You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 ‒ Episode 10

So shockingly, it looks like we’ve taken a break from Taira and Azuma’s “will they, won’t they” dance this week, but with how much they’ve been running in circles lately, it’s probably for the best. That doesn’t exactly mean the episode is light on drama, though, as all the tension and introspection they normally provide gets transferred over to our other two pairs of opposites as they continue to ponder what life after high school could hold for them. Since their screen time has generally been on the lighter side of this show’s romcom formula, it’s the kind of change of pace I was expecting, but it’s certainly a welcome one, as it shows that for as stable as their relationships might be, these characters still have plenty of growing to do.

Of the two, Yamada and Nishi’s section ends up being the heaviest, as it takes some time to dig into Nishi’s difficulties with asserting herself. This is apparently something that’s followed her ever since childhood, and while she has gotten a bit more confident since dating Yamada, she still has a tendency to let others make decisions for her. We see this come up when she’s deciding what her college track is going to be. While she wants to major in literature, she has trouble communicating that to her mother, who wants her to pursue a more theoretically stable path in economics instead. While Nishi’s mother ultimately isn’t too pushy about it, her attempt to haphazardly decide Nishi’s future for her speaks to how little she trusts in Nishi’s ability to know what she wants for herself, and even though her mom does agree to let her do what she wants, that lack of faith in her decision-making takes an understandable blow to her confidence.

That blow nearly causes Nishi to trip up with another big decision as when she finds herself alone with Yamada at his house and the mood gets intimate enough that the two of them find themselves on the cusp of having their first time, rather than deciding for herself if she’s ready, she decides to leave the decision entirely in his hands out of fear that he’ll lose interest in her if she says no. Even though we know that Yamada is a good enough guy that he wouldn’t take advantage of her in this kind of situation, it’s still extremely dangerous for her to put herself in by not choosing to set boundaries. As lighthearted as this show generally is, I’m glad that it didn’t shy away from the gravity of it. Thankfully, Yamada turns out to be just as nervous as she was, and they end up reassuring each other that not being ready doesn’t mean they’ll like each other any less, but the experience ends up being one that forces Nishi to realize just how scared she is of making her own choices, and that she needs to get better at confronting that fear. It is a little hard not to feel like this lesson could have been learned under less potentially disastrous circumstances, but messy experiences like these are as much a part of teen relationships as the show’s fuzzier moments. While it does feel a little out of place in an otherwise relaxed romcom, it handles it about as tactfully as it could have, so its inclusion feels more than warranted.

Compared to all that, Miyu and Tani’s segment isn’t quite as big on drama, but they’ve still got plenty of their own troubles. We’ve been seeing them get gradually more distant over the past few episodes as they each deal with college prep, and while it hasn’t put a stop to their relationship, it has started to cause some tension. That tension reaches its boiling point when the two of them study together for entrance exams at Tani’s house, and Miyu can’t help but notice that Tani was looking into a college that was further away than the one he’s currently defaulting to. This gets her worried that he might have decided against his preferred college purely because it would be harder for them to see each other, and it’s only when Miyu threatens to break up with him over it that he stops to realize that he shouldn’t take his own future so lightly. Considering how close we are to the end of the show, there was a brief moment where I thought this breakup scenario was for real and that it was going to serve as setup for the finale, so it did give me a bit of whiplash when the very next scene has Miyu comically crying into a pillow because she was scared of what would have happened if Tani had actually gone along with it. Still, even if this scenario ended up turning into a punchline, it doesn’t make the life lesson here about not trivializing major life decisions any less valuable. The fact that Miyu was willing to prioritize Tani’s well-being over their relationship actually demonstrates how thoughtful a partner she is. I suspect next week will bring us back to Taira and Azuma’s antics, but it’s good to see that they don’t have to be the show’s only source of drama, and that it’s still plenty capable of pushing all of its characters.

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You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.