It’s time for the last two episodes of A Sign of Affection. I enjoyed this sweet, fluffy romance story immensely. The music can be very emotional, and I love the visuals, as relatively simple as they may be. The characters are loveable and the wholesome vibes are pleasant. These two final episodes wrap things up for the various characters in a satisfying way.
Episode 11: Promise
Comparatively speaking, this episode didn’t interest me or appeal to me as much as some previous installments. Still, it was an important episode for showing that Yuki got a job. There were a few other events to mention as well, but the most important is Yuki’s success at the interview. She will now work for her friend Madoka’s aunt at the Grand Blue café.
After the job interview, Yuki heads to the supermarket to get some sauce her mother requested. She usually does check-out with a nice lady who uses gestures and such. But this time, a cashier with a face-mask took her basket and went to ring her up. Yuki was unable to read his lips at all because of the mask. She was in trouble until Oushi came to the rescue. He signed for Yuki and helped her check out the rest of the way.
Oushi and Yuki share a conversation outside of the supermarket. Their talk reveals that, in his own clumsy way, Oushi is trying to become a better person. He’s trying not to be so “prickly” all the time. Additionally, he’s still endeavoring to accept that he can’t be together with Yuki. I think he’s coming to terms with it, although he still gets jealous when Yuki talks about Itsuomi.
As Oushi walks away, Yuki realizes she actually knows very little about him and his motivations. She still doesn’t comprehend that he was in love with her. I used to have no sympathy at all for Oushi, but now I kind of wish Yuki would get a clue so she could be less oblivious to what he’s going through. Either way, it’s good that Oushi is becoming a better and more well-adjusted person.
Meanwhile, Emma and Shin finally had their big talk. Shin broke the news that Itsuomi has a girlfriend. He also told Emma, “You’ve got me,” and that it would make him happy to be with her. Honestly, this scene was anticlimactic and disappointing for me. I thought Emma would be in an emotional crisis or that Shin would make a much more dramatic love confession. But Emma stayed very calm, and Shin was almost dead-pan the whole time.
If nothing else, though, it was funny to see Emma’s reaction to the information that Shin has loved her since highschool. She was completely floored by his statement that he originally intended to take this truth to the grave with him. Emma’s expression was hilarious. I hope she can eventually like Shin in return. She’s not immediately averse to the idea, it seems.
In the last part of the episode, Itsuomi pays a night-time visit to Yuki. They walk to a little city park and sit on the swings. Itsuomi is proud of Yuki for getting a job, but he also tells her not to stretch herself too thin. Besides, there are plenty of fun things they can do together that don’t cost money or require long travels. After pointing this out, Itusomi suggests going on a local date soon. He agrees to let Yuki pick where they are going. To be continued.
Episode 12: Our World
Most of the episode focused on Itsuomi and Yuki on their first official date together. Yuki agonized over what place to pick, but finally settled on a place where she knew she would have fun. It’s a park full of flower gardens with a lovely little lake in the middle. Yuki loves taking pictures of flowers, and spring is in full swing, so it’s the perfect time for photography.
As a fellow flower-lover, I enjoyed the heck out of this date. It was like I was there vicariously. I happen to love azaleas and wisteria, even though the latter is an invasive species in my area of the world. I would love to see it in Japan though, someday. Early spring is my favorite season partially because of the azalea blooms. It makes me miss my old house, where we had white and pink azaleas. What a beautiful idea for a date.
There are many similarities between Yuki and myself when I was nineteen and in my first relationship. One interesting difference, however, is in the way we show affection. Yuki is not okay with PDA and doesn’t want to kiss in a public place. The most she does is cuddle up to Itsuomi’s arm a little. I’m the opposite; I love PDA. It’s not even for a sexual reason. I just want my partner to know that it doesn’t matter where we are – I will still show them as much love as they will allow.
In an earlier episode, Yuki asked Itsuomi why exactly he loves traveling so much. Itsuomi dodged the question. In this final episode, however, he tells Yuki about his reason in a long text message. Yuki reads it at home after the date. Itsuomi wrote about how he always loved planes, and how he was excited to move to Germany as a kid. But as time went on, he felt out of place. So, he started seriously studying German. Eventually, it paid off. Itsuomi made friends and learned to communicate very well.
Itsuomi cited a specific story from his life that was a powerful formative experience for him. He was reading alone at school, when a soccer ball nearly hit him. A German boy ran over and asked for the ball. Itsuomi returned it, and the interaction would have ended there if not for the boy’s boldness. For the first time, he used German to say “I want to play soccer.” The German boy understood and welcomed Itsuomi to play. That was the experience that made Itsuomi want to learn new languages.
In short, Itsuomi loves traveling because he loves learning about other cultures and communicating in different languages. He is also interested in passing on this kind of information to school-children in other countries. Yuki finds Itsuomi’s vision awe-inspiring. She continues working and eventually gets her passport. Both Yuki and Itsuomi are sure that the more they get to know each other, the stronger their love will become.
As for the other characters, Oushi is doing better and becoming more honest with his feelings. He told his friends that he likes a cute girl and she’s been on his mind. I think Oushi has accepted that he can’t be with Yuki, but he’s still interested in his dream of helping people with hearing impairments. That’s evidenced by the fact that he bought the book about sign language at the end after hesitating for a while.
Speaking of hesitating, Emma didn’t give an answer to Shin right away. However, a day or two later, she came to see him at work and asked to go on a date with him. Shin doesn’t seem over-the-moon about it, but he quickly holds her hand as they walk down the sidewalk. I bet he’s very happy. On a final note, Rin and Kyouya are officially dating. I’m pleased by the good ending of this anime for all of the characters.
~Thanks for reading~
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