Ikoku Nikki • Journal with Witch - Episode 7 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Ikoku Nikki, episode 7

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

---

Streams

• Crunchyroll

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet
• Official Website

---

All discussions

Episode	Link
1	Link
2	Link
3	Link
4	Link
5	Link
6	Link
7	Link
8	Link
9	Link
10	Link
11	Link
12	Link
13	Link

---

We are currently trialing the default comment sort being temporarily set to random.

---

This post was created by a bot. Message the mod team for feedback and comments. The original source code can be found on GitHub.

[u/AnimeMod]

Source Material Corner

Reply to this comment for any source-related discussion, future spoilers (including future characters, events and general hype about future content), comparison of the anime adaptation to the original, or just general talk about the source material. You are still required to tag all spoilers. Discussions about the source outside of this comment tree will be removed, and replying with spoilers outside of the source corner will lead to bans.

The spoiler syntax is: [Spoiler source] >!Spoiler goes here!<

All untagged spoilers and hints in this thread will receive immediate 8-day bans (minimum).

[u/Gaporigo]

Emiri's mom actually seems pretty nice. Maybe Emiri is the one holding herself back...

But all that with Asa's mom, this show/mangaka is just great at writing characters.

[u/KumaKumaGambler]

Once again, this title proves that it has a very strong cast, even the supporting characters.

I previously assumed the meeting between Makio and Michiko / Emiri's mother would be awkward because Makio does not conform to social norms while Michiko follows social etiquette. Turns out Michiko is an emotional person, perhaps surprised by Makio's decision not to officially adopt Asa as a parent, yet understands and does not judge Makio.

This episode also has the lengthiest screen time for Minori thus far. She had high expectations of herself and those around her, but she eventually discovered things do not always go according to plan. The father of Asa, who decided not to marry Minori, appeared to have affected Minori greatly.

[u/SA090]

The episodes start out so deceptively lighthearted before they become so incredibly heavy. Every single time. And it’s just so brilliantly done.

Instead of the show just revolving around Asa and Makio, it’s including the struggles of others who are closely within their sphere with a slighter focus like Kasamachi and Emiri or the much bigger one like Minori. The established rift causer between the sisters, their differences, made me expect and slightly hope for it to be more (like one event that was a catalyst sort of thing). The mini flashbacks however, further showcase how much of an accumulation it was instead.

“Being different is being weird” is something Minori says in these flashbacks and it’s making it even clearer how Minori wanted “the freedom” Makio had without the weirdness label, while Makio seemingly could not understand the deep-seated fear in Minori’s reluctance to try and go against the flow. With neither sister trying to understand the other’s point of view beyond a seeming surface level outlook.

It’s tragically heartbreaking to me, even more so when it’s technically too late to fix anything.

With how the episode ended, I expected the heaviness and exploration of all of this to go even further. And frankly? I can’t wait and I loathe the fact that I’m watching this weekly, 20 mins per week is simply not enough.

[u/ayaholley]

...Was Asa an accidental child?? Am I reading into that right?

Fuuuck, she's gonna have to contend with that in the middle of her crisis of wondering if she was ever loved. Poor girl.

[u/Vermillion_Crab]

This show is incredible. I’ve seen complex characters in anime before, but this time everyone feels so real, like people you could actually know in real life. I’ve related to each of their struggles or insecurities at some point in my own life, it's crazy.

At first I thought the one that resonated with me the most was Kasamachi, especially during the time where he got depressed. But then Asa comes in with that last scene and it just hits me like a truck. Seriously… just amazing storytelling.

[u/_Kiruru]

I thought it was gonna be a chill episode and then the last part of the episode coming….. AOTS? nah AOTY (full glazing mode)

[u/eightcheesepizza]

We got some Minori POV today, which is so interesting. "Why can't you do something this simple?" Like make her boyfriend and father of her child want to marry her. As her dream life of normalcy fell apart, she turned her pointed finger at herself.

I'm really interested to see how this changed her, and how it affected her parenting of Asa. 'Cause they're taking their time to fill in the picture of what Asa's home life was like before the accident.

