Anime 55866 Yubisaki To Renren Reviews Filter Check 2

I am clearly not the intended audience for this anime, yet here I am, reviewing this anime. Making the female MC deaf was definitely a trick to get more people to indulge in this anime. I think it's already clear how this romance anime caters to the Shoujo demographic when you have every character having the most kissable lips, the male character's rizz game is always at its peak, meant to make the girl infinitely blush with him, all the while also having love triangles and unrequited love stories that are at play. There's a lot of things to not like about A Sign of ... Affection, but what if I tell you, I did enjoy it too?

If I were to name one good thing that this anime did well other than the sign language the show takes pride in, it's the handling of the worst aspect of most romance dramas, love polygons. I kid you not, it's not a romance anime if you don't have any love triangles or anyone who has unrequited love and in almost every romance show, all it has done is make virtually more interesting side characters that either don't get into a relationship with the MC despite better chemistry or make the worst side characters known to mankind, just so the main character will always get with the main one, all the while creating drama about their said backstory with MC and how they were "deeply in love" with the MC which is never returned. I know love polygons are common in fictional romance stories. Still, when it comes to doing this, rarely does anyone know how to properly execute this without overstaying its welcome or getting extremely annoying to deal with. Luckily, the anime fixed this by making every cast an adult. They don't throw tantrums like insecure babies fishing for pity towards them and talking about how they gave the MC the most attention and somehow think that will make them like them. Instead, it handles the subject maturely and calmly, which is a nice change of pace for a romance drama.

Another praise I'd give to the anime is how the romance is also quite decent. I actually enjoyed it too and didn't find it a notorious fire piece of garbage. The male love interest (who naturally ticks all the boxes for your typical main love interest in every shoujo manga), doesn't exhibit any behavior that leans towards stalking psychopathic tendencies, instead, it's just cute teases I can actually see happening and in a sense, I can support the relationship going on between the two. I had a bad assumption about how the anime was going with the relationship given how the man had the recipe of an incredibly insecure and more harmful than protective character, but it was a nice change of pace unless you take into consideration the other romance that does it several degrees better than this anime.

Are you still with me? Because this is where I want to delve into issues I had with A Sign of Affection.

Even if it does some things right in terms of plot and romance, it still doesn't excuse the characters, who are pretty forgettable and I'm willing to say, 'bad', in a lot of ways. From my perspective, Yuki is the weakest character of them all. The only reason you can remember her is because she's deaf. Yuki's character is someone that can be generalized as a "self-insert for girls" because Yuki is like every girl's fantasy who wants to have a perfect boyfriend like Itsuomi (had to search for his name in MAL because I couldn't remember him), but let me stop you for a minute there.

When you call a character "self-insert", you're referring to a character that lacks substance or any form of personality to be considered as a real character but the term "Self-Insertion" refers to the main character being as closely similar to the author's personality or his/her image to how they would react into the real world or if the same circumstances were applied to them as well, typically the correct definition of self-insert or what you would call "the author's surrogate". Here, in this situation, Yuki is the definition of being a "self-projection."

How do I prove this? A lot of things only happened because the supporting characters had a role to play in which Yuki does nothing but let everyone approach her and blush because it wasn't something she intended to do, yet she indulges in it, hoping she gets this treatment without ever trying to put effort into getting what she wants until the latter half of the series, where Yuki somehow does something but reminded her how she needs to be treated like a princess because oh no, she's a deaf person who's being held like a trophy for the guy to get his hands on. I may sound like I'm yapping absolute nonsense, but the idea is that you can't have a main character who does nothing or just reacts to everything without taking any initiative to do anything, the story makes everything served to her on a silver plate.

The cast is only categorized by two driven things, either driven with jealousy or acting as the loud voice just so there is a smidgen worth of comedy other than your usual poetic-esque description of having their voice heard miraculously by a random Prince Charming character. The love polygons are the only notable part where you can have some form of memory indulging in this anime, otherwise, it's another one of your run-of-the-mill romances that participates in satisfying the quota just so it passes off for every romance viewer like myself to watch.

The anime definitely suffices as a romance anime, since there is chemistry between the duo, and have proper romance advances which are much appreciated to see, but I would have definitely recommended it if Yuki's character had more thought put into it. Maybe it's due to my lack of interest in these kinds of characters that are portrayed as shy, timid, and quiet all the more justified with the characteristic being deaf, but I wish Yuki had put a lot more effort into taking interest in what these characters do, maybe provide more gifts or help others more rather than being bestowed with many gifts that can't process the simple line of thought to repay debts for their deeds. In my eyes, it's just decent.

Thank you for reading.

Yubisaki to Renren is a very cute story that I really liked and will please most people who like romance, but my personal experience with deaf people and my expectations for it being a college love story made me like it a little less than I could have.
The protagonist of this story is Itose Yuki, a young deaf woman who after a brief interaction on the subway falls in love with Nagi Itsuomi who she later discovers is studying at the same college and the story develops following these two characters getting to know each other and discovering love.

