You can’t dispute that Ganta’s father and son don’t have the best connection based on the way he talks about things, but the additional information here demonstrates that things are likely far more convoluted than that. It is revealed that Ganta’s mother abandoned them when he was a small child. This indicates that he likely spent the most of his childhood without any female role models to take care of him. Since his dad constantly had to work late, he likely forced himself to mature relatively rapidly by being an excellent student and learning to cook.

Another illustration of how much pressure Ganta puts on himself is the anecdote about how he didn’t notify his father when he outgrew his sneakers as a small child. He prefers to put himself through discomfort rather than cause anyone else any trouble. His persona is now nearly spiritually relatable to me, even if I haven’t experienced his specific situations since I live with a great deal of guilt. Even though this episode doesn’t mention either of our characters’ sleeplessness at all, it makes me question if perhaps those expectations are also related to his anxiousness and insomnia.

Even though they weren’t precisely mentioned, it’s okay because we’re starting to look further into the causes of the sleeplessness. Since his mother’s departure seems to be the root of every self-critical idea this youngster appears to have about himself and the way he approaches things, we know that Ganta’s sleeplessness must be connected to her departure in some manner. Isaki was unable to sleep because of her worry about how she was born and the operations she had undergone, which led to the perception that she was a weak creature who may still be hampered at any given moment when awake.

 Without even truly showing things from Isaki’s point of view, I admire how this episode conveys her suffering. The sister of Isaki, Haya, instead provides us with a wealth of information about Isaki’s personality and upbringing.

There will always be those who overcompensate in their social interactions with persons who are born with physical impairments or disabilities. Isaki’s parents seem like the sort of overbearing parents that want nothing more than for their daughter to lead a normal life, even if they might not be aware that they are preventing that from happening.

Although they intentionally place their daughter in circumstances where she receives preferential treatment in some of the most blatantly visible ways, they do it because they don’t want their daughter to believe that she is a loser or different from everyone else. Since all it does is further bring attention to the fact that she has this problem, it really has the reverse effect and makes Isaki feel everything even more. She hides her heart issue and sleeplessness from everyone since she simply wants to be treated the same as everyone else.

I like how Haya underlines how important it is for Isaki to be so honest with Ganta because it highlights how unique he is to her. I loved that the central theme of the episode was Haya granting Ganta permission to care for Isaki because he’s probably one of the only people who doesn’t view her as this helpless creature who needs continuous attention. Ganta believes that Isaki is the more powerful of the two. They end up filling a need in one other’s life since he truly likes her and thinks she’s great, which is probably something neither of them has ever really experienced before.

That makes for really strong writing for an emotionally compelling relationship, especially when combined with the fact that these two can only sleep well together. The fact that our two protagonists are currently forced to play home together without any supervision makes me tense up because I know something is about to happen and I can’t wait to find out what it is.