Journal with Witch Ep. 10: Curses

This week’s episode opens with Shingo complaining about his father’s rudeness. He and Makio muse over breaking the curse. The curse of what? Makio says, “Well, you learn to pass down the good and get rid of the bad.” Going by her own words, they seem to be talking about disinheriting their parents’ worst traits. But if that’s the case, isn’t Shingo already in the clear? He seems positively delightful as a person. I can’t imagine him being rude to a nurse like his father. Naturally, Asa overhears the conversation as she always does in this tiny apartment. She must be wondering what curse she must have inherited from her parents. Well, we know her mother was a strict, judgmental woman, and her father was an emotionally distant and selfish man. As you can tell, this episode is all about curses. We are all cursed — cursed by family, society, and ourselves.

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You and I Are Polar Opposites Ep. 9: The first birthday celebration

Tani’s birthday is coming up, so Suzuki’s fishing for ideas. She probably knows what she wants to do, but it never hurts to hear other people out. Yamada makes a pretty darn good suggestion: a photo album. It’s the sort of sentimental gift that rarely disappoints unless you’re with someone materialistic (in which case, you should probably dump them). But you need good photos for something like that, which Suzuki seems to realize. Taira, on the other hand, gives us the good ol’ “It’s the thought that counts!” Well, at least he isn’t being negative.

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Sentenced to Be a Hero Ep. 9: Selling out humanity for a buck or two

Lideo opens the episode by saying, “Family willing to die for family. That’s how the world should be.” I get it. We all value our immediate family more than this vague idea of humanity. We all have a stronger emotional connection to our immediate family over anyone else. But isn’t that precisely the problem? Nepotism and corruption in general are all strangling society as we speak, because we worship at the altar of “family.” It’s not the sole reason; greed is certainly another major (if not the biggest) factor. But we’re in this mess, because a lot of people do think like Lideo. How many of these “Coexisters” believe that they’re simply protecting their family? The world’s going to hell anyway, so fuck it, lemme get my tiny slice of the pie! I’ll sell anyone out as long as I can protect my family! Well, when a bunch of people feel the same way, no wonder humanity is losing! You people can’t look past the trees to see the forest! Hell, why did I bother even writing all of this out? Later in the episode, Boojum pretty much spells it out for us: “Lideo Sodrick taught me something important. There’s nothing more important to humans than protecting themselves and their families, or securing proportionate benefits for themselves. To value other things more than protecting their race as a whole…” The demons have us completely figured out.

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