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.

After posing as a runaway girl in last week’s episode, it’s back to school for Asa. She tells her clubmates that she got a nasty cold. In her absence, another girl has been chosen to play with the band, so she mutters under her breath, “It’s not fair.” Does Asa need more time off from school or does she need some semblance of normalcy? The latter hasn’t really been working out. The school finally has her speaking to a counselor, but Asa isn’t very receptive to the idea. It’s actually pretty surprising to me that this is the first time we see her receive any sort of mental help, and I’m a little wary of the fact that it’s linked to the school. To be fair, the counselor seems nice enough from what we can see. Even so, and maybe this is just my cynicism speaking, I would always wonder if they have my best interests at heart or the school’s. It’s like with HR, y’know? Are you here for me or for the company?

After everything that happened at the end of last week’s episode, Asa decides to go even further this week. And at such a precarious time, too. Her aunt has a deadline coming up, so she needs to focus. As a result, Makio starts neglecting her niece. She doesn’t say hi to Asa when the kid returns home from school. She doesn’t eat dinner with the girl either. How much can it hurt to just say hello? How much can it hurt to just share a 20-minute meal together? But a hello can turn into small talk, which can then turn into anything — a conversation, a full blown argument, debate, etc. Makio needs to keep her train of thought going, and we already know how she isn’t the most organized person on the planet. If her attention wavers even for just a moment, it might take her forever to get back on track. This excuse doesn’t really fly when you’re a parent, but as Makio has reminded us over and over, she’s simply Asa’s guardian and nothing more. The look Asa gives her aunt as the woman is pattering away at her laptop feels almost disdainful. She then does what a lot of teenagers in her position are wont to do: she starts acting up by skipping class. I mean, if she’s going to be invisible to the people around her, she might as well not fulfill her obligations, right?

It’s kinda hard to collect my thoughts on this. There are just so many things to talk about sometimes.

Makio has finally finished clearing out her late sister’s apartment. She thinks it’s a little strange that she doesn’t feel sadder about the whole affair. Outside of society’s expectations, I don’t think it’s that weird. They weren’t close anymore, and they haven’t been close for years. Easily over a decade, actually. And it’s perhaps for that same reason that the woman can’t quite bring herself to read her late sister’s journal. Honestly, I don’t know why she would. They’re practically strangers at this point, so it feels like a violation of their privacy, dead or not. And from the first few words alone, you can tell that the journal was meant for Asa.