Hello folks, and thank you for joining me as we explore another episode of the excellent Bloom Into You! This show has carried itself with confidence all throughout its first half, and as we near its halfway point, I find myself ever more invested in the strange, perpetually unequal relationship between Yuu and Touko. Our two leads definitely don’t have a healthy relationship at the moment, but their bond convincingly reflects each of their identities, and what each of them are looking for.

If Yuu was a confident and well-adjusted person, she’d almost certainly never have agreed to this quasi-relationship with Touko… of course, we know well that Yuu is anything but a confident and well-adjusted person. Yuu is defined by her insecurities and worried that there’s something fundamentally wrong with her, and even though she can’t reciprocate Touko’s feelings, she’s happy just to have a close friend and confidant who both values her presence and can actually listen to her worries. Meanwhile, Touko is too preoccupied with her infatuation to really engage with Yuu’s needs, or respect her boundaries – an issue further complicated by Yuu’s tendency to blur the lines of whether they’re joking or flirting with each other. Their relationship is a mess, in short, but it’s the kind of mess that emphasizes the relatable flaws and fundamental humanity of its occupants. Right now they are each asking the other for something they can’t really provide, and though they certainly care about each other, that’s not enough to create a real relationship. I’m very excited to see where this flaming car of a romance goes, so let’s get right on with exploring the next episode!

Episode 6

We open with a shot of the door of the clubroom’s front door from the interior, as we hear the muffled voices of the underclassmen approaching. A shot that instantly sets us on intimate, level footing with the cast, and aligns us with Touko, who’s presumably the only one in the building

Yuu thinks “I want to find a way to make myself look at her the way she always looks at me.” Touko is indeed bouncing between giddy, love-struck expressions, and this followup demonstrates that the first shot was intended to imply how Touko’s attention is drawn to Yuu’s approaching presence the moment she knows she’s coming

This OP is still so strong – great music, great visuals. The only one this season I’m not skipping

Right, they took a week off for finals. I guess we’re jumping past that

The student council are having trouble with the script for their play, and Touko asks if any of them know someone who’s good at writing. This is why they seeded Koyomi’s passion for writing a little while back – that scene felt out of the blue at the time, but now it results in a smooth, natural payoff

Yuu says she “can’t think of anyone,” though. Sure

A heavy focus on Sayaka’s unhappy reactions to Touko throughout this sequence

Yuu frets in the corner about asking Koyomi, visually isolated in an empty room and the corner of the frame

And Sayaka finds her

“So, you knew someone that could write our script, but kept it a secret from everyone earlier?” What an accusatory way of phrasing that. The blocking enhances the sense of conflict, with Sayaka resolutely staring at her boiling coffee as she questions Yuu

“Do you think I was gullible enough to actually believe that?” Sayaka leans in over Yuu, and the camera actually shifts to present her face as directly overhead. She visually overwhelms Yuu

It seems like Sayaka knows Touko’s true nature as well as Yuu, but that’s because of careful observation, not outright confession

It’s an interesting situation. Yuu didn’t speak up because she wanted to shield Touko from overworking herself, whereas Sayaka sees that as an unacceptable denial of Touko’s own wishes. Sayaka, who seems to nearly worship Touko, can’t really countenance denying her wishes, even if for Touko’s own sake

“There’s nothing that you need to worry about. She’s got me to look after her.” And then there’s that angle, where Sayaka feels threatened by someone else performing her role

We’re given a clue regarding the student council president from seven years ago

And it turns out the relevant documents have been removed from the council office. THE MYSTERY DEEPENS

Yuu idly mentions writing a script to Koyomi, who seems very interested

We also learn that Yuu is an “avid reader who knows good books,” which feels very appropriate for her character. She’s spent her life absorbing the stories of others, certain she’ll never write her own

Did the student council from seven years ago also feature a gay couple whose romance was sparked by the school play? Not sure where we’re going here

Yuu asks the obvious question: why did someone work so hard to delete these records?

