Puri (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shamanicshaymin) wrote2019-07-13 05:46 am
shamanicshaymin) wrote2019-07-13 05:46 am
Entry tags:
I swear the OP is a secret Kirby song that Kirby himself naps to.
Time for the last episodes of Yuri Kuma Arashi! Alas, I can't find subbed versions anywhere on Youtube, so I had to switch to the dub. Thankfully, the dub isn't that bad.
Me: Lulu. ;;
Me: I knew her death was coming, but omg ;;
Person: puri i can't tell if you like this show or not
Me: Kureha, now would be a really good time to start being a proactive protagonist.
Me: LAST EPISODE LETS ROCK
Me: Okay, the last episode brought tears. ;;
Me: But yeah, asking Ginko to become a human girl/straight is pride.
Me: What happened was Kureha coming out of the closet.
Me: Milne finally got the promise kiss he wanted. ;;
Me: But yeah, that was a really good ending. ;;
Me: I’m going to have to let my thoughts settle in before I can properly comment.
I believe the Invisible Storm thought they killed Ginko and Kureha, but the reality is since the reunited couple have broken their mirrors, they now live in the world without barriers. To quote Utena, a world where they are free to “build their own roads.” The actual afterlife is where Lulu and Milne are. They’re both where they want to be right now, and content to wait for Ginko and Kureha to live out their lives before being reunited with them.
I just realized the main bear trio shares the same colors as the Bear Court:
Ginko = Life Sexy
Kureha = Life Cool
Lulu = Life Beauty
Kureha turning into a bear was foreshadowed from the beginning all along. You know how back in the first post I compared the bears to vampires? Well...
Kureha Tsubaki -> Tsubaki = "Camelia" in Japanese -> Camelia = The name of one of the earliest vampires, who also happens to be the first vampire lesbian
TOP IKUNI VILLAINS (minus Penguindrum, which I've yet to see)
1. Otterkio
2. Invisible Storm (if subtracting Yuriika)
3. Akio
4. Fiore
1. Otterkio
2. Akio
3. Invisible Storm (including Yuriika)
4. Fiore
TOP MAIN PROTAGONISTS
1. Utena
2. Sailor Moon
3. Kappa Trio (Toi being closer to Utena levels, Enta being mixed, Kazuki more like “Ehh...”)
4. Kureha (for the crime of being BORING)
TOP IKUHARA CANON COUPLES
1. Utena/Anthy
TIE: ReoMabu & Haruka/Michiru
3. Usagi/Mamoru
4. Kureha/Ginko
Deadly secret: I still haven’t watched beyond the Doom Tree arc of Sailor Moon. I’m that behind) Usagi/Mamoru ranking low is Ikuhara’s own fault. :p
TOP YURI KUMA ARASHI CHARACTERS
1. Lulu
2. Mitsuko
3. Sumika
WORST YURI KUMA ARASHI CHARACTERS
1. Kureha (not dislike, just boredom and disappointment)
2. YURIIKA (WHO SUCKS)
“So Puri, where’s Ginko?”
It’s probably because I spoiled myself (TV Tropes made the show sound WAY worse than it actually was) but Ginko didn’t make me nearly as mad as I thought she would. It may also be because Ginko, like the girls in the Invisible Storm, is clearly a product of her upbringing (or rather, lack of it) and exclusion. She was explicitly taught that if Kureha fell in love with someone else, she will be abandoned and unloved forever. (And in a way, she ended up being right—Kureha was afraid of her and told her to get away from her before Reia got her back to the Bear World) It’s only until she stops pushing herself on Kureha (literally forced to via fever) that she sees the extent of the grief and pain Sumika’s death has caused her, and realizes the ramifications of her actions. Even Lulu calls her out on this, outing her to Kureha herself.
Ginko’s arc is about overcoming the toxic learnings that had been engrained to her by both bear and human society. Mitsuko is Ginko without conscience. Mitsuko has no regard for the feelings of others, the way Ginko at the beginning had no regard of anyone or anything but having her way with Kureha. Kureha stops being an obsession, and Ginko is reminded of the true and genuine love she had for her. That loving her meant letting go of your own pride. She’s bigger than her traumatic and lonely past, her base desires, her animal instincts, her id. It’s what shatters the mirror. And it’s ultimately once Kureha is no longer an obsession that she finally notices Lulu and able to properly grieve for her.
