Episode 8: I Like You, I Like You, I Love You! |
Review This episode starts off with a little introduction to what goes on before an IGPX race starts. The fans are anxiously awaiting for the race, but not everyone is so excited about the matchup. It's Fantine and Takeshi fighting for a win, and people have taken notice to their relationship. It's even caused a lot of fans to rally against their relationship. The teammates have taken notice, and Liz even questions Takeshi's integrity to the team before the race begins. Takeshi reiterates whose side he is on. When Mark calls him a chick magnet, Takeshi reveals that he's received over 10,000 hate e-mails since the public became aware. Mark tells him to show the crowd what's up. This comment leads to me say that a lot of the writing in this episode was well done. This might partially be because for once, the writers lay off the 'cool' attitude that they use in Takeshi's lines sometimes. The writing is also good in part to the directing. I haven't really talked about the directing until this episode guide, but it should be said that the directing in this episode was some of the best in the series. I say that more for the directing more than I say that for the writing. As always, there are a few lines that could have been better. But this show thrives when it goes into the little things that make the episode great. That all comes from the excellent directing. The script simply works around the directing to make it appealing to the English-speaking audience. The important thing to remember is that in some situations, it was unavoidable for the English writers to throw in weird dialog. This is because the writing has to correspond to the animation, and what the original director intended anyway. Using that as a benefit of the doubt, this episode also has some of the best writing. This episode uses a few flashback scenes. In my review for Episode 12, I really didn't like the flashbacks. In that episode, it was overdone. Plus in that episode, the main focus was about the outcome of the race, and what goes on during the race. This episode doesn't really focus on the race as much as it does focus on Takeshi and Fantine. Even Liz can't quite see Takeshi and Fantine going out. We see here sitting in her mech, and a quick flash of Takeshi and Fantine sitting together goes into her head. She might even frown upon it the way Takeshi's sister does. The episode does lose a little focus when a subplot arises between Mark and Miss Satomi. Miss Satomi finds out that Mark recently graduated from Harvard, and has something to do with one of the sponsors for the team. Once we gain focus on this subplot, it turns out to be developed very well. Unlike a few other episode in the past that lose focus because of subplots, this one has a lot of meaning behind it and the creators pulled off a good side story to accompany the race. A flashback is shown of Andrei showing Team Satomi what Team Skylark is like. Takeshi is bit forward with the plan to take Fantine out with his mech during the race. But another flashback of Fantine asking Takeshi not to go easy on her makes Takeshi think twice. Takeshi even asks her if she really means it, and we see nothing more. It segues into the race, where Takeshi is getting beat by Fantine. Takeshi is becoming somewhat hopeless. Liz encourages him to think about what he's doing. Takeshi says that she is right, and once again Liz helps Takeshi get in the racing mood. Liz is known to indirectly influence and help others out. That's saying something, considering her character usually comes off as having more of an attitude. She is also a wise character. That's kind of apparent when she is quoting famous philosophers. To see this in her character outside of that realm shows that her character has developed into a stage of full awareness on how to deal with each situation. When confronted with Takeshi acting up during the race, she sticks with what she knows is right. It's exactly the type of character that makes a good role model. But of course, this episode would be nothing without a little involvement with Takeshi and Fantine. In the midst if Takeshi's barrage of attacks, Fantine's mech burns out and Takeshi comes in for the killer blow. Both mechs slide into the finish line, but down and beat. Later that night, Takeshi and Fantine meet up at a beautifully designed restaurant. Fantine is a little down about losing and Takeshi is also a little down about how he won. He asks Fantine if she let him win. She grunts in an annoyed kind of way. He apologizes for saying that. She replies that there is no need to apologize if she didn't hear him. That goes back to the writing which is still a highlight of this episode. The good writing carries over to the subplot, which helps it work. Miss Satomi is thinking back to when she first talked to Ichi. They didn't show this in Episode 5, so it was kind of neat to go back to an event to which we were already introduced. He says that Miss Satomi will have to learn to ignore the people who will always find a way to criticize what the team is doing. The subplot goes on her feelings toward the way she runs the team. She also has to keep integrity, and she thinks the things the Mark has covered up until now have hurt that. Not giving too much away to this well-developed subplot, Mark reveals that it's not what she thinks, but he says it in a very realistic way. He reminds her that he is part of the team and winning in any aspect is part of making the team great. This episode doesn't do wonders for the series, but it certainly opens eyes to what this series is capable of in terms of writing, directing, animation and character development. It also shows that the series can build off of its faults. That would be the reference to Mark's dad. Now, I feel a little bit better about that subplot from Episode 7. Most importantly, the show stays true to life. If you think about everything that happens, it is very realistic. Takeshi would really receive hate e-mails. There really would be a rally against Takeshi and Fantine's relationship. And there would likely be a nice restaurant overlooking the IGPX race track. The director finds these little things in the settings, and even the writing. Of course, you'll have to hear the Japanese version and read the subtitles to see what the differences are. Either way, this episode succeeds. |
Fantine is seen preparing for the race against Takeshi and Team Satomi. |
Team Skylark maintains a strong formation as to protect Fantine from Team Satomi. |
A pit stop is necessary for Takeshi who can't get a read on how to go about winning this race. |
Additional Pictures |
USA original air date: December 17th, 2005 |
Japan original air date: November 23rd, 2005 |
Original Japanese Title: I Like You, I Like You, I Love You! |
Summary Team Satomi's next race pits them against Team Skylark. However, it is not popularly known that Takeshi and Fantine have feelings for each other. Will those feelings hinder each other's performance in the race? And will the outcome of the race affect their relationship? Meanwhile, Miss Satomi gets a little too curious and finds out that Mark may be hiding something about him. Will she be pleased with the truth behind his past? This episode features the first race against Team Skylark. |
OVERALL SCORE: 8 out of 10 |
Toonami Version Differences No changes/cuts are made. |
Additional Information |