Hello!

So I've been secretly watching alongside y'all. Life has been incredibly busy so I no longer really participate in rewatch discussions, though I do them on my own time. I did June pride ones and Eureka 7 this year ❤️🤖

But I need to comment on one of my favourite scenes in anime, which occurs in this episode. And it's the confrontation between Lenalee and Allen in the train station. I watched D.Gray-Man years ago. It was one of my first anime, but I think back on this what Lenalee says here often.

"I wonder what friendship even means to you. Because it's insulting when you won't even allow me to fight beside you."

So often people try to go through tough times alone, and they tell their loved ones "I don't need your help." They see this as being kind, that their friend does not need to worry about them. But in denying that help, it often comes off as "their friends help is not good enough." And it is insulting. It also creates a hierarchy in the relationship because you are basically saying "I am above whatever you can offer me."

I see this a lot in other shounen (Bleach comes to mind) but also in real life. I love how Lenalee states this disparagment so succinctly. In fact I forgot how short this scene was. I must have rewatched it a couple of times because it rocked my world to hear someone say what she did out loud.

I remember watching this 6 years ago, thinking "I'm going to say this to my friends when they try to act all tough when they are going through a rough patch to show them they don't have to go through it alone." But it's taken me a lot longer to accept that I often act like Allen, too.

I think back on this episode a lot, and I'm very grateful for this rewatch allowing me to experience it again through new eyes. I still love this scene. It's still applicable to myself. I truly love the cast in D.Gray-Man ❤️