That said, I really wish the show had expanded on that more, rather than me having to dig for it to give Ginko more character development and sympathy.
I feel this even more painfully with Kureha. She’s the epitome of the Faux Action Girl—someone who is supposedly an active MC, but she’s so passive and empty and has as much personality as a cardboard box. She’s such a blank slate she exists as an idea rather than a character in her own right. Which I get it, all the characters in the show are meant to be ideas/symbols, but the least you can do is make them compelling and give them autonomy, like Lulu and Mitsuko. Utena was an awesome MC because I watched her grow and change. She was dynamic. She had human virtues and flaws. She made shit happen. If Kureha was friends with Wakaba and saw everyone make fun of her letter, she would just stand there and gasp, then be OMG SHOCKED when Wakaba runs off. She might yell at Saionji, but if he talks to her, she’ll just gasp, her eyes will waver, and she’ll hesitate to duel. It will literally take her a phone call from End of the World to force her up the damn stairs.
Her grief regarding her mother and Sumika's deaths would’ve been tragic if, you know, she actually earned it. Like, I’m not asking her to be upbeat and Angst What Angst? I just ask that I have a reason to care about her. I cared about Hiro from Big Hero 6 after he lost his brother. I cared about Madoka from PMMM even if she was passive. I cared about Lucas from Mother 3, even though he was mostly a Silent Protagonist. All of them went through enormous grief. I wanted so badly to feel sorry for Kureha... but couldn’t.
She was... invisible. That’s how bland she was. She was a bully victim and I still felt so little for her. Just annoyance that she couldn’t give me a reason to care about her. She had such little personality or drive it felt more like Ginko and Sumika loved concepts of her that the show wished it depicted. Kureha is like... I don’t know. Bella Swann without the vindictiveness and selfishness. At least you could hate Bella. At least you can pinpoint spoiled fucking brat as a reason to hate her. Kureha has nothing. A lot of her development was too entwined with Ginko too. As soon as she lost her memories of her, her personality went poof too. Kureha, do you have any goals or interests outside of love? What did you want to do after sharing a Promise Kiss with Sumika? Do you have any sort of hobby whatsoever that isn’t tied to what your mother or Sumika loved?
I just hope the manga breathes some much needed life into her. DDD:
Anyway, at least Kureha is just painfully bland. Yuriika, I actually dislike. Yuriika is basically the opposite of Mitsuko. She has none of her charm, intelligence, craftiness, or fun. She’s just a pathetic jealous womanchild.
“Waaaaaaaaah Reia doesn’t like me back the way I wanted her to, even though I may have kept my true feelings to myself so it’s not like she’s a mind reader!”
“Waaaaaaaaah Reia loved and married someone else, so that means she doesn’t love me anymore! Unlike Ginko who is an abused teenager, I’m a grown woman who should’ve known better!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaah Reia decided to be kind to another bear, THAT MEANS SHE BETRAYED ME FOR A CUB”
“Waaaaaaaaaaah if I can’t have Reia, I’ll eat her daughter instead! Because that isn’t mired in Freudian Bullshit and totally not cliche as all hell!”
“HI REIA I ALMOST RAPED YOUR DAUGHTER AND HAVE NO REGRETS. But don’t you feel sorry for me? Don’t you feel bad how I’ve gone without love for so long, even though it’s my own damn fault I gave up love for boxes and kept pushing everyone away? Aren’t I the real victim here, the one who deliberately tried to break up your daughter and her best friend? Please forgive me.”
If I was Reia, I would’ve pulled a Molly Weasley and been like, “NOT MY DAUGHTER BITCH” I don’t care if you were my best friend. You don’t try to sexually assault my daughter. I hate how the show wanted me to cry for Yuriika even though she’s a rapist that held on to a petty grudge for years. It doesn’t help that she’s an expy of a similar character in Mawaru Penguindrum responsible for a scene that turned me off the show for years. No Ikuhara, I am NOT shedding tears for a rapist because she happens to be a Twagical Lesbian. If you had a gay man with a Twagical Past rape your teenage male protagonist, everyone would hate him except Kevin Spacey (And I mean non-BL and Yaoi works. :p)
Me: I feel what hurt Kureha/Ginko was that they were deliberately kept from starting a relationship. All their chemistry was confined to the past, and in the future Ginko tried to force it and it pushed Kureha away.
