氷の城壁

Nah I think Hikawa and Minato is probably going to end up being the relationship with the most friction, but romantic in nature. Yota is extremely easy to talk to for Hikawa and that's precisely why I don't think the story will go there romantically, it seems to be more focused on exploring the inner workings of people and how they struggle to deal with the perceptions others have of them, so Minato and Hikawa probably will end up having to deal with the fact that both seems to have characters that are completely incompatible.

I haven't seen the third episode yet, but I sorta got the sense that it's not his ego being hurt and more the very complex interactions at work here. It's very obvious from his inner monologue segment that he's been looking at Koyuki with interest for a while and Minato's learned way of connecting to people is by adopting a facade that 'opens their locks'. He's been trying to figure out the key to her and failing because it's not a lock, it's a wall. And Koyuki can tell that Minato is putting on a facade, probably because of her experience seeing both sides of Miki (and also lots and lots of trauma) which puts her off, which Minato, in turn, notices. And Yota and Miki got close to Koyuki without putting up a facade (in fact, specifically by not putting up a facade) which Minato seems incapable of doing. Not to his girlfriend who's in the process of dumping him over it, nor even to his sister(?) after getting home from being dumped.

Yota’s a good dude. Very chill. I’m glad Koyun has a new friend. It’s great that he also knows Miki too. It helps Koyun feel more at ease. Those walls are still up but there’s little cracks forming. It’s a little funny how jealous Minato seemed to be of Yota getting close to Koyun. He’s been swinging and missing every single time he tries to talk to her lol. Let’s see if this little study group helps them get closer. I don’t think it’ll be that easy for him though.

Minato just feels like the exact opposite type of guy she's into, the kind of guy that's the reason she even has ramparts in the first place, so I feel like it's understandable she's consistently wary of him whether he's able to accept that or not. Maybe that's what she needs though. Yota seems like the safe option and she'd probably be happy with him, but she'd probably still have her ramparts up. Minato however could be the guy to break down or unlock her ramparts.

Yeah, Yota has quickly been filed into her friend group (like with Miki) but he doesn't challenge her thought processes in any way. She still treats others distantly and is quick to assume bad intentions because of her trauma. Someone like Minato, seeing as he's part of the main 4, might be better since she views him distantly already. There's something to overcome there. She already seems to treat him like he's one of the boys from middle school, even without knowing him much. His getting closer to her would really make her have to rethink some things. She reminds me very much of Azuma's situation in Polar Opposites. She also created distance with people and later realized that wasn't as reasonable anymore because the high school friends were not the same as middle school. In that case Taira and his uncomfortable discussions helped her. Minato also might need a wake up call; he's already got this idea about "outcasts" and this "locksmith" stuff doesn't seem like it can last either.

I think he's the type who wants to make others included, especially people who are alone or introverted, so he befriends them. More like he has a saviour complex. He likes opening up introverted people so he can feel good about himself, but the relationships he forms with them end up being utterly shallow since he himself cannot open up to other people and constantly only gives the same responses (mostly in the form of questions so that he can avoid having to talk about himself). He's basically a ChatGPT friend.

He tried multiple times to approach her and was shot down every time. On top of it, his friend was successful, both of his friends. If he really did it from goodness of his hearth and to help her, he would have stopped after he saw her chilling and smiling with them, but instead he continues his advances and to try pry himself into their circle. The way he is currently forcefully doing it screams EGO and narcissism, and nothing else. I really think he will be bad news, and if not, redeeming himself will be hard and interesting.

I mean, I don't think the show's trying to portray him as benevolent. We see how he acts when he gets home after being dumped, not to mention that lingering moment of hesitation before he even went out to meet his girlfriend. He was clearly pretty ambivalent. I don't think he has good intentions, but I don't sense he's all that malicious, either. It's like he's going through the motions of social interaction, for whatever reason. His fascination with Koyun seems like it might stem from her unwillingness to go with the flow. I want to figure out what's really going on with him, he's an intriguing type of two-faced.

We see how he acts when he gets home after being dumped Like literally nothing happened. He was more bothered had he had to go out while he was in the middle of studying. not to mention that lingering moment of hesitation before he even went out to meet his girlfriend. Hesitation to be bothered to go out? He does not need to be malicious. Narcissists can simply do harm or be annoying by simply putting themselves and their needs above anything else. They do not need to be doing something with intention to harm someone. Which is what vibes he gives me. He is not able to understand why he can't approach her or solve her, and is even more annoyed that there are people that did it without any effort. So far, screams like narcissist issue. I'm also interested in how it develops, but so far he is way over the line and I'd rather watch 3 of them vibe instead of troublemaker making his moves.

