Reversi will finally have an anime, the problem is thanks to one voice actress' blog entry, guess the plans of having Azuki voice Reversi's heroine will be delayed for a bit. How can Azuki and Mashiro overcome this controversy? Will their love win over an angry group of fans?
Some stuff that happened in this episode that has nothing to do with the Mashiro and Azuki controversy; first is the new anime, seeing that Ashirogi's reaction after hearing the news made me glad as a supporter. After many years, finally, they have an anime series and Mashiro is just a few steps away from fulfilling their dream! Speaking of almost fulfilled dreams, what made it sweeter is that Azuki is actually memorizing lines from Reversi! That is one kind of dedication that you don't see every day!
Now about the Mashiro and Azuki controversy, what disappoint me in this episode is that the fan reaction about Mashiro and Azuki's relationship is a bit tamer compared to the one in the manga. I mean seriously, fans even went as far as burning volumes of PCP and the PCP drama CD! Even if the violent fan reaction is toned down, the thought is still the same, fans hate that their favorite voice actress has a boyfriend. It is kinda similar to the fan reaction Aya Hirano have after fans learned some private stuff about her that they went as far as calling her something too offensive.
Another thing that disappointed me is that there is some material from the manga that was cut off in this one. To be honest, Fukuda's announcement of support to the couple back in the original manga showed how tight knit the bonds of the authors of Shonen Jack. Because of the fan reaction, Azuki's management wants her to deny her relationship. As for the anime staff, they might consider Azuki for the role of the heroine and if she will audition, they will judge her out of skill and not because she is the one the authors suggested, and with that, I admire Reversi's anime staff.
Because of Azuki's management, they ordered her to deny her relation with Mashiro in the next radio broadcast... only to end up her confessing the truth to her fans. Her speech is kinda moving as it basically tells us the gist of her love story with Mashiro. Their love is so pure that I can consider Mashiro one lucky guy. The fan reaction then becomes a bit tamer, they understand Azuki more but as for some, they are disappointed that their favorite voice actress is now taken.
The radio broadcast becomes more interesting when Mashiro called the radio show and showed his support to his girlfriend, who is shaking because she is fighting this fight alone. His words of encouragement are something that I expect Mashiro will say. His words of encouragement show us that he is confident that his girlfriend can pass the auditions for Reversi. With that in mind, I expect something amazing in the next episode.