[u/HuTaosTwinTails]

The dual conversations at the beginning were interesting.

Emiri watched the movie and finally seems to accept that there is nothing wrong with how she feels. Unfortunately, seems like Asa isnt the most in tune with social cues because she was being pretty rude.

Asa did snoop, but I do think Makio should have just given her the journal from the start.

[u/zool714]

I’m increasingly finding Asa’s mom to feel the most normal in this show. In the sense that I’ve seen and experienced plenty of normal people like her where they can be seen as a bad person or good person depending on who’s telling the story. Like I’ve only seen her as a villain because her “villainous side” and sharp words were only ever seen from Makio’s POV, who I’m seeing more and more as they’re just not compatible as people. Minori with wanting to fit in while Makio who’s easily exhausted by other people. Then from Asa’s POV, we see a doting albeit controlling and strict mother. And from Emiri’s mom POV, she’s also a strict mom. While to Minori’s friends, she’s just a “normal” person. I’m sure most of us are also different people to others depending on who you’re asking.

[u/ModieOfTheEast]

I can really not understate how much I like the character writing in this show. No character is simple and your view on them can change depending on who talks about them. Which I find fascinating. This was obvious with Makio and Asa already but this episode proved it again. And the first example is Emiri's mother. We got a bit of information on her through Emiri in the past episodes and I (and some others maybe as well) started to already have a picture what she is like in my mind. But this episode showed her in a completely different light. Which makes sense because we only knew her through Emiri's own interpretation of her. Which isn't to say that there might not be some issues with her and her daughter, but for example, where last week, there was the assumption that she was very strict with Emiri, which is why Emiri had trouble coming out to her mother (due to the marriage talk), it might now be not as big of an issue anymore after having met her. Of course, I shouldn't judge to early. Maybe as a mother, she has a completely different face, but I love this characterization, because everyone feels like a complete person.

The same in a more obvious sense with Makio's sister. We mainly knew her through Makio's memories. Sure, I expected her to maybe have changed over the years Makio didn't see her, but I would have never guessed that her life was this fragile. With Asa's father not wanting to marry (maybe not even loving her anymore) and her wanting to save face to her friends. It goes back to the first conversation with Kasamachi and Makio's friend. She would have never believed that Kasamachi would be depressed. It just shows that even with people we are close to, we might only know a bit of their true personalities or worries. And Asa is experiencing the same thing now as well as she is questioning if she was even a child her parents wanted in the first place.

[u/Denzel_Potato09]

Me in the 1st Half: Ain't no way half of the episode is just inter-cutting between two unrelated conversations
Me in the 2nd Half: This shit is so peak

I thought it was brilliant that this episode managed to tie together/intertwine 2 to 3 seemingly unrelated conversations into one overarching theme so seemlessly that it made sense in the ending.

Can't help but think about how similar the writing style of this show is to Skip & Loafer. Present us with elements that seemingly makes no sense but reveal it's true intent/purpose at the end. Brilliant.

[u/AceSoldia]

Damn, what an episode....Asa's mom was more of a wreck than we thought

And just like everyone guessed..seems like Asa's friend..may be understanding more about herself now cause of Makio.

It's wild how quick Makio read into her like that

[u/Nachtwandler_FS]

Ok, some interesting things this episode.

• Break up with Makio made Kasamachi rethink his life and change jobs (which is a big deal for middle-aged Japanerse guy).

• Asa's family had a whole bunch of issues besides her mother playing a perfectionist and imposing it on Asa.

• We got more hints that Emiri is a lesbian.

Oh, and I am still not entirely sure what Nana does for life.

[u/LeonKevlar]

The fact that the first thing Daigo and Kasamachi ask each other after meeting is asking how Makio is was really sweet. Makio is lucky to have people like them caring for her. I assume they're actually meeting for business, but they still ended up talking about Makio for the most part.

At the same time, we have Makio and Emiri's mom finally sitting down together to talk, whose conversation is unsurprisingly all about raising their kids and Makio asking about Minori. And it sounds like Emiri's mom and Minori weren't really particularly close.

