Episode 9 "My Friend And I"

This week's episode of "My Love Story" is all about the power of contrasts. There's the obvious contrast between Yamato and Takeo's physical appearance. But then, there's the quite beautiful contrast between Takeo and Sunakawa's personalities.

Since the beginning, "My Love Story" has been all about subverting expectations within the genre of romantic comedy. One of the biggest subversions is Suna and Takeo's friendship. In other series of this nature, guys like Takeo and Suna would likely find themselves fighting or in two completely different social groups. But by pairing them together, Suna and Takeo get to truly be unique characters.

Part of the strength of contrasts is that they offer character traits to be emboldened. In the case of Suna and Takeo, this week's episode offers a deep look in how Suna reacts to sad situations with Takeo's tendency to spin them into positives. Takeo's reactions may seem rather simplistic, but ultimately it makes both him and Suna compelling when Suna is struggling with the difficulty of his Father's surgery.

Since the beginning, Suna has been somewhat stereotypically stoic, only appearing compelling in contrast with the animated reactions of Yamato and Takeo. Even more so in this episode, the contrast offers a more concise look at Suna's interior view of the world. It is not that he lacks emotion as much as he is a character that hides it.

It is with this realization that audiences can see that Suna is perhaps drawn to Takeo because he is able to wear his heart and emotions on his sleeve. As to why Suna's personality is so aloof - perhaps manga readers have been offered a deeper insight. In this nine episodes so far however, Suna is quite simply, the character that best appeals to those of us who are drawn to people who are expressive because we can't bring ourselves to be.

Overall, this week's episode of "Ore Monogatari" is a beautiful look at how personality contrasts can enhance characterization. Ultimately, audiences are left with the bittersweet understanding that in tragedy, a somewhat silly and simplistic friend is all you need to see beyond your personal sadness.

That, and some colored paper cranes are the truest recipe for sadness.