Mia nodded. "Manga recommendation for anyone who’s ever felt invisible. The anime is gorgeous too—Studio Shaft does this thing where depression looks like a grey, endless ocean, and hope looks like a warm kotatsu."

"Dead as a doornail," Leo muttered.

Leo groaned. "A romance? About musicians ?"

"Shut up and listen," Mia commanded. "It’s about Kōsei Arima, a piano prodigy who can’t hear his own playing after his mother dies. Then he meets Kaori Miyazono, a free-spirited violinist who plays like she’s running out of time. Spoiler: she is."

"This looks slow," Leo said, eyeing the shogi (Japanese chess) premise.

They watched three episodes. Leo was grinning non-stop. When Anya gave her signature "Waku waku!" (the Japanese onomatopoeia for excited fidgeting), he rewound it three times.

Leo scoffed. "I've seen everything worth seeing. Naruto, One Piece, Attack on Titan. I’m a veteran."

Mia handed him a tissue. "See? It’s not about sad endings. It’s about how music and love can reach you even after someone is gone." She underlined in her notebook: Recommendation for when you need to feel human again.