Oh right, Maki is set to have dinner with Umi’s parents. You can already tell that this is ripe for drama, because we just learned all about Maki’s broken family. Now he has to go and compare it to Umi’s intact family. How does that Anna Karenina quote go again? Ah, right:

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Hmm…

— Now, he’s already met her mother, but father has been a little absent in the series until now. Is he going to be the stereotypical overprotective dad who grills the boy his daughter likes? Or will he buck that trend? Hmm…

— There’s even an older brother named Riku? And that’s who Yuu is afraid of? Geez, how come we’ve never heard of these people when they’re literally Umi’s immediate family?

— I love how blud thinks he’s part of the gang after one study session with the trio. But his sister is the student council president, and she can pull some strings to get Maki into the year end Christmas party after all. Well, that’s convenient.

— Why is she still being coy about her and Maki? C’mon.

— Wait, you’re wearing that to your first dinner with the “in-laws?” Ehhh… then again, it looks like Umi’s just gonna rock her pajamas.

— But before the festivities can kick off, we still have drama to sort out with Maki’s parents. She’s been overworking lately, which prompted her ex-husband to scold her (in their son’s best interest). Maki then asks if his father has any right to do so, because he thinks his mother needs to push herself this hard in order to make ends meet. I thought he already told us that his father pays enough for them to live a comfortable life. I don’t think I’m hallucinating that. I’m pretty sure he said this an episode or two back. So why is the story different now? Well, whatever. His mom admits that she doesn’t need to work this much. She just doesn’t want to seem like she needs her ex’s help. Yeah, understandable. At the same time, maybe you could cut back on some luxuries (like those disgusting cigarettes). Maybe you could move to a cheaper apartment.

— What a doozy of a conversation right before meeting Umi’s parents, though. Terrible timing.

— Geez, how tall is Umi’s old man?

— Her father doesn’t seem overprotective, but he is a bit awkward. The women in his life proceed to gang up on him (teasingly) in front of Maki. Well, they sure are comfortable around the kid.

— Oh, Yuu is afraid of Umi’s older brother ’cause he’s a creep! Being unemployed is whatever. The state of the world kinda sucks. But everything else…

— Umi’s mom is a bit embarrassing.

— Umi then starts sniping at her brother for being a jobless deadbeat. Sure, sure, maybe the whole family is at their limits with him. Even so, doing this when it’s your boyfriend’s first ever dinner with the family is a bit much. This family kinda has no boundaries. I couldn’t do that. This is like public humiliation.

— Nevertheless, Maki has tears in his eyes, because he wants to sit around the table like this with his own parents. Old memories start flooding in. Like I said, the timing of the conversation with his mom earlier tonight was just terrible. Also, he’s seeing the past through rose-tinted glasses. He likely only has positive memories of those days, because his parents protected him from their marital problems. You don’t normally go from happy family fun time to divorce. It’s typically a gradual build-up. By the time he started noticing that his father was no longer around, the relationship had probably already gotten too toxic.

— Maki dashes out of the room. It doesn’t take long before Umi starts chasing after him. I’m ambivalent about this. His mom directly told him not to tell Umi about their family issues, but I think he should’ve defied her a little. Maki doesn’t need to tell Umi everything, but he could at least let her know that he’s been struggling with something. At the same time, however, when people say they need space, you should really respect that. So I’m not keen on her forcing this.

— Maki falls to sleep in Umi’s lap like this, then ends up next to her in bed afterwards. So not only are her parents cool with them sharing the same bed, someone had to move him.

— Big caveat: I’m not a parent nor do I ever wish to become one. But personally, I don’t think it’s a big deal if your kid sleeps next to their partner or whatever as long as you drilled into them proper sex education, how to identify if they’re being pressured into doing something they’re not ready for, etc, etc. ‘Cause I operate from the mindset that kids are going to do what they wanna do, so your best option to just give them all the information they need to make informed decisions. At some point, you need to trust your kid and let them live their own lives. But again, I’m literally not a parent, so take my stance with a grain of salt.

— What I do quibble with is Maki’s continued hesitance in confessing his feelings to Umi. She tells him all the time that she loves him, invites him over to dinner with her parents, and now, she’s even sharing the same bed with him. C’mon, man, get with it already. I don’t even like them as a couple, but him allowing his parents’ issues to stand in the way of his relationship with Umi is really unfair to her.

— His pitiful attitude kinda stinks, too. No one wants to hear their loved ones trashing themselves.

— The mood is ripe for a kiss, but knowing anime, someone’s going to walk in on them and interrupt it.

— Of course. Granted, you don’t want your first kiss to be right when you just woke up. God, just imagine the morning breath. Also, I doubt he brushed his teeth last night either. If he had any of the food from the dinner… ew.

— Is Umi’s mom implying that a first kiss will lead to sex and eventually an accidental pregnancy? Ma’am, calm down a little.

— Umi’s dad then takes Maki aside. Standard advice-giving follows. No, you can’t get your parents back together if you cry, but you might as well unburden yourself. So I guess he’ll have a chat with (hopefully) both his parents. Not necessarily at the same time, but these are conversations they should’ve had a long time ago. Hell, if they were smart, they would’ve had him see a family therapist to cope with the divorce. Not everyone can afford therapy, but if his parents are going to work such long hours, then they might as well try to fix their problems with money.