When last we left our gloomy introvert and happy extrovert, Taichi struggled with how a big opportunity would change his relationship with Kouhei. Kouhei didn’t help.
What this situation needs is Maya
First, Kouhei and Taichi have an awkward meeting on some stairs. Kouhei apologizes for hurting Taichi’s feelings and they agree to meet later.
Walking alone, Maya is grabbed by an old classmate and her boyfriend. They’re presumptuous in how they talk to Maya and about her hearing. Which I guess justifies Maya’s obnoxiousness? I felt more for Nana in Silent.
There’s a flashback to Maya working extra hard at school to hide her hearing loss. In sign language class everyone is older and native sign language users. The teacher encourages her to study harder. That sucks. She’s already working harder than everyone around her.
When she meets Kouhei, he checks if she can hear him. He’s the first person to understand her. He tells her that other people understand, describing Taichi.
In the present, Taichi steps between her and the annoying couple. He thinks they’re harassing her. But she and the couple deny it so he apologizes to everyone.
Maya calls him an idiot and accuses him of pitying her. Taichi acts like a brat in return. He can tell she struggles to hear more than she lets on. She thinks being honest about her hearing won’t help, so she’ll just work harder. He feels she’s already working hard enough.
She storms off, crying.
Taichi is nicer than me
He confesses to Kouhei that he made Maya cry. Kouhei is unconcerned. He guesses Taichi is wrong about why Maya cried. Taichi is perceptive of others, but slow-witted about himself.
Kouhei calls Taichi amazing for noticing things others don’t. He thought he wanted someone who understood him, but really he wanted someone he believes can understand him. Taichi is overwhelmed. He constantly messes up and is now dropping out of school.
Kouhei thanks him for being his notetaker. He promises to work hard and wants Taichi to work hard too. Kouhei breaks my heart. Taichi can’t handle it either and gets up, saying he’s hungry.
Kouhei pulls him into a hug and thinks Taichi’s heart is beating fast because he’s scared. This pisses a tearful Taichi off leading to cute bickering.
But the most heartbreaking scene is next
Kouhei cries as he cuts onions, not because of the onions but because he’s making a bento for Taichi.
Kouhei gives Taichi the hamburger steak lunch at their spot. Later, when they part, Kouhei signs “Taichi” and something else. Thanks to all the shows I’ve watched I know it’s 好き/like. Taichi hasn’t watched those shows and doesn’t know what Kouhei signed.
And now everything has changed again
At his new job, he learns the CEO created the company because of a deaf ex-girlfriend. He wants to change the world to help her and people like her. The CEO guesses Taichi is working for a similar reason.
But Taichi hasn’t heard from Kouhei since their last meeting. It’s been months, and summer is nearly over.
Maya shows up at Taichi’s office and he attempts to hide behind a glass wall. She’s the CEO’s niece. Why is she such a brat then?
Taichi asks Maya not to tell Kouhei he works there. He’s come to understand how hard it is to communicate, even between people who can hear. It’s even harder for people like Kouhei and Maya. Yes, yes it is. He understands why they get frustrated or want to shut themselves off. Kouhei was like that at first, but he smiles are amazing and Taichi wants him to smile more.
He feels that at this company he can create a place where people who can’t hear won’t feel as lonely. And hopefully, that’ll reach Kouhei no matter where he is and he’ll be able to laugh.
Maya is annoyed because he should tell Kouhei all this. Maya and I are finally on the same page. Taichi is embarrassed. Maya thinks he’s stupid and wouldn’t go this far for just a friend. She also thanks him for “that time” and calls him an idiot again. She’s not always wrong.
Fate and Summer Festivals
Taichi goes to the summer festival with friends but runs into Kouhei. They stand on top of the bridge where they sheltered from the rain a year ago.
They guilt each other for not reaching out. Kouhei misses Taichi and wants to meet as friends. Tachi says of course but walks off angrily. He’s realized he is an idiot. He knows that Kouhei signed “like” earlier and that he likes him back, but thinks it’s too late.
Kouhei finds him, he’s afraid that after parting that way they’ll never see each other again. Even if he’s not alone anymore, he still wants to be with Taichi. He likes him and has always liked him. Then he apologizes for saying all this.
Taichi gets mad at him for apologizing. He likes him too and misses him so much. Though Kouhei doesn’t need him, Taichi wants to be with him.
Kouhei can’t trust what he just heard even though he can always hear Taichi. So Taichi repeats himself, loudly, and promises to keep repeating himself until Kouhei understands. Kouhei is all teary-eyed. They hug.
Sometime later, they enjoy bento together on the roof. Taichi randomly asks Kouhei what he would want to be reborn as. Kouhei remembers their first meeting and says he wants to stay himself because meeting Taichi has made him so happy.
Taichi agrees but won’t say it again because he knows Kouhei heard him. They enjoy their bento. We end on Taichi trying to read lips. Kouhei mouths something that makes Taichi blush.
A simple ending for a simple show
We don’t even get summer festival fireworks! But that doesn’t bother me much. Kouhei is quiet and yearning and Taichi is immature and emotionally unaware. Kouhei’s tearful declaration and Taichi’s yelled reply are very them. It’s just not a show for anyone looking for more.
And I’m a sucker for people who love each other not because they need each other, but because they want each other.
I’m hard on Maya, but I relate hard with her in this episode. At school, I never met anyone else who wore hearing aids. I met a few deaf kids, but they didn’t understand what it was like to be able to hear. In a way, I felt the same as Maya the first time I met Kouhei — by reading the manga. Here was a character, not deaf, but hard of hearing. Someone who also muddled through communicating with those around them, sometimes catching things sometimes not. I understand trying extra hard at first, and then giving up when it became exhausting. I very, very understand the attraction of someone like Taichi.
So even if I wish the romance were stronger and Maya would chill out, I’m happy to have met these “people” who understand me. And I think even if you aren’t a person with a disability, you might have times when you feel different, isolated, and alone. Most people long to be understood. Maybe by someone like Taichi, who can understand them even though they are a very different person.
That’s the part of the story that gets me.
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