You don't have to be sociopath to be in a superficial relationship, ESPECIALLY not in high school. Some people just try to beat their loneliness by getting into relationships, even if there's no love involved. That doesn't mean the person has no feelings whatsoever. To me he seems like a people pleaser. We saw in this episode (with the girls in his class who were asking about his breakup) that girls are easily charmed by him. It's highly likely that his now ex-girlfriend asked him out and he said yes because he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

The fact Minato is all about helping people but seems to not reveal his true self is going to be interesting to watch play out as the season progresses. He's clearly got a crush on Koyuki (not surprising, she's cute and she falls into his weakness of people who he thinks need help opening up). Our core four feel like they'll be a good group to watch bounce off of each other. The tall but sweet guy, the girl who's wildly popular but kind of hates what it has turned her into, the ice princess who keeps people at bay, and the guy who wants to help everyone open up. Yota's the most normal at least so far. Curious if we get into whatever his deal is soon since we've gotten it for the other three now? Maybe he's just normal but that would surprise me with the way the rest of this show is structured.

missing the fact that Koyuki is comfortable with herself as she is I don't think this is true. She made a point that her inner self is in conflict. The scene where she argues with her mirror image a la Gollum v Smeagle shows she's struggling with an inner conflict. It seems to be a common theme in this show in general. Koyuki, Miki and Minato all are shown to struggle with their sense of self. However, I also do think this is something Minato cannot "fix"

You’re talking like this way too early. This shows about her lowering her walls to the people shouldn’t usually. Yota is just another miki she’s comfortable around him cos they’re identical and henceforth he doesn’t challenge her nor does he change her bias or her ramparts. It’s so obviously being set up for her to get used to Minato and how he is and his true self the part she’d normally be prejudice towards based on his exterior whilst also helping him open up his own lock simultaneously which he never does.

It almost feels like Minato has some sort of savior complex. I get the feeling he cannot leave well enough alone and has a tendency to butt in. I'm not even sure it's actually a crush he had on Koyuki, more just that he wants to "save" her, just like he did all his previous girlfriends (who, in the end, he didn't actually love) and the other people who he helped. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a very fine line, and clearly he goes too far at times (he really should stop dating random girls) My guess is that throughout the show he'll learn a proper sense of self outside of his insecant need to help others, and only then will he be capable of developing proper feelings for Koyuki. Based in the writing of Polar Opposites, the author seems to have a pretty good grasp on psychology and inter personal relationships as well, and generally a pretty healthy approach to how things should ideally be dealt with

With the whole lock picking thing at the start I agree he's likely got a bit of a savior complex. And yeah I use crush because I don't think he's in love with her, but he's infatuated due to a chance to 'save' her. Which is why I'm really interested in watching their dynamic evolve. Their relationship (not necessarily romantic) feels like it has the mos need/room to evolve among the web of these 4, so far.

Their relationship (not necessarily romantic) feels like it has the mos need/room to evolve among the web of these 4, so far. This is why I think Kyoyuki and Minato will be the main pairing, while Miki and Yota will be the secondary couple. They have the most interesting dynamic and the most to unpack. There's some real interesting meat to their potential relationship erom a narrative perspective (sidenote, I find it really fascinating that this is episode 2 of a non harem non love triangle romance show and I'm still not 100% certain who the main pairings will be. I've never seen that before. That means they genuinely all start of as friends, which is really good)

He didn't seem to broken up about it when his gf broke up with him. And when his sibling asked what he was doing out he said it was nothing important at all. Her reasoning for breaking up with him as well was that he has no sense of self. No real identity of his own. The fact as well that he has had quite a lot of gf's and they all broke up with him to the point that it's a running joke with his friends is quite the red flag as well.

Minato's strange habit of befriending and "unlocking" socially isolated people explains why he's so fixated on Koyuki, and confused by how easily Yota makes Koyuki let down her guard. Dude barely reacted to getting dumped too, and the things his ex-gf said suggests that he has some wall around him too and never really opens up to people. Interesting to compare to Miki who is also being performative with her public persona, but in a different kind of way.

