The third episode of the drama series "Is It Wrong for a Woman Not to Give Birth? DINKs' Ten Months and Ten Days" (TV Tokyo, Mondays at 11:06 PM), starring actress Emma Miyazawa, aired on April 13th. The toxic parenting style of Asa's (Miyazawa) mother, Aiko Matsubara (Naomi Nishida), made a strong impression on viewers.
◇The following contains spoilers.
The drama is based on the manga "DINKs' Ten Months and Ten Days: Is It Wrong to Be a Woman Who Doesn't Have Children?" by Kitamitsu Atsuki. The story follows a couple who are both working and have intentionally chosen not to have children, a "DINKs" (Double Income No Kids) couple, who live a peaceful and free life until the protagonist becomes unexpectedly pregnant due to her husband's planned betrayal. The drama depicts their struggles as they search for the right form of family and continue to face choices with no easy answers.
Aiko takes pride in having raised two children on her own. When she learned of Asa's pregnancy, she coldly remarked, "Men have it easy, don't they? If they don't like the baby, they can just run away. But it's not that easy for mothers. Can you do it?"
Having been treated coldly by Aiko since childhood, Asa retorted, "When did you ever live for your child, Mom?" Enraged, Aiko slapped Asa hard across the face and glared at her, saying, "You've always been like that. You always have this smug look on your face like you're living all on your own. You look at me with such contempt."
"You should have an abortion. A cold-hearted person like you could never be a mother. It would be a shame for the child to be born with you as their mother."
Unable to tolerate Aiko's remarks any longer, Asa grabbed a nearby kitchen knife and shouted, "Shut up, you old hag!" and the broadcast ended.
On social media, comments included: "This is awful. Seriously, she's a toxic parent," "She's even more of a toxic parent than I imagined," "What an incredibly toxic parent. There are no decent people around Asa," "She's such a toxic parent, and then it ended with 'Shut up, you old hag!' What will happen next time!?", and "I hope she stays away from her toxic parent."
