A Sign of Affection Ep 7 & 8

Episode 7

Q v Q Ahhhh man… Yuki struggling to find a job that fits her is so relatable. Due to our circumstances, finding a job can be twice as hard if you can’t fit into what’s available around you. It’s so frustrating and demoralizing, so I hope Yuki will have better luck than me. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve missed opportunities because they insisted doing the interview over a phone-call which the quality is always debatable and 75-80% of the time I can’t really hear what’s being said, even if I were to put the volume up to maximum…. Don’t get me started on the new bluetooth feature on hearing-aids– though the ones I have are absolute garbage quality that sound like a tinny radio— do tell me, how in the world is that supposed to help us? Good quality headphones proven to be more reliable for my case. And masks? Hello Pandemic struggle. Well either way, it was clear that particular job wasn’t going to be the right fit for her anyways if they couldn’t resort to any of those things, but I digress!

Ahem, more importantly, Yuki unexpectedly experienced her first kiss! Though it did come off as rather nonchalant and forgettable since she was so caught-off guard about it. Itsuomi had asked her, but she misinterpreted what he meant. It was hilariously adorable.

Itsuomi decided he wanted to introduce Yuki to his friend Shin (the one who showed up drunk the first time). Looks likes Shin knows there’s bound to be trouble since Emma is still hung up on Itsuomi, and continues to fail getting the hint that he’s not interested (at all, and never will be). We could see where Itsuomi draws the line between them, as he has been in contact with Yuki regularly and even told her she can be clingy with him when he gets back, and never bothered to keep in touch either Emma (who tends to complain about his travelling habits anyways).

Speaking of Itsuomi, he’s sort of sporting a new look since he has gotten back form his travel. His hair is longer and has grown his roots out, so we can see his natural black hair showing up. I’m sure Shin will have a word or two to say about that when they visit him. And goodness, within a month, he sure has traveled all over the place: Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, and more!

As for Oushi: I will admit, he came off as a bit more likeable today. It was probably because he wasn’t acting like a grumpy cat for an exchange. I do feel like he would’ve left a more positive first impression had his introduction been more like this one. I will give him credit though, for committing to a career of becoming a Sign Interpreter. The only thing I’d recommend he works on is opening his mind about the deaf community as a whole. Hopefully seeing Yuki spread her wings with Itsuomi will help him accept that. But before that, he’ll need to hear the news that Yuki and Itsuomi are dating now.

Episode 8

Heehee~ Itsuomi was so cute when he called Yuki out on misreading what he had said (hugs VS kiss)! I thought it was adorable how she thought he was about to kiss her again, but all he did was pinch her cheek to teasingly tell her that’ll be their sign when she wants a kiss, and vice versa, ahahaha!

Shin was (thankfully) pretty nice to Yuki, even taking measures to speak more slowly so she can lip-read him better. He was taken for a spin when he learned she is completely deaf. It took him a hot minute to process it, but he can clearly see that Itsuomi is truly in love with her. And now that Itsuomi has a girlfriend, this gives him closure of fruitlessly waiting for Itsuomi to finally got out with Emma.

To put it simply: Shin is a bit of a self-made mess. He has always been in love with Emma since high-school, but here’s the thing. Back then, when Shin was demanding Itsuomi to tell him why he wouldn’t start dating Emma, Shin completely misinterpreted Itsuomi’s words when Itsuomi told him that he  “wasn’t interested in a relationship right now”. After that, instead of acting upon his own feelings, he convinced himself that Itsuomi and Emma would eventually end up together. But because of that misinterpretation, Shin finds himself having wasted all these years waiting for something that was never going to be. To everyone else, it’s clear that Itsuomi was never interested in harbouring a relationship with Emma, nor was he even the one who created this circle of friends. It was actually Shin who started it all, as the three of them would find themselves hanging out together on the rooftop during lunch hour, and it was his bias for Emma that he’d be rooting for her happiness over his own.

Oh and if that wasn’t bad enough: Shin really shot himself in the foot when he claimed he’d never have feelings for during a messy breakout. Though for starters: He shouldn’t have accepted the confession in the first place if he wasn’t even going to be serious about it to begin with. Think about the other girl who’s constantly being left out, as opposed to being invited to join for lunch, let alone hang out together.

And as we flashback to the present: Shin insisted that he’ll take on the responsibility to let Emma know that Itsuomi now has a girlfriend… but here’s the thing: unfortunately Shin is extremely unreliable when it comes to dealing with love and stuff. He’s too much of a coward. So as result, he chickened out and is bound to create problems with Emma not being on the same page because of it. DUDE YOU HAD ONE JOB! JUST SAY IT, gosh dang it. (Though who to say if Emma would accept that quietly. She did try play dirty before, even while knowing that would only make Itsuomi angry.)

Truth to be told, I didn’t really care for this episode because it really did nothing to make me feel anything towards Shin or Emma. I am skeptical of Kyouya’s comment on how Emma has been waiting for Shin all this time, because goodness, if that were to be proven true, I’ll be rolling my eyes so hard. Talk about failed communication if that’s the case.

Thankfully we’ll be given a break from these two before whatever shitstorm might come our lovebird’s way when they return from their day trip (that includes Oushi learning about their relationship too). Itsuomi had suggested they go ona Day Trip together and got an idea to make it a Sign Language boot camp when Rin mused how maybe she should try learning too. (Unfortunately she’s too busy in her third year, so Yuki had to get new note-takers). I’m looking forward to it, and we’ll have to see if Rin will finally confess to Kyouya (or the other way around).