When last we left these cute kids, Itsuomi asked Yuki to date him. Then he departed for a month-long trip.

Yuki dreams of going on adventures

Yuki is determined to make money to travel with Itsuomi one day. Unfortunately, her interviews and applications don’t go anywhere. The implication is no one wants to hire her because she’s deaf, which sucks a lot. 

Yuki reaches out to a friend from high school for advice. Then she meets up with Rin, who is working and exhausted. Rin has no good job advice but tells Yuki she can call Itsuomi her boyfriend.

The whole time he’s gone, Itsuomi texts Yuki. They establish that he shouldn’t just touch her tummy randomly. He asks for sign language videos and promises to make time for them on his return. Yuki is happy enough that even though there’s no snow, she’s making sky metaphors.

More Oushi, now with sister sidekick

Oushi’s sister used to be able to sign with Yuki but says she’s forgotten it. Really? You don’t usually lose those skills that fast. Can’t you at least try?

Whatever, Oushi translates so they can catch up. Oushi’s sister thinks Yuki is in love, but I worry she thinks Yuki’s in love with Oushi. No Oushi’s sister, no.

After she leaves, Yuki learns Oushi wants to be a sign language interpreter. Yuki is impressed, and Oushi goes quiet from happiness at being praised. That’s cute. 

Then he asks about Itsuomi. He keeps his head down so Yuki can’t read his expression and understand why he’s asking. He uses being a childhood friend as an excuse for being invasive and Yuki makes an excuse about him being sympathetic towards the deaf.

Thankfully, Itsuomi is back 

I’m glad the show doesn’t drag out his time away. He texts Yuki that he’ll be home and they have a Japanese meet-again-cute at a railway crossing.

Yuki’s failure to read lips gets her a welcome-home-kiss when she thought she was getting a welcome-home-hug. At least Itsuomi asked, even if the communication lines got crossed.

Yuki’s flustered and shy. She feels like Itsuomi has grown since she last saw him. Aww, it can be awkward when you haven’t seen someone for a while. Especially considering they hadn’t even started dating, just agreed to start dating.

While abroad he learned fingerspelling so they can spell out words he can’t sign yet. He takes her to lunch and pays, and Yuki again wishes she had a job. 

Yuki meets one of Itsuomi’s friends

Itsuomi wants her to meet his pal Shin. Yuki met a drunk version of him and didn’t get the best impression. Itsuomi doesn’t want to push her, but Yuki agrees.

As they walk, Itsuomi holds her hand. Yuki worries about how much hand-holding he’ll have to do in the future. For the record, being shy and hesitant about meeting strangers (even if they are friends of friends) is totally reasonable. 

Itsuomi introduces Yuki to Shin, who doesn’t remember meeting her while drunk. Shin has a massive CD collection that Yuki stares at in awe. Shin and Itsuomi talk, Shin talking to Itsuomi’s back so Yuki can’t catch any of the conversation.

Itsuomi explains that Yuki is deaf and they communicate in different ways. Shin asks Yuki if she likes Itsuomi. Yuki is shy. Since Itsuomi didn’t see her first confession, it’s now happening in front of an audience. Shin understands without knowing sign language and is impressed by the feelings conveyed.

Shin says he’ll tell Emma about Itsuomi dating, but doesn’t think it’ll change things for him and Emma. 

Itsuomi and Yuki work on their communication

As they walk away, Itsuomi learns the sign for “nervous”. He noticed that earlier she mixed up hug/kiss. He wants to be sure he clearly communicates his desire to kiss her in the future. His suggested method involves tenderly touching her cheek and staring into her eyes. Yuki finds it a bit much.

But I like how he’s working on communication, which is important for any relationship.

The story of Shin and Emma (and Itsuomi)

Emma meets up with Shin and he does her hair, he’s a hairdresser, leading us to a flashback about their sordid High School history. 

Back then, Itsuomi was new and Emma was obsessed with him. Meanwhile, Shin and Itsuomi form a friendship over hanging out on the roof. Why doesn’t everyone hang out on the roof?

Emma goes looking for Itsuomi on the roof and finds Shin. They bond over music. Emma gives him a CD we saw on present-day Shin’s shelf. He falls for her knowing she loves Itsuomi.

The three of them become a crazy attractive trio/love triangle. Shin was interested in hair even back then and does Emma’s while she obsesses over Itsuomi. Even though Itsuomi acts uninterested, Shin thinks it’s only a matter of time. His solution to his broken heart is to agree to date some girl.

This goes poorly since he keeps hanging out with Itsuomi and Emma. This poor girl yells at Shin, exposing his love for Emma in front of Emma. So Shin swears he will never fall for Emma. Emma is indignant about being dragged into the fight.

Present-day Emma is still babbling about Itsuomi, and Shin can’t break the news to her.

We’ve evolved past trips to big box stores

A new school year has started, and Rin is no longer taking notes for Yuki. They meet up and Itsuomi finds them. Rin is impressed by Istuomi’s sign language ability and is interested in learning.

Itsuomi suggests that the four of them, including his cousin Kyouya, go on a sign language boot camp. Woo! But that trip will have to wait for the next episode.

Not so much signs of affection for this show but thoughts about sign

The speed with which Itsuomi is learning sign language feels nicely realistic. One interesting thing is that we haven’t seen the speech-to-text program that we saw in Silent and On A Starry Night. 

Another interesting thing is that the show doesn’t dwell on how people treat Yuki. The job stuff is frustrating, but Yuki doesn’t get too frustrated or give up. Oushi’s sister doesn’t try to use her sign language and Rin hasn’t learned any. Yuki doesn’t mind in either case. I mean, her parents don’t know sign language either.

It’s not that the show has no message, it’s that the message is about being brave and going after what you want. I can admire that. And I can believe that people like Yuki exist.

But I get frustrated for Yuki. I don’t think Rin, Oushi’s sister, or Yuki’s parents are terrible people. I think it’s pretty typical, which is disappointing. Maybe my struggles with hearing loss are the real source of my frustration.

Ultimately, I think it’s nice to have shows with positive messages about going after what you want no matter what. This show does that well. 

Meanwhile, if you need a show that taps into the frustration of living in a world designed for people who can hear, Silent does an excellent job.