One tends to think of seinen – romance as much as any other genre – as having fewer tropes than shounen or shoujo.  But seinen has tropes for sure, and seinen romance seems often to revolve around the sort of group dynamic we’re seeing play out in Yubisaki to Renren.  To wit, the group dynamic that’s one big circle of unrequited love.  It can make for very effective drama, don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of series that have exploited it very effectively.  But it’s a potential minefield, just like any shoujo or shounen romance cliche.

Now, of course, this series is a shoujo by definition (and the definition in such cases is where it’s published).  But the vibe we’re getting here – Oushi loves Yuki but she loves Itsuoimi, Shin loves Emma but she loves Itsuomi, Emma loves Itsuomi but he loves Yuki – has a classic seinen quality to it.  Honestly, my initial reaction is that I’m kind of bored with it, the same way I’d usually be bored with a harem in a shounen or shoujo.  Part of that may be that I’m not that enamored of Emma as a character (and not much more so after this episode), but maybe this track can surprise me.  The main line has certainly improved substantially in my estimation.

Indeed, I confess I’ve grown rather fond of Itsuomi.  I don’t think he’s changed, it’s that my impression of him has as we’ve gotten to know him.  He seems to genuinely like Yuki and respect her, and I like the way he embraces all of her including his disability, without making everything about that.  And it was rather cute, how important Shin’s approval was for him.  They’ve been friends since high school (suspected, now confirmed).  Shin was drunk enough at their first meeting that he doesn’t even remember Yuki, but he’s pretty good in the way he handles things here.  Definitely didn’t hide his surprise, but didn’t treat Yuki either like a circus freak or fine china.

Now, Shin has a vested interest in all this beyond being one of Itsuomi’s best friends.  He loves Emma (obviously), but he’s been deferring under the assumption that eventually she and Itsuomi would finally hook up.  Or so he tells himself anyway – it’s at least partly because he doesn’t want to get rejected.  The three of them seem to have been relatively isolated in high school – Shin and Emma bonded over music – but Emma has been in love with Itsuomi since their earliest meeting.  She admits it openly to Shin, so there’s no way he can  pretend otherwise.  He seems to have dealt with it by having a lot of casual relationships, whereas there’s no evidence she’s done anything but wait for Itsuomi to come around.

This whole quagmire is obviously unhealthy for all concerned.  Emma needs to get over herself and grow up – it’s pretty obvious if Itsuomi felt anything for her she’d know it by now.  But she’s also under no obligation to reciprocate Shin’s feelings just because they’ve been friends for years.  She’s openly pursued Itsuomi and Shin has kept his feelings for her a secret (from her), but they’re both wasting the best years of their lives on a lost cause (definitely in her case, probably in his).  Not for the first time with A Sign of Affection, I think the key test will be where the series comes down on the right and wrong of all this – what it thinks a sensible and sustainable outcome looks like.