You've Always Been at My Side

You've Always Been at My Side ずっとあなたがそばにいた
Original Airdate	November 25, 1994
Episode #	8
Characters Appearing	Junta Momonari Karin Aoi Ami Kurimoto Kotomi Takanashi Yokomori Oharu Chiyo Momonari
DVD	Mutation
Previous Episode	I Want to Give You All That I Have!
Next Episode	The Shot to Ryuuji's Heart

First Half

After watching Junta and Kotomi , Ami sitting in her room writing a letter to Kotomi, though we never see what she is writing.

Karin is still outside of the gym damning Junta for doing what he's done. Meanwhile, Yokomori tries to contact her again at her timeship.

In the gym, Kotomi is still laying on top of Junta, and Junta starts to grab her butt, and Kotomi ends up farting. She looks back at Junta and sticks her tongue out at him.  Mega-Playboy Junta tells Kotomi that she doesn't have to change and that she's fine just the way she is, that she never needed to hide anything and that she shouldn't be afraid of her problem.

Kotomi thanks Junta, but then realizes what it means. She asks Junta of all of what just happened was part of his plan to help her with her problem, and Junta says yes. Karin is now confused about whether the real Junta or Mega-Playboy Junta is in control while this is going on, since Junta still seems to be emanating his glitter-attack, but he isn't aggressively trying to hook up with Kotomi.

Afterward, Junta catches up with Ami walking with her bike after delivering her letter to Kotomi's house. Ami warns Junta to stay away from her because Kotomi might take it the wrong way, which makes Junta confused what she's talking about.

The next day, Junta goes to watch Kotomi at her competition. He sits by Ami, who tells him that he shouldn't be sitting with her lest Kotomi takes it the wrong way. Kotomi ends up performing a nearly flawless routine, and finishes third ^[1].

Second Half

After the competition, Karin tells Junta that she saw everything that happened between he and Kotomi. She also tells him of her concern about the Mega-Playboy apparently being in charge, yet passing up an obvious chance to hook-up with a girl. Junta jokes that perhaps the Mega-Playboy is perfect gentleman. Obviously Karin disagrees and lets Junta have it, asking him if he wants to become the Mega-Playboy, and if he does, he can forget about her.

Junta then gets a phone call and excuses himself from the room. The call is from Kotomi who asks him to meet her out at a nearby playground. Junta starts hanging on some monkey bars while waiting for Kotomi when he sees Ami there. Ami tells him to stop being friendly with her in case Kotomi takes it wrong. Kotomi shows up to tell Ami that she invited Junta there.

Kotomi tells Junta that she could successfully do her routine because Junta told her that she was fine the way she was, but she was sad that he was never serious about going out with her. Kotomi then slaps Junta, and says that she feels better. She then gives Ami her letter, which she didn't read, back and tells her that she has officially broken up with Junta and that Ami shouldn't hold back for her sake.

Later, Ami and Junta are walking around and Junta remarks that it seems the whole world is trying to get him and Ami together. Junta states that he likes Ami, but doesn't know if its anything more than that. Ami then stops and thinks about all of her memories with Junta. She turns around to tell Junta something, but changes her mind and says "nevermind" ^[2].

Junta tells her that she's been hard to figure out recently, but Ami just tells Junta that she's just misunderstood everything, and that they're only friends, and nothing more. Later in the day, Junta is still at the playground while Ami is in her room, with both thinking of each other.

Back at Karin's timeship, Karin has received the DCM bullet she forgot from the future.

Episode Preview

An unexpected transport! The DCM bullet I accidentally left in the future finally arrives! Once I get this into Junta, my mission's over. My dream of a sweet home will finally come true. Once I fire this bullet I can just say 'so-long' to this time. That's right...I'll never see Junta again. Next time on DNA²: The Shot to Ryuuji's Heart.

Footnotes

1 - In the manga, there was a whole sub plot revolving around Kotomi's gymnastics competition. First off, If Kotomi did well, she would have to go off to Germany for 3 years. Second, we found out about someone who had psychic abilities and wanted to meet Junta because in the manga, Junta also has some psychic and telekinesis powers. Basically, this woman wants Kotomi to fail at the competition because her daughter is jealous of her ability.

2 - The scene when Ami and Junta are walking after Kotomi has broken up with Junta is actually the scene where Ami finally tells Junta about how she feels in the manga. However, that is not the case in the anime.

3 - Episodes 5, 6, 7 and 8 are based on book #4 of the DNA² manga series, while episodes 9, 10, 11, and 12 are based more on book #3. While the episodes follow the mangas fairly faithfully, I thought I should note that the events that take place in these episodes are occurring reverse from when they occurred in the manga.