Switched Season 1 Episode 6 Recap – Decisions

Koshiro, Kaga, and Ayumi search for Umine. Koshiro remembers Umine wanted to die before, so they all worry about what she could do to herself. Umine seeks shelter in Mao’s house instead of going home. She shows Mao the plan Koshiro wants to follow for the switch. When Mao asks Umine if she intends to go back, Umine says, “Of course not.” Mao tells her how and why she switched bodies with a rich girl. After the failed attempt to switch back, Mao always finds herself alone. She warns Umine that she might end up like her. When Umine leaves Mao, she sees her classmates looking for her. She tells herself she’s not the Ayumi they‘re looking for. Ayumi sees her mother also looking for Umine. She looks like she hasn’t gotten enough sleep. Ayumi’s mother tells her, “I’ve been to every place where she might have gone.” Ayumi realizes they don’t know anything about Umine, so she goes back to Umine’s house to ask Umine’s mom. Ayumi tells the truth to Umine’s mom. “Umine is in my body and she is missing. If we don’t find her soon, she might die,” she adds. But Umine’s mom doesn’t believe her. Ayumi gives up and apologizes. Just before she leaves the house, she hears Umine’s mom mention a place: “Akatsuki Forest.”

They all go to the forest to look for Umine. Koshiro tells Ayumi to just leave, but Ayumi insists she wants to look for Umine. While searching in the dark forest, Ayumi finds an abandoned building. Despite her fear of the dark, she goes inside the building. She finds Umine inside, wet from the rain and shaking. “Are you okay?” Ayumi asks. Umine pushes her away. “Don’t come near me with that face!” Umine says. Ayumi tells Umine that everyone is looking for her, but Umine just keeps telling her to go away. Kaga and Koshiro arrive not long after. Koshiro tells Umine he‘ll never have romantic feelings for her, so he will only resent her if Umine doesn’t give Ayumi her body back. Kaga reminds Umine that not everyone was bad to her. Even before the switch, Ayumi and Koshiro were both nice to her. Ayumi stops the two and defends Umine. She says she understands what Umine is going through. “Can you stop talking to me like I’m in the wrong?” Umine asks. She tells them what life was like for her and how lonely she felt.

They all turn to look when they hear someone call Umine by her real name. It’s Umine’s mom. She walks to Umine and slaps her. She tells them she didn’t believe it at first, but then she became sure with just one look. Then she apologizes for what Umine has done. Umine pushes her mother away and gets a cutter from her bag. “I threw you away with my body,” Umine tells her mother. Then she runs to the rooftop.

Ayumi stops Umine from jumping off the building. Umine gets angry and threatens to hurt Ayumi’s face with the cutter. Umine’s mother follows them. Umine flinches when her mother raises her hand because she thinks her mother will hit her, but her mother hugs her and apologizes for leaving her alone. Ayumi tells Umine that she’s not alone anymore. After convincing her, Umine lets go of the cutter and falls to her knees.

At the next Red Moon, they do the first switch. A week after, they do the final switch to return to their original bodies. Ayumi is scared that it might not work, so Umine holds her hand and tells her it will. Then they both jump off the building for the final switching. Everyone goes back to their original bodies. One morning, Umine looks surprised that her mother has prepared breakfast for her. On their way to school, Ayumi tells the boys that she can’t date either of them. Kaga tells her he understands that they are only friends and that Koshiro completely wins. Ayumi cries and thanks Kaga. While he walks to his first class, Kaga sees Umine standing just outside the door. He puts a clip on her hair then pushes her inside the classroom. Umine looks scared, but everyone greets her with smiles on their faces. Kaga looks at Umine and remembers his time with her when Ayumi was still inside her body. He wipes away his tears and goes inside the classroom smiling. After school, Umine spends time with her new friends: Kaga, Koshiro, and Ayumi.

Our Thoughts

It’s good that Ayumi asked Umine’s mom where she might have been. Umine might have taken her own life if she was just a bit late. At least, Umine’s mom believed her. But Ayumi’s mother didn’t realize something was wrong. She just really thought her daughter was missing. The switch helped Umine in many ways. Yes, it looked like it also hurt her a lot, but when Ayumi was still inside Umine’s body, she made some friends. That’s why when Umine returned to her original body, she’s not alone anymore. We thought maybe she felt lonelier because she had no one at home and no one at school. When arguing with the others, Umine flinched and covered her face when she thought her mom would hit her. When she saw her mother raise her hand, she expected to be hit. That’s why she looked surprised when her mother hugged her instead.

Now that Kaga lost all his chances of dating Ayumi, will he date Umine? We know he only liked Umine before because Ayumi was inside her. But if Umine’s attitude changes, is there a possibility that Kaga will date her? We also don’t know if Umine still has feelings for Koshiro. Koshiro made it clear already that he’ll never like Umine. But because she has other people in her life, maybe she won’t want Koshiro that much. Her mother treats her better, so the future is looking good for Umine.