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First and foremost, this was an excellent ep. 8/10 vote from me.
That being said, I am afraid I fall into the "camp" of those who have a continually lowering opinion for Ohana's mother.
Yes - the episode portrayed the entire situation very well ... there are people who work jobs like that and are "stuck" - happy they just have employment and are able to pay the bills and make ends meet and the rest.
But that is not what is the main issue for me here. The main issue is the insensitive and outright callous attitude the mother has towards her daughter when she comes to confront her about it. The feeling I get is that Satsuki did not want a daughter, but found herself pregnant and found that the child "got in her way", but grudgingly accepted the responsibility of raising the child. Even now it seems that is the "default setting" ... she does have some motherly feelings for Ohana, but the over-riding feeling of "Satsuki first" (and in a self centered way) is still present. Of course, on the bright side of things the very fact that Satsuki did not abort Ohana and agreed to provide for her is a good thing - perhaps a huge step forward for her. But imo she still has a lot of work to do....
It is also possible that Satsuki developed such a strong "me first" attitude because of a desire to want to "break out" of the environment SHE grew up in ... I could see growing up under the strict, no-nonsense, "customer first" approach of the "landlady" (i.e. Satsuki's mother/Ohana's grandmother - who is running Kissui Inn) as stifling and evoking a desire to get out, thus bringing forth a strong "me first" attitude to "survive". Even so - even if one can understand the reason why such selfishness helped to be cultivated in a person the existence of such selfishness in a person is still not praiseworthy.
Ohana was raised in such an environment and since the apple does not fall away from the tree she is dealing with the results - I think she sees that she has developed some similar character traits that she dislikes in her mother and has been suffering from them off and on throughout the episodes (and in episode 11) up to now.
Perhaps the series' main focus will be a chronicle of how Ohana herself "breaks out" of the cycle she has been handed, but does so in a healthier and more wholesome way?
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