Family Ties
For the first time in this show, we see three generations of Kissuiso women conversing not so much as staff and guest, but almost like a very typical family. There is a lot of friction between the older two generations, something that seems to have been somewhat tempered by time. It’s clear that these two never really saw eye to eye on a lot of things but it doesn’t mean of course that they can’t be civil. Satsuki’s free wheeling lifestyle obviously clashes with her mother’s strict and disciplined personality, but family is family, and in the end both manage to tolerate each other. What becomes rather abundantly clear is that for all her irresponsibilities and looseness, Satsuki isn’t as bad as many have seen her to be. Perhaps my previous statements that the apple can fall from the tree may be a tad premature: as the rest of the staff observe, the three of them are very similar in more ways than one. To see them talk even for one night really exemplifies that despite personal differences and some grudges, families will always be there whether you like them to or not.
Satsuki now has a different opinion of the inn, even if her view of her family hasn’t. It is perhaps that stubborn familiarity is what keeps families… well familial. This is, and will always be, the mother she had always had and had always hated, and she wouldn’t trade her for any other mother in the world.