It feels like just yesterday that I watched ep06; I'm kind of out of it now that the Dota2 tournament takes up a large amount of my day. Though, it's not like most of the matches aren't entertaining... (Except the debacle that was EHOME vs Scythe.SG; what utter failure.)
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| ...I want one. |
This episode confirmed my previous inklings that Haruko (Daikichi's cousin) would be getting some kind of story to her, given small scenes shown of her and her in-laws. She and Reina spent a few days with Daikichi and Rin, while she pondered her options for dealing with her repressed feelings (in regards to her marital life) and Daikichi thought about marriage and what it meant to have a family. Kouki's mother made a cameo, further imbibing me with hopes that they'll end up together.
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| Wow, marriage is not good for your skin. |
The episode began without beating around the bush at all - one day, during what seemed like an afternoon snack, Daikichi and Rin were visited by Haruko and Reina. Considering that Reina had her school bag (despite it being a holiday) and that Haruko a large bag, Daikichi immediately asked what was going on. I guess he and his cousin were at least more than just acquaintances, since she immediately revealed that she had "run away" from home and would be spending a few days with him. She didn't want to talk more about the situation just yet, though Daikichi correctly inferred that it had to do with both her husband and in-laws.
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| Kouki's mother is definitely the prettiest woman in this anime. |
The four of them headed out to the grocery store to pick up items for that night's dinner, with Haruko commenting that she was sure Daikichi was unable to have "proper meals". (It's always interesting to me to see such "freshness" in ingredients; I don't have the luxury of going shopping for food everyday, though I long to be able to do so one day. There's just something about not having to thaw out meat...) While at the grocery store, the two ran into Kouki's mother (while Rin and Reina found Kouki, in the candy aisle). Daikichi fumbled but quickly diffused a potentially difficult situation; without even having been asked, he asserted that Haruko was his cousin (from his mother's side, no less). It looked for a second that Kouki's mother (has she been named yet?) had assumed he was with someone close (romantically), but she didn't seem to react in any other tell-tale ways after Daikichi clarified.
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| ...hamburger steak...want... |
Haruko's dissent with her in-laws reared its head slightly after she presented dinner (which did look pretty good, actually), commenting that she had experimented some since her mother-in-law previously always had the final say. (That made me think back to when Daikichi called about nursery school, and Haruko's mother-in-law "took over" in the kitchen.) Luckily for her, Reina absolutely loved what her mother had cooked for her - although it's kind of reaching, it's clear that the two are very, very important to each other. It's curious to see how much of a female presence Rin actually is lacking, seeing as how she didn't know what a bra was. (Although, to be fair, it'd be hard for her to know without having a woman
living in the house; it's not like Kouki's mother would be walking around showing it.) Daikichi and Haruko got their chance to talk after the two girls had been tucked in, hanging out in the kitchen and drinking beer.
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| That's not "pretending to sleep" at all! |
The talk in the kitchen didn't really reveal anything new. Daikichi had called Haruko's house while she'd been bathing, being the ever-responsible man. (To his credit, he didn't reveal his address, though I doubt Haruko ran away because she was in mortal danger.) While Haruko broke down a little at the end of the talk, crying about how she had been bottling up her feelings since the day she got married, the real point of this scene (to me) was Rin sneaking into Reina's futon and the two of them falling asleep while holding hands. Reina spoke about always hearing her parents fighting, which really highlighted to me how important a
peaceful household is for a child, rather than a "normal" one. Tumultuous childhood memories of hiding while parents argue and fight usually has some kind of impact, generally not a
good one.
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| Children say the darnedest things. |
Haruko woke up in the morning to catch Rin making breakfast as Daikichi woke up, apparently earlier than usual. Haruko was quite clearly surprised at the way that the two of them lived, startled when Kouki arrived in the morning (and later commenting that Daikichi was surely just as busy as Kouki's mother, but welcomed him into his house anyway). The breakfast scene was especially hilarious, as the three children flippantly spoke about marriage and divorce. She dropped Reina off at school (who, despite constant coaching to not reveal the truth, told her friends right away that they had "run away" from home) and meandered around the entire day, thinking about her situation and what to do next.
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| Daikichi seems to be in a little pain. |
Haruko's talk with Daikichi that night had much less of an escapist feel to it, with her confirmation that she thought of divorce everyday but didn't think she could go through with it. After thinking the entire day, she had decided to persevere for Reina's sake, as she worried about being able to support her daughter. (I was under the impression that usually the father gets custody in Asian countries...?) While I'm a little curious on what kind of effect this will have on Reina, I do still admire the strength with which she's facing her future. It's clear that divorce isn't the answer - at least, not right now. Perhaps when Reina is older and Haruko has the time to work, it'll be a more viable option. I wonder if, with this, Haruko will stop arguing with her husband so much; if she's "given up" on the marriage and focusing on Reina, then it would be a waste of her time to speak out against things she realizes she can't change. I hope her story didn't just end here...
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| It's such a cute family. |
After the ED, Daikichi and Rin were seen shopping with Kouki and his mother. It was really cute to see Kouki's mother bonding with Rin, while Daikichi and Kouki eventually got tired of watching and headed off to get something to drink (re: ran away). At the rate that this is going, combining households seems like it would be an excellent idea. Kouki needs a father's presence just as Rin should have a mother's presence. While single parenthood can work just fine, it would be even better if Rin and Kouki could have a stable family. Of course, it's too early to be able to say that Daikichi and Kouki's mother would get along splendidly; I mean, they really
just met and don't have a relationship outside of their children. Even so, it'd be a cute story.
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| Best friends forever now? |
This was a rather fast-paced episode, since it dealt with an outside story. Even though I lauded the focus on Daikichi and Rin as a pair in the last episode, I feel as though it's nice to have an "extra" story like this once in a while. I'd dislike it if there was a lot more outside of Daikichi and Rin's everyday, but just this amount isn't bad. At the very least, it did tie-in to the main story pretty well.
~Aaro
