「うちのうちカレー」 (Uchi no Uchikaree)
“Our Family’s At-Home Curry”

I see what you’re doing Amaama and you won’t catch me off guard! *sniffle*

Sleepovers and Heavy Thoughts

While I would never trade my childhood experiences for anything, there are times I wonder what it would have been like to grow up in a different environment. Instead of the very uncultured and “safe” environment of the United States school system, what would it have been like to experience things from a Japanese perspective? A question which I’ll never be able to answer, but I like to think about when I get the opportunity to see be it through anime or real life.

Anyways, wasn’t it nice to finally see some of the dads in action? Instead of simply Kouhei being the only one rooting for his kid, seeing him joke around and hang out with the other dads served as a great reminder that he’s doing double duty with his wife looking down at her family. Something that I think we all tend to forget with all the happiness this show tries to shove down our throats.

On the hand though, I was having some pretty serious thoughts as I saw him go home alone. Thinking about just how tough it must be to lose your wife as well as how tiring it must be to handle 100% of the responsibilities, it was quite amazing that he didn’t just knockout without Tsumugi there. Luckily Yagi called at just the right time to liven the mood and kept things from going down a pretty dark path – something that we’d get to see in a little bit.

Growing Up With a Single Parent

I never thought the show would do this, but every passing episode seems to be trying its best to prove me wrong. Seeing how a HUGE point in Amaama is the whole single-parent/broken family aspect, I’ve been dying to see the show tackle it at some point. There’s no denying (unless you’re lying to yourself) that Tsumugi doesn’t realize her mom isn’t coming home and the show has been quietly ramping up the amount of time we get to see Kouhei’s wife – with this episode taking the cake by finally showing us her face as well as giving her some proper screen time. Something I totally was hoping for but wasn’t expecting to get.

A Sad Thought and Looking ahead

So, before leaving you guys until next week, here’s a sad thought I had. What if this show is actually about Kouhei and Tsumugi learning to move forward and accept the death of their beloved wife/mom? With the beginning showing just how difficult it was to even think about her by blocking her face out, it would make sense that as the two progressed toward finding peace it would become easier to recall the happy times, face and all. And what if, hypothetically, they reach a point where they truly accept things and start to slowly forget the memories as time passes? Boy wouldn’t that be sad as hell.

Anyways, sad and depressing thoughts aside, I’ll catch you guys next week where I’ll remember to keep a box of tissues nearby. See you!

12 Comments

  1. “So, before leaving you guys until next week, here’s a sad thought I had. What if this show is actually about Kouhei and Tsumugi learning to move forward and accept the death of their beloved wife/mom?”

    I was always under the assumption that that’s what the viewer is supposed to take away from this tale

    sonicsenryaku
  2. I was disappointed that Kouhei didn’t take advantage of his rare opportunity to engage in some adult male behavior and go out with Yagi. Tsumugi was in a safe, supervised environment – his insistence that he needs to be available for her every second seems somewhat unhealthy. More importantly, no matter how understanding your friends are, if you keep declining all of their social offers sooner or later they are going to stop asking.

    Kling_Klang
  3. I was wondering when they would get around to curry as it seems to be the most “common” household dish. As also stated in this episode every family has their own version of it and it’s usually a recipie passed down from generation to generation. All cultures that love food tend to have their own “curry” and they nicely tied this trait into the episode.

    I also liked that it wasn’t all smiles and they took the requisite time to show that as much as this brings good memories certain sad facts also come with it. Very nicely done

    Juan
  4. When Tsumugi noticed that her father was looking at her mother’s recipe book and realised that he was probably feeling sad, going over to comfort him, I found that incredibly endearing and poignant.

    Given her age, Tsumugi is very strong willed and considerate, which is perhaps as a result of her slowly coming to terms with the fact that her mother will not come back. She’s definitely going to be a driving force in her father’s life when she grows up.

    Aiko

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