Person Two: Yeah, I think you're right
Person Two: the main problem with YKA is that the main relationship is something that needs to be remembered rather than there being any chance they could just start fresh
Me: Whereas when Utena tried to push friendship on Anthy, there were consequences. See: episode 3.
Person Two: I feel like Sarazanmai did better, because while Tooi is putting too much weight on Kazuki remembering you can see that in the present they've already formed a new relationship whether Kazuki remembers or not
Me: Yeah, the boys are messed up, but in a believable way.
Me: Whereas Ginko is like “NOMMING TIME” and Kureha all “wtf get off me”
Me: Honestly, I think it would’ve been less skeevy if Kureha pushed her off and Ginko was confused, or Ginko sees that Kureha has frozen in fear and gets off her wondering why she isn’t returning her advances.
Person Two: yeah
Person Two: Ginko doesn't pay much attention to Kureha's actual reactions for someone in love with her
Me: That’s why it could’ve benefited from an actual obsession-to-love arc. :(
Person Two: I thought the implied threesome was so cute, I was sad we didn't get one
Person Two: Lulu getting kissed in the op
Me: I wanted the OT3 too. :(
Me: TV Tropes was more cynical by saying “They had to kill off Lulu so Kureha and Ginko could be together.” But I don’t think that was the case at all?
Me: It was Lulu’s own decision to come back.
Me: She wanted to sacrifice herself.
Person: tv tropes is so hit or miss
Person: you can always tell when someone hates the thing they're writing about
Person Two: I used to like TVTropes better than I do now. I still find it interesting, but I disagree with so many opinions now
Person Two: on characters, on everything
Me: Yeeeeeah, I got the impression whoever wrote the YMMV page haaaaaaaaated the show, because they rant on and on about wasted plots and characters.
Me: And honestly, the show isn’t that bad at all!
Me: I mean, I wish Mitsuko had more screen time too, but I hardly consider her “wasted.”
Me: In a way, she kinda reminded me of Heather Chandler from The Heathers, especially her dub voice.
Me: She also had an early death and kinda sticks around as a ghost, but she made such a presence you feel her all through the rest of the show.
Me: I also want to rant about this bit from the TV Tropes YMMV page:
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Despite the show's attempts to paint them as unapologetically evil, many have pointed out that the Invisible Storm's acts were to see which girls were bears, who were murdering their friends and classmates. This had led some to point out further that their actions on Kureha were technically justified (if extreme at times), since Kureha was letting Ginko and Lulu live at her place.
Me: 1. The Invisible Storm wasn’t just hunting down bears. They were going after anyone they deemed as evil, for the simple reason as “acting outside the norm.” The show itself tells you this.
Me: 2. They deemed Kureha as “evil” long before they knew Kureha and Lulu were bears in disguise.
Person Two: also Ginko and Lulu started eating them because they were going after Kureha
Me: 3. They first excluded Kureha for simply befriending a bear. Not because Ginko was eating anyone (and she wasn't), but because “bears are dirty!”
Me: 4. “Their actions on Kureha were technically justified (if extreme at times)”
Troper... have you ever been bullied?
Me: They hazed Kureha on her birthday.
Me: They didn’t even know Ginko and Lulu were living at her house.
Me: The Invisible Storm deliberately did it to crush her.
Person Two: the eating metaphor is confused at times (it's like if lesbian sex was deadly) but the Invisible Storm are terrifying
Person Two: they're like the swords of hate given more personality
Me: They wanted to make it sound like Sumika never considered her a friend. How the fuck is that “technically justified”?
Me: Nothing Kaoru and the rest of the Invisible Storm did to Kureha on her birthday is justifiable.
Me: What the hell was burning the lilies they planted supposed to do? How about Sumika’s letter?
Me: Oh, right. FOR THE CRUELTY OF IT.
Me: YKA has a lot of mixed messaging and fumbled metaphors, but this was not one of them. It was made super clear the Invisible Storm are self-righteous hypocritical monsters.
