Alright everyone, it’s time to dive right back in to Bloom Into You. With the series over halfway over at this point, we’ve gained a solid understanding of Yuu, Touko, and even Sayaka’s feelings, as each of them grapple with shifting desires and an inability to fully embrace their own identities. “I have to perform an artificial self in order to maintain my status in high school” is a very common sentiment, but it’s taken a different form for each of these girls. For Touko, denying her identity is something she does willingly, or even gladly – she’s happier acting as her sister’s replacement than being herself, and afraid of being rejected for performing anything less than perfection. For Yuu, what was initially a comforting relationship with Touko has begun to feel significantly less so, as her own desires grow beyond what Touko is willing to accept from her. And for Sayaka, the overarching social prejudice against same-sex relationships weighs down heavily, making her question if there’s something fundamentally wrong with her.

Though I initially felt more sympathetic to Yuu and Sayaka’s narratives than Touko’s, I’ve since learned that Sentai royally screwed up the translation of episode six’s big confession scene – Touko wasn’t threatening Yuu, she was expressing her own fear of being rejected if she embraced herself. Knowing that, I feel much better about the manipulation and backbiting and general angst all three of these girls are throwing at each other, as they all work to present a self they think the others could love. Teens just do shitty stuff to each other, it’s a fact – they’re not monsters for that, and growing out of the insecurity that causes you to be cruel is a big part of adolescence. Let’s see what our mixed-up kids do next in another episode of Bloom Into You!

Episode 9

We open on Sayaka clarifying some events regarding the athletic day, recentering us on what will presumably be this episode’s focus. Episodes benefit from starting in medias res just like full stories do – we don’t need to see the start of this scene, we should start at the latest point which still allows for natural establishment of the episode’s overarching concerns

Various students asking Yuu about Sports Day provide a natural illustration of her growth this season – being on the student council really has helped her confidence, public speaking, and decisive decision-making. Even if she joined for Touko, she’s getting plenty else from the experience

Yuu thinks about her relationship with Touko while in the athletic shed, the intimate, isolated location mirroring the hushed privacy of her thoughts

And then Touko arrives, and… traps her in the shed? Hoo boy

The layouts further emphasize Yuu’s sense of entrapment, as she’s pressed into both the side of the shed and the side of the frame

Touko asks if she can kiss Yuu… after already isolating her in the shed and pushing her against a wall. Insecure or not, Touko definitely knows how to manipulate people

“Are you done yet?” Yuu grumbles about this lightly, but it’s clear that Touko has learned she can keep pushing if she wants to, and is willing to exploit that power. To be honest, that’s how abusers generally act – they always see compromises as “for now,” and will continue to push as long as they’re treated with civility

“Do your best to hold out until Sports Day is over.” Yuu’s behavior certainly complicates this situation. She basically treats Touko like a doting parent would, and seems to herself enjoy the odd sort of power she holds over Touko. She also clearly enjoys the “I know the Touko nobody else does” appeal of the situation, as well as Touko’s willingness to emotionally rely on her. But none of these sources of pleasure really reflect a healthy relationship – they’re all about exploiting various power differentials

Time for the Sports Day montage! Montages of athletic festival events might be the most common type of montage in anime, since they’re A. ubiquitous events, B. incredibly costly to animate, and C. generally entirely unrelated to a show’s actual drama. Shows animate the things that are important, not the things that will make audiences say “whoa, they animated all of that for some reason”

Incidentally, this has the interesting side effect of ultimately making animation convey importance. Anime relies heavily enough on stills that when something is fluidly animated, the audience will naturally sit up and pay attention. It’s thus dramatically beneficial to make sure your fluid animation and key dramatic beats align, or else result in something like that randomly fluid Nanoha scene

Akari is helping out the council. She leaves, and the camera follows her and Dojima over to Koyomi. Another subtly important trick – it is technically possible to jump from any one shot to any other shot, but if you make the camera follow a coherent track between different dramatic priorities, you end up with a far less jarring viewing experience

“What kind of personality would you say Nanami-senpai has?” Koyomi still looking for advice on finishing the script

