It’s time to catch up on this season’s sweetest, sappiest romance anime! A Sign of Affection continues entertaining me with its warmth and heart. Here are my reviews for the previous three weeks’ worth of episodes. (Sorry for the delay.)
Episode 6: I Thought I Wanted to Keep Watching Her Forever
I’m delighted and impressed by the sixth episode of this sweet, romantic anime. The big event of this installment was that Itsuomi and Yuki started dating. This was a pleasant surprise because normally, a romance anime progresses at an extremely slow pace. These series often run a full season or more without a confession of love.
In contrast to the typical formula, the pace of the romance in A Sign of Affection is more natural and realistic. Over the course of six episodes, or two or three months in the anime, these characters fell in love in a believable way. From now on, I look forward to seeing them operate as a couple.
Early in the sixth episode, Yuki signs “I love you” to Itsuomi, but he happened to be looking away to take a phone call. Minutes later, Itsuomi spoke the words, “May I fall for you?” But Yuki didn’t see his lips moving in that moment because she was looking down. The fact that they both missed each other’s confessions at first was amusing. Beyond just that, it’s also an example of the type of daily life difficulties that someone like Yuki might experience.
It’s interesting how sign language and communication difficulties are incorporated into the narrative of this anime. I think the series does a great job showing how a well-adapted person with a hearing impairment succeeds in society. While there are some difficulties, like missing each other’s confessions, the issues are not insurmountable. Itsuomi later makes sure to pay attention and use sign language to ask Yuki if they could start going out. This shows that communication can still be effective despite impairments.
Although I’m very happy that this ship sailed, I had a slight qualm with something Itsuomi said. It’s not an issue as much as something that could become one in the future. Itsuomi says Yuki is “crystal-clear,” and explains that in life, people are like glasses. Some become cracked or dirty over time and require polishing or replacing. But Yuki is a brand-new glass, perfect in form and cleanliness. In a nutshell, Itsuomi fell in love with Yuki because she’s innocent. She hasn’t endured severe pain or trauma.
We don’t always choose what draws us to a person. There’s nothing wrong with Itsuomi being attracted to Yuki’s innocence as a way to get the relationship started. But it could become an issue later. Yuki still has some growing up to do, and will surely encounter pain and emotional trauma at some point. Would Itsuomi lose his attraction to her after that? Hopefully, you can see the potential problem.
I have another way to spin this same analogy that I believe is more wholesome and romantic. If people are all glasses, then the things that fill them up are their life experiences. Yuki has very little life experience, so she is like an empty, shiny glass. The implication would be that Itsuomi desires to give Yuki more life experience. He wants to see her grow and develop. If she’s a glass, he wants to pour something into it. ( … I swear to god, if anyone tries to make a dirty joke here … )
Regardless of the interpretation, I’m glad to see these characters become a couple. This was a highly enjoyable episode.
Episode 7: Let Me Introduce You to My Girlfriend
Itsuomi mentioned in the previous episode that he wanted to eventually take Yuki with him on his travels. Yuki said she would start saving up for a passport. Now, in episode 7, Itsuomi is gone for a month. In the meantime, Yuki endeavors to find part-time employment in order to earn money. It’s a lot harder than expected. Though she applies for many jobs and even has a few interviews, she unable to get a job in this episode. This was extremely relatable to me because I also have a disability and am trying to figure out how to get back into the working world.
When Itsuomi finally returns, Yuki is delighted beyond words. She soon has her first kiss with her boyfriend – also her first kiss in general. It was a bit humorous how it happened. Yuki made a mistake in reading Itsuomi’s lips, thinking he was asking for permission to hug her. He was actually asking for permission to kiss her. (These words are a bit more similar in Japanese, by the way. A big hug would be “gyu” whereas a casual kiss would be “chu.” When you say those words, the lip movements are almost the same.)
Yuki was flustered and surprised, but in the end, I think she was happy about it. On a related note, I’m very pleased with the way Itsuomi is so considerate. He asked her in a text to tell him if he ever does anything to make her uncomfortable, and he will stop. He also asked for permission before kissing her – or, well, he tried. Finally, Itsuomi is careful to consider Yuki’s feelings when pitching the idea that they should meet Shin together. Meeting new people can be scary, after all. Itsuomi is being a good boyfriend.
In the middle of this episode, before Itsuomi’s return, Yuki has several interactions with Oushi. She also talks to Mio, Oushi’s older sister, who used to play with Yuki and practice sign language. Mio seems like a nice young enough lady. I wish some of her social graces had passed to Oushi. I still don’t like him. This episode did succeed in teaching us a bit more about Oushi and his ambitions and insecurities. (For example, he wants to be a sign language interpreter in the future.) But I just can’t get over how jealous and aggressive he can get.
Moving on, Itsuomi takes Yuki to Shin’s apartment to officially meet him for the first time. I’m happy to see Shin again, as I find him extremely cute and a bit mysterious. He looks different now, having dyed his hair silver. I’m a bit confused, though, about why this meeting seems so important to Itsuomi. What exactly is the significance of Shin in his life? We’ll probably find out in the next episode.
Episode 8: One Small Step
Itsuomi has been friends with Shin and Emma since early in highschool. Shin has always liked Emma, and Emma has always liked Itsuomi. Despite this tension, the three of them always got along fairly well. They often hung out together. Shin is one of Itsuomi’s best and oldest friends, so it makes sense why he placed high importance on introducing Yuki as his girlfriend. Additionally, Itsuomi may have been trying to communicate to Shin that he’s never going to pursue Emma, so he might as well try.
Although the “love polygon” has been fairly obvious for a while, I haven’t really commented on it till now. I think it’s a very predictable trope. However, as tropes go, it’s handled well enough to be tolerable. That’s because the characters are just interesting enough to where I’m not completely bored. Predictable plot-lines are not always negatives. Some are just classic. Love triangles and such are standard for romance anime, and I think that’s alright as long as it’s not too forced and the characters are not boring or annoying.
I just implied that none of the characters were annoying, but Emma often comes very close for me. She is self-absorbed and somehow overbearing despite being cheerful and earnest most of the time. I want Yuki to be with Itsuomi, so it’s only natural for the competitor to seem irritating sometimes. That being said, I do have a degree of empathy for Emma and her situation.
Emma is clearly the obsessive type, pining after the same unreachable guy for several years. I was like that too when I was a teenager, until I got to about twenty. Even as an adult, I tend to get too obsessed with certain people and cannot let them go. I do feel for Emma because giving up and moving on can be truly difficult. People like us have sensitive hearts and strong pride – both of which will take heavy blows when we can’t have what we want.
I also have a great deal of empathy for Shin. Anyone who has experienced unreciprocated love for a friend knows how terrible he must feel. I do hope he eventually clears the air and confesses his feelings to Emma. However, it’s important that he doesn’t try to pressure her to accept him or stress her out – especially since she’s probably going to be heartbroken over Itsuomi for a while. But Shin can’t even break the news to Emma about Itsuomi’s new girlfriend for fear of hurting her. So, he’s unlikely to be entitled or pushy, I would think.
In contrast to Shin’s sad reminiscence, the last scene of this episode was very light-hearted. It shows Rin, Yuki, and Itsuomi meeting up at the college. Itsuomi’s sign language is improving by the day, and Rin is very impressed with it. That’s when Itsuomi suggests he, Rin, and Kyouya should all do a “sign language boot camp” where they study hard together. Yuki likes the idea and is happy to help teach them. That’s all for episode 8. Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the weekend!
~Thanks for reading~
Anime Rants 