Minato clearly has a thing for Koyuki, but I’m already shipping Yota and Koyuki way too hard. I really like this easygoing vibe between the latter two! They’re cute together, aren’t they? Damn, they made her have an appealing dynamic with Yota pretty quickly, but can see the signs that her long game set up most likely is with Minato. Yota is a chill guy, so it seems like he could go well with either of the girls. Though I'm going to need Minato to grow on me more first if he really is set up as the pairing for Koyuki...

Minato clearly has a thing for Koyuki, but I’m already shipping Yota and Koyuki way too hard. I really like this easygoing vibe between the latter two! They’re cute together, aren’t they? The interesting thing is how similar Koyun and Minato are. We know Koyun is pretty good at pushing people away and hiding her feelings. While for Minato it is more so the latter. As we see with him being told by his girlfriend that he wasn't really pushing her away, but she felt he wasn't happy. This could actually be a promising love triangle if it turns out to be one.

I see the pairing the complete other way. Yota seems to be interested in Miki as shown during the vending machine moment. Even Koyun thinks that Yota is a good fit for her because he liked her "old self" better then her new one. I also don't really see how Koyun is romantically interested in Yota either. Just seeing him as a friend she can easily talk with and doesn't have to appear differently (because he doesn't care about her height). As for Minato, I feel the point is that he will be opened up by Koyun in the long run which might be the basis of their relationship.

But he isn't the savior that is the point. To me the Yota/ Koyouki feels overdone with the ice cold lead and the chill golden retriever boy who is nice and chill that she starts opening up and being happy.. Minato is being the opposite of savior where he is literally triggering all of her trauma with how similar he is to the guy from her middle school... That makes it unique.. I don't think Minato will do the saving. More like they will have to struggle and clash ...

Well, of course things would have to change, but that is also what would make it an interesting story after all. But we will see. As for Miki, Yota mentioned that Miki, him and Minato were all childhood friends. And considering Miki's new public persona is something she developed in high school, it is logical to assume that Minato knows who Miki is as well. Meaning there is no need for her to play a different person before him, since he already knows.

It's interesting to see how quickly Koyun got comfortable with Youta even before Miki joined them, the detail where Koyun breathes a sigh of relief when she sees him as Minato speaks to her stood out to me.  I'm a little concerned by Minato, especially after seeing that little montage of people he has unlocked. It's one thing if he does it for them, but it seems like he finds satisfaction from these "project cases". Though his ex-girlfriend saying he doesn't have a sense of self may be more telling as to why he does this, hopefully Koyun keeps her guard up around him.  I could also relate to Koyun where she was having contradicting feelings, it's such a pain.

I find Koyun and Minato actually very relatable and complementary actually. Her inner thoughts this episode, for example, is wanting to be part of a group but also being left alone. She outwardly expresses being left alone. I have almost the same thoughts but I express myself openly to other people. He likes helping people but doesn't realize he is missing an actual connection. She wants connection but doesn't realize she is missing the need for other people. (Hard to put into words but I think you get what I mean) I love this show so far.

Man, I just love Yota’s vibe. Koyuki’s contradicting thoughts about being in and hanging out as a group is too relatable as well. It’s a downside to being a sociable introvert, wanting to spend time with close friends but also knowing that while I will have fun with them, it’s also eating into my alone time. I get Koyuki being averse to an unfamiliar person but I also get Minato trying to butt in especially since Yota is there and being all friendly and Koyuki also showing how comfortable she is around him, it does feel isolating. While I’m sure they’re gonna get close eventually, I think it’s a bit harder for Koyuki to open up to Minato cos of how “loud” he is

So I take it Minato likens himself to a "locksmith" who can get other people who feel ostracized and alone to open up? And he probably thinks he can do the same with Koyuki? Thank goodness Yota showed up just in time! And his blurry vision makes it good for staring daggers at the pick-up artists harassing Koyuki! He'd even have punched 'em if Koyuki had told him too! So Yota, Minato, and Miki were middle-school friends, and Yota and Koyuki can commiserate over a shared appreciation of the "real" Miki that she only shows to her friends or people who know her well. Glad Koyuki was able to learn Mr. Giraffe's real name, correct her name to him, and find someone else she can get along with. Miki reacting like she did not expect to see her middle-school friendship and her childhood friendship together in one setting, but the trio have a nice dynamic together. I don't think Koyuki would care for Minato seeing her as pitiable, even if he can't seem to take his eyes off of her and be interested in what's going on with her. At the same time, he's got his own relationship problems when his latest girlfriend breaks up with him. He acts like a really understanding (almost psychologist-like) boyfriend, but the girl could tell his heart wasn't in it and he just didn't care for her the way she did him which hurts the most. It's telling that he really doesn't seem all that worked up by it...and he's attractive enough that he can easily pull another girl if he tried. I love how Koyuki is on a first name basis with the school nurse. Also points for it being a cool old lady instead of the usual anime hottie. Minato REALLY wants to get along better with Koyuki but she definitely feels much more comfortable with Yota and he's not sure how he feels about that. But who wouldn't be transfixed by Koyuki's winning smile? True friendship is rock-paper-scissoring for the last seat on the train, mutually agreeing to give it to an older gentleman...and then desperately running off and back onto the train because Miki was so flustered she went max politeness. Well, I guess we've got our core four together studying after school, whether Koyuki wants it or not. But it seems like she's slowly getting used to, and happy, opening herself up...even if a part of her still craves the isolation. Her ramparts aren't completely melting that quickly.

