Netsuzou Trap Episode 9 Review – “Give Me Your Cold”

(Spoilers in this review)

Summary: Takeda and Fujiwara continue to hang out after school and Takeda admits he still can’t give up on Yuma. Meanwhile, Yuma decides to try working at the maid cafe again in order to be with Hotaru.

Yuma’s mother finds out that Yuma has been skipping out on cram school thanks to Hotaru. The pink-haired girl ends up catching a cold, which leads to Hotaru to visiting Yuma as she rests in the school infirmary. Spurned on by Hotaru’s words and her confused feelings, Yuma kisses Hotaru, which in turn encourages Hotaru to resume their banned activities. Unfortuanately, Good Guy Takeda walks in while the two girls are in a uncompromising position.

Comments: I finally realized that Fujiwara actually cares about Takeda since he keeps trying to subtly discourage Takeda from chasing after Yuma, who has feelings for Hotaru, without breaking his heart. He’s been doing this ever since he found about Yuma’s relationship with Hotaru. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a terrible person.

A large portion of the drama within the series is due to Yuma’s obliviousness. Her sheer denseness is starting to approach that of a black hole. How has she not put two and two together by now and realize the extent of her feelings towards Hotaru? At any rate, her inability to reason is proving to be frustrating and is demeaning towards the viewers since the series seems to believe that this sequence of events is  supposed to be theatrical and riveting. I’m just left wondering when will Yuma use her brain. It does serve as a good reminder as to why I dislike harems with wishy-washy guys, though.

While Yuma can be vexing to watch and is guilty of picking some terrible choices, she at least never intentionally means to harm others. So while I’m wringing my hands over Yuma being clueless, I’m tearing my hair out as I watch Hotaru slyly distance herself from Yuma. She even indirectly tattles to Yuma’s mother to discourage Yuma from following her! The little schemer knew full well what she was doing, too, since the viewers could see her smirk. Hotaru just comes across as selfish and conniving and I guess that’s why the people who like this series enjoy her presence since soap opera dramas seem to always need a morally questionable character (or two, if you include Fujiwara).

Yuma finally makes a move on Hotaru, but it’s more disappointing than exciting since Yuma has yet to resolve her inner turmoil and feelings. As such, it’s an action inspired by desperation and lust, which can leave the viewer having mixed feelings over Yuma’s “progress.”

The jig is also finally up since Takeda waltzed in while Hotaru was on top of Yuma. Well, at least they were still dressed, I suppose, so there’s still wiggle room for explanations and misunderstandings. The episode was nice in that regard since Takeda seems to finally be in the know. The series also opted to return to fetishistic displays of eroticism between girls, which is the show’s bread and butter. Be that as it may, I’m not impressed with Yuma’s lack of critical thinking and reasoning. Being unable to actually like any of the characters since they’re all (save Takeda) bad people is also infringing on my enjoyment of this series. Oh, well. To each his or her or their own.