Episode 9:
Somehow I related to the mother more than to Rintaro this episode, even though I don't have kids. Perhaps, because I did not have a mother like that? Not like there are no good memories or anything like that, but in similar situations it was (or would have been, at least) "it's your own fault for not having friends" or "it's your own fault for being who you are".
I do not think I had moral support for the sake of "persevering till someone sees you for who you are". I guess, maybe if that support was also in some small ways, like in the episode, but those small things would definitely be overpowered by periodic verbal (and physical) abuse.
When I saw the mother hearing her son sharing his past, and being accepted, as well as her memory of how she dyed her hair and pierced her ears to support her son in the past, even though she did not really have to... Knowing the struggles that I have with connecting to people and even being understood by people, the feeling of relief that I would have felt in her shoes would be... Overwhelming.
