A Sign of Affection focuses on a Japanese girl with complete hearing impairment as she attends college and experiences her first romance. According to the World Health Organization, more than five percent of people on Earth need help managing their hearing loss. In other words, hundreds of millions of people experience hearing impairment, including complete deafness. Many of these are children.
As you can see, hearing impairment is a serious disability. I encourage everyone to learn a little bit about it in order to raise awareness and gain more compassion. Keep that in mind while we begin the reviews for A Sign of Affection episodes 9 and 10.
Episode 9: I Don’t Want To Leave
After clothes-shopping together, Rin and Yuki eagerly wait for Saturday, the day of “sign language boot camp.” When the day finally arrives, Itsuomi and Kyouya pick up Rin and Yuki and drive to a beautiful mountain campsite. They spend the morning there and learn all sorts of words in sign language. Then Kyouya prepares a delicious lunch for everyone. The vibe of this “boot camp” was so cheerful and fun. I couldn’t help smiling as I watched.
There were a lot of cute moments showing the romance between Itsuomi and Yuki. I especially liked when they were in the stream together and Itsuomi lifted Yuki up in his arms. I’m really enjoying this sweet, sugary fluff for two reasons: 1) the characters are really cute and interesting, so I feel happy seeing them happy; 2) I’m reminded of my first real romance.
The dynamic between me and my first boyfriend was not this wholesome or adorable, but some of the feelings were the same. The infatuation, the nervousness, the wonder and pleasure of being held by another person for the first time. So much beckons back to my late teen years when I was a lot like Yuki in terms of maturity and exposure to the world. It’s just another reason why I enjoy this anime.
Yuki and Itsuomi are a bit lovey-dovey, which prompts Rin and Kyouya to go for a walk and leave the couple to themselves. During their time together, Rin inadvertently reveals to Kyouya that she likes him. Kyouya seems to think Rin is very cute, but he also talked about how dating can be a pain. It’s unclear what he wants to do. Suddenly, Rin sprains her ankle badly on the rocks beside the river. Boot camp is canceled and the group drives back to the city to take Rin to a hospital.
I enjoyed the talk Rin and Kyouya had at the river. Kyouya has so far been the most underdeveloped character of the cast, so it was a nice change to see more of his interactions. I’m not sure of his exact age, but he’s the oldest in the group, and has had at least one long relationship in the past. Kyouya’s personality is quietly cheerful and humble. His hands-on skills like cooking and bartending are highly impressive. Though he thinks of himself as rather cringe, Kyouya is a sweet, kind, and easy-going man.
While Kyouya takes Rin to get her ankle checked out, Itsuomi and Yuki spend the afternoon and evening together around town. Oushi’s sister, Mio, sees the two from a distance and realizes they are probably dating. Mio tells Oushi what she saw, but Oushi pretends not to care. Meanwhile, Yuki is staying over at Itsuomi’s apartment for the night. Itsuomi tells her not to be nervous because all that’s happening is that they spend some time together.
When Itsuomi gets out of the shower, he sees Yuki’s phone on the sink. It’s ringing, recieving a video call from Oushi. The episode ends there on a somewhat ominous note.
Episode 10: Oushi’s World
In the tenth episode,Yuki sees she has a missed call from Oushi. She doesn’t respond, instead enjoying her evening watching movies with Itsuomi. At one point, Yuki’s friend Madoka calls to let her know that she can have a job at her aunt’s business. Yuki is delighted. She and Itsuomi cuddle and kiss. When it’s time for bed, Itsuomi sleeps on a futon on the floor and lets Yuki stay in the bed by herself.
Yuki is curious about his reasoning, and he explained that he cares a lot about her, so he wants to “treat her right.” I don’t think Itsuomi was trying to imply that they would never have sex before marriage, or some religious bullshit like that. He was simply saying that he wants Yuki to feel comfortable and let her warm up to him at her own pace. He isn’t just interested in sex, but in Yuki’s wellbeing. I think Itsuomi is being very sweet and mature.
The next day, Itsuomi runs into Oushi. He spends some time trying to talk with him. Itsuomi has determined that he needs to get to know Oushi at least a little. The interactions of the two men – and especially Oushi’s exasperation – were highly amusing to me. Itsuomi asked Oushi to meet him for drinks that night, promising to do whatever he wanted in return. “But nothing sexual,” he adds, as if that was something that would have ever crossed Oushi’s mind. I laughed out loud at that part.
Oushi initially denies being in love with Yuki, and swears he won’t go for drinks with Itsuomi. But sure enough, that night, he shows up at the Rockin’ Robin bar. The two men have some awkward conversations, culminating in an emotional outburst from a very drunk Oushi. He first demands that Itsuomi break up with Yuki. However, when it becomes clear that Itsuomi is extremely serious about being with Yuki, Oushi begins to accept that he’s lost.
As we learned from the flashbacks of his childhood, Oushi has been interested in Yuki since the beginning. He was always fascinated by her and by sign language. For the first time, I felt some empathy for Oushi as he shed tears in the cool night air. He’s going through something genuinely hard. He’s giving up on the girl he loves. In a gesture of kindness, Itsuomi actually pats Oushi’s head, telling him he doesn’t hate him. Oushi vows that if Itsuomi ever makes Yuki cry, he’ll come and take her away.
On a final note, I enjoyed seeing the flashbacks to Oushi and Yuki when they were little children. They were both cute. I loved the beautiful visuals of the firework scene where Yuki and Oushi signed to each other for the first time. The music during this scene was also great. I’m going to have to look up the composer for this series and add some of the OSTs to my “Emotional” collection. Anyway, that’s all for today.
~ Thank you for reading ~
Anime Rants 
such a cute couple
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