Captivated, by You
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| Even a short series like this has its own "beach" episode that's part of a school trip, the Okinawan vibes sure as hell doesn't work for Yamada (who gets airsick sitting on airplanes), much less Nikaidou who always puts on the Junji Ito act wherever he goes, that pressures even Yamada's friends just having him around. However, Yamada knows that Nikaidou is putting on his usual act, and when he's alone, he can finally be himself...though having girls from their school see his Ikemen style and trapping him for his good looks to engage him in a ghastly storytime session, the rumour of the haunted hotel only besets him back, that somehow keeps Medaka interested in him. Yelp, Medaka's friends thinking that he's the sacrifice putting them on a distance against Nikaidou, the truth is anything but the opposite between the two. And if Medaka's weird dream about Nikaodou fazes him quite a bit, it's the latter thinking that he's better off alone, until the former stepped into his life and made it better. However, it's Nikaidou's own face that'll haunt him for the rest of his life, more than the actual ghost residing in the girls' room that night. As an anthology series, the anime is alright, but the manga is where's at being the better source material of the two. |
KANLen09Sep 18, 2025 6:51 AM
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| a decent finale story, i kinda miss our first main characters and wished they would appear as a cameo atleast in the last episode but this was still a funny,chill and comfy episode like the other four, nothing to write about so i'll give a solid 6.5/10, one of the best opening song of the season too. |
| Deep dark fantasies |
| Nice and wholesome finale this was a fun series. |
| Good character writing, decent dialogues and interesting, but somewhat relatable situations. Exactly what I want from a short SoL and it should be enough to make me check out the manga. |
| It was a captivating experience as a whole, even when it doesn't get very into it. The interactions, the reactions and the administrations always buds the feels of cute and wholesomeness. The question is, which Nikaidou?  |
Reply to PinkRandoseru
After so many episodes of BLesque but not BL stories I'm not sure everyone will fully understand the actual meaning of Medaka's realization at the end of the episode, but yes that's him realizing he's in love with Nikaidou. In the manga it was explicitly stated but for some reason here they cut the sentence.
| @PinkRandoseru That shouldn't come as a surprise.. The Japanese animation industry is notorious for its censorship of (explicit) queer elements.. Sadly, the censoring of such a vital scene is another demerit of an already lackluster show.. |
Reply to PinkRandoseru
After so many episodes of BLesque but not BL stories I'm not sure everyone will fully understand the actual meaning of Medaka's realization at the end of the episode, but yes that's him realizing he's in love with Nikaidou. In the manga it was explicitly stated but for some reason here they cut the sentence.
| @PinkRandoseru Where exactly was this in the manga? It looks like the aquarium scene in the anime is original. |
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Reply to A-ten
@PinkRandoseru Where exactly was this in the manga? It looks like the aquarium scene in the anime is original.
@A-ten They censored it out in the previous episode.. |
| Bananas x pink shirt duo... pretty fruity, if you know what I mean. 🍌 Okinawa: known for clear water, pineapples, soft ice cream and cute af gay realizations. Poor thing, between used pads, horror manga and ghost stories, he's scarred for life. But I can't say his tribulations weren't fun to watch. The absurdly catchy ED theme will haunt me for months I swear. Speaking of which, just a few days until Karaoke's bonus~ |
 watching, waiting, commiserating |
| Watch the live action drama while your at it: Same thing here in the drama Karaoke Iku also has a drama movie |
| I realized the two friends are the singers in the ED so this made it extra hilarious for me w Also, so that's why in the ED Nikaido was bending over in laughter while Metaka is looking at a mirror. I really love that part where everyone was moving the way they want. Even if Nikaido did indeed intentionally build this kind of image, Metaka being very considerate still helps him experience and make memories like a normal highschooler. What a very endearing pair. I love how Metaka's goal is "I want him to keep smiling!" preferably me being the recipient? (haha) This kind of work feels so short, so I will imagine more happy things about our whole cast. Maybe I'll check out fanfiction haha. I have been trying to look up if I can get a physical copy of this and Karaoke, I would love to get one. |
| A big shame this wasn't a longer, more fleshed out series with either just Hiyashi/Ema or Medaka/Nikaidou. Or even like 6 episodes per pair. I know that wouldn't have followed the manga but they could've added original content. Oh well. |
Reply to PinkRandoseru
Exactly. They cut the line in the previous episode and moved it to the second one, leaving it unfinished, I guess as a compromise for manga readers.
Anyways. Perhaphs some of you bought the official English translation and are thinking "but that's a scanlation mistranslation, Medaka never said he has feelings for Nikaidou". Well, it turns out the official English release censored that line. The Karaoke Iko official translation had some major mistranslations too.
In the English release the part about Medaka having feelings that were more than just friendship was translated like this:
"The reason I decided not to tell him about that was because I was starting to feel the beginning of a friendship with him".
