A Sign of Affection has been getting a lot of praise for the portrayal of hearing impairment.
Episode 7 features Yuki hunting for jobs.
Fans felt like this storyline had a lot of potential, but wasted it.
A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) has been praised for a lot of things. Mostly for how cute and romantic it is, or how absolutely stunning every little detail in the anime looks.
However, we shouldn't forget that the heart of the series is Yuki, and her hearing impairment plays a crucial role in the story. We've already discussed how well the anime portrays sign language, and now it's time to focus on other aspects of Yuki's disability.
It's not depressing
The thing that fans enjoy the most is that A Sign of Affection doesn't turn the story into a sad and heart-wrenching drama because its main protagonist can't hear.
Yuki is a very nice and genuine girl, who finds pleasure even in the smallest of moments. She doesn't let her disability dictate her life, she's fairly capable of living like everyone else.
This approach is very refreshing and it's exactly the thing that makes A Sign of Affection stand out among dozens of other series. Yuki doesn't need anyone's pity, she can be just as happy as all the other characters.
Job hunting struggles
Still, we can't deny that Yuki's hearing impairment influences the story a lot. It's in the way characters communicate with her and it's always present. And Episode 7 was the first one that actually showed some of Yuki's struggles.
When Itsuomi suggested Yuki to travel together, the financial issue arose, and the girl decided that she had to make some money. And to do so she has to find a job, of course.
However, as we see from the episode, it's not an easy thing to do for Yuki, and all of her job applications get rejected one by one.
A number of fans liked this in the episode. Of course, they were upset by the fact that Yuki couldn't succeed, but they felt like it was natural. Yuki is a hearing-impaired student, after all, so it's obvious that she would struggle finding a job.
However, there are still fans that found this job hunting storyline unsatisfying. They felt like the entire episode was full of wasted potential. The series could've given much more perspective on the struggles that disabled people face while looking for a job.
And the series just showed Yuki applying and getting rejected. She didn't attend any classes or courses for hearing-impaired students that help them find a job. There was no mention of her personal interests and how it's possible to get a job in various areas.
There was so much to be told and explored, and the anime failed to do so. We think it's because A Sign of Affection wants to stay as wholesome as possible and is afraid of exploring complicated issues, and we understand that. But we can't help but feel a little bit unsatisfied by it.
Should we be happy or disappointed?
Summary:
A Sign of Affection has been getting a lot of praise for the portrayal of hearing impairment.
Episode 7 features Yuki hunting for jobs.
Fans felt like this storyline had a lot of potential, but wasted it.
A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) has been praised for a lot of things. Mostly for how cute and romantic it is, or how absolutely stunning every little detail in the anime looks.
However, we shouldn't forget that the heart of the series is Yuki, and her hearing impairment plays a crucial role in the story. We've already discussed how well the anime portrays sign language, and now it's time to focus on other aspects of Yuki's disability.
It's not depressing
The thing that fans enjoy the most is that A Sign of Affection doesn't turn the story into a sad and heart-wrenching drama because its main protagonist can't hear.
Yuki is a very nice and genuine girl, who finds pleasure even in the smallest of moments. She doesn't let her disability dictate her life, she's fairly capable of living like everyone else.
This approach is very refreshing and it's exactly the thing that makes A Sign of Affection stand out among dozens of other series. Yuki doesn't need anyone's pity, she can be just as happy as all the other characters.
Job hunting struggles
Still, we can't deny that Yuki's hearing impairment influences the story a lot. It's in the way characters communicate with her and it's always present. And Episode 7 was the first one that actually showed some of Yuki's struggles.
When Itsuomi suggested Yuki to travel together, the financial issue arose, and the girl decided that she had to make some money. And to do so she has to find a job, of course.
However, as we see from the episode, it's not an easy thing to do for Yuki, and all of her job applications get rejected one by one.
A number of fans liked this in the episode. Of course, they were upset by the fact that Yuki couldn't succeed, but they felt like it was natural. Yuki is a hearing-impaired student, after all, so it's obvious that she would struggle finding a job.
However, there are still fans that found this job hunting storyline unsatisfying. They felt like the entire episode was full of wasted potential. The series could've given much more perspective on the struggles that disabled people face while looking for a job.
And the series just showed Yuki applying and getting rejected. She didn't attend any classes or courses for hearing-impaired students that help them find a job. There was no mention of her personal interests and how it's possible to get a job in various areas.
There was so much to be told and explored, and the anime failed to do so. We think it's because A Sign of Affection wants to stay as wholesome as possible and is afraid of exploring complicated issues, and we understand that. But we can't help but feel a little bit unsatisfied by it.
