Wooot!!!
Damn straight!
Mahiro and Yoshino take the news that Aika killed herself calmly. Her decision was logical, and they have no right to question it.
But as Hanemura points out, this is ridiculous. They should be pissed. To do otherwise is inhuman.
This story reminds me a lot of the story of Sisyphus and his wife (as retold by Camus):
It is said that Sisyphus, being near to death, rashly wanted to test his wife’s love. He ordered her to cast his unburied body into the middle of the public square. Sisyphus woke up in the underworld. And there, annoyed by an obedience so contrary to human love, he obtained from Pluto permission to return to earth in order to chastise his wife.
Annoyed by an obedience so contrary to human love. That describes Yoshino and Mahiro perfectly. I can imagine Aika stewing in the underworld, just like Sisyphus.
So the first half of the episode was great, but the second half was back to more plotting which was fairly dull as usual. The only highlight was Aika showing up again. I especially liked how Yoshino was introduced. “Someone convenient.” An excellent summary.
It was rather sudden when Hanemura abruptly snapped. But seeing as he’s one of the only guys whose lost or rather broke up with his g/f, he kinda feels as though he needs to fill the hole for Mahiro and Yoshino to have some kind of self-fulfillment.
Also, loved the reference you included about absurdity, it’s been bugging me how these two mains if not the anime itself tries to convey a subtle meaning of illogicality.
Seeing as how I wanted to snap at the same time, I didn’t feel surprised to see Hanemura snap like that.
I think that’s one of the messages as well. With all their focus on logic, they resolve at some ridiculous conclusions. Life isn’t about sitting down and thinking everything through rationally.