And that's that! Overall, YKA is a mixed bag, but I'm glad I watched it. Here's hoping the manga is good, or even better!
Hot Take: The Invisible Storm also represent antis and the Purity Police. They consider Kureha “problematic” for befriending bears, therefore she’s “cancelled.”
Me: Lulu. ;;
Me: I knew her death was coming, but omg ;;
Person: puri i can't tell if you like this show or not
Me: Kureha, now would be a really good time to start being a proactive protagonist.
Me: LAST EPISODE LETS ROCK
Me: Okay, the last episode brought tears. ;;
Me: But yeah, asking Ginko to become a human girl/straight is pride.
Me: What happened was Kureha coming out of the closet.
Me: Milne finally got the promise kiss he wanted. ;;
Me: But yeah, that was a really good ending. ;;
Me: I’m going to have to let my thoughts settle in before I can properly comment.
I believe the Invisible Storm thought they killed Ginko and Kureha, but the reality is since the reunited couple have broken their mirrors, they now live in the world without barriers. To quote Utena, a world where they are free to “build their own roads.” The actual afterlife is where Lulu and Milne are. They’re both where they want to be right now, and content to wait for Ginko and Kureha to live out their lives before being reunited with them.
I just realized the main bear trio shares the same colors as the Bear Court:
Ginko = Life Sexy
Kureha = Life Cool
Lulu = Life Beauty
Kureha turning into a bear was foreshadowed from the beginning all along. You know how back in the first post I compared the bears to vampires? Well...
Kureha Tsubaki -> Tsubaki = "Camelia" in Japanese -> Camelia = The name of one of the earliest vampires, who also happens to be the first vampire lesbian
TOP IKUNI VILLAINS (minus Penguindrum, which I've yet to see)
1. Otterkio
2. Invisible Storm (if subtracting Yuriika)
3. Akio
4. Fiore
1. Otterkio
2. Akio
3. Invisible Storm (including Yuriika)
4. Fiore
TOP MAIN PROTAGONISTS
1. Utena
2. Sailor Moon
3. Kappa Trio (Toi being closer to Utena levels, Enta being mixed, Kazuki more like “Ehh...”)
4. Kureha (for the crime of being BORING)
TOP IKUHARA CANON COUPLES
1. Utena/Anthy
TIE: ReoMabu & Haruka/Michiru
3. Usagi/Mamoru
4. Kureha/Ginko
TOP YURI KUMA ARASHI CHARACTERS
1. Lulu
2. Mitsuko
3. Sumika
WORST YURI KUMA ARASHI CHARACTERS
1. Kureha (not dislike, just boredom and disappointment)
2. YURIIKA (WHO SUCKS)
“So Puri, where’s Ginko?”
It’s probably because I spoiled myself (TV Tropes made the show sound WAY worse than it actually was) but Ginko didn’t make me nearly as mad as I thought she would. It may also be because Ginko, like the girls in the Invisible Storm, is clearly a product of her upbringing (or rather, lack of it) and exclusion. She was explicitly taught that if Kureha fell in love with someone else, she will be abandoned and unloved forever. (And in a way, she ended up being right—Kureha was afraid of her and told her to get away from her before Reia got her back to the Bear World) It’s only until she stops pushing herself on Kureha (literally forced to via fever) that she sees the extent of the grief and pain Sumika’s death has caused her, and realizes the ramifications of her actions. Even Lulu calls her out on this, outing her to Kureha herself.
Ginko’s arc is about overcoming the toxic learnings that had been engrained to her by both bear and human society. Mitsuko is Ginko without conscience. Mitsuko has no regard for the feelings of others, the way Ginko at the beginning had no regard of anyone or anything but having her way with Kureha. Kureha stops being an obsession, and Ginko is reminded of the true and genuine love she had for her. That loving her meant letting go of your own pride. She’s bigger than her traumatic and lonely past, her base desires, her animal instincts, her id. It’s what shatters the mirror. And it’s ultimately once Kureha is no longer an obsession that she finally notices Lulu and able to properly grieve for her.
That said, I really wish the show had expanded on that more, rather than me having to dig for it to give Ginko more character development and sympathy.
