Sakamichi no Apollon Ep. 9 Review (aka The Love Pentagon Ends)

New endings...and new beginnings

Okay, Sakamichi, you've won me over again with this episode. Thank you so much for ending the bizarre love pentagon and finally settling on some pairings in such a beautiful way.

(Also, I watched this directly after Batman Beyond, which was a bit of genre whiplash, but it was still great!)


It starts off at school, and they're all getting invited to a Christmas party. Ri'ko and Sen are both going to be at church, so they can't go, but Richie decides to go on his own.

Yeah, he's still being an idiot and trying to distance himself from them so they can be happy together or something.

Anyway, he attends the party and is a bit overwhelmed by the crazy singing/dancing/everything that's going on.

What is he even wearing?

Later, he runs into Ri'ko and they talk for a minute. Richie continues to be clueless and says he hopes her knitting will be done in time for Sen's birthday. Ri'ko nearly tells him that it's not for Sen, but then stops.

After that, she throws away the knitting, uncertain of herself.

Meanwhile, Jun is planning on leaving again, and not returning, which bothers Yurika, but she doesn't know how to say that she wants to stay with him.

(Also, I love Yurika's new haircut. It really suits her.)

Ri'ko returns to the store and finds Sen waiting for her, and he apologizes for not noticing her feelings before and says he doesn't want to hurt her, since they're like family. Ri'ko brushes it off as a misunderstanding, and they're back to being like siblings again.

Then she runs off to search for the knitting she threw away, meeting Yurika by accident, who helps her out. They have cute girl talk while they search for it.

I think I like both of them a little more after this scene; they would make such good friends if it weren't for everything else, I think.

With the boys, Sen is being stubborn and refuses to talk to Jun before he leaves, so Richie tries to slap some sense into him.

It doesn't quite work, but later Jun stops by and they have a music battle to sort their feelings out, so he doesn't leave on unfriendly terms.

Both of the girls, inspired by their earlier conversation, part ways. Yurika meets up with Jun at the station and convinces him to take her along too. (This scene was too precious for words!)

And Ri'ko leaves the gloves as a present for Richie.

Overall, great episode. Love how the relationships have developed, and where they're headed as we get closer to the end. Definitely recommended, and I hope to see it finish on a strong note.

*facepalm*

...I swear, that was not meant to be a pun.

~Hana



I do not own Sakamichi no Apollon or the pictures used above; they are for review purposes only.