I'm definitely in the minority, but I'm loving Minato. Giving some real depth and flaws to the cheerful guy who gets along with everyone and loves to "unlock" less sociable people is really cool. Koyun gets along with Miki and Yota just fine, but Minato trying to force his way in is gonna be really fun to watch, since Koyun is not the average lock he is used to. I feel like the impact it's going to have on him will be felt.

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High schoolers these days are such freaks. Bitch, you were trying to prey on a high schooler, the hell? Snakes have more legs to stand on then you. I didn’t scroll in my phone even one time! I’m proud of you too, Miki!! In this day and age, that’s a challenge. Giving some Power Rangers Alpha with that “ayayayayay”. I will never let go of all my coins. Over my dead body. You can still vibe with people, but you’re okay rocking solo. Friendly reminder that friendships take all sorts of forms ☺️ I can’t say if girlie was right or wrong about Minato, but she’s cool to note them being romantically incompatible. That’s okay to understand your needs aren’t being met and deciding to end a relationship. But that sounds like she learned “sense of self” from “therapy” TikTok 💀 You were smiling! 🙂 Minato’s thought process around Koyuki isn’t my favorite, but I understand him and I think he lines up with common (but not macro) neurotypical thoughts (and NDs too). I know I’ve gotten that and have heard that. Believing someone of being a loner or unfriendly, feeling sorry for them, all that. Koyuki is still struggling with her emotions, for sure. But there’s still tons of us who are content where we’re at, and we get interpreted as being pitiful. Even mentioning enjoying going to the movies alone—I sincerely do—I got hit with “Aw, I’m sorry” 😭 But it’s still normal to judge someone based on what you glimpse, what people tell you, and compare them to your is understanding of normalcy. So I get what Minato is saying there. Plus, he’s still mentally defending Koyuki in that scene on, well, maybe she just hasn’t met her platonic soulmates. And he’s not negatively affecting Koyuki’s life or others with his thoughts, so that’s nice. Yota and Minato’s friendship is adorable though 🥹 I feel Koyun. It’s hard to let yourself be happy and enjoy yourself and be surrounded in friends sometimes. Cannot wait for her to find that security to let herself feel it all.

This episode really provided some good insight on Minato. It seems when dealing with people, he is good at lowering people's defenses. The problem that we see that led to his girlfriend breaking up with him was that she felt he never liked her. He really doesn't stop her from it, which really shows he keeps his defenses up. This carries into the episode when he notices Koyun, and she is someone we know from the first episode who pushes people away and keeps her defenses high. We can see his usual stuff doesn't work on her, and I am curious how he responds to that. In comparison, we have Youta who Koyun feels immensely comfortable around. Youta is a good dude, which feels genuine. He lets people see his weakness, like him hitting the pole while he is laughing, and laughs it off. This brings Koyun to think about how she is feeling, and she is finally having fun. She wants to isolate herself and have fun, but her other part aims to have fun with Youta and Miki again. I will be curious how she progresses.

He really doesn't stop her from it, which really shows he keeps his defenses up. My impression from the lockpicking sequence is that Minato approaches people and befriends them not to form a genuine emotional connection but to feel good about himself as a connector of people. It appears that this pattern was present in his last relationship - his ex felt that he didn't like her, and his lack of emotion during the breakup and when he returned home confirmed that. It may be that up until meeting Hikawa, the thrill for Minato was in the chase. If so, his arc will likely involve growing beyond that given that for Hikawa, genuineness is the only currency that matters.