I feel this even more painfully with Kureha. She’s the epitome of the Faux Action Girl—someone who is supposedly an active MC, but she’s so passive and empty and has as much personality as a cardboard box. She’s such a blank slate she exists as an idea rather than a character in her own right. Which I get it, all the characters in the show are meant to be ideas/symbols, but the least you can do is make them compelling and give them autonomy, like Lulu and Mitsuko. Utena was an awesome MC because I watched her grow and change. She was dynamic. She had human virtues and flaws. She made shit happen. If Kureha was friends with Wakaba and saw everyone make fun of her letter, she would just stand there and gasp, then be OMG SHOCKED when Wakaba runs off. She might yell at Saionji, but if he talks to her, she’ll just gasp, her eyes will waver, and she’ll hesitate to duel. It will literally take her a phone call from End of the World to force her up the damn stairs.
Her grief regarding her mother and Sumika's deaths would’ve been tragic if, you know, she actually earned it. Like, I’m not asking her to be upbeat and Angst What Angst? I just ask that I have a reason to care about her. I cared about Hiro from Big Hero 6 after he lost his brother. I cared about Madoka from PMMM even if she was passive. I cared about Lucas from Mother 3, even though he was mostly a Silent Protagonist. All of them went through enormous grief. I wanted so badly to feel sorry for Kureha... but couldn’t.
She was... invisible. That’s how bland she was. She was a bully victim and I still felt so little for her. Just annoyance that she couldn’t give me a reason to care about her. She had such little personality or drive it felt more like Ginko and Sumika loved concepts of her that the show wished it depicted. Kureha is like... I don’t know. Bella Swann without the vindictiveness and selfishness. At least you could hate Bella. At least you can pinpoint spoiled fucking brat as a reason to hate her. Kureha has nothing. A lot of her development was too entwined with Ginko too. As soon as she lost her memories of her, her personality went poof too. Kureha, do you have any goals or interests outside of love? What did you want to do after sharing a Promise Kiss with Sumika? Do you have any sort of hobby whatsoever that isn’t tied to what your mother or Sumika loved?
I just hope the manga breathes some much needed life into her. DDD:
Anyway, at least Kureha is just painfully bland. Yuriika, I actually dislike. Yuriika is basically the opposite of Mitsuko. She has none of her charm, intelligence, craftiness, or fun. She’s just a pathetic jealous womanchild.
“Waaaaaaaaah Reia doesn’t like me back the way I wanted her to, even though I may have kept my true feelings to myself so it’s not like she’s a mind reader!”
“Waaaaaaaaah Reia loved and married someone else, so that means she doesn’t love me anymore! Unlike Ginko who is an abused teenager, I’m a grown woman who should’ve known better!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaah Reia decided to be kind to another bear, THAT MEANS SHE BETRAYED ME FOR A CUB”
“Waaaaaaaaaaah if I can’t have Reia, I’ll eat her daughter instead! Because that isn’t mired in Freudian Bullshit and totally not cliche as all hell!”
“HI REIA I ALMOST RAPED YOUR DAUGHTER AND HAVE NO REGRETS. But don’t you feel sorry for me? Don’t you feel bad how I’ve gone without love for so long, even though it’s my own damn fault I gave up love for boxes and kept pushing everyone away? Aren’t I the real victim here, the one who deliberately tried to break up your daughter and her best friend? Please forgive me.”
If I was Reia, I would’ve pulled a Molly Weasley and been like, “NOT MY DAUGHTER BITCH” I don’t care if you were my best friend. You don’t try to sexually assault my daughter. I hate how the show wanted me to cry for Yuriika even though she’s a rapist that held on to a petty grudge for years. It doesn’t help that she’s an expy of a similar character in Mawaru Penguindrum responsible for a scene that turned me off the show for years. No Ikuhara, I am NOT shedding tears for a rapist because she happens to be a Twagical Lesbian. If you had a gay man with a Twagical Past rape your teenage male protagonist, everyone would hate him except Kevin Spacey (And I mean non-BL and Yaoi works. :p)
Me: I feel what hurt Kureha/Ginko was that they were deliberately kept from starting a relationship. All their chemistry was confined to the past, and in the future Ginko tried to force it and it pushed Kureha away.