If you're wondering which one is right, this is the original line in Japanese:
[そのことを二階堂には言わないでおこうと思ったのはほんの少し二階堂に対し友達以上の感情が生まれてしまったから]
This story was originally published on Pixiv, where the author tagged it as BL, though this applies only to the first chapter (the first half of the initial Nikaidou episode). The line was not removed in the tankobon release either. I can't help but ask myself why a high school boy admitting to himself he has a crush on his classmate is not okay for the anime staff, yet adding several new romantically coded scenes of Kyouji and 14 year old Satomi is fine.
Anyways. Perhaphs some of you bought the official English translation and are thinking "but that's a scanlation mistranslation, Medaka never said he has feelings for Nikaidou". Well, it turns out the official English release censored that line. The Karaoke Iko official translation had some major mistranslations too.
In the English release the part about Medaka having feelings that were more than just friendship was translated like this:
"The reason I decided not to tell him about that was because I was starting to feel the beginning of a friendship with him".
If you're wondering which one is right, this is the original line in Japanese:
[そのことを二階堂には言わないでおこうと思ったのはほんの少し二階堂に対し友達以上の感情が生まれてしまったから]
This story was originally published on Pixiv, where the author tagged it as BL, though this applies only to the first chapter (the first half of the initial Nikaidou episode). The line was not removed in the tankobon release either. I can't help but ask myself why a high school boy admitting to himself he has a crush on his classmate is not okay for the anime staff, yet adding several new romantically coded scenes of Kyouji and 14 year old Satomi is fine.
| @PinkRandoseru The studio basically sabotaged the second storyline.. That inner monologue is central to showing the underlying driver of Mekada's actions throughout the story and what actually draws him to Nikaidou.. A lot of viewers will be left puzzled and confused.. A failed adaptation all things considered.. |
Reply to this_again
@PinkRandoseru The studio basically sabotaged the second storyline.. That inner monologue is central to showing the underlying driver of Mekada's actions throughout the story and what actually draws him to Nikaidou.. A lot of viewers will be left puzzled and confused..
A failed adaptation all things considered..
A failed adaptation all things considered..
| @this_again I think you're exaggerating. The scene in the oceanarium was quite graphic. The true meaning is hard to miss. And the main driving force behind both arcs, in my opinion, is "captivating", the fascination of man with man. |
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| Such a nice episode! I'm so glad we saw more of Medaka and Nikaidou, they are such a nice pair 🥹🥹. I'm sure gonna miss them!! The best was when Medaka decided to stay at the hotel with Nikaidou, and he confessed he was having fun, so there was no point in them looking at the others, he sure wanted tobdo things with Nikaidou only 😭😭. And when Nikaidou found a Medaka fish and the big laugh Nikaidou gave Medaka, oh my. For some reason I thought they were gonna hold hands when they started walking, was it just me? 😍😍 |
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| Another short one, the third in this season, and another good one! That was like a little sweet moment to watch, nothing super great but pretty cool! |
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Reply to A-ten
@this_again I think you're exaggerating. The scene in the oceanarium was quite graphic. The true meaning is hard to miss. And the main driving force behind both arcs, in my opinion, is "captivating", the fascination of man with man.
| @A-ten It wasn't graphic at all.. Medaka was not allowed to express queer affection, not even in his most inner thoughts.. The 'true meaning' is left up to interpretation.. And while that is what the studio intended.. It is also in complete disregard with what the source material intended.. If you want to convince yourself it's there, go ahead.. But it isn't there, the studio censored it out.. |
| As much as I enjoyed this adaptation, compared to Karaoke Iko’s adaptation, it feels like the studio didn’t put as much effort into this one. I saw comments questioning how the original manga won so many awards after watching the anime, it simply doesn’t do justice to the source material. If you haven’t yet, read the manga, the comedy and emotional moments lands much better in Wayama’s panels. |
Have a nice day!  |
| Personally, I think these last 2 eps were the best out of all of them. I was quite bored in the beginning, so it was great to end this off with a laugh. |
| ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ |
| I misremembered the school trip with Ema and Hayashi, but I'm not complaining about that. I really like Medaka and Nikaidou and it was very nice to re-experience how cute their relationship is again for what basically felt like the first time. (Also, Yuuki Ono is good casting for Medaka, since he usually voices very likeable boyish boys.) |
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| Is this the last episode already? But I want more! 🥺 |
Reply to A-ten
@this_again I think you're exaggerating. The scene in the oceanarium was quite graphic. The true meaning is hard to miss. And the main driving force behind both arcs, in my opinion, is "captivating", the fascination of man with man.
| @A-ten The thing is that if you don't state it in plain text, someone will always read obvious romantic interactions between two guys as just friendship (See YoI/Bravern/whatever) It's really a weird change, especially given how huuuuhhh "tone up" Karaoke Iko's adaptation is despite the original being more like absurd comedy than anything until the time skip. |
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