I absolutely love the parallels we got in this episode. But my favorite, my absolute favorite, is between Adachi and Kurosawa in the bedroom.
Kurosawa tries to cheer Adachi up by telling him Rokkaku is looking up to him and how many people are cheering him on! That would definitely help Kurosawa because it’s how he’s focused his life.
But Adachi just gets more nervous. His face falls. That just puts more pressure on him and leaves him feeling worse about his chances.
Then Adachi starts talking about how perfect Kurosawa is. And how he lives up to everyone’s expectations! Because, to Adachi, that’s amazing. And something he wishes he could do.
And Kurosawa does the exact same thing. His face falls. He knows it’s meant it as a compliment but he also doesn’t consider it one.
The really impressive part here is that Adachi is the one to push back. He’s the one to point out that it makes him feel more nervous. But Kurosawa decides to try to live up to that same compliment that he’s been trying to live up to his whole life.
They’re learning so much from each other.