Tada Doesn't Fall in Love Episode 7: Capturing the Human Element

This week Tada manages to nail two character moments beautifully once again helping this anime remain feeling like it is just that little bit better than it should be.

While the little sister’s crush on Yamashita seems to have come out of nowhere (unless I’ve just utterly and completely missed it in previous episodes), that didn’t stop this episode really hitting the mark. Over the course of twenty minutes, and once again with Nyanko Big acting as a story catalyst (though not narrator this time) we see the sister’s crush and what she likes about Yamashita before we see her hopes dashed in the face of the girl he has a crush on and then her dealing with a broken heart and sobbing to Teresa. While it might seem rushed, it really isn’t. Each part of this character arc feels complete. First love come and first broken heart all laid out cleanly for the audience.

The fact that her story seems like a parallel for Charles, who is clearly in love with Teresa who doesn’t love him and he knows it, and quite possibly parallels Teresa’s crush on Tada which is most likely impossible due to circumstances, just makes this story more bitter sweet. And that brings us to the second moment this episode got right.

Last week Charles was flawless and larger than life but this week we see him jogging in the park and stop to have a conversation with Nyanko Big. The whole talking to cats gag isn’t as interesting as it might look on paper, but Charles explaining to Nyanko Big that he fell in love with Teresa’s smile is a moment that feels very genuine, and Teresa’s smile is certainly something that you could imagine would win someone over.

While Tada Doesn’t Fall In Love isn’t exactly masterful, these moments that it gets right keep the story and characters going strong and buy good will for the less nuanced moments in the series.

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Thanks for reading.

Karandi James