On this first introduction, Minato came off as really condescending. The implication I got was that he almost sees himself as some kind of confessor or doctor, there to "fix" people, without actually engaging with them as people. All take and no give. My most ungenerous prediction would be that his repeated failures to "unlock" Hikawa while some random guy achieves it with ease would send him spiralling, as it calls into question his self-image as the great People Unlocker.

I personally use a Note than I have synced across all my devices via iCloud, that's basically a copy and paste of livechart.me/schedule Sometimes I watch episodes on my phone, sometimes on my computer. So I can just go into the note and raise a show's episode number. Then at the end of or midway thru the season once I've established what I'm gonna stick with or drop I'll add them to MAL. If you exclusively watch on your computer you can install browser extensions that will automatically sync with MAL or Anilist and can keep track that way.

Interesting that the episode focused more on Yota's relationship with Miki and Koyun, but the main "reveal" was for Minato. It seems to me like he has some form of savior complex. He likes to be the one that can help people that have troubles opening up. But that is also the extent of it. He can talk about niche things like manga, but that is more his surface level face. He doesn't actually care that much for what the people are interested in (and is therefore also not giving them something about himself) which is why his relationships don't last for a long time. It seems also that he likes to be the center of attention. Which the episode gave us two examples of. The first one is obviously that Koyun is opening up to Yota (and not him) but I also feel, he only told his friends that he got dumped again, so he would be the center of what they are talking about. He doesn't seem to mind that they are making fun of him so much as long as he is the main topic the conversation revolves around. Though, there is also the fact that he seems to be very cautious of what he says, which can be seen in the conversation with his girlfriend. He is asking if he did something that made her dislike him. So there is also another layer to his personality where he tries to be what people would expect of a friend or in this case a boyfriend. So maybe, he also doesn't want to be hated by anyone. I guess, it will be interesting to see what his true character is like. Especially since opening up himself to someone else (probably Koyun) is the first step he needs to do in order to get into a real relationship. As for Yota, I am still not sure what his hidden personality is. My best guess is that despite having really bad eyesight, he doesn't want to wear glasses in public (only put them on during the learning session), so maybe he feels they don't fit him and he looks bad in them? But I assume we will see that in future episodes. He does seem to have a crush on Miki considering he dropped his money when she was getting close.

He's clearly never been in love before, like seriously in love. Which makes me wonder if that plays into why he seems more fascinated by Koyuki than he may have been by anyone before even if he thinks she's the next lock he needs to open up. I wonder if part of it stems from his own family drama. When we saw the family pictures we saw a picture of them at an amusement park where he was having fun but there was a an adult male figure (his dad) looking away like he didn't want to be there.

I don't think it was supposed to be a good thing either. But I would also say that it might be good to wait and see where this goes. This was my first impression. But it could also be that Minato is a person that "likes to unlock" other people's hearts but has trouble unlocking his own. In a sense that the breakup did affect him, but he didn't want to show it. If that is true or not, we will have to wait for.

Or he is simply doing it for fun, treating them like a challenge, like a toy (hence the lockpicking imagery). Truly a psychopath. A psychopath is a person who shows a consistent pattern of traits such as a lack of empathy, shallow emotions, manipulativeness, and little or no sense of guilt or remorse. They often appear outwardly charming or confident, but their behavior tends to be self-serving and emotionally detached.

I would be cautious to immediately start calling someone a psychopath. We simply don't know yet what he truly feels. If it was just a game for him, there wouldn't be much point to going into a relationship and keeping that up, right? Or at least you would expect that it's Minato himself that ends the relationship when he is done "playing". The fact that it seems to be a pattern that he is dumped might indicate a different interpretation.

I guess her ex-gf is one of many people he has managed to 'unlock' in the past. Given such a huge track record, can he maintain all of those relationships at the same intensity as when he first started unlocking them? I guess that partly explains why he gets dumped a lot. If it was just a game for him, there wouldn't be much point to going into a relationship and keeping that up, right? Yes. Once unlocked, he probably treats it like a finish line. Or at least you would expect that it's Minato himself that ends the relationship when he is done "playing". I guess he doesn't explicitly end it. He simply abandons it and finds a new target to play with.

While that Interpretation is possible, as mentioned, I would not go too far in that direction. We just simply don't know enough about him yet. Which is similar to how other people treat Koyuki in the show. They think she is an ice queen without knowing her. The thing that makes me question the whole sociopath theory is that Minato at least seemed to be a "good boyfriend". Him asking his girlfriend what it was that made her feel lonely implies to me at least that he is not completely uninterested. Of course, this could be part of the "game", but I feel combined with the aspect that his girlfriend mentioned he doesn't open up himself to her, implies more that he is unable to truly show his real feelings and ironically keeps them locked up as well.

