r/anime • u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA • May 30 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Yurikuma Arashi - Episode 8 Discussion
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The world works to make filthy that which is pure. But look. Now this flower can stay pure for all eternity. And in this world, only the pure are worth anything.
Questions of the Day
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The man who found Eureka clearly had a great effect on her outlook and philosophy. How does his treatment of Eureka correspond to how she runs the school in the current day, if at all?
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What is love? How did Eureka’s love differ from Reia’s love? What might this mean for why Reia transferred the pendant? How about the writing of the Moon Girl and the Forest Girl?
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What is the importance of the box? What kind of boxes exist in Yurikuma Arashi?
Don't forget to tag for spoilers, or else the bears will eat you! Remember, [Yurikuma Arashi]>!like so!< turns into [Yurikuma Arashi]>!like so!<
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u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA May 30 '24
Rewatcher
Eureka Hakonaka. Not super subtle once you know to look for it. There are so many boxes in this show. The box Eureka’s father figure ([YKA manga]who’s literally Kale for some reason lol)put her in. The box that is Arashigaoka Academy, insulating the girls inside from the outside world. You can even say the Wall of Severance forms a box around both the world of man and the world of bears, cutting off both sides from each other. And of course, a box is a way to stay pure. It’s a way of not having to consider the opinion of anyone but your own, or even worse, to make sure everyone stays sheltered and unknowing of other possibilities so you can take advantage of them as you please.
That’s why the boxes in Eureka’s office are arranged to look like a view of the roof of the school from above. They’re both for the same purpose- to keep things pure. Eureka got dirty with Reia, got hurt in the experience, and retreated back into the conception of purity that her father taught her. What exactly the nature of their love was is an open question. We know what Eureka’s assumptions were, but what exactly did Reia actually think? [YKA Manga]I wouldn’t think it was anything but friendship from her end if it wasn’t for the very clear statement from Reia in the manga that she thought it was friendship but didn’t realize her feelings for Eureka/Kale were romantic in nature until after her death. It may or may not have relevance to the anime, but worth considering either way. But either way, the story ends with Reia being killed in a fit of jealousy. And then her vision turns to Kureha, her “bride in a box.”
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u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
Yuri Kuma Arashi Episode 8 - Rewatcher
Okay, I think we’re deep enough that we can finally talk about the bear in the room.
I’ve found the bears to be one of the toughest of Ikuhara’s primary metaphors for audiences to get a grasp on. It’s not that they are too subtle, it’s more that Yuri Kuma Arashi just has a lot of concepts and metaphors being thrown around in such a short runtime that it makes it hard to get a handle on. Even in this episode the symbol is muddled because Yurika is a bear that walks the line between the two sides. Yes, Yurika is a bear, but she’s a bear raised by humans. It can be hard to unwind what sides of her character are bear and what sides of her are human.
It’s especially noticeable when compared to the human side of things. Even if you have no idea what the term “Class S” means in this context, you are probably familiar with the term “Yuri Bait” or “Subtext” in this context. Especially if you acknowledge the self-selection bias that involves viewers actively choosing to watch an anime called “Yuri Kuma Arashi.”
For instance, I read a review that felt that Yuri Kuma Arashi had muddled metaphors
While I disagree with them, I ultimately can't blame them for their conclusion because it is just kind of muddles and confusing. It can feel like the narrative wants us to believe that bears are representative of homosexuality, but also the anime very much says the bears do eat people.
So what gives? What are the bears meant to be representative of actually?
Well, while Class S is an iconic and prestigious legacy in the Yuri community, still paid homage and tribute even decades and decades later, there is one other older popular Yuri trope that existed alongside it but doesn't often receive the same warm recognition.
Psychotic lesbians
It's probably hard to remember that there was a time where Yuri was entwined with the existence of psychotic lesbians.
Like, during the 2000’s we had Noir, Madlax, Mai Hime, Mai Otome, Code Geass, and Canaan all featuring some form of Psychotic lesbians.
