Where is he really from?
Summary:
- Itsuomi has received a lot of criticism.
- He comes from Japan but lived in Germany for a long time.
- This might be the reason for the difference between his perception of the world and Yuki’s.
It feels like everyone and their mother has already discussed Itsuomi’s behavior in A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren). Some viewers see nothing wrong with it and don’t really get all the fuss, while others consider him highly problematic and call him a creep for ignoring Yuki’s personal space.
What do we know about Itsuomi?
There haven’t been many details about Itsuomi’s past revealed in the anime yet, but we do know some things. He travels a lot and is really interested in foreign languages and cultures and just enjoys learning something new.
Still, if you look up some information about his history on the internet, you will find that he was indeed born in Japan but moved to Germany at a very young age. This is where he spent a significant part of his life, learned German and found his passion for other languages. And this detail can explain his behavior a lot.
He’s just different, not problematic
Yuki has lived in Japan her entire life, so she has the Japanese mentality. Japanese people are known for being very respectful and polite. Even the way they address each other with various honorifics may tell you a lot about their way of communication.
That’s why she gets so surprised when Itsuomi invades her personal space and touches her straight away. It’s not something common for Japanese people.
But Itsuomi lived in Europe where other standards of communication apply. It doesn’t mean that Germans and other Europeans touch each other every second, but it’s quite natural to hug each other when you meet or say goodbye.
Because of this, Itsuomi might not even think that he’s doing something wrong. He likes Yuki and he may think that physical touch is a way to show her that.
On top of that, Yuki is hearing-impaired, and sometimes there are just no other ways to attract her attention other than to touch her. So he does just that.
Itsuomi realizes, though, that Yuki might not see the world the way he does, so he asks her for her consent in the latest episode of the anime. He makes sure that he doesn’t do anything that Yuki wouldn’t like.
That only proves it more: the first touches and invasion of Yuki’s personal space happened not because he is a creep but because it didn’t even cross his mind that he might be doing something inappropriate.