TL;DR Version:
In the aftermath of Nana’s hurt feelings, Sakura puts Aoba off from doing anything. Worse, he and Aoba struggle to communicate when he doesn’t want to use his voice and her signing is still bad. Aoba ignores him and signs her feelings to an appreciative Nana. Rather than Sakura speak, Aoba does, and they share a hug as they finally seem to connect.
Recap:
Both Aoba and Nana walk away from Skura, leaving him with a tricky choice. He goes after Aoba, which Nana sees and has to hurt.
Aoba and Sakura struggle to communicate by signing, and Aoba is unable to express her feelings of responsibility towards Nana. Sakura tells her about the fight, but that Aoba doesn’t have to worry because it has nothing to do with her. He’s trying to reassure her, but Aoba seems to feel the way I would, like she’s being cut out.
Nana returns a bag of books to Sakura, and it looks like a breakup. She admits she lied about finding the books interesting because she liked him. Embarrassed, she hides behind a book until he pulls it away and they laugh.
She doesn’t let him reject her, because that would make him the bad guy and she wants to be friends. So the books are her letting go of that, and not ending their relationship.
Sakura’s younger sister has another fun mother-daughter chat. The mom is upset Sakura is meeting with his old friends, and worried they’ll disrupt his quiet, peaceful life. The sister calls her selfish.
We see that Sakura works in an office where he communicates via email and the speech-to-text app. Afterward, he meets up with Aoba. When he signs about how stressful work can be because of communicating, she doesn’t understand.
Aoba asks him about his voice. She’s trying not to pressure him but knows many people who lose their hearing still use their voices. She thinks it is troublesome for him to have to communicate with her without it. He’s worried it’s troublesome for her, which she denies. He types about her liking listening to voices but doesn’t show it. Instead, he signs that since he only talks to Nana, he doesn’t need to use his voice. Aoba looks unsatisfied, but signs that she will work harder to understand him.
Something breaks in the restaurant, startling Aoba but not Sakura. He notices after. This is symbolic of their differences.
Aoba meets up with her friend who exists so they don’t have to use VO. Minato calls the friend and Aoba asks him about Sakura’s voice, learning he doesn’t use it with Minato either and Minato doesn’t know why. After the call, Aoba tells patient friend that she understood most people who lose their hearing still talk, but didn’t realize Sakura would be one of the few that didn’t.
Aoba texts Sakura for Nana’s contact info and meets with the sign language teacher. When she meets with Nana, Aoba signs about how much Nana meant to Sakura. This is something Sakura told Aoba, but Aoba wants Nana to know. She explains that she worried about Sakura being alone these last eight years, and is grateful to Nana for being the person with him.
Nana wants to know if Sakura doesn’t use his voice with her. Aoba confirms and explains they don’t always understand each other. Nana says her signing is bad, but if she keeps signing with Sakura she’ll get better. Before Nana goes, they bond over not understanding Sakura’s taste in books.
At the library, Nana spies on Sakura helping a kid who doesn’t realize Sakura can’t hear him. The two work together and the kid gets the book he wants before Sakura sees Nana.
Nana tells Sakura about the conversation, signing that she was worried about having water tossed on her, which is an echo of something Aoba said about Nana earlier. Nana found Aoba’s efforts cute and sincere, and her signing terrible. She sees what Sakura saw in Aoba’s directness.
Earlier she felt her gift to Sakura, teaching him to sign, was regifted. Now she feels it is being shared and she’s happy. She’s really glad they can talk this way, even if she still dreams of using their voices.
Sakura also dreams about them talking. In his dreams, he knows what she sounds like, but when he wakes up he can’t remember. Nana is relieved they share this.
Later, the sign language teacher runs into Nana and is surprised, saying it’s been a long time.
Aoba accidentally invites Sakura to her place. They sit awkwardly on the couch, but when Aoba gets up, Sakura grabs her hand, pulls her back down, takes her other hand, and seems like he might use his voice. Aoba stops him, apologizing for what she said the other day, and that she likes his voice but there are other things she likes about him. Realizing she said she likes him, she thinks it won’t matter since she’s not signing. She tries to free her hands so she can explain, but instead, he pulls her into a hug.
Hugging him back, she says out loud that she got through to him.
Thoughts:
This show has made me want to learn sign language, which in some ways should have been offered to me as a kid. Now though, should I try for ASL or JSL though? I can’t judge the actors’ abilities, but the way they sign and look at each other looks so expressive and moving. I love how much of it there is, and that Sakura’s reticence to speak showcases it even more.
I’m really appreciating the decision to have Sakura not want to speak. In an earlier episode thoughts section, I commented on my understanding that most people who used to hear will still speak. But that most word is tricky, isn’t it? I really appreciated seeing Aoba herself realize that most means that there are still some that don’t, and they must have reasons. I’m curious if the end game for this show will involve Sakura speaking. He really shouldn’t have to if he doesn’t want to.
I’m also really pleased that Aoba ignored Sakura telling her not to worry and went directly to Nana herself. Earlier in the series she felt very passive at times, and I enjoy it every time she does what she feels is right.
I’m hoping that even the next episode will address Sakura’s mom in some way. It’s hard to watch the sister get stuck between them, and she’s rightfully resentful. On the mom’s side, I can understand her desire for her son to have a quiet, peaceful life free from any further suffering. But that’s forgetting that with hardship and pain can come a lot of joy. Also, my own mom felt guilt over both her children having hearing loss, so I’d like a chance to see what’s really going on in the mom’s head.