“Maybe the fact that no one really knows her is the point of her character.” You’re not far off, Koyomi

Maki brings up Yuu’s relationship, and Yuu retreats to her familiar “I can’t fall in love with anyone.” The underwater motif that originally echoed her feelings returns, but this time, the water is bright, as if we’re just under the surface. Yuu is no longer certain her initial self-image describes who she is anymore

It turns out Maki relates to Yuu’s feelings a lot more than Touko did. They’re actually having a very nice conversation comparing their feelings

“Nanami said she wants me to stay this way, so I don’t feel lonely anymore.” Yuu is essentially expressing how she’d assume the Yuu from the beginning of this series would feel about the current Yuu, not her actual feelings. And Maki picks up on this – her sense of self has changed, and thus so have the things she’s actually looking for in a relationship

Miyako shows up! It was really the best possible choice for this story to include some goddamn adult lesbians in a real relationship. They not only provide very needed support for characters like Sayaka, but their very existence emphasizes how the “just a phase” framing that even the characters in this show struggle with is ultimately no more than a malevolent social construct

“Are you here to cheer for Hakozaki-sensei?” “I’m more likely to taunt her than cheer for her.” These are the lesbian role models we need

“She sure is pretty, but she seems like a handful romantically.” Serious understatement, Miyako

Both Touko and Serizawa, the head of the athletic club, are incredibly pumped for their relay competition… and no one else cares. Love these shots with all of their minions just sort of sighing and waiting for their Fighting Spirit to pass

Touko getting super competitive about this relay is actually pretty charming, because it’s clearly reflective of her own actual passions, not the performance she feels she must put on

This episode has a lot more loose, silly expression work than Bloom Into You’s standard

Oh shit, time for an insert song. Is this when Yuu realizes she genuinely has developed feelings for Touko?

Yep, this is it. We open with a wonderfully animated start to the race, with the very public nature of this contest immediately clear. We hit Yuu and Sayaka’s handoff, and then move closer and closer into Yuu’s head, with the music rising in intensity as all of the other sounds fade into the distance. Even the color fades, leaving just Yuu’s admiration of Touko as she tries her hardest to win this race. This is the moment

When Touko congratulates Yuu, she responds with an awkward “t-thanks,” instead of her usual easy dismissal. Having actually realized her feelings for Touko, she’s no longer able to present flippant strength in their interactions, and feels self-conscious

Oh god, now Yuu’s noticed the nape of Touko’s neck. There’s no going back from the neck nape discovery!

And this makes Touko’s request for a kiss from Yuu that much more meaningful. It’s not a passive act, it’s an aggressive declaration of feeling

Layouts focus on the somewhat awkward physicality of this moment, as Yuu tries to lower herself onto Touko’s lap. That’s something you don’t expect to be such a big part of youthful intimacy – the awkward negotiation of limbs and faces

“Something is telling me this is a line I shouldn’t cross.” Poor Yuu. There’s a comfort in “knowing who you are,” even if it’s actually a lie

“Kissing you even though I don’t like you feels like something I shouldn’t do.” And so she tries to reassert her self-perception, saying this more to herself than Touko

At this rate, “performing a false self” is going to be the biggest thing these two have in common

“S-sorry! If you’re not comfortable with it, then I’ll stop.” I do think Touko isn’t really trying to be manipulative, she’s just naturally good at it and also extremely horny

And Done

Well, shit. That’s it, folks – Yuu has genuinely fallen for Touko, and our current neutral is sure to crumble soon. I felt this episode did a great job of illustrating that dramatic turn, and in a meta-textual sense, I’m greatly relieved that we’ve passed the stage where Yuu has to simply “perform” affection for Touko’s sake. In the end, I think that not only will this shift ramp up the narrative’s momentum, but it’ll also make it much easier for me to sympathize with Touko – their current relationship felt fundamentally predatory to me, but the problem was less Touko herself than the variety of strange, arbitrary constraints they’d placed on their relationship. With those restraints now seeing a challenge by Yuu’s own feelings, I’m excited to how each of our leads handle their evolving relationship. Bloom Into You continues to kick serious ass!

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