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…

It’s not gonna happen, man. Some things are just never meant to be.

Some quick, loose notes, because much like Maki’s parents, I’m very, very busy these days, and the blog is like the forgotten child I can’t devote all my time and attention to. Alas, I, too, am a deadbeat father.

Ever since Umi confessed to Maki, he’s been having bad dreams about his parents’ relationship. Something about someone falling out of love — probably the father. As a result, Maki doesn’t think he’s ready to become Umi’s boyfriend… but he’ll make sure to work hard in order to get there one day! It can never be simple, can it? Anime characters always gotta have some deep-seated hang-up. But I honestly don’t know what it means to be a “good fit for Umi.” If she’s already fallen in love with him for being himself… then why not just continue being himself? He’s overcomplicating this. Just do what you’re doing: being the considerate dork who share her tastes in shitty movies and video games.

Umi is telling their whole life story — how she first met Yuu, how she introduced Yuu to her friends, how things started feeling off in middle school, how those same friends eventually turned around and ditched Umi just to hang out with Yuu, so on and so forth. It’s a whole ass soap opera. That last part sticks out to me, though. Could it happen? Sure. People can and have been a lot worse to their friends. But the degree of horribleness is not what I’m questioning. Rather, it’s the consistency.