Kinou nani tabeta episode 10: some family is chosen
I'm not subbing this show (oh how I miss it!), but I really wanted to say a couple of words about this episode that beautifully illustrated forms of found or chosen family, from contrasting Shiro-san's boss's strained relationship with her daughter-in-law to her fondness of Shiro-san, to Kenji's mom seeing and appreciating Shiro-san's place in Kenji's life.
At the heart of this episode or perhaps the whole season is a line Kenji's mom says at the end of the dinner when Shiro-san insists his place is below Kenji's mother and sisters: 他人でも身内ってことはあると思うのよ、tanin demo miuchi tte koto wa aru to omou no yo. I don't know how this line has been translated on Gagaoolala, but I'd like to take a closer look at it with you!
We have two contrasting concepts here: 他人 and 身内, tanin and miuchi. Miuchi, literally 'inside the body', means one's close relatives. The opposite of miuchi is tanin, 'other person', everyone else. The spectrum of tanin is wide. Some even say at the end of the day everyone is tanin since you can only truly know yourself. In the eyes of the law, tanin is what queer people are to each other. You can share a life together, but if you are not in each other's family registries, you are a tanin, a no one. Kenji's mom disagrees, however, saying: tanin demo miuchi tte koto wa aru to omou no yo, I think sometimes tanin can be miuchi. In other words, some family is chosen, I think.
I chose this particular still because it spoke to me on a visceral level. In Japanese, the words for seeing someone off is 見送る, miokuru. Literally it means to send with watching. You stand there watching their receding backs until they disappear from sight. I just found this small moment incredibly romantic. Seeing someone off on your own, an emptiness lingers afterwards, at least to me. But standing there with someone you love, as a unit, is different, or so I feel like. They're saying goodbye to family, as family, before going back to the home they share.
The reason Kenji's mom wants to meet Shiro-san is because she worries for him were something to happen to Kenji. She wants him to be able to send Kenji off with the rest of the family. To send someone off is also, you guessed it, miokuru, to send with watching. Many queer people still have to miokuru their lifelong partners in secret or alone. It's horribly quiet and horribly lonely, with no one to share your true grief with. Kenji's mom is wise enough to know no one should have to experience that.
They're all gonna be there side by side, seeing off whoever goes first.
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SEASON 2 OF WHAT DID YOU EAT YESTERDAY ANNOUNCED
@bengiyo, @isaksbestpillow, @kinounaniresource, @absolutebl, @clairificusrex
AAAAHHHHHHHHHH
EDITING TO ADD AS I TRANSLATE MORE INFO: October 2023! Fam, like, if you think I lost my mind at BBS, you haven’t seen ANYTHINGGGG YETTTT, AAAHHHHHHHHH
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