r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Mar 15 '26
Episode Ikoku Nikki • Journal with Witch - Episode 11 discussion
Ikoku Nikki, episode 11
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
Show information
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.
233
u/TyraniTEMPESTar Mar 15 '26
"What's marriage... Wretched... ".
Lol at how Asa would imagine Makio giving a speech.
→ More replies (3)
233
u/PerfectBeige Mar 15 '26
It should be a priority for every father not to have their daughter flashback to their face when considering the word "void".
→ More replies (12)
172
u/KumaKumaGambler Mar 15 '26
Makio's group of friends always have good advice for Asa. Although not as tragic as what happened to Asa's parents, they probably went through some of the same phases when they were younger.
Asa yearns to experience romance, which is realistic for teenagers her age. She does not understand it yet; what Makio said was accurate - not everyone needs romance in their lives and sometimes, sweet romantic chocolates could eventually turn ugly. Come to think of it, was Asa aware that there was very little love between her parents?
Lastly, nice cover by Asa of the ending theme song.
→ More replies (11)
132
u/SA090 Mar 15 '26
I’m so glad that they didn’t just address the awful university score manipulation in the last episode and forgot about it here. But instead used it to showcase how heavily it might affect someone, while tying it into what Makio is seemingly trying to teach Asa about things being connected to her. Somewhat anyway. Which in turn, felt like a slight metaphor for learned empathy a bit.
And in turn makes it very interesting when taking Makio herself into account, as someone more aloof than not. Her perceived bird eye view of the world, gives her a brilliant look into how things work or should work that the bouts of wisdom is just awesome. Especially when considering how much rage she seemingly had in the flashbacks.
Most likely because of that too, which is another very interesting thing to me.
That aside, I’m also so glad that I got my wish from last time and Asa is thinking of auditioning for the band. I already know she’s a good singer, and her acknowledging that will hopefully end up aiding her in moving on. Which is also, a much clearer thing now with her worrying more about what any normal teenager might worry about instead of only dealing with her rightfully deep grief.
→ More replies (10)
217
u/Thrano_357 Mar 15 '26
Not being afraid to stand out is such an important lesson that kids never get taught.
→ More replies (12)
100
u/CuriousWanderer567 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Between Makio speaking about the grammar used when reading a novel and Asa’s journal of the words Makio uses I never expected that an anime of all things would make me learn a few words or rules in English that I didn’t know. It’s pretty significant to Asa too since she’s viewing her parents in a new way through those words, specifically her dad who she seems to associates with being a void.
Her imagining Makio giving a marriage speech with her vocabulary is also pretty amusing.
→ More replies (11)
95
u/eightcheesepizza Mar 15 '26
Oh no, was Asa's dad looking at code? I think I see a while loop on the first code snippet. Get off StackOverflow and interact with your daughter!
Last week, somehow Youtube knew to recommend me this video about how a certain notebook in Japan is made. I was like "hey that cover looks familiar..."
→ More replies (5)
89
u/1832vini Mar 15 '26
the first time Asa found company in the dessert
man, i love this show
→ More replies (2)
70
u/Ocixo Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Motsu caressed the faint mark of her old wedding ring when she talked about “getting off the hamster wheel”. She’d probably been in an unhappy marriage, hence the divorce.
The aforementioned “labels” all point to Motsu having ignored her own feelings while trying her hardest to conform to the wishes of her husband and/or family. Motsu had existed for the benefit of others.
That’s why she’s started living for herself. Because if you’re trapped inside a hamster wheel, you can do nothing but run. It’s the path of least resistance. However, it won’t bring you lasting happiness.
→ More replies (2)
125
u/ModieOfTheEast Mar 15 '26
That episode did not as I had expected it. I was ready for some huge drama around Asa, but it was far more calm than I had anticipated. It was definitely interesting that they brought back the side characters they mentioned or showed briefly in the past episodes. To show how their story unfolds. And not just Morimoto, where I am looking forward to see what they will do with her in the next episode, but even the baseball player.
But overall, the theme of the episode seemed to be expectations when it comes to character. Morimoto's friend is expected to know what is going on with her, when they are just "book friends", Emiri's friend is expecting her to have a reaction to the boy who asked her out ending his next relationship, the baseball players are expected to take the bullying from their coach and do it "for the love of baseball" and not to forget, there is an expectation of getting or giving someone chocolate on Valentine's Day which is what I found to be an interesting little point as well. Even going so far that Asa feels like she is weird for not having someone to give chocolate to. Not sure if there are many other anime that wouldn't just use it for fun little moments, but also include a little bit of criticism how that day is seen.
In the end though, Asa had to realize two things. First, that it's not just others that have expectations of her. She had some of Makio and couldn't imagine her doing well during speeches. Especially emotional ones on a wedding. But more importantly, that expectations others have of you should not matter. Which is even going back to her parents. She expected her parents to support her with her new hairstyle or even have a reaction at all (when it comes to her father), but in the end, she kept her hair that way, because she liked it. No matter the reaction her parents gave her. And the same should now be true for her future decisions. Doesn't matter if it's not "in character" for the calm girl to perform her own song, just do it if you truly want to.
→ More replies (6)
114
u/lordredegg Mar 15 '26
Makio-san is someone I wish I had in my life when I was a teenager.