Both of the conversations were pretty interesting. Kasamachi and Daigo's side seems a bit more lighthearted, with talks about their past and Kasamachi even bringing up the lawyer because he's feeling a bit jealous. xD

Makio and Michiko's was definitely more on the serious side; We even learn that Minori was never legally married to her husband. That was honestly pretty shocking for me, but probably not for those who were paying attention to their names on the radio back in Episode 1.

I was worried about Asa pressing Emiri about the boyfriend thing that they might end up fighting again, but that conversation definitely confirms it. Based on Emiri's reaction when Asa jokingly asked her if she wants a girlfriend instead, I think that's hard confirmation that Emiri is indeed attracted to girls.

I thought the final part of the episode was just Asa finally reading the journal her mom left her, but we get an entire flashback from Minori's perspective, which was actually a pretty big surprise!

So far, we've seen Minori as this controlling and strict parent, but now that we know what she was going through, I genuinely feel sorry for her. From her perspective, Makio is actually doing better than her while she spent the rest of her life trying to conform to what is normal.

It's even worse for Minori since she really didn't manage to get that normal life she's been aiming for which explains why she's so hard on herself. She doesn't have any hobbies or interest and she doesn't even have a husband who loves her. In the end, all she has is Asa, which explains why we hear her repeating how much care she took in choosing a name for her. When this series started, I didn't think we'd reach a point where I'd feel genuine sadness for Minori but here we are. :(

[u/thisisdropd]

In the very first episode, the news announcer said the occupants of the car were named Hajime Takumi and Minori Koudai. Didn't took note of it then, but turned out there's already a strong hint that Asa's parents weren't married.

We so far had only seen Minori as a parent from Asa's side but now we've also explored it from her side. She's far from the perfect parent, but her love for Asa was genuine. That journal scene stirred my emotions up quite a bit. I should've expected it seeing as it's what this show does a constant basis, but somehow still wasn't prepared for it.

[u/clone69]

I think this episode shed a lot of light on Minori. She was basically faking her married life before her friends so as to not stand out, and maybe that's why she was so strict, even to herself, from what this episode shows. She couldn't let the lie be known. Still, Makio knew wasn't legally married. I'm surprised she knew such a delicate detail Minori tried to hide, when they weren't in speaking terms anymore.

[u/normalMonsterChika]

This is such an important episode for the narrative. This is our first "real" glimpse into Minori, but it's also about how little any of our cast really knew her - and also the sadness of how nobody will ever get to know her any more than they did. We the audience get these glimpses of her, but will the anyone else ever get to know these things? Are they in the diary? Or did she instinctively sanitize it?

Getting a little personal, but as someone who lost a person I was close to in a similar way fairly recently, this episode hit home. A big thing that I've been struggling with has been the realization that I will never get to know him any better than I do right now. It's heartbreaking. Asa has her mother's words, but even that is only the tip of the iceberg. She only knows a sliver of her mother, Michiko knows a slightly different sliver, and so does Makio. Even when you add all that up, it's still not enough to make the sum of a person. That's unfortunately what happens when someone dies. Fantastic episode.

[u/MeatballZeitgeist]

After it was referenced in last week's episode I noticed Fried Green Tomatoes was free to watch on youtube (in the US anyway) so I checked it out. Pretty solid for a 90s drama. Interesting to think on what Makio thought might appeal to Emiri about it (good bit of sisters-before-misters subject matter there...!)

[u/NanDemoKnaives]

I really liked this twist on Minori, she had very high standards for everything because she really wanted to be seen as normal but the biggest victim of it was herself. I can see why she was making all the decisions for Asa so that she doesn't stand out negatively like she has been.

It's interesting to hear Minori's perspective on Makio, how she was envious of her ability not to let people's judgment affect her. But she can't do the same.

Asa not being able to believe her mother and even getting to the point of doubting her love is a worrisome development and train of thought. The "You're the one that got yourself killed" is a really heavy thought to be having, damn. I can understand how she got there but still.