Nowadays, people tend to think that a psychopath is the same as a serial killer. That is why they hate being given that label so much. In fact, its technical definition is simply a personality construct , just as harmless as “extrovert” or “introvert.” A psychopath is usually described as someone who is emotionally detached. They tend to show very little genuine empathy, guilt, or remorse, and they can appear calm, controlled, and even charming. Because of this, they are often able to plan their behavior carefully and blend into society without drawing much attention. A sociopath, in contrast, is typically seen as more emotionally reactive. They may still lack empathy, but they are more prone to impulsive behavior, anger, and difficulty maintaining stable relationships. Their actions are often less calculated and more erratic. Then I remember one day, while I was interacting with a certain vtuber through a live chat stream. I was called a psychopath by both the vtuber and the rest of the audience, simply because I was a little more calculating when interacting with her fanbase instead of blindly stanning her. At first, I was offended, but then she explained that it is just a personality construct, not an indicator that I am a would-be serial killer or anything like that.

Sure, but that is what I was arguing, was I not? You don't know if Minato is truly emotionally detached. We just don't know enough about him to make that judgement. That is why I gave Koyuki as an example. From her classmate's perspective, a lot of this fits as well. But you wouldn't label her psychopath, because you know what the exact reason is and that she would like to open up more. Who is to say that this is not true for Minato as well? The whole premise of the show is that people have different "faces" after all, so just labeling him this way already feels too soon.

You don't know if Minato is truly emotionally detached. We just don't know enough about him to make that judgement. Well, I’ll never know anyway, because he’s a fictional character. The author can probably change his psyche on a whim at any time, regardless of the plenty of evidence that has accumulated in the past. All I can do is infer things by analyzing his actions, his internal monologue, and perhaps other characters’ testimonies about him. I also wonder whether his ex-girlfriend knew about it or not, but she judged him anyway and decided to break up with him. And many of his other ex-girlfriends probably thought the same and made the same decision.

I am sorry, but this shows to me that you set your expectations and are not willing to change them. In which case, a discussion makes no sense imo. If you are already preloading excuses that your idea of him is only going to be wrong because the author "might decide on a whim" to change his personality, then this is a lost cause. You have no idea what his inner world looks like. You have one minute of inner monologue. A minute that does not even outright say he has "fun" unlocking people's hearts. Just that he did that. Similarly, his girlfriend only said she felt that he is not opening up to her. Not that she felt played with or anything like that. It is fine to make theories about a fictional character. That is what discussions are for after all. But you are clearly already convinced what Minato is like and are already saying that any change is basically the author rewriting him. Despite there being not hard proof for this interpretation and plenty of time to learn more about him. We are not 12 episodes in, but two. And as mentioned, nothing of what you say has been confirmed in any way.

I really love how Koucha Agasawa deconstructs the Shoujo genre and its tropes. I'll have to see more to be conclusive but so far Koyuki and Minato seem to be a subversion of the socially awkward female lead needing rescue and her corresponding rescuer. Rather than getting out of her shell, I think Koyuki's growth is in being comfortable with the fluid nature of her character -- that is, being comfortable with both isolation and interaction. While Minato, whose identity is hinged on other people and his ability to 'save' them, would learn (possibly through his failed bids for connection with Koyuki) to finally look inward and honor who he truly was just as she with herself.

Yeah a lot of people outright hate him right now and I “partially” understand them, we have a good boy who seems to have no flaws for now and a very “shy” main character so when she feels comfortable the audience does as well, and Minato doesn’t have the same affect on her for now so they feel uncomfortable just like she is which i think is intentional, so far he is the most interesting character out of the cast for me and I can’t wait to see more of him

Minato, based on just these two episodes, seems to be the most complex individual of the main four. It's funny how so many of the commenters here are getting bad vibes from him, he already feels like the most layered character. Almost all the people saying they don't like him are also saying they love Yota's energy and dynamic with the girls, but to me that sort of golden retriever vibe is not very multi-dimensional for characterization. Though, in the ED we see Minato with the keys and locks in the background, whereas with Yota we see what look like blurry flames, I'm wondering if that's hinting at some hidden rage within him, then again he's lookin real sad in it.