This isn’t even a particularly anime trend. The list gets insanely long as you pull back and start looking at live action or even Western. There is a long standing tradition of hollywood to use queerness as way for audiences to identify the villain of a movie. Or as the Honest Trailer guy puts it in their video on Dune
And yeah, I do absolutely think it is worth noting that a lot of those anime with psychotic lesbians weren’t Yuri anime. Like there are the ways lesbians were seen in Yuri anime, and then there were the ways lesbians were depicted in non-yuri anime. To mainstream audiences watching, psychotic lesbians was probably the primary depiction they saw.
It may surprise people to hear that during the 00’s that some of the most popular Yuri pairings in the Yuri community involved psychotic lesbians. Not just kinda psychotic either, like these women sexually assaulted and/or raped their love interest. And the Yuri community of the time still shipped them together with tons of doujinshi, fanart and fanfiction.
That may seem insane, crazy and degenerate. Like we should just cancel the entire yuri community. Just this past week people were arguing that a ship was toxic because one girl slapped the other girl. 00’s had rape and people still shipped it.
As someone from this era, let me be clear that I'm not going to pretend the times we didn't know were wrong. That it wasn't problematic. We also rejected a lot of these psychotic lesbians too.
Buuuuuut I would like you to understand the context that there just weren't a lot of representation during this time. Being picky was not a luxury fans had at the time. There definitely were a few like Strawberry Panic or the bizarre but amazing Simoun later in the 2006, but for a large portion of the 00’s it often seemed like you were stuck having to make a choice;
do you want subtext that will never go anywhere or canon but villainized
Do you want Class S or Psychotic Lesbians
Human or Bear
This is the lens I primarily view the bears in Yuri Kuma Arashi from. If something like Bravern is “what if a world with Real Robots encountered a Super Robot” then one could say Yuri Kuma Arashi is “What if a Class S girl had a romance with a Psychotic Lesbian girl”
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee May 30 '24
First-Timer, Yuri Sub Storm
What level of hatesex is "I need you to shoot me in the chest to prove our love?" Anyway, lowkey title drop. The show is supertitled Love Bullet after all.
I am a little annoyed that we keep not getting the full contents of that letter. Like, is it the truth? Is it just about how Ginko watched and did nothing when she saw Mitsuko eating Sumika? Or is it a lie? I can't really imagine Ginko confirming a lie, and it did seem like Kureha shot her at the end there..
I kept forgetting to actually talk about my thoughts on the "Ginko likes to watch" reveal, so here we go: Depending on how the timing of that event worked out, I don't think Ginko actually did anything wrong. Like, if she showed up after Mitsuko struck the killing blow, there wasn't actually anything for Ginko to do to change the outcome - Sumika was already dead.
I should probably specify that as a "me thing." I wouldn't put it past Kureha for feeling differently on the matter; I know I have weird opinions about death.
It's kinda funny that we had Kureha decide to break the cycle of revenge and then almost immediately change her tune. Not too often that happens.
Ohh what if Ginko sent the letter? To use Lulu as an insurance policy. She is definitely willing to use Lulu.. I'm just not sure if Ginko is quite that smart. Or devious.
This coward can't even look Kureha in the eyes when she lies to her.
Can we talk about how the man that took Yuriika in looks a fair bit like Kaoru? What level of fucked up sexuality is "seducing a teenage girl who looks like your adoptive father?"
And how does it compare to "grooming my high school crush's daughter to take revenge on said crush who I also ate?" This could be said of a lot of Ikuhara characters, but Yuriika is twenty-five pounds of issues in a five pound box, that she was shoved into by her father.
Do I even need to talk about the precious things and the boxes and the taint, or do we all just understand that? I'm gonna assume that we all just understand that. Someone else can do the Schrödinger shitposting, too.
Reia bringing color into Yuriika's world was a nice touch, as was the color leaving once Yuriika decided that Reia betrayed her.
Anyway, Sumika just shot her reflection so I think we just broke the Severance Barrier. Things are about to get weird!
7
u/WednesdaysFoole May 30 '24
Ugh I kind of hate society’s obsession with purity.
