If you want to see our unedited reactions (that you sync up with your own episode footage) check out our Patreon and get on full length access: www.patreon.com/c/semblanceofsanity
Just a note: With Yuzuko having died five years ago while pregnant, Miri is pretty much exactly the age that Kazuki and Yuzuko's kid would have been had they lived.
@@auden4531 I know, right? I've watched this show so many times and yet the math only fell into place in my head while rewatching for this reaction. It hit me like a brick to the gut. 😢
About Rei, when he said he was trying his best to look after Miri, he genuinely thinks he is. This guy grew up with a childhood where literally all he did was train and kill people as an assassin. He genuinely doesn't know how to function in society if it's anything other than work/games and would be completely lost without Kazuki looking after him. In the first episode, we saw that he didn't even know he could heat up cold food in the microwave. He thinks as long as Miri is happy, he's doing his part. It's not enough, obviously, but he learns to get better!
it's interesting; given his upbringing, Rei has no idea how to take care of anything, even himself. even so, during the show we see him trying to take care of others. in the first episode, it's mentioned he constantly brings in strays, meaning stray dogs and cats. secondly, we see him taking care of some plants. clearly, he doesn't know about taking real care of another living being, but he still tries
Really loved your discussion for this episode when it comes to shame and guilt. I also really liked how you all pointed out that the issue with Kazuki and Rei is a communication based one, as well. Interestingly, while Buddy Daddies wasn't very popular in Japan, I do remember reading a number of articles (written in Japanese by Japanese male viewers) that were urging Japanese men to watch this episode. Those articles came out after this episode. Japan's gender gap when it comes to equality in many areas, but especially with regards to house cleaning and childcare, is still quite large. By having a series where a stereotypical heteronormative household dynamic is present - the woman doing all of the cooking, cleaning, and childcare while the man just works and plays - be played out by two male characters may strike more of a chord with male watchers than it would have if it was just presented as the stereotypical dynamic. Sadly, we often see this happen a lot where men will listen more to other men on a topic, rather than women, if if the woman is speaking on the same topic as the man. I feel something like that happened here with a lot of the Japanese male viewers that wrote about why this was a must watch for men in Japan. It's message hits harder and there aren't the usual societal expectations to view the situation from. So it leads to introspection. I think there was a lot of great build up to this episode too. Kazuki's burn out doesn't seem like it comes out of nowhere, we've seen the small signs of Kazuki putting so much energy into everything involving Miri and Rei not matching that for episodes upon episodes now, so Kazuki feeling that burn out now makes sense. Though, Kazuki gets burnt out rather quickly or so it would seem. When you take that into consideration, along with the fact that Miri's mother tried to continue to raise Miri for so long on her own despite having likely been burnt out just as quickly and for far longer than Kazuki, *without* any alternatives and *with* the societal expectations placed on women and childcaring - it adds extra depth to her character and highlights how she was a flawed, but overall good mother that tried her best for as long as she could. Especially without anyone else to even remotely rely on. Rei's character in this episode often meets some interesting critique and insights from fans. You can view his character and actions here from the "weaponized incompetence" angle, for sure. For some men this really is largely the case, but at the same time, Rei reminds me a lot of Akito from Fruits Basket. Not in the sense of personality, of course, but in the sense that both characters represent just how important parenting and childhood is for children to grow up into competent adults. If a child isn't taught how to do something, they aren't magically going to know how to do it as an adult. Kazuki grew up in the system and likely had to learn how to care for others to survive, Rei grew up with all his needs being met by others and just learning how to kill. So he doesn't know how to properly care for others. This episode was Rei's test, but he failed. Of course, Rei never actually asked or showed initial interest in wanting to keep Miri/make her a part of his and Kazuki's partnership in any way. But we can see by his actions in previous episodes and this one that he does want to keep her in his life. And this episode seems like it was a reality check for him. I love how this episode shows immediate character growth with Rei trying to make French toast with Miri. On the Instagram account, Kazuki posts a picture of the burnt French toast with a comment attached to it: 相方と娘で作ったらしい… or "It seems, my partner and daughter made it..." "Kazuki" always uses the term 相方 (aikata) when referring to "Rei" on "his" Instagram account. It's a term that can mean "partner" or "buddy" and has a lot of usages (from marriage partners to work buddies, etc.). In Miri's Picture Journal, she wrote and drew an image of her and Rei making French toast. She wrote: "I made French toast. It was hard." The memo note for this episode was from Kazuki to Rei and it was a shopping list for French toast. It states: Buy: -Whipping Cream -Pre-sliced Loafed Bread - 6 Slice Package (*Pre-sliced bread in Japan can come with different amount of slices. Less slices result in thicker slices, more slices result in thinner slices). -Eggs Stay under 1,000 yen! So it seems that Rei not only made the French toast, but also did the shopping for it (Kazuki just told him what to get, lol). That's such good improvement on Rei's part already! Anyway, I hope you both and everyone in this comment sections has a wonderful holiday season! Take care everyone!
As me Rei isnt at the fault that he doesn't know how to take care of others as he was always learnt to take care of himself, aka being trained as assasin his whole life
If you want to see our unedited reactions (that you sync up with your own episode footage) check out our Patreon and get on full length access:
www.patreon.com/c/semblanceofsanity
Just a note: With Yuzuko having died five years ago while pregnant, Miri is pretty much exactly the age that Kazuki and Yuzuko's kid would have been had they lived.