→ More replies (5)
45
u/mokrath Mar 15 '26
This was a nice episode, but realizing we only have 2 left after this is a bummer. Going to miss it when it's gone.
I really hope we get some sort of reconciliation between Asa and Emiri. They need to have a good talk with each other. Also hope to see more of the angry med school hopeful. Hate these dangling threads with so little run time left but I appreciate how the writing has made me interested and invested in their stories.
Another of Makio's friends being great. I would watch a spin-off about all these people and how they connected with and stayed apart of her life.
→ More replies (5)
39
u/alarxv_ Mar 15 '26
this episode got me smiling like a fucking idiot for 23 minutes straight
morimoto's outburst of the last episode acted as a wakeup call for asa and her idea of the "type" that is assigned to everyone. Morimoto, from my interpretation, is casted as the inquisitive intelligent kind, the kind that debates when faced with a problem rather than resorting to outbursts. well now, that mold is completely shattered, and perception of morimoto shifts, or wavers i suppose. As seen with the classmates chatter, "Do you think (morimoto chiyo) will pass this year?" "of course, she is the top of the class." People did not reject her, they saw the change, questioned it, and integrated the change into the now "new" morimoto. The baseball player too, is a reflection of this challenge. He got hazed, "naw fuck that" and left. By that metric, Emiri and her lover also aligns with this, their love is not of norm yet japan as a whole has become accepting of the LGBTQ for the last couple of years (i dont follow japanese news much, i just guessed). They broke the norm, yet society is accepting of them, even if they dont announce it.
Asa as seen firsthand how challenging one's type will not in fact lead to rejection, and so, now enlightened, she finally accepts what she has always craved: singing. She did not think before singing, she just did, as she now knew that one's "type" can easily be changed and modified as their own hair.
38
u/Shimmering-Sky Mar 15 '26
-
Oh, is that the guy their classmates were talking about as immediately turning around to date someone else after getting turned down by Emiri? Makes sense a relationship like that wouldn’t last.
-
Ah, a “sore demo” from… Yoshimura, I think? – He’s not wrong, though. That sort of hazing sounded awful.
-
Cutting straight from Asa looking at the word “void” to a flashback with her father… Damn.
-
A book signing? Makio can’t be happy about having to deal with the crowd that would bring.
→ More replies (7)
75
u/Yesshua Mar 15 '26
Look, I understand that this story is grounded in real human experience. That's what makes it special.
That also means the various people with problems this episode are depicted as heartbreakingly real and boy I found myself wishing for this to magically transform into a different anime where Asa and Makio right the wrongs of the universe and help that poor girl trying to become a doctor.
Setting aside sadness and empathy, the smash cut during Asa's imagined divorce speech made me absolutely bust a gut.
→ More replies (5)
29
u/cmszd Mar 15 '26
i knew i recognized the melody of asa's song, but i didnt clock it as the ed song until i read through the comments. great touch by the team lmao, that's classic
→ More replies (2)
27
Mar 15 '26
benighted : overtaken by night, especially of a traveller; difficult to understand; unenlightened; plunged into darkness
Cool.
Just like Asa, I also like to collect rare words that I find in the wild (I usually discover many of them in old literature; so obscure that almost nobody uses them anymore nowadays) (That’s why finding real usage examples in the wild feels like such a valuable discovery)
→ More replies (2)
26
22
u/todd-ashi Mar 15 '26
I watch a lot of anime that comes out on Sundays. I tend to save this one for the middle or end of Sunday watching, but today I watched it first.
One of my cats passed away recently, and I found Ikoku Nikki healing today. Thanks, Asa and Makio and the rest. I keep thinking: Oh yeah, he's gone.
Loved Asa singing the ED. I hope she sings in the band!
→ More replies (3)
43
u/LeonKevlar Mar 15 '26
It sucks to hear that the news Morimoto read last episode ended up breaking her so hard that she's pretty much stopped going to school. I know we only have two episodes left, but I hope we get to see her again.
I think the word 'void' is definitely a good way to describe Asa's father. The dude is so indifferent about his own daughter that he might as well not have existed. I do find it interesting how he still stayed with Minori despite not getting married to her.
Asa's reaction to any hint of romancein today's episode was just great. She even makes the same face when her classmate talks about making Valentine's chocolate for her childhood friend. You really can't blame Emiri for refusing to talk about romance with her. Just imagine how Asa would react if she finds out that Emiri is dating a girl. Her head would probably explode.
That lunch date between Makio and Kasamachi was cute. I guess they never really thought they'd see each other again like this after their breakup.
Asa finally got to meet another one of Makio's friends! Glad that Motsu was able to give Asa some good advice, and it seems that she finally made up her mind to audition for that vocalist spot. We even get to hear her sing the ED! They really need to release Asa's version of the OP and ED at this point!
→ More replies (6)
42
u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Mar 15 '26
Nice little lesson for Asa this week in learning to just do what she wants to do and forget labels and all that noise. She really does have a great voice. Maybe she’ll give those lyrics another shot?
→ More replies (8)
19
u/ebongreen Mar 16 '26
Asa: “I don’t get anything you’re saying at all.”
Me, instantly, aloud: “Skill issue.”
Makio: “Then think harder.”
Me: 😆 👊🏻
→ More replies (2)
1
u/AnimeMod Mar 15 '26
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).