The love story between the protagonists is ... very cute and it's nice to see the two interacting, but it required me to overcome the feeling that everything started too quickly or that something was missing. The scene in which the protagonists meet exemplifies this: Yuki is on the subway, receives help from Itsuomi with a boy who was asking her for directions without realizing that she is deaf and suddenly he puts his hand on her head and Kaboom, we have a Yuki is in love and for some reason the anime tries to sell this scene as ultra romantic when it seemed strange to me.

One point that is again sweet, but left me conflicted about how to feel, is the apparent lack of emotional maturity of some characters. It's very cute to see Yuki melting thinking about Itsuomi but at a certain point I caught myself thinking that especially the way the female characters in this story act is no different from the kawaii and shy way these characters have in high school stories. It's not something that really bothered me, but I see it as a missed opportunity since the characters being young adults didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Now talking about deafness issues, I will talk about things that for most people won't make the slightest difference and didn't ruin my experience but caught my attention. I would have liked to have seen more people around Yuki and how most of them don't even know the basics of sign language, because in my experience I learned a lot just by being around deaf people before even attending some classes to learn properly. I really found it strange how almost no one knows how to talk to Yuki and that apparently even her parents only talk to her by reading their lips, because how were they able to have more complex conversations when she still didn't know how to do that? Maybe the source material will explain this later, but it's something that caught my attention.

I could point out things I was taught that are very rude to do to someone who is deaf and that happen sometimes in this anime, like holding hands and covering a deaf person's vision, as it would be the equivalent of putting your hand over your mouth from someone, but the only big complaint I have is how unintentionally the script seems to validate the speech of Oushi, Yuki's childhood friend. Having our protagonist practically forgetting how to walk down the street and needing to be guided by the hand to avoid being run over because she's so excited to be walking with Itsuomi is a little frustrating, as is what happens when Oushi needs to intervene in a certain situation because Yuki apparently can't communicate to the salesperson that she is deaf and cannot understand what he is saying because he is wearing a mask. Deaf people, even by necessity, tend to be great at taking care of themselves and communicating even with people who don't know sign language and I honestly would have liked to have seen Yuki showing this even to counter Oushi's thoughts.

Having said all that, I still liked what I saw and will recommend it to friends who like romance, I am fully aware that many of my complaints will not be noticed by the majority of the public but it left me with the slight impression that some opportunities were missed because the fact that I was following young adults didn't seem to make a difference and the plot felt much more like a story with a deaf character and not a story about a deaf person.

It was fine. Being involved in the deaf community and working as an interpreter I appreciate that more shows are bringing deaf awareness. However, I’m also a fan of good anime so I’m going to be a little critical.

This anime is an ok romance. I did find the lead characters had a lack of chemistry. Their attraction to one another felt forced, they like each other because they do. It lacked depth. I did like the chemistry between the supporting characters though. I often found myself wanting to skip past the main characters and just watch the supporting characters.

There are so many sappy lines. I ... personally can appreciate them, but when anything is saturated with them it can start making me cringe. And though I feel the lead male was supposed to come off as manly, he often felt like he was just being completely insensitive and disrespectful. Maybe that is what she likes about him? I found myself often feeling like he needs to get lost whenever he made advances. I guess it goes to show that the main difference between a creep and being “sweet” is how handsome the guy is.

Overall, I liked parts of the anime and some episodes the lead characters were enjoyable. But I feel like this anime was carried by the support characters. It is great that it is raising deaf awareness and it was fun seeing and learning some Japanese Sign Language, I just wish it would have been done better.

The main pairing lacks substance. Dare I say the 'B' word? Itsuomi bores me. He doesn't really have a personality other than the linguistic thing he has going on. He treats Yuki like she's a kid, which is evident in the scene in episode four where he covers her eyes so she can't see what Oushi is saying.

In my opinion (I'm going to get shat on for this because people hate him), there is more potential between Oushi and Yuki. They have the whole childhood friends thing down, and I would prefer for that to be explored over Yuki and Itsuomi. When I think ... about Itsuomi and why he's drawn to Yuki, I can't help but feel it's because he sees her as a tool to learn sign language. As for Yuki's attraction to Itsuomi, it's all physical—BORING! An attractive character cannot and will never be interesting simply because they are attractive. Where's the personality?

I won't write off this anime completely, but this is my viewpoint as of episode four. Hopefully, there is a chance for redemption.

If you're looking for a cute, feel-good romance this will definitely satisfy you. If you're looking for a mature romance with interesting characters it may not. While the story is sweet, the character writing is mostly weak and left a lot to be desired. The female lead has almost no defining traits other than being deaf and cute, we learn almost nothing about any desires or motivations that are not related to romance. She falls in love with the male lead almost instantly, who is essentially an ideal romantic partner with no real flaws or need for character development, i.e. a pretty boring character. The ... childhood friend is probably the most interesting character because he has flaws and we see the beginnings of personal growth once he becomes aware of them.
I do like that there is a clear focus on consent and characters setting boundaries in their relationships, the relationships that are depicted are healthy but they feel somewhat superficial and lacking of any depth.

