Allow me to summarize the most disgustingly overused anime romance trope: the misunderstanding. Guy and girl hang out. They begin to like each other. Time passes. One or both is close to confessing. However, in a shocking turn of events… the girl catches the guy TALKING to another side character girl behind the lockers. Oh dear. Well, the case is closed. The guy is a cheater scumbag who deserves to rot in the lowest layers of hell. That is until they finally talk it out, say “oh it was actually my sister” and the day is saved a few episodes later after a boring conflict. No character growth, no originality, just a mindless plot device to feign that the series had some sort of conflict in mind to keep the relationship interesting. If you somehow have never encountered that scenario, you are a blessed soul or simply don't watch anime romance. Enter Skip and Loafer.

Last week’s episode of this slice of life proved just how immaculately thought out every scene is by the creator as it brings back elements from the first episode. Here’s the spark notes: guy and girl are becoming close friends. However she is a studious, aspiring member of the student government and he is a bit of a slacker who has rumors circulating around him as to his whereabouts after school and when he skips. While working on an assignment together, she argues that he should never skip “just because” and that the upcoming exam period is an important time to hunker down and get serious with school. He replies “maybe it’s important to you”, which is a callback to the first episode where our girl had responded to one of his statements expressing his lack of interest in the entrance ceremony with “maybe the ceremony isn’t important to you”. Thinking that this means he is using her own words against her, they wrap up and she leaves on a sour note. Their friendship is strained until they talk it out later. With a more level-headed discussion underway, she clarifies that while she does want him to do good in school, the truth is it’s more boring without him around and that’s the main reason she doesn’t want to see him keep skipping. He clarifies that he wasn’t upset about her concern, but rather that it seemed to him that her concern was stemming from believing the rumors circulating about him. After spilling their point of views out, they realize it was all a misunderstanding and both grow from it. Especially our male MC, who previously argued that talking things out was a waste of time. 

Hey nobody said sharing your feelings wouldn't be embarassing, though.

THAT is how you write a misunderstanding. It’s a miscommunication that is directly related to this specific relationship, creates an understandable conflict that the audience can follow, and is resolved by everyone involved clarifying their stance and thoughts. It’s a lot harder to write than merely “Oh my god are they interested in [insert some character we barely know here] instead of me??? They glanced at him for five seconds, she must be losing interest in me!!!”. Are you watching Skip and Loafer? Are you tired of the “misunderstandment” trope in anime? What other anime have done romances well? Brew a nice cup of coffee, sit down with your partner, and actually communicate for once in the comments below!