Yuu briefly considers asking Touko directly, but reconsiders. A good reflection of their dishonest relationship in general, also reflected through her hesitance regarding Koyomi. If they had a healthy relationship, she’s just tell Touko “I think you’re overworking yourself,” not sneak around behind her back sabotaging her plans

Through a contact of her sister’s, Yuu learns the president seven years ago was Mio Nanami

Oh shit. It’s Touko’s sister, who died in a traffic accident

She actually died just before the stage play, and it was never performed again

“Nanami is actually exactly like her sister, it’s almost like they’re twins.” Meaning Nanami is not actually like her sister, but her sister is clearly the template she herself is trying to emulate. She was unhappy with who she was, so she decided to become more like her beloved sister. Jeez

“Obviously she’s doing all of this because she wants to… but… for how long?” Yuu’s indecision gets an extremely on-the-nose visual illustration, as she finds herself at the end of a school hall with branches to the left and right. Does she actually confront Touko, or continue to support her fantasy?

Okay good, she actually asks Touko to walk home with her

Once again, the shots around town are friggin’ gorgeous. I love the understated yellow-tinged color palette for this train crossing

And she just comes right out with it: “you’re trying to become exactly like your sister, right?”

Shots focused on Touko’s feet as she jumps across the river are both beautiful in their own right and a natural reflection of her trying to keep her mind occupied with something outside of this painful conversation

This is such a good sequence for Yuu! She speaks her mind about Touko’s decisions while staying as respectful as possible, acknowledging Touko’s wishes while strongly emphasizing how she thinks she’s hurting herself. Honest communication, hell yeah

“I think there are more people than you realize who can accept the real you.” This is true and kindly meant, but I get the feeling Touko is performing for an audience of one

The steps over the river form a barrier akin to the train crossing, and then we actually get the warning bells of the train approaching. “I would rather die than hear those words,” Touko responds, reemphasizing the emotional barrier between them

A shot of Touko standing on a chair to reach her sister’s uniform emphasizes the scale of the shoes she’s expected to fill

“When I adopted my sister’s persona, everyone seemed happier. They even started to call me special.”

“I just can’t give up being ‘special’ in front of everyone else.” Damn

So Touko lays out the ultimatum: following her sister’s example and completing the stage show matters more to her than Yuu does. And Yuu, having basked in Touko’s unquestioned affection until now, is genuinely terrified by the thought of losing her

The blocking of this scene is very loud, but certainly effective. The river and these stones across it allow for symmetrical layouts that echo earlier episodes, but with Touko moving further and further away from Yuu

Yuu finally steps towards Touko by admitting her own feelings regarding romance. But of course, she can only cross the river halfway

God, this relationship is such a mess. This sequence is essentially framed as its characters see it, this romantic culmination that demands equal investment from both of them (thus the framing device of them crossing the rocks towards each other). But it’s based entirely on each of them denying key parts of themselves just to stay close and fight off their mutual loneliness

“Yuu, stay the way you are.” “Okay.” ‘I want to change. But the reason I lied was I’m also lonely.’ YEP

Touko reflects on how saying you love someone now implies that if they change, you’ll no longer love them. Her idea of “love” is all about capturing and holding onto things, clearly inspired by her sister’s immobile presence in her past

And so she actually never wants Yuu to learn how to love, even if it’s Touko she loves

And Done

OH MY GOD WHAT A MESS. Just last episode, I was actually looking forward to seeing these two genuinely grow closer to and more honest with each other. Well, this episode was basically Touko making a desperate and deeply unhealthy counterargument to that idea, starting from the wildly unfortunate “I can only be loved if I imitate my sister,” and finishing up with the profoundly selfish “I want Yuu to always be a loveless object I can cradle.” Touko is a friggin’ disaster, and though she clearly needs help with her various psychological hangups, Yuu is far too desperate for approval and affection to offer that. This episode resoundingly underlined the fact that this relationship is a total disaster, and I cannot wait to see what blows up or catches fire next.

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