With an offer on the table that’s hard to refuse, the new family is put to the challenge.
What They Say:
The end of the month is coming and Yuuta has thought he made his final decision, but after Hina’s outburst about her mama and papa, the decision has become even harder.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the series has progressed, we’ve seen the kids deal with the situation as best as they can, but mostly when it comes to the two older sisters. Hina hasn’t gotten the short end of the stick, but she’s not exactly been a dominant factor either. A lot of what they’ve dealt with when it comes to Hina is her adventurous and adaptable spirit in the face of the challenges that are directly in front of her, such as living with Yuuta, school and so forth. So when this episode deals with everyone discovering that Hina doesn’t quite understand what’s happened to her parents, believing that they will come back because they promised, it’s put them all in a really bad place. And Sora most of all as she’s taken on the mother role while Miu can’t handle it at all and just disappears from the situation.
And as much as you know Yuuta wants to be able to do something, it’s a moment that needs a softer touch that only her sisters can provide, someone who has been there since her birth. What makes this more difficult though is that Yuuta has been a bit sloppy in his language, saying he’s more like an uncle to the girls than anything else. A lot of it just comes from a lack of real dialogue between them all about what’s happened, instead letting it all just hang there in the air with no real resolution or conversation happening so they’re on the same page. Which is why the letter he got from his uncle about what he wants to offer and make amends for hits Sora all the more when she finds out about it. You can easily imagine the pain she’d be feeling over such a thing when it comes to Yuuta. But it’s the last straw she needs to push back against him and to really make it clear what it is she wants out of life.
Dealing with all of this with Sora and then having a conversation with his own aunt and uncle is really well done since it avoids the overly dramatic moments and instead speaks from the heart, honestly and clearly, and shows another connection to what had gone on in Yuuta’s own past. It’s sadly cyclical in a way with what happened, but here we see that Yuuta did what his aunt wanted to do but couldn’t when it came to him and his sister. It’s a great sequence and one that doesn’t dominate the episode as it instead wants to focus on the growing bond between this new family and with Hina specifically. I was glad they didn’t dig too deep into her problems and view of things as it wouldn’t get the kind of attention it deserves. While it may be simplistic, it did a good job of adjusting things and refocusing on the positive again towards the end, showing the series heart in a very plain and honest way that makes you smile, especially if you have kids yourself and have gone through these kinds of performances.
In Summary:
This series is one that really charmed me from the get go with its approach in terms of characters, personality and the way it didn’t overplay its hand in the slightest. With some great looking character designs and backgrounds, it was a great show to just watch but it was definitely more than just a visual experience. The characters were more layered than we usually get for something of this nature and it hit just about all the right marks. It left me wanting more to be sure, especially more exploration of relationships and other characters that didn’t get as much time as I would have liked such as Raika, but it did so much right that it’s near impossible to complain. The series is not one that you’ll be raving about and drawing massive numbers of fans to, but its the kind of show that you do wish you get every season in that it deals with a real world problem in a mostly realistic way without including aliens, tons of injokes to other shows and other over the top elements. The series just works perfectly.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