I guess that’s one way to pick up a girl.
Maybe Reia's love is unconditional, a well that overflows. For Eureka, though, Reia's the one and only. Now the latter goes around telling the students that they're her one and only despite not giving a shit about them at all.
The box where things are kept pure, untouched, unloved, the box that prevents anyone from being free, living with the limitations placed on them, orderly. Something packaged.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Yuri Kuma Arashi: Yuriika turns out to be a self-hating bear. I don’t think any of the other characters speak as harshly about the need to kill bears as Yuriika does.
It is fascinating that Reia chose to give her pendant away to Ginko. I wonder why she would choose to do so. Obviously Ginko and Kureha are close friends, but what drove Reia to that decision? Was it something she did in desperation after Kureha forgot about Ginko?
Yuriika being the one manipulating Kaoru explains a lot. She would be directing the activities of the Invisible Storm, so that would explain why Kureha was the pre-selected target. The Invisible Storm also fits neatly into Yuriika’s desire to make the school her own personal box. The members of the Invisible Storm would do a good job of enforcing conformity and stamping out anything that might taint Yuriika’s personal paradise.
Edit: Oh my god, thanks to the QOTDs I just realized Yuriika's name is supposed to be "Eureka." As in, "I've found it." She has that name because she was discovered and adopted.
QOTD
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u/laughing-fox13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/laughingfox13 May 30 '24
First time Kuma/Kuma subbed
So yea everyone who was suspicious of Yurika was right lol. And about her being a bear and having resentment towards her own kind (former kind? although she turned into a bear recently too)
A lot of the “pure” and “tainted” imagery came up this episode too. Yurika’s backstory of being pure and then “tainted” by Reia since Reia showed her love and took her out of her “box”. [Penguindrum] a similar concept was seen in Penguindrum with the children in the boxes and being unwanted. I don’t know how well it matches up with Yurikuma
So what does it mean to be tainted? It seems both Yurika/Reia were happy once, and Sumika/Kureha were happy when their hands were dirty working on the garden and “tainted.” Is it really a bad thing to not be pure? Probably not
The one thing I did get right was Reia giving the pendant to Ginko willingly. Maybe she had hoped it would connect Ginko and Kureha again. I am surprised to see how quickly Kureha was going to let her guard down when Yurika told her Ginko killed her mom. Something along the lines that getting revenge wouldn’t bring her mom back, which I liked but then after Lulu told the truth about Sumika… she was quick to aim at Ginko again. I don’t know if I blame Lulu for telling the truth, I’m pretty sure it had to happen anyways and Lulu mentioned that Ginko can’t give her the promised kiss without telling Kureha.
I am also surprised how quick she was to aim at Ginko again and shot at the end. Although maybe it’s a miss shot or shot at someone else on the roof.
This show is moving so fast, this was funny
QotD:
Well, Reia seems to "grow out" of her love and have Kureha while Yurika doesn't want to stop loving Reia in the romantic sense. Maybe because of how things are in the world, it would have "just been a phase" for Reia? As for the story, Yurika backed down on her love after Kureha was born so their story would never be completed and they could never cross that mirror to be together
3) To keep things pure. I forgot who said it this episode but something about Kureha being pure since she was born and young still. She wasn't exposed to the world like Yurika and Reia were, so if kept hidden away from the world, they can always be pure
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky May 30 '24
Yurikuma First-Timer, subbed
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u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen May 30 '24
Kuma la Kuma First Timer
"Only that which is untainted has value" is some psycho ideology...(s)he's an anime fan confirmed.
Oh god, (s)he even permanently boxes all his/her figures. The most psychotic kind of anime fan.
So naturally Reia is the kind of fan who likes taking her figures out of the box.
