Still Up In The Air/The One Who Likes Me
What They Say:
Yuu has always loved shoujo manga and awaits the day she gets a love confession that sends her heart aflutter with bubbles and blushes, and yet when a junior high classmate confesses his feelings to her...she feels nothing. Disappointed and confused, Yuu enters high school still unsure how to respond. That's when Yuu sees the beautiful student council president Nanami turn down a suitor with such maturity that she's inspired to ask her for help. But when the next person to confess to Yuu is Nanami herself. Has her shoujo romance finally begun?
The Review:
Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)
The last two episodes of Bloom Into You have done an exemplary job in exploring the actions of both Touko and Yuu. But what they haven't done, however, is shed much light on the reasons for these actions and why, to some viewers, the characters may seem rather one dimensional. This week's installment sets aside time to put those notions to rest in the form of elaborating (Albeit briefly) on why Touko may not be nearly as perfect as she appears to everyone in the series itself. Fortunately, episode three also saves enough time to make our hearts flutter in the form of a few more semi-awkward, yet adorable exchanges between these two lovable young women.
Right off the bat, we learn a bit more about of Yuu's family and perhaps discover the reason for her affinity toward shoujo manga. As it turns out, she lives in a bookstore run by her grandmother and her parents -- a fitting and fortunate abode for a manga/anime protagonist. Touko, who finds this out at the same time as us, drops arguably her most adorable moment yet in the form of becoming overly-embarrassed for no reason other than, well, having 'taken advantage' of the shop owner's granddaughter just days prior. After Touko leaves, however, the true purpose of the scene comes into play. During an exchange with her family, filled with praise for Touko and her elegant mannerisms, Yuu's father drops a subtle hint that if his daughter were, in fact, a lesbian, he wouldn't be able to handle the shock. And while the scene doesn't drag this out or really embellish any further on that sentence, we can understand why Yuu's hesitance toward girl on girl relationships is more prevalent than other characters in the series.
This week isn't all about Yuu, however, especially now that the student council election is finally here. In the moments right before the candidates' speeches begin, Touko shows what can arguably be considered her first sign of weakness. Yuu, who has been more observant of Touko than anyone else, picks up on this and pulls her outside. Despite attempting to hide it at first, Touko opens up to Yuu and confesses that she isn't the model of perfection everyone sees her as. In fact, she went through most of her life feeling weak and unwanted and essentially sacrificed everything just to be able to feel like 'her.' Many of us can relate to never wanting to be seen as weak, so the fact that Touko has dedicated her life to that really goes to show us just how little she thinks of herself. It also explains why she's rejected so many suitors. Touko believes that these people weren't confessing their love for her, but for the image of perfection that she had created. All of those suitors were in love with not a person, but a concept -- and that goes on to explain why Touko is so infatuated with her kouhai. Yuu is the first person who is able to see through Touko's guise.
Of course, the two girls can only stay outside for so long and eventually have to get back in there and recite their campaign speeches. Yuu's speech, however, doesn't go exactly as planned. Instead of ending the speech in the standard manner of "That's why you should vote for Nanami," she actually goes off the books and explains how she, herself, has been made into a different person thanks to Touko. The direction of this scene was fantastic, with bits of internal monologue thrown in between lines of the campaign speech, showing that Yuu clearly views her senpai as someone special or important in some way, shape, or form. At the end of the day, she winds up going a little overboard in terms of her praise, but Nanami is still named the new student council president. And with Yuu finally deciding to join the council, the next phase of her relationship with Touko is set to begin.
In Summary:
I've got a feeling that this series of reviews is going to turn out the same way my take on Tsukigakirei was. That is, suffice it say, overwhelmingly positive unless something changes drastically. The mood, the artwork, the characters, even the opening and ending sequences are all nearly flawless as far as I'm concerned. And even though we're still in the early stages of the adaptation, I can't foresee any drop in quality coming any time soon. Excellent on all fronts, I continue to recommend Bloom Into You to anyone interested in the romance genre -- not just yuri.
Episode Grade: A-
Streamed By: HIDIVE
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