I keep thinking this series can’t possibly be as good as I’ve come to believe it to be - that I’m somehow building it up in my mind in the time between episodes. But then another new episode will drop and prove again that it really is that good.

I can’t even really pick out anything specific to comment on, since it was all so good - Asa’s lonely rage, Makio’s crunch time distraction immediately replaced by genuine concern, Emiri’s help and Sensei’s unexpected but sensible relief to find out she was only skipping, Shingo’s perfect support, Makio’s unwavering honesty, and of course Asa’s breakthrough.

Everybody cares and everybody pays attention and even though none of them really know what they’re doing, they sort it out anyway, and it touches me like almost nothing I’ve ever seen before.