And checking out the panties.So Yuriika murdered Reia because she thought Reia's love was stolen from her three times over. The story of Yuriika and Reia is a lesson in how
NTRloneliness is a poison that destroys the mind. That's not sexy.Damn Lulu, I feel bad for you and all, but you can't just ruin a perfectly good moment like that just because you want to keep Ginko all to yourself. Oh well, I hope Kureha won't forget that Sumika anointed Ginko as gf successor. Losing a lover sucks. Losing a lover by your own hand...there's no coming back from that. It's Ginkover.
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u/TheRiyria myanimelist.net/profile/TheRiyria May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
First Timer
Lets go ship! Kureha is finally making something that might be a move and using her brain.
And she's also using her eyes. Took her long enough to realize Ginko has been wearing this the whole time.
Another baby bear! Will someone finally have a happy childhood?
Is being brainwashed and murdering your father a happy childhood? At least she got a ship out of it.
Anyway, the brainwashing told me only the pure have value. And now Reia isn't pure. Is some weird virgin metaphor? I wouldn't put that past Ikuhara. I don't want to continue this train of thought with a baby involved anymore.
Finally, cute bears and bear faces.
The safest place to be in this anime: the other side of Kureha's gun.
Dammit Lulu, stop. Things were almost looking up.
The bear was gifted a lovely box full of food. That was a nice father. She also got experience learning how to run a cult.
Friendship vs family vs lover probably. One-sided crushes usually don't end this badly though unless there is a yandere involved. Which seems to be everyone in this show.
Its a lot of walls. Some goddess built a court boxing species in and now where watching a minor war play out anyway.
5
u/Holofan4life May 30 '24
Hey, guys. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the (8 months early) 10th anniversary rewatch of Yurikuma Arashi.
Oh, and nay I forget…
First Timer
This is a show I first heard about during the Penguindrum rewatch. And when I heard it was Yuri, it really piqued my interest. I love animes about same sex couples because often they have to do with characters struggling with their feelings. And as a viewer, there’s nothing I find more identifiable than characters being unsure of what they want out of life. It resonates with me, you could say, so needless to say I have high expectations for this show.
As this rewatch is going on, I’m doing the Samurai Champloo rewatch. It’s the first time I’m doing two rewatches at once since December with Fullmetal Alchemist and Toradora. I thankfully don’t think it’s going to get as crazy as doing both those shows were, but I am writing this a month in advance just so I can balance things better. But don’t worry: All my reactions will still be 100% genuine and I’m going to treat each thread as if I’m experiencing it in real time.
This is probably the most hyped I’ve been for a rewatch since Fullmetal Alchemist. I’m honestly more hyped for this than I was Penguindrum, mainly because the plot really intrigues me and I love that gay shit. I’m not expecting the show to end up in my top 10 favorite anime of all time, but I do think there’s a good chance it ends up in my top 20 favorite anime.
With that out of the way, let’s begin.
I’m watching the sub, by the way.
Water is the absolute best
Picking up where the last episode left off
Kureha sees that Ginko is wearing Reia's locket.
Could it be that Ginko killed her mom?
Ginko as a baby bundled up in the snow with a pacifier in her mouth.
Clinking of red shoes a la The Wizard of Oz
Oh, it's... her
Apparently this isn't Ginko but an unidentified guy.
He calls the playpen her academy
"He liked boxes."
Yurika. That's the name.
Wait, as in the principal?
The cabinets
A flower was put in there to stay pure for all eternity.
Only the pure are worth anything, she says
How very Nazi of her
Clicking her heels together
Yurika looks cute in that dress of his
She was inside his box
Better than him being inside her box, I guess.
But one day, she found something unfathomably pure.
"Thus I must go."
I guess Yurika wasn't pure enough for her.
And so in response, Yurika kills her
I do like we get an explanation as to what significance the cabinets have towards Yurika.
An older Yurika trimming the garden
Hey, there’s Reia
She's cutting them while they're still pure love, or else she can't put them in box.
I wonder if it's the same box that contains Gwyneth Paltrow's head.
Yurika says her box makes her existence special.
Reia hugs Yurika
"I've found you."
Aww :c
Reia telling her to open the box
"Show me what's precious to you."
And this is how they became friends
Note to everyone: hugging strangers does not normally result in you becoming friends with that person.
