Netsuzou TRap Episode 7 Review – “We’ll Always Be Best Friends, Right?”

(Spoilers in this review) Hotaru apparently makes Fujiwara delete the pic he took of Yuma and Hotaru. Hotaru stresses to Yuma that they’re just fooling around and kicks her out so she can have intimate fun with Fujiwara.

Since she no longer is dating Takeda and Hotaru is paying some attention to Fujiwara, Yuma feels like she’s being wronged and starts acting down. Takeda attempts to reach out to her, but some nameless go to Yuma’s aid. Hotaru then swoops in and tells Takeda that she wants to talk to him.

As they eat in a cafe, Takeda admits that he thinks Hotaru likes someone else. Hotaru denies this and says that someone was into Yuma, that Yuma didn’t reciprocate, and that said person seems to have given up on Yuma. Hotaru then urges Takeda to try to fix things with Yuma.

Later that night, Hotaru and Yuma have a talk on the verdana. Hotaru admits she was feeling jealous when Yuma first started dating Takeda, which led her to “fool around” in order to make Yuma flustered. Yuma rightfully shoots back that Hotaru is being a hypocrite. That isn’t important enough to be addressed, apparently, since Hotaru says that she’ll no longer be intimate with Yuma, that she didn’t want things to become awkward (between Hotaru and Yuma as well as between Yuma and Takeda), and that they’ll always be best friends. After they part ways, Hotaru notes that the best lies usually incoporate 90% truth.

It seems like a new semester has begun and the students are placed into new classes. Yuma ends up in the same classrom as Hotaru. She also notes that Hotaru has been acting nornal since that talk on the verdana, but Hotaru seems to be keeping her own thoughts and feelings to herself even more than usual. Hotaru encourages Takeda to talk to Yuma, but the good boy instead invites the two of them to start attending a cram school by the train station. Yuma considers going, but Hotaru says that she won’t be going to college so she has no use for the cram school.

Later that night, Yuma wonders why Hotaru thinks she doesn’t need to go to college and thinks that Hotaru is not taking her education seriously in order to make out with Fujiwara. However, Hotaru has actually started working at some sort of nekomimi (car ear) cafe late at night.

• The one who is truly being NTR’d/cucked is Yuma, who has yet to identify her feelings of possession and arousal towards Hotaru. Meanwhile, Hotaru enjoys stressing that they’re not a couple and likes to flaunt her sexual relationship with Fujiwara in front of Yuma. I just realized this episode, so I’m late to the party here.
• That being said, dismissing their interactions as just fooling around is so very cold of you, Hotaru. I don’t believe you, either.
• Hotaru is obviously talking about herself when she talks about the third party who had feelings for Yuma (and the series tries its best to make sure the audience knows by including a faded image of the two girls making out).
• The contents of their verdana talk contradict at one crucial point – Hotaru claims that it was only out of jealousy, but she essentially confessed to Takeda that she was operating out of forlorn and unreciporated love.
• I wonder what’s the 10% lie.
• If you want to go to a good university in Japan, you basically have to attend a cram school. That’s right – you need MORE school to even make the basic requirements of knowledge in order to do well in entrance exams. It’s tough being a student in Japan…!
• What’s Hotaru’s reason for working in such a shady cafe? We’ll probably find out one “reason” (who’s to say Hotaru isn’t lying again?) next week!

Hotaru’s characterization continues and thus she’s painted as a manipulative chronic liar. Meanwhile Yuma continues to be at her mercy even though they’re no longer physical intimate. Fujiwara is trash and Takeda continues to be the poor guy who deseres better. Nothing new here to be found here, folks, but Hotaru’s job might prove to be interesting. Interesting enough to redeem this show? Well, no, that’ll require a miracle.