Person Two: Yeah, I think you're right
Person Two: the main problem with YKA is that the main relationship is something that needs to be remembered rather than there being any chance they could just start fresh
Me: Whereas when Utena tried to push friendship on Anthy, there were consequences. See: episode 3.
Person Two: I feel like Sarazanmai did better, because while Tooi is putting too much weight on Kazuki remembering you can see that in the present they've already formed a new relationship whether Kazuki remembers or not
Me: Yeah, the boys are messed up, but in a believable way.
Me: Whereas Ginko is like “NOMMING TIME” and Kureha all “wtf get off me”
Me: Honestly, I think it would’ve been less skeevy if Kureha pushed her off and Ginko was confused, or Ginko sees that Kureha has frozen in fear and gets off her wondering why she isn’t returning her advances.
Person Two: yeah
Person Two: Ginko doesn't pay much attention to Kureha's actual reactions for someone in love with her
Me: That’s why it could’ve benefited from an actual obsession-to-love arc. :(
Person Two: I thought the implied threesome was so cute, I was sad we didn't get one
Person Two: Lulu getting kissed in the op
Me: I wanted the OT3 too. :(
Me: TV Tropes was more cynical by saying “They had to kill off Lulu so Kureha and Ginko could be together.” But I don’t think that was the case at all?
Me: It was Lulu’s own decision to come back.
Me: She wanted to sacrifice herself.
Person: tv tropes is so hit or miss
Person: you can always tell when someone hates the thing they're writing about
Person Two: I used to like TVTropes better than I do now. I still find it interesting, but I disagree with so many opinions now
Person Two: on characters, on everything
Me: Yeeeeeah, I got the impression whoever wrote the YMMV page haaaaaaaaated the show, because they rant on and on about wasted plots and characters.
Me: And honestly, the show isn’t that bad at all!
Me: I mean, I wish Mitsuko had more screen time too, but I hardly consider her “wasted.”
Me: In a way, she kinda reminded me of Heather Chandler from The Heathers, especially her dub voice.
Me: She also had an early death and kinda sticks around as a ghost, but she made such a presence you feel her all through the rest of the show.
Me: I also want to rant about this bit from the TV Tropes YMMV page:
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Despite the show's attempts to paint them as unapologetically evil, many have pointed out that the Invisible Storm's acts were to see which girls were bears, who were murdering their friends and classmates. This had led some to point out further that their actions on Kureha were technically justified (if extreme at times), since Kureha was letting Ginko and Lulu live at her place.
Me: 1. The Invisible Storm wasn’t just hunting down bears. They were going after anyone they deemed as evil, for the simple reason as “acting outside the norm.” The show itself tells you this.
Me: 2. They deemed Kureha as “evil” long before they knew Kureha and Lulu were bears in disguise.
Person Two: also Ginko and Lulu started eating them because they were going after Kureha
Me: 3. They first excluded Kureha for simply befriending a bear. Not because Ginko was eating anyone (and she wasn't), but because “bears are dirty!”
Me: 4. “Their actions on Kureha were technically justified (if extreme at times)”
Troper... have you ever been bullied?
Me: They hazed Kureha on her birthday.
Me: They didn’t even know Ginko and Lulu were living at her house.
Me: The Invisible Storm deliberately did it to crush her.
Person Two: the eating metaphor is confused at times (it's like if lesbian sex was deadly) but the Invisible Storm are terrifying
Person Two: they're like the swords of hate given more personality
Me: They wanted to make it sound like Sumika never considered her a friend. How the fuck is that “technically justified”?
Me: Nothing Kaoru and the rest of the Invisible Storm did to Kureha on her birthday is justifiable.
Me: What the hell was burning the lilies they planted supposed to do? How about Sumika’s letter?
Me: Oh, right. FOR THE CRUELTY OF IT.
Me: YKA has a lot of mixed messaging and fumbled metaphors, but this was not one of them. It was made super clear the Invisible Storm are self-righteous hypocritical monsters.
And that's that! Overall, YKA is a mixed bag, but I'm glad I watched it. Here's hoping the manga is good, or even better!
Hot Take: The Invisible Storm also represent antis and the Purity Police. They consider Kureha “problematic” for befriending bears, therefore she’s “cancelled.”
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