Insomniacs After School

Episode 10

Given the way Ganta's father talks about things, you can't deny their relationship isn't the best, but we do have added context here that shows things are probably a lot more complicated than that. I'm surprised it wasn't made a bigger deal, but it's revealed that Ganta's mom walked out on them when Ganta was young, which means he probably spent most of his life without any feminine role models to look after him. He probably forced himself to grow up rather quickly by learning to cook and getting good grades since his dad always has to work late. The story about Ganta not telling his dad about how he outgrew his sneakers when he was younger is probably another example of Ganta putting a lot of pressure on himself. He doesn't want to bother anybody and would rather put himself through pain than inconvenience anybody. As someone who goes through life with a tremendous amount of guilt, his character is relating to me on almost a spiritual level at this point, even if I haven't gone through his exact circumstances. It makes me wonder if maybe those expectations also tie into his anxiety and insomnia, even though this episode doesn't touch upon the insomnia aspect of either of our leads at all.

That's OK because we're starting to delve more into the reasons behind the insomnia, even if they weren't specifically addressed. We know Ganta's insomnia has to, in some way, be tied to his mother leaving because that seems to be the main crux of every negative thought that this boy seems to have about himself and the way he goes about things. Isaki couldn't sleep due to the anxiety of how she was born and the surgeries she went through, creating this expectation that she's this fragile creature that could potentially still be hindered at any waking moment. I like the way that this episode communicates Isaki's struggle without even really having things shown from her perspective. Instead, Haya, Isaki's sister, gives us many insights into exactly what kind of character Isaki is and what life for her was like.

When someone is born with some kind of physical impairment or disability, there will be people who overcompensate in how they treat those individuals in social settings. Isaki's parents come off as the overprotective type who want their daughter to live a normal life but may not realize that they are not allowing her to live a normal life. They don't want their daughter to think she's a loser or different from everybody else, but they still put their daughter in situations where she is given special treatment in some of the most glaringly obvious ways. It ends up having the opposite effect and makes Isaki feel everything even more because all it does is further draw attention to the fact that she has this condition. She just wants to be treated like everybody else, so she keeps her heart condition and insomnia a secret from everybody.

I love how Haya stresses that Isaki being open like that to Ganta is a massive deal that emphasizes how special he is to her. I like that the main crux of the episode was Haya giving Ganta her blessing to date and take care of Isaki because he's probably one of the few people that doesn't see her as this weak creature in need of constant care. If anything, Ganta thinks Isaki is the strongest of the two. He genuinely likes her because he thinks she's amazing, which is probably something that's never really happened before for either of them; they end up fulfilling a role that was missing in each other's lives. When you tie that in with the fact that the only time these two can get a good night's sleep is when they're with each other, it becomes incredibly solid writing for an emotionally gripping relationship. Now that our two leads are stuck playing house together, with no supervision whatsoever, it makes me itch on the edge of my seat because I know something is coming, and I can't wait to see what it is.

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Insomniacs After School is currently streaming on HIDIVE.