Written by Rei Caldombra 2/18/2024

Another great couple of episodes of Yubisaki to Renren! I really like the pacing of the show and all the great character building. We got a good amount of time to see the characters establish themselves and get to know each other before they got together. I don’t think they got together too fast or too slow. These characters and their interactions continue to feel rich and interesting.

Of course we should start with Yuki and Itsuomi getting together.

I love how this went down. It’s super sweet, romantic, natural and fits with the character’s personalities. The way Yuki is animated makes her happiness so infectious, they’re doing such a great job at making her expressive. I love her experiencing all these different emotions of being overwhelmed, overjoyed, in disbelief etc. Her asking why twice is such a great choice. The angle of him going on the trip right after they get together is also very novel and an interesting way for their romantic relationship to start. This allowed for the usual situation of people in love having to be apart for the first time to be done in a more unique way. It also serves to make the story feel natural because he decided in the moment that he wanted to confess to her as soon as possible, and that plans that were already in the works would not change that. This shows how he truly is into her he is and how this happening does not suddenly change everything in his life. He’s still going to go on this trip he wanted to go on. Romantic relationships are a huge part of someone’s life but their entire existence doesn’t revolve around that when you take a more realistic and grounded viewpoint.

This is executed great for building their relationship by showing how much Itsuomi wants this and does not let his trip get in the way of their relationship growing. It's really sweet seeing the extra effort Itsuomi puts in for Yuki while he is on the trip. We are deliberately shown that he is ignoring Emma’s texts while texting Yuki whenever he can. He also is repeatedly shown to be properly learning sign language, and even does so while on the trip. It’s extra cute that he specifically asks her to make videos for him. It’s very endearing and shows that he really does care about her and their relationship. He clearly respects her boundaries too. Once they got together he established that Emma would no longer be staying over at his place, showing how he knows how that can be contextualized, even if Yuki doesn’t. He asked for permission to kiss her and was fine with not introducing Yuki to Shin if she wasn’t ready. On the note of him asking permission, I like that she misinterpreted what he said. The vowel mistake seems like one that would come up and is worth noting how miscommunication can still happen despite the progress. It did not end up being bad in this case but I’m glad it was recognized and is also great because it doubled as a joke. I love that they also established a subtle way for her to communicate to him if she feels uncomfortable. He really is so considerate to her.

Kyouya in previous episodes said that he could tell how ecstatic Itsuomi was, while Yuki and us as the audience couldn’t. I think this is a scene where you can get a glimpse into that giddiness. He desperately wants his friend to know about his girlfriend and considers this important when he brings it up to Yuki. He wants to show her off and proposes it the first day he has the chance to. I think this shows how happy he is and is very cute.

We’re getting more buildup of Oushi’s character without a serious conflict seemingly close just yet. I am looking forward to seeing the more dramatic elements but am glad the show is taking its time towards that. It’s obvious that Oushi is going to end up being an asshole at some point. But this time they’re spending showing off his personality makes it clear that the purpose of his character is not just to cause conflict. I like seeing him and Yuki’s seamless interactions as a contrast to her interactions with Itsuomi that require more slow pacing and adapting while Itsuomi learns how to sign. I love the shot of Oushi and Yuki looking at each other with their childhood version in each other’s eyes. It’s a cool visual representation of how even as adults they still look at each other from the lens of their childhood. This seems like it will be important later when we get to the real drama. His protective tendencies may come from still seeing her as a little girl who needs help rather than solely from the angle of him being in love with her. Which I do think is the case but I am excited for the prospect that he will be more than just a possessive person in love. Another potential story beat I thought of is that Itsuomi will hit him with the point that he should not have waited if he has liked her all this time. This would also play into the theme of expanding your world and changing. His view of Yuki may be stuck in place, and he was unwilling to take the chance of their relationship changing for the worse. Yuki likes Itsuomi because he brings her so many new experiences and feelings that Oushi does not. I really like Oushi’s character and am excited to see where it goes from here.

It’s natural for her to feel scared, but I’m glad she has the courage to keep moving forward into a new situation. A takeaway of the show for all people is that you should be brave and desire to expand your worldview and get new experiences. I hope we get to see more of her talking about herself. Maybe it just happens off screen, but it does feel like she is largely a reactive character right now who mostly follows along with what he says and does. I think this issue makes sense for a person who struggles to communicate in the literal sense and as such does not have a lot of experience opening up about herself. She has also shown signs of believing herself to be a burden and unworthy. I hope Itsuomi notices this and encourages her to talk more about herself, as he has expressed his desire to understand her world better.

The issue of employment for a deaf person is a good angle to get into. It’s hard enough to find a job as an non-disabled person. Imagine all the normal struggles but the job pool is much smaller due to many places not being disabled friendly. Even if they are open to hiring a disabled person, there is still the language barrier during the interview process. And even if they are disabled friendly enough to give you a chance, you would still have to be attractive enough to be chosen over someone of similar qualifications who is not disabled. It really hurts to watch her struggle for the job. I think most people nowadays can empathize heavily with the pain of job hunting while getting a look into how it can be even harder for disabled people like Yuki. I’m looking forward to this point progressing, hopefully Yuki can find a nice job soon. While I normally would welcome a painful but nuanced showing of what it can be like to be disabled person to work for non disabled people who are not trained to do so, I do not want to see our sweet, adorable Yuki go through that. I’d much rather see her be happy in a comfortable job.

Side note, I've been casually learning Japanese (mainly focusing on hiragana right now) and I think this show should be more helpful than the average anime for learning characters due to how much text it puts on screen without quickly cutting away. Most of it is informal through moments like the text messages. But we get some bits of more formal language too when she gets her rejection notices. I’ve been getting myself to read the characters as they are shown rather than just focus on the subtitles. Just encouraging y’all to keep in mind this show can be a good learning exercise as well as a great watching experience.

Not too much to end on, I'm continuing to love this adorable show and its great characters. Thanks for reading!