ;) until then, enjoy!
Saki Nikaido from Zombieland Saga vs. Shiver and Frye from Splatoon 3
*NOTE: Shiver and Frye have been given one entry because -let's face it - their eyebrows are pretty much identical. They are also pals and I would hate to see them have to compete with eachother :( If they make it to the finals then yeah sure. Shiver vs. Frye then.