A Sign of Affection

Episode 7

Kudos to our leads for making it work, but let me tell ya, if I started dating a guy and he immediately left the country, I'd feel a little insulted. It's funny that, after weeks of buildup and our main couple finally getting together, they're immediately separated for most of this episode. Yet that separation offers a chance for Yuki to catch up with other characters, and tackle problems outside of her love life, which is a good thing. This story is primarily a romance, but any good love story will give its characters something to work for besides smooching their crush.

For Yuki, that involves one of the most soul-crushing rites of passage known to adults: job hunting. Filling out applications, formatting cover letters, constantly revising resumes; anyone whose gone through the process knows it's a miserable and anxiety-riddled experience at the best of times, let alone when you're somebody with a disability. I'm not familiar enough with Japanese law to know if there are any existing anti-discrimination protections on the books, but I am familiar enough with American ones to know that even the most stringent of laws aren't very effective against casual, ingrained bias. A prospective employer might not consciously discriminate against a disabled applicant, but they could easily think that accommodating Yuki's deafness would be too much work, or disruptive to the workplace, or that her presence might put off customers, and decide it's not worth the trouble when there are plenty of able-bodied people available. It's another invisible hurdle Yuki has to clear as she steps out into the wider world, and while A Sign of Affection handles it pretty gently, you can feel the alienation of it all building in our heroine.

She also has to deal with Oushi again, though this interaction manages to put the big, rude tsundere in a bit of a better light. The question of which people in Yuki's life have learned signing is a pretty big deal since it's a key part of communicating with her on an equal level. Learning and using sign language means that the person wants to, at the very least, be able to more easily understand Yuki. Yet learning a new language is hard and time-consuming. Most people have so much else going on in their lives that it's just easier to lean on the modern convenience of texting or trust Yuki's lip-reading to bridge the gap – including Yuki's own family. Oushi's sister highlights that fact, admitting she hasn't been keeping up with her signing after moving away, and while it's not remarked upon, you can feel the distance that unintentionally creates between them. It's not a conscious choice she made, nor does it prevent them being friends, and by all accounts she seems just as caring and supportive as the rest of Yuki's social circle. Yet that lake of malice doesn't make it any less unfortunate.

That Oushi has kept up with signing says that, for all his faults, he's willing to make the effort to connect with her. He's still kind of an ass and has to unlearn a lot of internalized ableism if he's serious about becoming a sign-language interpreter, but the dedication he's shown suggests there's the potential for him to grow. If he can stop treating Yuki as a thing that needs protecting, and instead see her as a young adult who needs support like every other human on the planet, he might just be the type of ally who can do some good. That's a big “if”, but I'm glad we've introduced a bit more nuance to the guy, even if I still don't buy him as a romantic rival in any respect.

That's all good stuff that fleshes out Yuki, and the rest of the cast, returning to themes of living with disability that had been sitting on the back burner while we focused on the love story. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it also makes for a stronger story, plus a sweet reunion when Itsuomi returns. That lip-reading flub is also pretty great – managing to capture the thrill of a spontaneous kiss without the usual ick-factor of one party forcing it on the other, while also being something that could only happen with these two in particular. Itsuomi wanting to introduce her to his best friend is also pretty cute, though it's almost certainly going to lead to more drama.

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A Sign of Affection is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.