Scum's Wish: Episodes 5-6 (Review)
By: Mithrandiel[yasr_multiset setid=11] Miss my previous review? You can find it here!Scum's Wish continues to offer scathing insight into the hearts and minds of generally awful people, including Hanabi as she begins to wage a personal war against Akane.Episode 5 starts off with Hanabi and Ecchan's relationship becoming infinitely more complicated as the two make a daring leap from close friends to friends with benefits. Hanabi is unsure of their relationship, feeling like she's taking advantage of Ecchan's obvious infatuation with her in order to satisfy her desire of being wanted.Ecchan, on the other hand, doesn't mind at all. She's willing to do whatever it takes for her to be close to Hanabi, even if it means acknowledging that her feelings aren't real and she's merely being used. The tragedy of their relationship is more impactful because of its plausibility on both fronts.
Hanabi is growing into a woman, and her realization that desire and attraction can drive people can do crazy things leads her down a somber path as she identifies her enemy: the mature teacher that has ensnared her beloved "Brother" with her charms.At the same time, Hanabi continues to work through her feelings for Mugi. While they each find comfort with others -(Hanabi with Ecchan, Mugi with a former classmate - they cannot deny their strong attraction to one another. Still, they put on a show and act distant towards one another until they have a confrontation during lunch. They both confess to their respective infidelity (though is it really cheating given the nature of their relationship...this is a question the viewer gets to tangle with in the moment) and begin making out.
Both Mugi and Hanabi demonstrate some striking self-awareness as they realize that their pursuit of physical intimacy is a natural side effect of being a teenager. It all "feels good", as they mention numerous times. This is further exacerbated due to their respective insecurities.As the young couple takes the action back to Mugi's apartment we get another glimpse into Akane's effective seduction of the unsuspecting Kanai-sensei. After one too many, Akane has Kanai take her to a motel and taps into his affection for Hanabi to close the deal.
Hanabi invites Mugi to go "all the way", wanting to make their relationship more official and finally lose her virginity, but the pain makes her uncomfortable and she tells him to stop. When she wonders aloud why they can't "do it", Mugi responds bluntly "It's because you don't love me." Hanabi's response is one part adorable and two parts tragic: "Fine, then I love you."
We see a young girl teetering on the edge: on one side, a world that hopes that she and Kanai-sensei can eventually be together...on the other, committing fully to Mugi and attempting to pursue a normal teenage relationship. After a tiff with Mugi causes her to leave his apartment, she returns to her room and longingly strokes the empty side of her bed, reflecting on her growing need to have a companion at night.To make matters worse, Akane plunges the dagger into Hanabi first thing the next morning by letting her know that she had bedded her beloved "Brother".
Episode 6 begins with Hanabi's reflection on how Akane is able to manipulate her feelings. The fact that she pursues Kanai without actually loving him or wanting to be with him infuriates Hanabi, and causes her to think about how she can repay the terrible favor. She struggles with her conscience as she realizes the gravity of what she wants to do: essentially manipulate others to isolate Akane and ultimately steal away everyone who has feelings for her.
Despite her inner turmoil, Hanabi sets herself down a dark path of manipulation, beginning with Mugi as she asks him to officially start dating her. She then goes to Ecchan in an attempt to break things off, not willing to continue toying with Ecchan when she knows that she doesn't have feelings for her. Ecchan, however, remains steadfast that the two will continue seeing each other and effectively offers to be her safe harbor; no matter what kind of person she becomes, she could always count on Ecchan to be there.We begin to see the dark vision of what Hanabi could become when she sees the young man that Akane was with when she and Mugi went to a late night meal a few nights earlier. Her inner monologues are striking as she reflects on how seemingly easy it is to get a man to want to be with her...and whether manipulating people like this will really fulfill her after all.
Still, Hanabi leads on the young man, meeting up with him in her school uniform and going to a Karaoke bar with him in order to deepen their bond and have him want her. She's able to defuse the situation before it goes too far, realizing that she merely seeks self-worth by getting attention while Akane is gifted with a strong sense of self and confidence that naturally draws others to her.
During all of this, Mugi continues to wonder if he's being cheated on, though he seems content as long as Hanabi is good at hiding it. The episode concludes with his childhood friend Moca confronting him once again about his shallow feelings for Hanabi, and wondering why it can't be her instead. She asks him to go on a date with her, to which he agrees unenthusiastically. Moca is heartbroken, but much like Ecchan she still agrees to the date, seeing a chance to be close to the object of her desire better than being kept at arm's length.
Mugi continues to stagger under the burden of what Moca imagines him to be, and the inconvenience appears to annoy him more than anything. It will be interesting to see where this tangent leads, as Hanabi has shown in previous episodes she is not fond of Moca at all and has been overtly aggressive towards her. Curious to see how she'd react to coming over to Mugi's place and finding Moca there...Scum's Wish continues to be a fascinating case study in complex teenage emotions and relationships. The sexuality continues to be a strong undercurrent of the show, still executed at more sophisticated levels than one would expect for a drama centered around teens. If you haven't added Scum's Wish to your lineup already, I would strongly recommend it once again.
