Wow. They foreshadowed Langa meeting Adam right in the beginning of Ep1 with this plaque in Cherry’s office. Amazing. #EDENSK8 #EDENshipping

Now that the brainrot’s set in and this scene reeks even more of New Boyfriend Meet Ex Boyfriend subtext, here’s a thread on “Ai vs AI” and how the two play into Adam & Cherry’s relationship. #loveblossom #adamcherry

“Ai” is Japanese for love but can also be the short version of Adam’s real name: Ainosuke. Love is a defining part of both his personas, but particularly as the Matador of Love where he’s very clearly seeking his other half.

In Cherry’s case, he’s known as the AI (artificial intelligence) skater for his use of Carla. If you break it down, Adam and Cherry’s relationship is a battle of love/heart (“ai”) vs artificial intelligence/mind (AI).

Cherry integrated AI into his skating so he could meet Adam on his own terms. Cherry’s not as fearless or reckless as Langa so he finds his own way to keep up with Adam & his high stakes skating without putting himself in danger.

When Cherry’s explaining the zone, you can feel his resentment over not personally being able to enter it. You get the feeling he’s tried, possibly for or because of Adam, and failed. Unlike Langa, Cherry couldn’t have come with Adam even if he wanted to.

See Cherry & Langa’s eyes during their beefs with Adam. When Adam says Cherry’s skating can’t cross the line bc it’s too calculated this is what he meant. While Langa lets go & skates with his heart, you can literally see the gears turning in Cherry’s mind: close but not enough.

For Adam, who interprets skating as love, Cherry’s love (now heavily inspired by AI ) is fake love. All head, no heart, and it pisses Adam off. It’s why he reacts so violently. When he hits Cherry with Full Swing Kiss it’s to show him that all his calculations mean nothing.

According to Cherry’s calculations, Adam would never have hurt him like that bc he still has hope for Adam in his heart. The physical assault in this scene is almost secondary when it’s Adam verbally driving home “you don’t know me anymore” that seems to hurt Cherry most.

For all Cherry’s preparedness, Adam rejects him because their love is currently misaligned and like Tadashi, Cherry is forced to accept that Langa is the key, or at least the start, of healing Adam’s heart.