A Man Has Free Choice to Begin Love But Not to End It

"A Man Has Free Choice to Begin Love But Not to End It" is the second episode of the Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi anime series. The episode revolves around the couple Ritsu Onodera and Masamune Takano.
==Plot==
The episode begins with Ritsu having a dream. He celebrates the success of the novels he edited for Akihiko Usami, which have all topped the sales charts, but the novels turn to shoujo manga in his hands. Takano comes to him and kisses him. Ritsu wakes up startled in his bed.
It's hell week at Emerald as the team stresses to get the material to print. Takano has a furious phone conversation with a mangaka because a piece isn't done and he's already struggled to get an extension with the printer. He takes off to get it done and tells Ritsu to join him to help paste the typeset and screentone, even though Ritsu hasn't learned how to do that yet.
On the way out, Takano calls Sasaki on his cell and says he can't make it. Ritsu wonders who he's talking to and thinks it might be the author again.
When they arrive at the mangaka department, Ritsu finds everyone looking just as lifeless and stressed as they were at Emerald. Takano and the mangaka argue since the mangaka thinks she can't get it done on time after all. She's stressed because she's working on a featured spread. When Takano steps away to get working, Ritsu suggests he be nicer to her, but Takano tells him to get to work. The mangaka expresses more doubt about her work. Ritsu finally speaks up, telling her that he bought her last volume because he liked it so much, motivating her a bit. Takano reveals he got another extension with the printer (Sasaki) until the next morning. The three work through the day and night to get it done, not leaving the mangaka department until after sunrise.
Ritsu is exhausted, and Takano gets him a black tea from the vending machine. Ritsu accepts the tea, thinks of Takano's smile, and gets nervous and blushes. Ritsu starts rethinking his impression of Takano. Takano blurts out, "You haven't changed at all," but Ritsu still doesn't remember him. To help him remember, Takano pushes him down on the sofa and kisses him. Ritsu pushes him off.
Takano leaves to get the galleries, which should be done by then, to the printers. As he leaves, he tells Ritsu that his name changed when parents got a divorce. His name used to be Saga.
Ritsu realizes that Takano is the Saga he'd confessed his love to ten years ago. Things had ended badly when he asked Saga if they were going out and if Saga had feelings for him, and Saga had laughed. Ritsu took the laugh personally, thinking that Saga was laughing at him for his feelings. The event had left him jaded.
Enraged, Ritsu runs after Takano and confronts him. He wants an apology because Takano/Saga had laughed when Ritsu asked him how he felt, and he thought Takano was making fun of him. Takano didn't realize that's what happened since Ritsu had suddenly left him without an explanation. Takano says he probably laughed because he was embarrassed.
This all makes Takano realize that he has a chance at seducing Ritsu, and he tells him he's never forgotten him. He wants to hear Ritsu say he loves him again. He heads down in the elevator, leaving Ritsu behind. Alone, Ritsu reconsiders the events of ten years before that had left him so jaded, and thinks that maybe Takano had liked him just as much. But Ritsu snaps out of it and decides there's no way anything's going to happen.
At the end of the episode, Ritsu moves into his new apartment. Realizing he doesn't have a box-cutter to get everything out of his boxes, he steps out to head to the convenience store for one and some food. As he's leaving, his neighbor steps out as well, and Ritsu bows and says hello. His new neighbor is Takano. Takano teases him that Ritsu must be there to confess his love, but Ritsu shuts himself back in his apartment and immediately starts looking for a new place to live.
== BGM Listing ==
The following tracks are listed in the order they are played. If a track is played more than once, it will be listed once for every time it plays.
# 	Song Title 	Romaji 	Translation 	OST
1 	幸せな夢 	Shiawase na Yume 	Happy Dream 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
2 	迷走する想い 	Meisou suru Omoi 	I Think To Understand 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
3 	世界で一番恋してる (TV Size) 	Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru (TV Size) 	Falling in the Greatest Love in the World (TV Size) 	Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru (Single)
4 	予想外な展開 	Yosougai na Tenkai 	Unexpected Deployment 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
5 	募る不安 	Tsunoru Fuan 	One's Anxiety 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
6 	静謐 	Seihitsu 	Serene 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
7 	やりがいのある仕事 	Yarigai no Aru Shigoto 	A Challenging Job 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
8 	心機一転 	Shinkiitten 	It Turned Over A New Leaf 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
9 	もやもやする 	Moyamoya suru 	It Makes Me Feel Fuzzy 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
10	突然の出来事 	Totsuzen no Dekigoto 	Sudden Events 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
11	一抹の不安 	Ichimatsu no Fuan 	A Shade of Anxiety 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
12	危険信号 	Kiken Shingou 	Danger's Signal 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
13	きらめく日々 	Kirameku Hibi 	Sparkling Cracks 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
14	恋とは認めない! 	Koi to wa Mitomenai! 	I'll Never Admit That It's Love! 	Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack
15	明日、僕は君に会いに行く。 (TV Size) 	Ashita, Boku wa Kimi ni Ai ni Iku (TV Size)	Tomorrow, I Will Go to Meet You. (TV Size) 	Ashita, Boku wa Kimi ni Ai ni Iku (Single)
16	世界で一番恋してる (Off Vocal) 	Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru (Off Vocal) 	Falling in the Greatest Love in the World (Off Vocal)	Unreleased
== Voice Cast ==
===Japanese===
Characters listed in order of appearance in end credits.
Character 	Voice Actor
Ritsu Onodera 	Takashi Kondō
Masamune Takano 	Katsuyuki Konishi
Shouta Kisa 	Nobuhiko Okamoto
Mangaka 	Motoko Kumai (くまいもとこ)
Assistants 	Eri Kiyoka (清香えり)
Assistants 	Saeko Zōgō (臓合紗恵子)
Assistants 	Mina (美名)
Moving Company Employees	Sho Sakagami (鷹野晶)
Moving Company Employees	Kazutomi Yamamoto (山本和臣)
===German===
Characters listed in order of appearance in end credits of original Japanese dub. Unnamed characters not listed in German credits.
Character 	Voice Actor
Ritsu Onodera 	Konrad Bösherz
Masamune Takano	Michael Baral
Shouta Kisa 	Ferdi Özten
==Character debuts==
*Sasaki (phone call; isn't seen or heard)
*unnamed mangaka
==Navigation==
Category:Anime
Category:Season 1