I never thought about that and now I'm SAD
@@auden4531 I know, right? I've watched this show so many times and yet the math only fell into place in my head while rewatching for this reaction. It hit me like a brick to the gut. 😢
About Rei, when he said he was trying his best to look after Miri, he genuinely thinks he is. This guy grew up with a childhood where literally all he did was train and kill people as an assassin. He genuinely doesn't know how to function in society if it's anything other than work/games and would be completely lost without Kazuki looking after him. In the first episode, we saw that he didn't even know he could heat up cold food in the microwave. He thinks as long as Miri is happy, he's doing his part. It's not enough, obviously, but he learns to get better!
another thing to note: the house/apartment they live in is under rei’s name. kazuki was the one who came to live with him
2:16 JESUS! That's a big ass mug, I was not expecting that🤣
it's interesting; given his upbringing, Rei has no idea how to take care of anything, even himself. even so, during the show we see him trying to take care of others. in the first episode, it's mentioned he constantly brings in strays, meaning stray dogs and cats. secondly, we see him taking care of some plants. clearly, he doesn't know about taking real care of another living being, but he still tries
Really loved your discussion for this episode when it comes to shame and guilt. I also really liked how you all pointed out that the issue with Kazuki and Rei is a communication based one, as well. Interestingly, while Buddy Daddies wasn't very popular in Japan, I do remember reading a number of articles (written in Japanese by Japanese male viewers) that were urging Japanese men to watch this episode. Those articles came out after this episode.
Japan's gender gap when it comes to equality in many areas, but especially with regards to house cleaning and childcare, is still quite large. By having a series where a stereotypical heteronormative household dynamic is present - the woman doing all of the cooking, cleaning, and childcare while the man just works and plays - be played out by two male characters may strike more of a chord with male watchers than it would have if it was just presented as the stereotypical dynamic.
Sadly, we often see this happen a lot where men will listen more to other men on a topic, rather than women, if if the woman is speaking on the same topic as the man. I feel something like that happened here with a lot of the Japanese male viewers that wrote about why this was a must watch for men in Japan. It's message hits harder and there aren't the usual societal expectations to view the situation from. So it leads to introspection.
I think there was a lot of great build up to this episode too. Kazuki's burn out doesn't seem like it comes out of nowhere, we've seen the small signs of Kazuki putting so much energy into everything involving Miri and Rei not matching that for episodes upon episodes now, so Kazuki feeling that burn out now makes sense. Though, Kazuki gets burnt out rather quickly or so it would seem. When you take that into consideration, along with the fact that Miri's mother tried to continue to raise Miri for so long on her own despite having likely been burnt out just as quickly and for far longer than Kazuki, *without* any alternatives and *with* the societal expectations placed on women and childcaring - it adds extra depth to her character and highlights how she was a flawed, but overall good mother that tried her best for as long as she could. Especially without anyone else to even remotely rely on.
Rei's character in this episode often meets some interesting critique and insights from fans. You can view his character and actions here from the "weaponized incompetence" angle, for sure. For some men this really is largely the case, but at the same time, Rei reminds me a lot of Akito from Fruits Basket. Not in the sense of personality, of course, but in the sense that both characters represent just how important parenting and childhood is for children to grow up into competent adults. If a child isn't taught how to do something, they aren't magically going to know how to do it as an adult. Kazuki grew up in the system and likely had to learn how to care for others to survive, Rei grew up with all his needs being met by others and just learning how to kill. So he doesn't know how to properly care for others.
This episode was Rei's test, but he failed. Of course, Rei never actually asked or showed initial interest in wanting to keep Miri/make her a part of his and Kazuki's partnership in any way. But we can see by his actions in previous episodes and this one that he does want to keep her in his life. And this episode seems like it was a reality check for him. I love how this episode shows immediate character growth with Rei trying to make French toast with Miri. On the Instagram account, Kazuki posts a picture of the burnt French toast with a comment attached to it: 相方と娘で作ったらしい… or "It seems, my partner and daughter made it..." "Kazuki" always uses the term 相方 (aikata) when referring to "Rei" on "his" Instagram account. It's a term that can mean "partner" or "buddy" and has a lot of usages (from marriage partners to work buddies, etc.).
In Miri's Picture Journal, she wrote and drew an image of her and Rei making French toast. She wrote: "I made French toast. It was hard." The memo note for this episode was from Kazuki to Rei and it was a shopping list for French toast. It states:
Buy:
-Whipping Cream
-Pre-sliced Loafed Bread - 6 Slice Package (*Pre-sliced bread in Japan can come with different amount of slices. Less slices result in thicker slices, more slices result in thinner slices).
-Eggs
Stay under 1,000 yen!
So it seems that Rei not only made the French toast, but also did the shopping for it (Kazuki just told him what to get, lol). That's such good improvement on Rei's part already! Anyway, I hope you both and everyone in this comment sections has a wonderful holiday season! Take care everyone!
I've been looking forward to this episode reaction
I haven’t watched you in a day and damn, I was not prepared for lumberjack Jacob😄
As me Rei isnt at the fault that he doesn't know how to take care of others as he was always learnt to take care of himself, aka being trained as assasin his whole life
Great episode !
You should watch SKAM norway