Yubisaki to Renren Anime Ep 10 - Natural Conflict Resolution
Written by Rei Caldombra 3/15/2024
Back to my favorite anime of the season, I’ll be going 1 by 1 until the end from now on. I’ll start out by getting into the side dishes of this episode then get to the main course that is Itsuomi and Oshi.
We get more funny and cute scenes between Yuki and Itsuomi. Seeing Itsuomi’s room was funny and fits him.
This is just the sweetest and continues to show how much Itsuomi wants to understand her perspective. It not only shows how he is being a good boyfriend, but also may be getting at the point I have made that Yuki really has not shown a lot of herself to him yet. By trying to see more of what she sees, he can get a glimpse into how she views things. He is completely fine with taking things slow for the purpose of Yuki’s comfort. Another great moment in this episode for me is Itsuomi seeing the text from Oushi but not doing anything toxic or manipulative such as texting him back. It’s another moment of the show clearly conveying that they are not interested in doing immature melodramatic bits that a lot of romance has. What I think the main point of their hangout time this episode is about is how unconfident and nervous Yuki still feels. Two separate times Itsuomi brings up how tense she is. This tracks with her not opening up a lot. I would not say it is that she is guarded, as that has connotations of distrust. I think she simply struggles to talk about these things because she is not used to doing that. Looking forward to seeing this explored more. I’m enjoying the way their relationship is going but hope they don’t end up staying stagnant for too long while dealing with the other core cast’s issues. I want to see Yuki open up emotionally and ideally see some more cracks in the seemingly perfect gigachad that Itsuomi is. The rest of the year has a tough task of trying to beat him for best boy. This part ends with Yuki getting the great news that she has a solid job prospect.
I love learning more about the diversity of deaf people. I’ll get more into the great portrayal of the deaf again later.
Now onto our first important conversation between men this episode, Kyouya and Shin talked for a bit at the bar.
Kyouya gets straight to the most important thing that Shin needs to hear. As much as we want to care for others, you cannot completely neglect yourself while doing that. Shin has basically been doing that for a lot of high school, college, and all the time after that. That level of self suppression can be very damaging. It is great that there’s no animosity towards Itsuomi from Kyouya. I feel like that would be the stereotypical way for this to go, where we get a scene of Shin blurting out how much he has secretly hated him despite being friends with him for many years. This conflict is capable of being done well but it often feels melodramatic and unnecessary, and I would appreciate it if that continues to not be the case here. This story has been excellent at avoiding melodrama. That is a major positive of this series, making it feel so refreshing and natural. The way the characters much more often directly speak their mind and act helps with this. These character interactions feel more in line with these older and mature characters who are willing to directly speak their mind and get to the heart of issues. This also helps keep the story moving at a nice place. Nothing feels dragged out.
Speaking of direct and refreshing character interactions, now onto our bois Itsuomi and Oushi. I love the way these two hash things out.
I really did expect this to be more complicated but as usual Yubisaki to Renren makes everything simple but very compelling.
Itsuomi’s way of going about this feels perfect for his character. He isn’t trying to play mind games, assert alpha male dominance or anything silly like that. He is just trying to make this guy his friend and deal with the animosity that he can very clearly see from Oushi. He tries to befriend him the way he knows how. He tries normal social icebreakers like talking about clubs and what food they like. When Oushi’s personality does not respond well to that, he goes straight to the point and asks him why he hates him. Then when that response does get him to start talking, he continues with the direct approach. He turns the focus away from himself to Oushi and calls him out for liking Yuki. The way their conversation escalates flows so naturally. And it fits that after Itsuomi picks up on Oushi’s defensive behavior, he ensures that they get to talk again by calling him out. If Oushi had backed out from meeting him, he would feel like a coward and make Itsuomi think less of him. And knowing Oushi hates him, he also lays bait by saying he’ll do whatever Oushi wants. Which of course leads to what came to my mind first, is that Oushi could demand they break up.
When they have their interaction at the bar onward, we see Oushi put his guard down a bit before letting his true feelings out. We see how they are very different people. Itsuomi is very open, direct and quickly acts on how he feels, while Itsuomi is moody, defensive and does not act on his feelings. But they have some stuff in common they can connect on, like having similar tastes. When they both bear their feelings, they are able to respect each other even though they have these differences and are in a way still competing. They have mutual understanding and aren’t antagonizing each other anymore.
It's also so refreshing to have Oushi not want to try to steal Yuki while she is in a relationship with him. Not only does this show some of Oushi’s respect for Itsuomi, but more importantly it shows his respect for Yuki. Actively trying to ruin someone’s relationship is a crappy thing to do, especially when the person you are after genuinely seems happy. And they even brought up that Oushi would take action if he made Yuki cry, aka hurt her. He will not try to sabotage them and only go after her if Itsuomi treats her improperly. If he truly cares about Yuki, then he should be able to accept the relationship that is making her happy without being problematic. And that is what I felt was communicated with Oushi. The extra backstory also helps to explain his previous behaviors.
Oushi felt that he and Yuki could be in their special world by learning sign language. He is one of the few people, and based on everything we know, the only man her age who could talk to her using sign language. It makes sense that when Itsuomi comes along he would feel threatened by him and immediately take the negative stance we see in the earlier episodes. It makes sense that he would get jealous that Yuki would look at another man’s hands. This episode succeeds strongly at fleshing him out and making him another layered and likable character.
I really like this line as an addition in between his inner monologue about their special world, showing that to him sign language really is no different from words. He does not view it as lesser or weird and I agree that it should not be treated that way. This show has done a fantastic job of making the complexity and meaning of sign language visible and with all the layers and legitimacy it has. I really do feel like I understand the reality other people live through so much better thanks to this show. I can’t speak for the deaf community but to me this is the epitome of respect and reverence you can show a topic that you aren’t personally experienced in. The author and their team clearly don’t use deafness just as a surface level draw for the series.
We also again see how much courtesy Itsuomi shows toward Yuki in this episode. When a lot of romance series with multiple characters pining after one can end up making the one being pursued feel more like an object to be obtained than a person, it’s so great to see all sides of the triangle be treated as proper people who have their own say in relationships. This is shown most clearly through Itsuomi saying that he cannot break up with her just because Oushi asked him to, as it needs to be a mutual decision for him. He is putting great importance on her agency. He feels building trust is important, and breaking up with someone just because someone asked him to would destroy that trust. This helps the high confidence we see him show in this scene, such as saying Yuki wouldn’t break up with him and they would always get together eventually, not come across as cocky. Like I just mentioned, we also got more into how he views their relationship. He really does love her and believes nothing can get in their way despite their differences. Which fits perfectly into how him and Oushi are starting to get along despite their differences. One detail I noticed is that Itsuomi is thankful that Yuki decided to go to college. In an earlier episode Oushi had thought she should not have gone to college. This is an example of great minor continuity that strengthens the theme of them being different but still genuinely wanting the best for Yuki in their own ways.
I really do feel this was a fantastic resolution to their conflict, at least for now. This episode continues previous storylines like the growing relationship and Shin’s inner conflict while resolving another. I continue to love every single thing this show does. Thank you for reading!
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