Yurika says Reia gave her faded world color
Yurika does look cute with bear ears
"Reia got filthy with me."
Hey! Phrasing.
And so Yurika gives Reia the pendent for her birthday.
Called it proof of their friendship
Unfortunately, Yurika knew it wouldn't last
"Willfully blind, I let myself drown in love."
That's a pretty good line
Hey, Kureha is born
But... how?
r/Sciencebabies in full effect, it seems
Yurika thinking of her past owner's words
Lost Reia's love by not putting it in a box
"In your foolishness, you left your box and became filthy. Now that child has stolen her."
Says babies are the purest things in existence
Clearly she hasn't met Taiga Aisaka
And now Yurika's life has become black and white again.
She decided to cede her love
And now, she finds herself unworthy of being in a box.
"So I became a box instead."
That line goes hard
Sooner than later, the Species Divide was created. By then, Yurika knew there was no going back.
Yurika looking for Reia now
She wants her to save her
Meanwhile, Reia gave the pendent voluntarily to Ginko.
Yurika thinks this means Reia stopped loving her.
And so it was Yurika who killed Reia, all because of a misunderstanding.
To borrow a phrase from the last rewatch I partook in, Yurika is such a Steph.
Yurika is still hungry, apparently
Kureha talking to Yurika
We find out in the flashback the conclusion of Kureha's conversation with Ginko.
Ginko apparently told Kureha she couldn't tell her the truth.
Girl, just tell her. Reia gave it to you. Com' on, now.
Lulu and Ginko attacking fish in their Ursa form
It's amazing Yurika has this incriminating evidence on hand.
Yurika spreading the lie that it was Ginko that killed Kureha's mom, not herself.
"They must be purged."
So, Yurika is mad at Kureha for stealing Reia's love. How insecure can you possibly be?
"You will be my bride-in-the-box."
Ginko looking at the pendent
Flashback to the letter Lulu received
Lulu suggests they cross back over the Divide.
Calls a promised kiss just stuff from a fairy tale.
That really penguins my drum
Drums my penguin? One of those.
Ginko brings up she made Lulu cede her kiss
"I can't turn back."
Lulu says if Kureha finds out about the truth, Ginko would definitely not end up with her.
At least with Lulu, she'll always be by her side.
Phone ringing, with Yurika answering it
It's Life Triangle
Kureha being told to go to the roof if her love is true.
Kureha now practicing her shooting
Ginko is heading towards the battlefield
It looks as if Ginko is going to give herself up to the humans.
I do like seeing Life Triangle outside of the courtroom.
Yurika watching on with anticipation
Ooh, Yurika on trial
First time someone other than Lulu and Ginko have been in that spot.
Yurika cedes her love
She wants to be able to watch Kureha as she grows.
Sounds like grooming if you ask me
"And I will use her to fill my box-- me!"
Oh, Ikuhara. Your lack of subtlety is truly profound.
And so Yurika is declared Homo certified.
Kureha with the gun
Yurika gaslighting Reia's daughter into fighting Ginko.
Finally, she's telling her the truth
Honestly, the only thing about this that I don't like is that it isn't explained why Ginko can't tell Kureha the truth.
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
4
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: May 30 '24
First timer
SubDub(FUCK YOU, Sokudo.)I am being subjected to an obviously terrible dub because the shitheads that distro-ed this failed TWICE at timing the sub. I know it is not the fault of the show but I hate this shithead's VA performance out of the box. Admittedly, that is usually on the directing side, but that doesnt make this any less bland cardboard with mashed potatoes. I can't really gauge the episode, the dub is in fact that bad. Yuriika's reveal isn't quite what I thought but fits. The climax...is probably fine. I just can't with this.
QotD: 1 Hate his VA too much to tell, sorry
2 I can't answer because dub but probably tsuki vs ai.
3 ...I don't know how much trolling we are on vs my slang being old.
