Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R
One area where I have to disagree somewhat with many other posters here is on the topic of Jinta's dad.
Now, Jinta's dad is clearly caring and well-intentioned, to his credit.
But, in my view, a good parent does more to try to stop their child's descent into personal self-destruction than what Jinta's dad did.
Prior to Jinta getting work, he really was in a hikikomori rut, and particularly given his age, that really could have ruined him for life if he didn't turn things around.
It's fine and good to show understanding to why a child does what he does, but even then, some choices shouldn't be calmly accepted. One such choice was Jinta choosing to pretty much opt out of school entirely, and not find work anywhere.
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I made mention of this in my blog post as well. Jintan's Dad is absolutely doing what he thinks is best, but I think he's erred in judgment by giving Jintan too much freedom. One of the reasons his son slipped as far as he did down the emotional rabbit hole was that his father probably never took him aside and had a "Yukiatsu" moment. I think we can all agree that your son becoming a hikikomori is not a good outcome, no matter the reasons.
However, how can you possibly judge him, given the circumstances? When an elementary school boy loses his best friend and his mother in short order, how can he find it in his heart to be harsh with the boy? He's like everyone else in the show - trying his best to do the right thing, and sometimes failing. The mistakes he's made have been mistakes of love, and he tries to hide his own pain behind a facade of perpetual cheerfulness. How can you not love a guy like that? That's why it was so nice to see Jintan appreciate just how lucky he was to have a Dad like that.
I'm not going to knock Jun Maeda (though I admit I'm more of a Naoki Hisaya fan), but to me Mari Okada exceeds him here because she's earning every ounce of sentiment through incredibly subtle character development and interaction. The story here is rife with potential for melodrama, but she's mining the pain and doubt these characters experience in their everyday lives for the power to drive the show. There's very little in terms of histrionics and emotional pandering and sentimental BGM - it's all honest and hard-earned.
Also - I really think Irinu Miyu and Haruka Tomatsu are stamping themselves as one of the great anime couples. They're fantastic independently, but every scene together is just phenomenal.