This week’s episode was definitely a mixed bag for me. As a whole I loved this episode, I thought it was fun and sweet, and enjoyed getting the chance to learn more about Hikaru’s family, particularly of her bond with her father (Yoichi) who only comes home once a year.
Before Yoichi embarked on his journey to pursue his dreams of research Cryptids and Aliens and writing books about it, he worked as a professor at a University and he and taught Hikaru all about the wondrous mysteries of aliens and such. He put his passion on hold since he felt he needed to be there for his family. However Hikaru and her mother both recognized he had dreams he wanted to pursue, and encouraged him to go for it. However while he had the support of his wife and daughter, his father (Haru) was against the idea of him leaving his family behind. In Haru’s mind, it is important for him to be there for his family, and was against it, not to mention he was also worried about him. Nevertheless, Yoichi went anyways, and Haru would always worry about him but also bear the burden of feeling like l he failed to raise him properly.
This was probably the saddest part of the episode. Hikaru’s grandpa felt as though he failed Hikaru and her mother, and hurt them by not raising Yoichi properly, by making sure that family always comes first. Of course we know that Hikaru and her mother were the ones who told him to do it, but it’s hard to distinguish whether or not Haru truly understood that, or maybe he didn’t believe it, or maybe he was just simply disappointed that his son took the opportunity when it was presented to him rather than choosing not to. But another reason why Haru might have been upset could also be the fact Yoichi only comes home once a year. Luckily he seems to move past that by, as this time, he made sure to see his son off.
Nonetheless, it’s clear how much Yoichi cares about his family, especially since he is certain to write and send lots of pictures of his travels to Hikaru. I found it adorable how alike the two of them are. I am sure once Hikaru graduates from school, the two of them are bound to go on series of adventures together, or if her mother is on hiatus they can do a major family trip. Perhaps the most ironic part of all, is how coming home actually allowed him to meet aliens (Lala, Prunce and Fuwa), unfortunately he can’t write anything about it since they have to be kept a secret, but he was just like Hikaru, went along with it with no further questions asked. Poor Fuwa got freaked out real good though haha!
However as much as I enjoyed the theme for this week, it bothered me this week was the way they went about Lala’s birthday. I was bummed out how she ended up she wasn’t the focus, but rather an example of someone who is living away from her family, as Yoichi is. It feels like a missed opportunity to have not been creative by showing us perhaps how Lala would celebrate her birthday (if any differently) in her culture, especially since she has already reached the age where she is regarded as an adult.
And then there’s Yuni… Let’s just say I was not a fan how she was quietly watching from afar, observed the girls during their fight and then finally pitched in the deal with the final blow. I’m not going to comment on this any further because it’s still too soon to judge exactly how they plan to go about her role in the group, which is something we will probably get to see next week since it’s supposed to focus on her again.
Next week, looks like there’s going to be mayhem with Fuwa since she ate one of Yuni’s cookies that she wasn’t supposed to eat!
i think it better yuni watch from afar. in this case it not surprise she didn’t help her directly since she still isn’t used working as a team