Loved this post!
Such clear writing and depth of insight! Loved it!
I particularly enjoyed your mentions of the Ishita and Toshi relationship. Prior to this post, I had always assumed that the reason Toshi didn't like Ishita was because Ishita was coming in on her turf (which I think was initially part of the reason) but I find myself agreeing with your assessment that Toshi didn't like Ishita due to Ishita's judgemental nature upon Toshi and her family. It totally makes sense. And I loved your bit about how the two women cooperated together in parenting Ruhi.
I'm very curious about the Simmi saga as well. I'm not quite sure I understand what you meant when you mentioned that perhaps Simmi doesn't like Ishita because she subconsciously saw herself in Ishita. I don't really see too many similarities between the two. I always got the feeling that Simmi didn't really mind Ishita generally. But her dislike of Ishita's sister and Ishita's involvement in her life were the reasons Simmi was rude to Ishita. I don't know. I'm very excited to see what the Simmi mystery is and how it changes the dynamics between characters.
All in all, loved reading this post! Hope you continue to write more posts like it!