“All Because of You,” which kicks off Season 2 of Tonikaku Kawaii (aka “TONIKAWA“), has some pretty straightforward goals: catch the audience up, reintroduce the characters, and lay the foundation for a new story arc. The episode is a wholesome, quiet outing in keeping with the low-key tone of the first season, but it also hints at bigger things to come for everyone involved as Nasa and Tsukasa continue to mature and adapt to their new marriage. As an opener for TONIKAWA‘s sophomore season, it’s about as effective as we could hope for, and it’s given us a solid reason to keep watching.
TONIKAWA has always been a twist on the romance genre in that it starts with a marriage, and then has the couple learn how to be married after the fact. It’s almost the equivalent of buying “big kid clothes” for a toddler with the expectation they will eventually grow into them. Season 1 of TONIKAWA saw Nasa and Tsukasa take some of the first baby steps, as it were: sleeping in the same room, cooking for one another, and sharing a first kiss (in a chapel, no less!) “All Because of You” opens with similar baby steps—including one amusing early scene that highlights their contrasting tastes in movies—but soon offers them a new challenge when Nasa’s friend Kaname suggests they have a formal wedding ceremony. When she teases Nasa to imagine “the sight of your beautiful wife in a wedding dress,” it’s all the convincing he needs.
Nasa’s newfound excitement to provide a huge wedding ceremony for his wife works on multiple levels for both characters. For starters, it continues to reinforce how dedicated he is to making Tsukasa happy, which has always been one of his core qualities. At the same time, though, it reveals how much these two are still learning about one another and highlights how different they are. Nasa’s naivety is especially prominent here, as he innocently assumes he can have a wedding “somewhere next week” for only 150,000 yen. This kicks off a hilarious sequence as Tsukasa (and shortly later, their friends Kaname and Aya) bluntly explain how unrealistic his plan is.
This whole scenario fits Nasa especially well, since he has always been the less grounded of the two. But it also features an important detail, as Tsukasa admits how embarrassed she would be wearing a fancy wedding dress in front of so many people. In other words, Nasa wants a wedding for exactly the same reason Tsukasa doesn’t want one. This is a fantastic way to show how much Nasa and Tsukasa still misunderstand each other, and that Nasa’s desire to make his wife happy doesn’t automatically mean he knows how to do it. To its credit, the episode isn’t judgmental towards Nasa, either; his naivety is funny, but understandable, since it grows out of the character’s aloofness despite his earnest intentions.
While Nasa’s wedding scheme takes up the bulk of the episode, “All Because of You” still effectively reintroduces the series’ side characters—Tsukasa’s adopted sister Chitose, and her maids Charlotte and Aurora—even if they don’t factor into the main plot itself. They’ve heard about Nasa’s wedding plans, and an annoyed Chitose, who already disapproves of the relationship, debates with her maids how someone like Nasa could pull off such a feat. The best part of this scene is that the debate takes place during an intense sparring session between Chitose and Charlotte, which ups the tempo of a relatively slow-paced episode and adds an extra layer of absurdity that perfectly reflects Chitose’s boisterous personality. It also hints at a future development down the line: although Chitose is irritated by Nasa’s plan, she also promises not to ruin their future wedding, as she wants her grandmother to be happy when she sees Tsukasa on her big day. Only time will tell, though, how Chitose and her grandmother will factor in as the season goes on.
By the end of the episode, both Nasa and Tsukasa agree that neither of them is ready for a full-blown wedding ceremony yet. Interestingly, it seems that opposite forces are holding them back. Nasa is eager to move forward, but the logistics of organizing a wedding are overwhelming to him. Tsukasa, on the other hand, understands how much goes into a wedding, but she would prefer to keep things where they are for now: movie dates, sharing ice cream, and the like. Most importantly, though, it’s obvious neither of them is emotionally ready for such a big leap, although Tsukasa seems more aware of it than Nasa. As if to drive the point home, the two pretend to exchange traditional wedding vows later that night, but while Tsukasa gets it right, Nasa emphatically shouts “Yes, I do!” before Tsukasa can even finish reciting her vow. For the moment, Nasa and Tsukasa are still more like children playing house, but if there really is a wedding for them in the future, “All Because of You” gives us an initial glimmer of hope they might actually get there.
You can watch season 2 of TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You on Crunchyroll, and vote for it in our weekly poll.
©Kenjiro Hata, Shogakukan / Tonikaku Kawaii Production Committee