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I think the title actually reflects everyone in the story. We see it with Miki and Yota that they are often judged or assumed to be one way when in reality they are another with Miki being conflicted that she feels she can't just be her true self in public the more passionate version of herself. With Yota he is assumed to be scary due to his height when in reality dude is just a chill guy. The story seems to hint that everyone has walls of ice around them and our protagonist Koyun has the most obvious ones where you can literally see it in the intimidation she unleashes onto others accidentally.

I'm sure Minato is a good kid deep down, but that opening scene was definitely concerning. The dude seems to be more caught up about making people open up than the people themselves that he treats that breakup like nothing. I'm very interested to see if Koyun would ever open up to Minato, considering how she and Yota have become fast friends , while she still struggles to interact with Minato. My favourite scene of the episode is how Koyun's face softens up when Yota shows up and goes back to being on guard when she's looking at Minato. I do hope Minato gets the hint , that Koyun just don't really get along with his personality type when he barged into their little study session.

I think I finally have a grasp on the pairings, I think. Minato is a very interesting character for a romance anime. I don't think there are many male characters in romance anime, especially highschool romance, that have been in multiple relationships before. I find him interesting as well that he seems to be very distant and has a tendency to try and fix other people's problems, almost like he has a savior complex. That's how he ends up getting so many girlfriends who end up dumping him because in the end he was really just in it to butt into their issues. Just like Polar Opposites absolutely stellar character writing and interpersonal relationships on display. They feel like actual highschool students who had a life before the show started as well. Facades and inner conflict seems to be a big theme here. So far we've seen Koyuki, Miki and Minato all put up their facade and struggle with who they really are. I wonder what Yotas deal is going to be. He comes over as very chill and relaxed. That might be a facade, but he might also just be like Yamada in Polar Opposites, head empty, just good vibes

It really is so cute how Koyun and Yota vibe with each other so quickly and so naturally. Guess it's hard not to feel comfortable around someone who helped you get away from a bunch of creeps. Of course it helps that he's also just the chillest guy to be around. The contrast between how she treats him and Minato is funny to witness as well. He's the one who was interested in her for a while now, but he's the one who can't make headway into making her warm up to him. Meanwhile, Yota made befriending her look like a total cakewalk.

I'm mostly interested in the dynamic between the 4, because this episode ended up seeding a lot of themes to expand in the future. Yota and Hikawa immediately started vibing with each other, but I sensed some unease initially between Miki and Yota that may be something coming from their cram school days. Minato interestingly seemed to be the main center of the inner struggles shown this episode, so I suspect he may be the guy how will end up spending more time trying to get past the friction with Hikawa. We are probably going to see how they struggle to connect from their respective point of view, maybe going back and forth a bit. In terms of character and behaviour they are balanced in a way that I'm sure will end up causing some big emotional argument in the future. Minato will want to intrude in Hikawa's mind at all cost and Hikawa will repel all attempts. If I had to guess based on the vibes of the first 2 episodes, the main struggle for each character are: Hikawa will need to embrace that she cannot control what other think of her and shut herself because of her fear of being the target of ridicule, also her stature doesn't define how other perceive her. Plus, she's both the girl that wants to avoid everyone and the girl that has fun spending time with others. People are just that incoherent and feeling opposite emotions at the same time is part of being human, we just need to accept it. Miki will need to face the pressure of expectations others have about her, she cannot pretend to be a different person based on her surrounding. Probably a future meltdown coming once she starts slipping her true personality in her public persona and "the mass" reacts negatively/surprised. Yota I guess may have some kind of family situation, twice he stayed out late in 2 episode, or he's so extremely friendly because he's physically huge and frightens others (so reverse Hikawa). Curiously the only character with no real insight on his true self so far. Minato I suspect may have had an awful first relationship, ending up hurting someone and he's now basically overcompensating by feeling the need to "save" others but also shelling himself behind the mask of the caring guy. I wonder if Minato will end up being the one in true need to be forced out of his shell, the one that is truly behind the lock, and the current set up of Minato seemingly wanting to open the lock of Hikawa's heart is actually a red herring for the role reversal much later in the story. I'm curious how it goes from here, lots of potential to explore how this 4 interact with each other and their baggage. I did not expect to be so invested in Minato's mind either, he's very interesting as a character. He's the kind of person that is actually the most difficult to read because he appears to be well aware of social dynamics and able to read others well, so he can also hide his true self extremely well in the process. I can also imagine a bunch of good mid-season drama happening: Yota having to deal with Miki having a meltdown, and Miki finding Yota's "too friendly, too nice" personality every more infuriating in the moment. Minato's latent jealousy of Yota's relationship with Hikawa causing him to be kind of an asshole to Yota. Hikawa being too blunt to Miki and inadvertently hurting her. Surprisingly good series set up to speculate on. Also, do we know if this is a 1 season only show?

