English Dub Review: The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten “A Once-Desired, Now Undesired Meeting, and a Resolution”

Overview

Amane and Mahiru discuss their options when a man from Mahiru’s past unexpectedly shows up at their building.

Our Take

Picking up from the previous episode, we finally dive deeper into Mahiru’s troubled family history, and it’s as painful as you’d expect. Her father, Asahi, abandoned her years ago, leaving her with emotional scars that explain why she has completely severed those parental ties. While Asahi clearly isn’t as malicious as Mahiru’s mother, his neglect and decision to stay away for so long are still difficult to excuse. His sudden attempt to check on her is especially strange when he chooses to speak with Amane instead of his own daughter. Still, he regrets his failures as a father, even if his guilt comes far too late to repair the damage he caused.

Amane handles the situation surprisingly well, even if his anger occasionally makes him a little too disrespectful toward Asahi. His willingness to call out Mahiru’s father for abandoning her and acknowledge how deeply that neglect affected her is satisfying, especially since Asahi seems to understand that he has no right to walk back into her life. At the same time, the episode wisely leaves some questions unanswered regarding why he and Mahiru’s mother treated their daughter so poorly in the first place. Mahiru ultimately chooses to remain with the family she has now, and Amane’s support gives her the sense of security and belonging she never received growing up. The scene where she fixes his tie afterward is a particularly nice touch, symbolizing that she has finally found a place she can truly call home.

Overall, this was one of the stronger episodes of the season because it temporarily trades the usual romantic fluff for some much-needed family drama and character development. The emotional weight works well, and the episode does a good job showing how complicated Mahiru’s feelings toward her father really are without simply forgiving him because he feels guilty. My only major complaint is the animation and directing, as some scenes lacked polish and a few transitions felt awkward. Even so, this was a compelling look into Mahiru’s past, and I’m interested to see whether Asahi’s story ends here or if we’ll eventually learn more about his motives and, perhaps more importantly, see what happens if Mahiru’s mother enters the picture again.