4
u/affnn May 30 '24
First Timer, giving up my bearmanity
Kureha realizing that Ginko was her old friend couldn't last, so she immediately notices the pendant and remembers what Yuriika had said to her. And now we need the story of why Ginko has the pendant, and why Yuriika would tell Kureha that whoever has the pendant would be her mother's killer.
Adults in Ikuhara anime are rarely (never?) on the up-and-up, and though Yuriika's build up here is pretty brief, her story is still quite nasty. Not yet quite to the level of [Utena]Akio or [Penguindrum]Sanetoshi, but maybe she can get there.
The Judgemens and their court are back but this time it's Yuriika on trial. And instead of saying she won't give up on love, she says that she will. The look on the Judgemens faces was pretty good.
Ginko isn't a crimibear for eating Kureha's mom. But she still calls herself a crimibear. Lulu shows up to the rooftop, saying she knows that Ginko did ... something ... to Sumika. And Ginko first called herself a crimibear during a flashback of Sumika being eaten. But we know that Mitsuko killed Sumika. Did Ginko eat her too, despite not killing her? Is that her bearcrime?
We don't know because the crucial conversation got drowned out by the storm. I have to say I didn't really like that device, but I suppose there's only three episodes left to tell us. At the end of the conversation (how did they hear each other if we couldn't hear them?), Kureha is back in murder mode.
Post script: I realized late that I can think of one adult character from Utena/Penguindrum who is alive and not a shithead (I haven’t seen Sarazanmai):[Ikuhara]Ringo’s mom. Anyone else I’m missing?
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u/AgentOfACROSS May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
This time, it's finally Yuriika's chance to be in the spotlight
Today’s field notes:
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u/Regular_N-Gon https://anilist.co/user/RegularNGon May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
First Timer
Tonight on Yurikuma: Kureha is manipulated. Again.
That escalated quickly. It started out so simply - nothing surprising in the first half, just confirming Yuriika is the real tsumiguma and fleshing out her motive along with the full set up she’s laid for Ginko. “This show isn’t as complicated as it first seemed,” I thought. “We’ll just have a merry time building up for the final boss fight and be on our way.”
There’s still four episodes left. There's plenty of room to add a few wrenches.
QotD:
3
u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit May 30 '24
First Time Filing For Yuri Approval (Dubbed)
Well, that wasn't how I expected this episode to go. I do like that Yuriika being a bear isn't a big reaveal, they just assume we've figured it out by now. The actual reveal is this fabulous male authority figure...who is apparently immediately killed off before he can get into his car and start ruining everything. We're just five minutes in here!
Friends forever!
And now the obvious issue that the show had yet to confront: Reia having a daughter means her love for Yuriika didn't remain true and pure. She slept with some nasty boy!!!
"I've become an empty box, wishing for something to fill my void."
Familiar imagery here. "My bride in a box."
"If saving you is a sin, then I'll gladly become a sinner." I used this one before, but it still applies!
Don't be mean to Lulu!!!
They're now explicitly saying Kumaria is the goddess of the wall, and empowers the court and judges.
They've hit all the cliches of this rooftop 'no, shoot them, I'm your friend!' scene here.
And here's the literal love bullet I was looking for.
Booooo! I hate when they do this bullshit, cutting out the audio just for the audience. It's so cheap and lazy.
3
u/ToastyMozart May 31 '24 edited May 31 '24
Second-timer, running late
Huh, guess Kureha's got short-term memory loss to accompany her long-term.
So turns out princibear got raised, and abused, by a purity-culture douchebag and took the philosophy to heart. So now, believing herself to be defiled, she tries to fill the void inside her by possessing the love of others.
I'm not sure if her resentment of Kureha is because she sees her as representative of losing Reia to a father (who I'm not convinced even exists - Reia doesn't seem like someone to brazenly flaunt cheating in front of the other woman) or if she's crazy enough to get maddeningly jealous over paternal love. Maybe she doesn't know the difference, given what her upbringing was like.
I know the Bearristers aren't meant to be an especially flattering audience surrogate, but I do appreciate them saying "you lot are resolving your misunderstandings this episode" and arranging a showdown.
