[Fish Sandwich]

Toei has been uploading Kuuga episodes on their YouTube channel to celebrate the 20th anniversary, and, when they aren't region-blocked anyway, I've occasionally found it fun to pop in and browse the comments, having learned from watching so much Ultraman on that site that the Japanese commenters are often shockingly well-informed and thoughtful.

They recently posted episodes 25 and 26, the really really great two-parter where Yuusuke cheers up Hiraku, a kid who cut class to mope about his uncertain future. They're some of the most definitive episodes of the series, and there were two particular observations I saw that blew my mind so much I just had to share them. One is that in 25, when Hiraku is going to buy a train ticket, he hesitates on whether or not to push the button for a child ticket, subtly reflecting the confusion he feels about his own identity.

The other might actually be the single most Yuusuke thing Yuusuke ever did.

When he goes to sit down on a staircase for a chat with Hiraku in the climax of 26, he initially sits on the step Hiraku is on. But then after a second of thinking, he moves down exactly one step.




Why does he do this? Because it puts him at eye-level with Hiraku. The guy is so considerate he goes out of his way to readjust his seating position to avoid literally talking down to a child.

Absolutely amazing how deliberate and purposeful such a small detail like this can be. Did Arakawa write that in the script? Is Ishida's blocking just that good? Maybe Odagiri even adlibbed it himself? Not a clue, but I know I have even more respect for these episodes now than I already did.