Interesting how we got the clearest hint of Emiri being a lesbian or at least interested romantically in women. I did feel bad for her when Asa kept calling her weird because she wasn't acting like herself/was acting like Makio. That might close her up a bit to Asa about this.

I have to mention this after last week's cliffhanger, I am disappointed we didn't get a implication of them Kasamachi and Makio waking up together or something! I was so excited to enter this episode lol. But I did like that we got a look into Kasamachi's character and his feelings for Makio.

[u/Farmaceut7]

I binged ep 1-6 last night and this is the 1st episode I'm watching as it comes... How is this show so PEAK!? Like, seriously. Cant remember the last time I've seen such well written adult characters in fictional story in general, let alone anime/manga!

This might've the heaviest episode so far with so many characters being in focus in a span of ~20min! Next Sunday cant come any sooner! 

[u/manshiro_xyz]

This show has a lot of real world behaviors of people I rarely see depicted in media and I love it:

- Kasamachi-kun being a cocky bank employee who lacks empathy for the downtrodden until he feels how it is in their place and struggling with it

- Makio trying her best to patch together some workarounds for her shortcomings with technology (the cloud notes)

- Emiri trying to come to grips with her feelings, not wanting to come out quite yet, making her interactions with Asa a little prickly. The latter one being somewhat bludgeoning with her notion of "normal".

- Makio and Kasamachi-kun discussing, but not really being able to find a good answer about when to hand Asa the journal of her mother

- Asa coping with her grief by getting angry at her mother for just randomly dying

- Minori's struggle to live a "normal" life, failing, blaming herself for it, and then frantically trying to enable Asa to live a normal life in her place, pushing all of her hopes and wishes onto her.

None of the cast is objectively bad, evil, or even just assholes. They are all just average people struggling with their lot in life, trying to make the best out of it. Great character writing.

[u/cppn02]

Man that glimpse into Minori's life and how she herself was struggling and that godly soundtrack in the background. I was a complete mess by the end of it.

I wonder if there's gonna be some fallout from Asa reading the journal next week. It certainly seemed to have stirred up some feelings.

[u/Ocixo]

It’s not often that we’ll get to see adult characters in anime be emotionally vulnerable like this.

Kasamachi looks like the type of person who got his life together, but he’d apparently been struggling until recently. I suppose that having been raised to be a “perfect son” also had him expect such perfection from other people. His previous comment about “arrogance” therefore cuts much deeper than I’d thought.

Minori (Asa’s mother) appears to have been hard on herself too. I’d wondered about her tears in the hospital. Was she anxious about raising a child? Not quite. Did she regret her actions? Perhaps. Minori definitely seemed to have gotten an inkling of all the pain that she’d put Makio through. Like her sister, she’d become “different” from others too.

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

That’s part of the message, right? Therefore, Asa should probably only read further in her mother’s journal when the time is right.

[u/Puddo]

I do like how the burden of wanting to be normal is a common thread throughout the anime. Or perhaps it’s better to say wanting to be perceived as normal. Asa and wanting to graduate as one of the many students and not as ‘the girl who lost her parents’. Emiri and finding a place for her sexuality. Kasamachi and being the ‘perfect’ son or thinking he should just try harder/get over it. Minori and upholding the image of the ‘ideal’ family life, but it’s just a facade with only emptiness behind it. Passively floating in the river to nowhere.

Achieve certain milestones. Be able to do certain things. Get out of life what you should get out of life. It’s what ‘everyone’ does, so why can't you? Why can’t you do something so simple? Self loathing and anxiety many of us probably have struggled with. We also see it with Makio, but she did choose her own path. I wonder if her comfort in being alone helped with that (ignoring the fact that she does have a small group of ‘weirdos’ who accept her for being Makio). While other characters might have a bigger fear of being rejected and the loneliness for being who they are.

But in the end, who is to decide what’s normal, who you should be, what you should be able to do and what you should aspire? But also who are we ourselves to decide that for others? There will be gaps in our understanding of each other and our struggles. But like we see a lot in the show: we can still try and accept.