A year of self-improvement and a heartfelt confession of love to her senpai end in Mei’s disgust.
Episode 4 — “Mei Sakura (Student Council President)”
Hmm.
Love can push people to become better versions of themselves. That idea sits at the center of this week’s twisted twist in Iyapan Returns. The familiar setup, a high school confession after graduation, added the twist of a girl putting her feelings on hold for a year to become someone worthy of the boy she admires. The episode’s twist on the twist, of course, is that the person she idealized was never worthy of her in the first place. Here are my thoughts on Iyapan dialing up the comedy and the discomfort as a high school girl learns a painful lesson, with a look of disgust on her face.
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A Cautionary Tale from Iyapan Returns
Kids in anime high school romances often confuse admiration with love. The problem, of course, is that the idealized version rarely matches reality. In Iyapan’s scenario of the usual classroom confession after graduation, Mei learned a harsh lesson. She should have heard her senpai’s request before investing a year of her life in becoming worthy of her imaginary version.
That’s the real lesson for these high school romantic plots: discover whether your crush’s personality matches the one you made up in your head. Mei’s mistake was never asking whether her senpai was worthy of her love in return.
The Iyapan Returns Twisted Twist
I see a more noteworthy conclusion from this episode, though. Mei’s panties are worth thousands for a few seconds’ glimpse. The dilemma: pride or ruined reputation? How do you trust a man who drops a ton of cash on plane tickets to check out panties? Isn’t that just a Friday night at your favorite cabaret?
Mei should take pride in her panties. That boost of self-confidence would fuel her ambitions and erase the fact that she chose to love a man with poor judgment.
Exit question: If her panties are that expensive, how much is the small triangular fleshy patch they cover worth?
Iyapan Returns Makes Me Say Heh.
Bittersweet time. The student council president graduates from high school, and the girl who has a crush on him is ready to confess her love. Extra pressure: the young man will attend university in England! So far away. Oh? He has something to confess, too! Aw. Mei, much to her inner voice’s dismay, lacks the courage to blurt out her feelings.
Ack. We can see how a twisted turn on this twist on a love confession will go for Iyapan Returns. Mei intends to increase her self-worth by following the talented student council president to a university in Britain. So, she asked him to wait before telling her what he had to say. Do you remember the title of this anime? Mei should not have waited! But now we know what the trigger behind the complicated mix of feelings of disgust on her face will be.
Mei became a worthy woman for the ideal version of her love interest. But she never asked herself if he was a worthy man for her love. Here we go — same classroom, same people, one year later in Iyapan Returns. This time, Mei’s inner voice is absent, and she’s the president. Is it because she became more self-confident and no longer hesitates? Mei did it! She let her senpai know that she had loved him for a long time. Him too! It’s a dream come true!
Reality Bites Through Panties. Disgusting!
Except it’s not. Here comes the twist to put a disgusted look on Mei’s face. Her senpai had also felt something about her for a long time, but it was to see her panties! All Iyapan fans saw that coming. He flew all the way from England to catch a panty flash. Was it worth it? Of course! Mei’s mind broke. Such dramatic music! Ooh, she’s angry now. But again, no hesitation. She wants her first love back!
Illustrator O-Uso put his spin on Mei, showing you her panties with a look of disgust for the end card. It was so worth it for an international flight from the UK! Compare 40hara’s original version to the anime’s, along with a commemorative one for Iyapan Returns. I like the original and anime pose better than the new one. If I fly halfway around the world to see some panties, I’d better see more than a peek from a side profile.
Iyapan Returns (Iya na Kao sare nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai Returns, I Want You To Show Me Your Panties With a Disgusted Face Returns) streams at OceanVeil in Japanese audio and multiple language subtitles.
How would you feel if your reason for self-improvement collapsed at the finish line? You’ve leveled up, but a game patch renders your character build useless. Don’t ask me how many times Diablo III’s “rebalancing” made me feel like I wasted time and treasure. How about Mei’s situation? Should she still go to England? That sounds like the start of a WB show! Would you watch an anime like that? Let us know in the comments!
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