REVIEW: ‘Tadaima, Okaeri’ Episode 2 — “Friend”

Tadaima Okaeri, based on the manga (published in English as Welcome Home) by Ichi Ichikawa, has opened up Omegaverse fiction to wide audiences. It’s doing a great job using the trope-filled romance genre to explore family life and acceptance at the same time. Animated by Studio Deen and directed by Shinji Ishihira and Juria Matsumura, Tadaima Okaeri Episode 2 continues to build on the family and their relationships apart from each other.

Titled “Friend,” Tadaima Okaeri Episode 2 is less about Masaki and Hiromu as husbands and more about the safety net they have around them. The episode starts with Hikari and Masaki meeting their next-door neighbor’s son, a Beta named Yuki. Self-deprecating and unsure about why Hikari has latched onto him, Yuki spends the bulk of the episode’s first half learning what it’s like to have a friendship. He’s an elder to Hikari, but he’s also his first friend. It’s something that Masaki notices immediately, as is how badly Yuki needs help fortifying his self-esteem.

Masaki shows tenderness to Yuki and it speaks volumes. Noticing some of his own anxieties in the young man, Masaki does his best to bolster his self-worth, calling out how much Hikari is attached to him. It’s a cute exploration of accepting new people and building a family larger than just blood relatives.

This is expanded in the second half of Tadaima Okaeri Episode 2. Here, Masaki gets a fever and needs to isolate himself. For those in the know of the genre, it’s Masaki experiencing heat. This means that Hiromu can’t be around him. Unable to handle it all on his own, Hiromu calls over his friend Matsuo to bring food and help take care of Hikari. With Yuki joining the party, the three men try their best to fill “Ma-cha’s” absence for the day.

It’s here that audiences get a small glimpse into more of Hiromu and Masaki’s life. In a comment to Yuki about how hard it is to take care of Masaki when he’s in heat as an Alpha, Hiromu explains that they’ve just been managing. Masaki doesn’t have his parents, and Hiromu doesn’t speak to him anymore. In the last episode, it was established that their marriage doesn’t abide by societal norms. They’ve dealt with harassment because of it. In Episode 2, Hiromu offhandedly adds to that loneliness. Ultimately, though, that doesn’t matter. The relationships we see with Matsuo and Yuki show that Hikari still has a large, loving family, even if they aren’t blood.

Throughout the last episode, we see Masaki and Hiomu in wholesome family moments. They’re adorable, to say the least. But when they’re alone, we also get the chance to see them as husbands and lovers instead of just fathers. When people have kids, they don’t lose that part of themselves, and here, that’s understood. However, the important thing about Tadaima Okaeri Episode 2 is that Masaki and Hiromu have also made lasting friendships that they can lean on when things get rough. This isn’t just a story about their little family. It’s a story about their life and the people in it.

Studio Deen uses whimsical shapes and changes to an illustrative style to drive home moments about closeness. And more importantly, they make you go “awe.” The light and airy approach to building a visible atmosphere is something that the animation studio has done well in the past with other series, and they continue it here.

As a series, Tadaima Okaeri Episode 2 is showing the Omegaverse romance genre at its best, using its elements to highlight other issues. Masaki, Hiromu, and Hikari are a family just doing their best to take care of each other. There isn’t grand-scale drama or a looming narrative villain. Instead, we’re tuning in each week to see a slice of their lives and household. It’s about how they love each other, take care of each other, and build a life.

Tadaima Okaeri Episode 2 is streaming now on Crunchyroll with new episodes every Monday.