When you last had to make such a moral choice, did you do what was right or what was convenient? In episode two of Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride), Futuba makes that decision spurred on by the words of Kou from the previous episode, when he said that she was merely “playing at friendship” with her two close friends from class. And with her mind all a flutter after speaking with Yuri, and realizing their similarities run deeper than she imagined, Futuba scornfully rejects the faux friendship she had developed.
This climax, though, happens about midway through the episode. What’s interesting, then, is that the rest of the show focuses on the fallout and on Futuba embracing her decision. She blurted out what she did almost involuntarily, and even apologizes for it, which hardly shows a determination to make change. It’s only through accepting that it was a good decision as days (weeks?) pass by that Futuba accepts what she did as right and is able to move forward.
This tension that Futuba deals with isn’t much different from that we might face in our everyday lives. We’re sometimes confronted with choosing between doing what we know is right and what we’d rather do. And if there isn’t some anchor that holds us steady, it becomes way too easy to choose, well, the easy way.
In Blue Spring Ride, Kou functions as Futuba’s anchor in her decision. He whispers truth to Futuba, and Futuba responds as she does, taking the hard road.
God does something similar with believers. He provides the Holy Spirit, which guides us in truth. As with Kou, the truth may be inconvenient, and we may even find it annoying, but we know it to be right. The tension within us isn’t often just between what we want and what we should do, but further simplified between what is right and what is wrong.
On a side note, Kou’s actions in this episode (and the previous) remind me of God’s in other ways as well. He seems to show up when we need Him or search for Him; we sometimes fight Him (and then also later apologize for it); and even the hug that Kou gives Futuba has a godly sense to it when you sense the warmth behind it and the reason for it, rather than the romance in it (though of course, the Bible over and over refers to our relationship with God as a romance or marriage).
And of course, ultimately, as with God, Kou is right. In the course of a few weeks time in Futuba’s life, she rises into someone stronger than she was, and the inference is that she won’t look back. Even though it was painful, it’s okay. She made the right choice. It caused her hurt and discomfort in the short run, but embracing goodness made Futaba a better person. And that’s a sound and accurate lesson for us all.
Yes. This is very true. We are faced with daily decisions on doing what is right or what we would rather do. If I am honest with myself, I choose what is right most of the time but then there are times that I choose to do what I want to; such as eating that gigantic bag of doritos. I’ve also been told that I was “too moral”. I prefer to sleep at night. It tends to work out better when I do what is right. When I don’t, God doles out the consequences each time.
It’s interesting how God provides consequences for our missteps, but how we still often succumb to our human nature.
Thanks for the comment, and I hope you’re doing well. It’s been a while!
I am doing well. It has been a while! My life is sort of normalizing again.
It’s also very, very easy to rage against Kou. He’s quite the jerk at times. Blue Spring Ride’s a cool little series.
That seems to be THE thing these days in shoujo, no? A rude male lead – I’m glad I can already see the light in Kou, because otherwise I might have dropped the series. -_-‘
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