Love it for the fact that it's a slice of life romance that properly portrays disabilities.
Hate it for the fact that the romance is poorly developed and the plot has nothing interesting to keep you watching.

Animation: Awesome, but doesn't save the anime.
Plot: What plot? We don't really have ups and downs, nor real challenges, nor real antagonists.
Character development: Very poor due to the fact that we don't have a proper plot to develop the characters!
Romantic development: Also poor, only the heroine really holds the romantic plot, because the male lead's personality is "too mysterious" for us to actually identify with his feelings.

Overall: It's simply hard ... to keep watching because it becomes boring really quickly, but if you are into wishy-washy and cliché animes it's a good watch with great animation.

If you want to just turn your brain off, sit giggling n kicking your feet for the better half of the day; then this anime is for you. But the second you start actually thinking about it, the problems start to arise.

Every character is incredibly two dimensional. For a shoujo romance this is fairly standard, but considering this one features a disabled lead you'd expect it to be handled with a bit more care.

So, what's the problem with Yuki? Yuki seems like a self insert in every worst way; she's small, pretty, timid, shy, naive. None of these are inherently bad, I personally am just ... sick and tired of this trope of women in anime. Basically the perfect girl with absolutely zero flaws, but also enough of a blank slate for the viewer to be able to insert themselves into her shoes. She has basically no visible family, hardly a past, no memorable life events - it's like she just popped into existence as soon as the first episode started for the viewer to begin vicariously living through her. And that's ignoring the pull point for this anime, the fact that she's deaf. Now I'm not deaf so I can't speak for anyone, these are just my own opinions; but it just feels like she's infatalised because of her disability, not only by the people in the show but by the creators of it. Her disability is only used to give reasons for the men around her to jump in and make themselves appear in a better light.

That brings me onto the male love interests. Itsuomi is, much like Yuki, the perfect guy with absolutely zero flaws. He's tall, pretty, conscientious, considerate, loving, (all things I wish real men would be) he travels, speaks 4(?) languages, is incredibly popular. Despite this anime toeing the love triangle line, it's just so painstakingly obvious he is made to be for Yuki - and by extension, for the viewer. Him having no flaws is such a problem as it just makes him an incredibly boring character; it seemed at times like they were hinting at him having more depth that was waiting to be revealed, but nothing ever happened? Lost opportunity I say.

Oshi is the childhood best friend, the sorry excuse for a part of the love triangle. It is very obvious that Yuki has zero interest in him so to me, he was never perceived as a threat. His only contribution to the story was to infantalise Yuki and pine for her. I'd argue that he was the most fleshed out character in the show, to me it seemed like the only reason he liked her was because he could (and did) learn sign language to communicate with her, something which the vast majority - in fact everyone other than Itsuomi, didn't do. It felt like he had a saviour complex, a flaw! Unprecedented, I know. But it was interesting, it just wasn't explored at all which is an incredible shame.

I can understand that the general theme of the anime was Itsuomi taking this sheltered girl with a barrier to the world, and helping her overcome that - but that again just seems incredibly infantalising (sorry this is becoming a buzz word), why does it take a man to 'save' her and teach her these things? Their relationship just didn't feel real to me, it always felt like they were just kind of pushed together without knowing each other? It really made me struggle to believe they actually went well together, the lack of connection was palpable.

I don't have much to say about the other side characters, the pessimist in me doesn't enjoy how idealistic it all is but that's just the type of anime this is.

Animation is beautiful, I see the art style is devisive but I thought it was incredibly pretty and I didn't think anything else of it a couple episodes in.

The sound is fine, op is okay, no stand out there. Voice acting performances are good, despite the poor international languages which is all too common.

Overall it was an enjoyable watch, just a lot of missed potential that could have been fixed with some better characterisation and even pacing.

I will start by saying the fact that Yuki has hearing aids for show, and doesn't use them, bothers me more than it should.

I mostly don't get who is this for. To me, it just seems like a bog-standard romantic shojo anime with the gimmick of the main girl being deaf. A Sign of Affection doesn't play around with what it is like to be deaf in any real way. For example, their language barrier lasts all of 3 minutes. It would have been cool to see him show her how to spread her wings after being locked away because the world is not accommodating ... enough for the hearing impaired.

I have a bunch of little complaints. The jealous side guy gets old really fast. The art style is whatever, not for me. The main guy being this "super cool" world traveler just seems like a wish fantasy and not that important other than Itsuomi likes languages and hangs out with foreigners. Also, I am pretty sure the entire show our main character, Yuki, only ever thinks or talks about her crush on Itsuomi and has no other personality traits or goals.

The "foreign" voices are a nice touch and done well. The hand tattoo is a cool touch given we are looking at hands all the time.

I don't know. I think if you like generic romance drama, this is the show for you. If you want to learn JSL while watching a show then go for it. But for me, I think I will stick to watching A Silent Voice again.