So we actually found out the real reason why Asa refused to audition. At some point along the lines, she had come to the conclusion that it’s better not to stand out. We saw the way how some individuals stood out in the last episode, like the first year baseball player who was getting picked on by his seniors, Tamashiro who has joined the popular crowd, and I suppose you could throw in Chiyo for being known for her perfect scores. But both of them been kicked by the world, and we saw how both of them had crumbled in their own way. The baseball player quit the team because he got sick of being bullied, treated like a gopher and so on forth. And Chiyo (for the mean time) has stopped going to school because she feels like all of her efforts has been in vain before she even reached the finish line.
When Makio told Asa to think harder, this is what she was referring to. There isn’t a single thing in the world completely irrelevant to her, so instead, why not take comfort that she’s not alone in feeling that way? After-all, everyone has their problems. But I can understand where Asa is coming from, since this kind of thing is pretty common among teens. It’s easy to feel like they are being left out when everyone else around them seemingly seems to be dating. But as Makio had told her, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with not being in love, and you don’t have to fall in love in order to be happy.
Notably it’s made abundantly clear at this point that Emiri doesn’t feel comfortable enough to be open about her own romance, let alone talk about love with Asa. She probably doesn’t want to take any chances for conflicts, and feels more at least to keep it a secret for the mean time. Or, and this is also entirely possible: While she has feelings of her own, that doesn’t necessarily means she’s particularly interested in talking about romance as a whole.
That said, it was funny how Asa was running around for friendship chocolate because she wanted some. It was funny to see Emiri suggest Asa to give Makio some chocolate, who in turn just brushed it off thinking Makio’s not into that. Oh how wrong she was. Turns out she does enjoy chocolate, to the point she accidentally ate Asa’s last piece she had been saving hahaha!
I loved the bit where Asa been collecting Makio’s seething vocabulary from her “Trash Talk”. But the vocabulary does make Asa do a lot of deep reflection, especially the behaviour of her parents, notably her father’s indifference to whatever she does. She’s still processing the fact they are dead, but I think Asa’s slowly coming to terms about the things her mother’s journal had described about her parents’ relationship. That being said, man… her dad really does feel like the very definition of “void”. He didn’t seem to even try to participate let alone seem to form a relationship with her beyond simply “existing” in their lives.
Apart from that we got to meet another friend of Makio’s: Motsu. She’s absolutely fabulous, and she was great with the way she told Asa that the whole thing about how it didn’t feel right for her to stand out. I loved the way she absolutely ripped through the bullshit and straight up told her, who gives a crap about what other think? Rather than being caught up with the labels, think about who she wants to be, and if anyone tries to take her down, as Makio puts it: Give them hell.
