Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Utakoi Ep 8

Hey there, Yippy here with this week’s report on Utakoi. This week, we have teary breakups, extreme global warming and star-crossed lovers (again). Well, what’re you sitting there for? Get your swim gear on and dive into the episodic already!

Our first tale has Nagiko’s brother Munenobu experiencing heartbreak. After a passionate relationship with promises of faithfulness, Munenobu and his sweetheart Mount Suenomatsu (nickname!) break up when the latter breaks her promise. Here, young Nagiko sees the fickleness of the human heart and wonders about her own future.

Fast forward a few years later, Nagiko seems to have learnt about the human heart the hard way-by divorcing an unfaithful husband. Fortunately, she meets and finds trust again in Sanekata, who sacrifices his love for Nagiko in order for her to fully utilize her talents.

For the first tale, well, it’s your usual teen breakup. Mt. Suenomatsu’s pledge with the waves reaching the mountain and all was very ambitious, but futile in the end, I guess. Personally, I haven’t had the chance to experience a relationship yet, so most of Utakoi’s love stories just sail past without much feeling from me. I really feel for that guy though: one moment you’re soaring and the next, you’re in the muck. Sounds like an ill-fated holiday homework schedule to me. XD Moving on, I don’t really agree with Munenobu’s father butting in to write a poem scolding her. What good would that do, honestly? If someone should be writing a poem, shouldn’t it be Munenobu himself? To be fair though, old pops was just trying to help his son get over it, I guess. His line about how Munenobu’s love was true but not to be was also food for thought too, don’t you think?

As for the second tale of romance, don’t you see a parallel in it to the tale of Ono no Komachi and her lover Yoshimine a few episodes ago? It’s quite interesting actually. In the previous tale, we have Yoshimine who tries his best to dissuade an ambitious Ono no Komachi from serving in the place. This time though, we have Sanekata, who sees Nagiko’s talents and pushes her to serve as Teishi’s servant. However, it all ends the same way-both women leave their first (or second) love in order to pursue careers in the palace. Sounds just like modern times, eh?

Anyhow, answer me this-should Ono no Komachi and Sanekata have put love first instead of a future in the palace? I feel that love should’ve been given the same priority as ambition. What worth is there in a stellar career when you have no one to share happiness and sorrow with? Both of them had their valid and understandable reasons, but still, I felt sad and wistful when I sawthem just discarding their relationship.

In the end, I guess, I’m just a jealous sappy-romance fan who can’t bear to see Bad Ends… Well, here’s to next week’s episode being a little more cheerful!

For a more descriptive and emotional (in a good way) view on the episode, head on over to Bakamochi’s review at RandomC.

http://randomc.net/2012/08/21/uta-koi-08/

Trivia: Did you know that no one knows exactly where Mount Suenomatsu is? Based on a book on the Kokin Wakashu (which was written by our very own pink-suited Tsurayuki) , it apparently was inspired by a poem from the Northeast. Nothing else is known about it, as far as Google-san says.

(http://books.google.com.my/books?id=Lp_M3Qq88PkC&pg=PA140&lpg=PA140&dq=suenomatsu&source=bl&ots=5tVn_iembp&sig=U5oH_jl6oIbt9epSoMKiCAw6o58&hl=en#v=onepage&q=suenomatsu&f=false)