I think the thing that impresses me the most about this series is that it goes in entirely unexpected directions that make perfect sense after the fact.

This is hardly the first time that an anime has dealt with grief or sibling rivalry or social anxiety or romantic longing or any of the other things this one does. It’s not even the first time that one has done a notably good job of revealing insights into such things. But still, somehow this is head and shoulders above… everything I can think of. It somehow reaches extra deeply into things and drags out insights and comments and interactions that expose depths and complexities that I’ve never seen in an anime before. And they all then just slot neatly into place, as if they were obvious all along.

It seems Minori was projecting her own insecurities onto Makio

Michiko is too real 🗿

I love the slow reveal of Minori’s backstory. She reminds me of Hoshino Ai from Oshi no Ko, in that

Also, Asa has moved from denial to anger in terms of stages of grief. It’s an easy prediction but I bet that by the end of the season (or the story as a whole, maybe) she would reach acceptance.