I am liking the darker more drama vibes of this show compared to polar opposites. I am also liking that one of our main characters, Minato is pretty flawed. He seems the kind of person who likes making other people open up and tries to act accordingly that somewhere down the line he lost himself.. A people pleaser? A savior complex?? So having our main girl straight up hate his approach must be eye opening for him.. Or I hope it is. He is the most interesting character to me along with Koyouki at the moment. Would love a ship between them ❤️.. Love the friendship developing in the trie I find their banter really comforting. I do hope there are no love triangles though. But it also seems like Koyouki is warming up to Yota so will we see something there?? Can't wait for the next episodes. My favorite of the season so far along with Agents of the 4 seasons..

People complain about Crunchyroll subtitles, and rightly so, but Netflix reminds us that it can always be worse. It was nice to see Hikawa starting to warm up to the boys and come out of her shell and actually have fun. Considering that this story is paced slower than Polar Opposites I thought that wake another episode or two. I know it seems like the pairings might seem to be Hikawa x Yota and Miki x Minato because Hikawa is already almost as comfortable with him as she with Miki, but I have this feeling it will be the reverse. Hikawa will have a good friendship with Yota like she does with Miki, but Minato will be the one to "unlock" her so to speak.

Episode is titled "Locksmith" but Minato has had no luck so far breaking through Koyuki's lock/fortress. Instead we mainly see her getting closer to Yota (Giraffe-san ftw) and a little study group form with them and Miki, which Minato crashes at the end. I agree about Miki's real personality being a lot more fun than the proper one she puts up. That whole blurting out that they're getting off at the next station to make it easier to give up that empty seat to the other man and then dashing to climb onto the next coach was so funny but also relatable. Haven't done exactly that but similar white lies pop up sometimes before we even know it, don't they? Minato is fully jealous of Yota and how easily he's been able to break down Koyun's defences. Although he didn't exactly break them down as gently let himself in by being unassuming and genuine. Minato's more brash approach makes even me wince while watching. He needs to learn to be a bit more sensitive if he wants to get close to her, which he clearly does. Minato's serial relationships is an interesting detail. More importantly what his last girlfriend says to him when breaking up - that he has no sense of self. He seems to be such an out and out people pleaser that maybe he hasn't stopped to think about or pay attention to his true self. And maybe it's because she can intuitively sense this that Koyun's defences go up as soon as he tries to barge into her space. I only got a little past this when I read the manga so most of what's to come will be new to me and I'm excited for it. And for us to meet all these other characters from the OP and ED (good ones both btw).

Aww I feel bad for Minato. Poor guy has been secretly crushing on her this whole time and sees his friend one day totally change their dynamic without him knowing why has got to be rough. I don't think that's the case at all, to be honest. At least not yet. But Minato's interest in Koyuki seems to stem from his urge on wanting to help people open up and feel heard and seen (because he can't do that for himself) It became his very personal schtick and his "purpose" in life. Ideally he would want to put his schtick to use on Koyuki too and probably sees a lot of himself in her, which is why he pities her. So that stark contrast on how she is around him and then around Yota must sting for him because he has build this approachable 'locksmith' persona, just for her to feel wary of him but safe around Yota. It feels like Yota is taking away his only purpose and that he therefore becomes irrelevant.

Yeah, run away you cowards! The study group is officially forming. The bit on the train was very funny. I like Koyuki’s little argument with her reflection over keeping her walls up and letting them down. This is probably gonna sound weird but Minato is giving me the same vibes as [Shoshimin S2] Kobato during parts of that season, especially the breakup scene. He’s nowhere near as much of an unhinged freak like he can be but he kind of feels similar to me. I think I’ve finally figured out what is bothering me about this show. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just something that’s been puzzling and nagging me the entire time. It’s Minato. Or more specifically his current role in the story. All my romance story experience insists that this guy is supposed to be the male lead and main love interest. So it really ends up feeling off, and that’s probably intentional, when he’s barely in the role he’s supposed to be playing and instead off to the side and joining the group last when in a conventional story, he’d be the first one of the cast Koyuki interacts with. But instead the others hang out with her while he’s failing to fit into his proper standard place in the narrative.