It’s bear time, and all of the tertiary bears are dead! Yuri Kuma has always been pretty narrow in its scope, but with Yuriika gone and Kureha apparently accepted by her classmates for the moment, there’s not much left to do but see Ginko and Kureha finally clash. Will Ginko’s lust-rage devour her friend? Will Kureha forgive her friend? Will we just get three straight episodes of Lulu derping around instead, which I totally wouldn’t mind and upon reflection actively encourage? ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
Episode 10
0:42 – Yuri Kuma really does feel more like a movie than a show in some ways. It’s fixated on such a narrow frame of moments, revolving around them slowly from all these different angles
1:17 – Hmm
1:23 – Great voyeuristic horror-movie shot
1:59 – Little Ginko is even more adorable
4:45 – Of course even the anti-bear squad is still all young girls. Only girls who haven’t been corrupted by bearness exist here
5:09 – This show is ridiculous
5:22 – This show
5:31 – THIS SHOW
5:34 – THAT IS INTENSELY DEMENTED
5:54 – Flawless disguise
6:25 – Like in Utena, the framing device characters eventually enter the overt narrative, which ends up highlighting how the actions of the main characters are literal performances for a literal audience. The judging male perspective comments and eats popcorn and then decides characters’ fates
6:50 – Interesting framing. Here, “beyond severance” doesn’t seem to refer to a literal wall anymore – “severance” is the distance that is required to exist between any of the girls, and in order to become more intimate than that, you must go to the court and declare what you are willing to become
7:26 – This could go several ways. Smashing the mirror could mean giving up your identity as a girl, as the bears do, or it could mean giving up your selfishness and ego, as Ginko needs to
8:04 – These drawings are so nice
8:26 – Beautiful
8:37 – I think this show might be about gay girls or something
8:50 – The star no longer a symbol of love’s ephemerality, but a guide to follow
9:02 – Of course, this happy ending only exists in a storybook, and real life is more complicated
10:54 – Holy crap is it nice to see these characters finally able to be honest with each other
11:16 – The bear arbitrators weren’t wrong there – love does come in many forms. We waver between being driven by passion and empathy. And Lulu has still been insanely selfless this series!
12:27 – Yep, that’s pretty much the only big remaining question
12:49 – Lulu is too good for this world
13:17 – One of the rules this show’s characters assume they can’t fight against
13:40 – Yep, the evidence checks out
15:45 – Well that would explain it
16:34 – noooo
16:42 – Wow, this is such a perfect line for these assholes. “Sorry, can’t help you, we enjoy living in a world where your behavior and even ability to help others like you is dictated by our arbitrary set of rules that only we can change if we feel like it”
17:26 – After being punished for betraying the rules and helping Kureha, Lulu’s now going to be attacked by a weapon powered by her captured and reprogrammed fellow bears. Is ”society makes disenfranchised groups oppress themselves” clear enough yet?
17:40 – YURI LASER CANNON GO
18:04 – PLEASE SAVE LULU
18:03 – Directly echoing the shots when Reia was letting Ginko escape
20:38 – Aw jeez. And now she’s going to run into desire-mad Ginko
21:22 – Kureha’s finally come together. She’s rigid and stubborn and full of anger, but she cares about them. Trying to push Ginko away so she doesn’t come back to Kureha’s oppressive world
21:38 – Kurehaaa. The classic, awful line – “may we meet in a better world than this”
22:41 – Oh wow, just look at this shot
22:46 – The horror movie shots again, with the monster lurking in the woods
24:27 – OH SHIIIIII
And Done
It’s coming together now! Well, I sorta got the Lulu episode I wanted, but it ended up being all kinds of sad, and now Lulu’s trapped beyond the wall. We’re basically out of mysteries now, and Kureha’s being hunted by all the people who’ve been turned against her in spite of themselves – the girls who propagate their oppressive system and the lover who now only wants to possess her. And the trial begins. The flower’s really friggin’ opening now…
Kureha pretty much feeds Lulu with lies in order to protect her – I mean, she gives her the honey pot which implies she shared her love with her, just like Lulu’s younger brother tried to do. Also I suppose that since Lulu’s contract with the Court is broken, she may restore what she had to give up in order to become a human – her “kisses” (which most likely stand for fulfilling love) – and thus she gains them back.