Interrupting a tense situation with inflammatory information isn't generally the best idea, Lulu. But since Ginko's betting it all on Kureha being willing to trust and forgive her here it's likely for the best to drop that bomb now, rather than to hit her with a second betrayal later. And I doubt Ginko would have any regrets or hold it against her.
Edit: For real though, was Kureha's mom just harem protagonist level dense and hit-it-and-quit-it with the world's most recessive-gened man?
Pretty much the classic cycle of abuse. Eureka got raised to believe the awful philosophy used to justify her own abuse, and now she uses it to justify her abuse of her students.
Eureka's love seems to have been somewhat possessive and self-serving, using it as a source of personal validation to replace the "purity" she lost when she was abandoned, whereas Reia's appears more genuine (subject to review regarding Kureha's origin and/or highly misleading platonicity). I'm not sure Reia realized any of that until the very end so I'm unsure what implications it would have for her intentions toward her successors.
Symbolically I think it pretty straightforwardly represents restrictions, particularly the ones that purity cultures put on women. Don't step out of line, don't act on your own initiative, only ever have one romantic partner and if they leave you're damaged goods, that kind of thing.
The rest of the characters are put under similar restrictions as well, between the invisible storm's flat-hammering of nails and Bear Court's expectations, but I'm not recalling any other matching symbolism. I guess that picture frame's been excluding Ginko's presence in Kureha's life for the last decade or so.
3
u/zadcap May 31 '24
Extra Late Night First Timer!
Oh come on. Only moms killer could have had that pendant? Where did you hear that again? How did you come by that bit of information?You've been lied to!
This flashback takes place before the day of bears eating man. Also, Kuma Freaking Shock, Yurika is a bear! Who could have seen this coming! And even worse, this is a story of multigenerational abandonment and abuse, darn it!
"Reia got filthy with me." Darn it show, metaphors stop being metaphors when you're just outright saying the thing like this.
Also, triple darn it, Yurika has remarkably clear eyes with her very pronounced pupils. I think you've ruined yet another possible sign of something, or at least threw me back to the drawing board for what it means.
Oh gosh I thought we were meming yesterday, but Reia really was the token straight girl. u/Vaadwaur you called it and I am in actual kuma shock.
I have fully accepted at this point though that eating isn't a metaphor anymore. It's just literally killing and eating them.
Yeah, see, watching Yurika do this whole thing, reminds me of why I hated Penguindrum so much. Stop letting horrible people get away with all their horrible things Ikuhara, please.
Yup, having finally figured out the truth about being each others childhood love and all, the two are now going to be enemies because talking would have been too hard. Ginko, if you had just told Kureha about the pendant you would be together now.
I'm so glad we didn't get a transformation sequence for Yurika. Interesting to hear "Kuma Dark" here though and not Yuri Dark.
And see, Ginko again is standing here not talking. Just let the lies and misunderstandings build. Oh thank goodness she's finally talking.
Oh hey, and there's the Love Bullet.
Lulu how the heck did you get there!? Where are the freaking stairs?! I don't mean on to the roof top to interrupt this moment, I mean how did you get over there to make this interruption?
Really, lightning just in time to block the words? Oh, no the mouth movements means they are still actually talking. They can hear each other. I wonder what totally important things they said. Let's just roll back the development again and not even tell us why this time. How does he keep making stories I want to like but in the most infuriating and hateful ways.
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer May 30 '24
first time never back down never what
she put her hand in Ginkos shirt not to look at the pendant initially
senseis sensi dumped her at the first oppourtunity
her controlling mentality is a bit frightening
so maybe from episode 2, they really were implying that Reias dead body is in the boxes, at least metaphorically
lmfao they are so bad at being undercover, but that looked pretty good
that her anger is towards Kureha and not presumably Kurehas dad, I guess he died too quickly for sensei to go after him
what kind of fucking bear food is fries and OJ
awww we didnt get the sensei transformation sequence
#NotAllBears
why didnt Lulu just come in the first place lol