Sprout Ep 12 Review

With Sprout’s successor series – Piece – already airing its first episode, I think it’s time for me to give a final review of this drama.

Are we expecting any surprises in this episode? Miku (Morikawa Aoi)’s going to get with Souhei (Chinen Yuri), isn’t she? Well, not for a while, apparently. You see, not only did they move forward a year at the end of the last episode – from the end of one summer to the start of another – but we also have an extra half-hour to spare. On the bright side, at least we’ll get a last dose of excellent screenshots before I have to be critical about this drama.

We begin with Miku’s voice-over telling us that nothing has happened since Souhei left a year ago (I’ll comment on this lost year later in the review).

Boys are still trying to win Miyuki (Kojima Fujiko) without luck, leaving Takeru (Tanaka Juri) to think he might still have a chance:

Sprout Ep 11 Review

Now that Miyuki (Kojima Fujiko) has dumped Souhei (Chinen Yuri), he can just go ahead with Miku (Morikawa Aoi), right? Of course not – don’t be silly. In a way, Miyuki has rather soured the prospects for Souhei and Miku, since Souhei won’t be able to hold hands with Miku without feeling a bit guilty about what happened with Miyuki. Miyuki managed to take the high road and get a bit of revenge at the same time. She’d make a good political strategist.

You’ll notice that I didn’t even mention Hayato (Lewis Jesse). That’s because, ever since we switched from Miku’s perspective to Souhei’s, it’s been very clear that Miku is still in pursuit of Souhei. If only Hayato had given Miku a helping hand when she was feeling ill and dazed, he could have won her heart. Honestly . . . .

But at the end of the previous episode, Souhei’s mother threw a wrench in everything, calling Souhei to tell him she wanted him back – wanted him to leave the Ikenouchi boarding house where he is within easy reach of Miku.

Miku is understandably hopeful that he’ll stay and she can win him over. As expected, though, he’s more tentative. As usual, neither makes their feelings clear, hiding everything behind weak smiles.

In this, we start getting Miku’s thoughts again, and it looks like she realizes that it’s crunch time.

Sprout Ep 10 Review

The previous episode of Sprout (スプラウト) ended with Miyuki (Kojima Fujiko) disappearing, which means that Souhei (Chinen Yuri) has to go search for her . . .

. . . and get his best buds Arata (Yasui Kentaro) and Takeru (Tanaka Juri) to do so as well – with the viewer knowing that Takeru also has feelings for Miyuki.

It sounds like she didn’t go far, though.

Sprout Ep 09 Review

Since we’re coming close to the end of September, I think I’d better catch up with Sprout (スプラウト), even though subtitles aren’t available yet. When we last left the four main characters, the last shoe had finally dropped, as Souhei (Chinen Yuri) finally found out that his girlfriend Miyuki (Kojima Fujiko) has a thing for his best friend Hayato (Lewis Jesse).

Making things even more chaotic, Miku (Morikawa Aoi) finds out, too, and this doesn’t bode well for her budding relationship with Hayato, even though Hayato doesn’t seem to be interested in Miyuki at all.

Yup – no one’s happy. The atmosphere as they gather around the table is grim as Miyuki explains how far back her infatuation with Hayato stretches (as if telling everybody that really helps the situation), but swears that she’s been totally into Souhei since they got together (as if anyone is going to believe that).

Sprout Ep 08 Review

Wow, it’s been a while since I wrote a Sprout review. No episode aired on August 25th because of the 24-hr TV telethon, then summer (the practical season, not the calendar one) ended, complicating the schedule of our wonderful and dedicated subtitlers. Thanks to arisu_subs for continuing to subtitle the series in the midst of other obligations.

This episode picks up with the scene at the end of episode 7, with Souhei (Chinen Yuri) spotting Hayato (Lewis Jesse) kissing Miku (Morikawa Aoi), and not liking it very much.

Clearly, the weight of the story has shifted to Souhei and Miyuki (Kojima Fujiko), the once perfect couple now facing unexpected flaws in their relationship.