You know what folks, we’re watching more Bloom Into You. I have been absolutely loving this show’s thoughtful, incredibly sympathetic drama, and its characters have only gotten more rich and human as the show progresses. That goes doubly so for Touko, who just received an unexpected dash of sympathy from outside the show proper. Though I mentioned in the last two writeups that bad subtitles sabotaged Touko’s characterization, I originally watched through those episodes before I knew that – this writeup right here is the first time I’ve been actively aware that Touko’s confession was more “I’m afraid that if I accept my true self, no one will care for me,” and less “if you ever change, I’ll abandon you.” That puts Touko perfectly in line with both of our other leads, afraid that any expression of their true selves will get them cast aside. Though she still has more power in this relationship than Yuu, she’s nearly as vulnerable, and as Yuu begins to embrace her own feelings, I’m guessing that balance will continue to shift.

Speaking of which, holy crap, Yuu’s in love! Or lust, or infatuation, or something – regardless of their specific substance, Yuu is now clearly feeling physical, romantic feelings towards Touko. Though it would have been very interesting to have a genuinely asexual character as a romantic drama lead, it turns out Yuu’s issue was something also quite common to teenagers – it just took her a little longer to feel these feelings than others, and she assumed that meant there was something wrong with her. With Yuu now both intellectually and emotionally invested in moving beyond her current position, I’m guessing her current relationship will definitely run into some friction. Let’s see where this wonderful drama takes us next!

Episode 10

We open with Sayaka and Touko at lunch, discussing “dreams of the past”

Their friends question the likelihood of dreaming out full memories of the past, which Sayaka counters by saying that if some past event is consistently on your mind, you might actually dream about your steady remembrance of that event. So what event is on our characters’ minds, then?

It might be time for some more context on why Touko is quite so wedded to her public image – the key, traumatic events that keep replaying through her mind

And the play is done! That should offer this season a pretty satisfying endpoint, which is always a concern when it comes to adaptations of continuing manga

“I’m still not sure I like the ending.” A profoundly convenient thing for Koyomi to admit, given this show’s fundamental question is “how will this strangely inauthentic relationship resolve itself.” If the play is a mirror for the relationship between these three girls, then having the student council members themselves argue over the ending is the perfect choice

We’re reminded that Yuu is now fundamentally uncomfortable standing in Touko’s presence. When she felt nothing for Touko, it was easy to counter Touko’s own advances with bold but emotionally sterile moves of her own – now, she’s far more vulnerable, and self-conscious about her own presentation

“Was she putting some distance between us? Maybe I went too far before.” Touko sees Yuu’s actions, but interprets them in the opposite direction – that she’d prefer less intimacy. It’s kinda tragic that Touko is trying to be considerate, but can’t see the disaster coming

“Don’t make her hate you.” It is nice to finally be able to fully invest in Touko’s insecurity, and sympathize with her clear vulnerability. Touko is walking on eggshells around Yuu as much as Yuu is doing around Touko, desperate not to lose the one person she can honest with

“The protagonist of the story is a girl afflicted by amnesia” goddamnit Koyomi, amnesia is like the most played-out device there is

“The story takes place in her hospital room. One by one she’s visited by a family member, a friend, and her lover. As they reminisce about the days they spent with the girl, three completely conflicting personas emerge.” Who would have guessed Koyomi’s play focuses on the partial truths of the public roles we play

“With no signs of her memories returning, she is consumed by anxiety. She wants to go back to her old self, but she has no idea which of the three personas is her true self.”

“If I can’t become someone, I will have nothing.” A great summation of one of the central insecurities of adolescence, and life more generally – the idea that simply existing and being yourself is not enough, that you must become a person who the world at large is willing to acknowledge

Lots of very nice outdoor backgrounds in this episode

This show’s layouts are so consistently strong. The animation can flag, but every scene is full of shots as smartly composed and inherently appealing as this one where Yuu’s thoughts on tanabata wishes are literally ringed by the tree itself (on tanabata, you write wishes on a slip of paper and then tie them to a bamboo tree). A less thoughtful director would probably just pan up the tree itself for this moment, but this framing helps emphasize the sense that this is basically an afterthought in Yuu’s mind. And that in turn echoes Yuu’s general inability to articulate and pursue the specific things she wants

Koyomi’s roles are so on the nose that Touko successfully lists all of her intended actors, ending with Sayaka taking the role of Touko’s lover. This will be interesting!

Sayaka is uncomfortable with this, unsurprisingly. In spite of recently establishing at least the beginning of a support structure, so much of her identity is caught up in downplaying her feelings and reasserting her “normalcy.” It’s not liberating for her to play this role – it’s terrifying

Instead of rejecting the role, she asks for Touko’s thoughts, essentially seeking her approval for a new kind of intimacy

Hakozaki-sensei stops by to tell Touko her requests regarding a summer training camp have been approved. Bloom Into You is very good about keeping generally relevant but not currently key characters present in its narrative – it doesn’t feel like people like Hakozaki pop in and out of existence whenever a relevant arc arrives, they’re always featured in plenty of incidental moments

“You make it seem like you’re asking us, but you’ve already decided, haven’t you?” Yuu sums up Touko in a line

It feels like Yuu is trying to reassert their traditional relationship in this scene after school, as she prods at Touko about how she’ll act at the summer camp. Yuu still isn’t really sure what’s going on with her feelings

“I can’t make the first move, yet Nanami does whatever she pleases with me.” Yuu has moved on to the point of actually being jealous of Nanami’s ability to initiate romantic contact – she wants it herself now, but can’t give that away

Ahaha, this incidental narrative of Miyako trying to snuggle with Hakozaki when she’s on the phone is adorable. Another instance of deliberately keeping the whole cast present, this time illustrated through a charming little visual narrative

And we return to school with Yuu once again staring at the Tanabata tree. A fitting motif for an episode largely focused on Yuu trying to figure out what she really wants

“What do people normally do during summer break?” Wonder what they should do over summer break, in my experience

This is another episode that very much feels like two mini-episodes. It seems like the Bloom Into You manga was very fond of framing single chapters around specific visual or narrative concepts (“tanabata as a reflection of Yuu’s feelings” moving into “Yuu’s running commentary on summer boredom”), which is a great use of manga as a medium, but results in some awkward structural beats in adaptation. As I’ve said before, the better any property is at using its original medium, the harder it can be to satisfyingly adapt it into a medium with different dramatic assumptions and strengths

Yuu runs into her old friend Natsuki

They head to Miyako’s cafe, giving Miyako a much clearer impression of the clusterfuck which is this student council

Both this show and Mob Psycho are giving me great respect for how much self-assured, reliable adult characters can enrich adolescent dramas

Natsuki highlights how Yuu’s relationship with Touko has changed her, helping her learn to more fully embrace her feelings. Even if it’s just bickering about Touko, Yuu is now far more comfortable expressing her own desires

Natsuki’s a good friend! She had considered asking Yuu to join her at a high school with a softball team, but knew that Yuu would have agreed simply because it’s in her nature

We finally see Touko with her parents! Her father tells her she doesn’t have to try so hard, and she brushes him off, leaving the room. It doesn’t seem like it’s her parents driving her to be the perfect replacement daughter – or at least, if her father once did imply that, he’s learned to regret the consequences

Touko’s identity depends on self-deception – it’d be impossible to live if she were constantly, actively reflecting on how she’s performing a self, and so reminders that she’s performing are actively painful. She thinks about reaching out to Yuu for support, but then feels afraid that relying on Yuu might make her lose her. LIFE IS TOUGH

And we end with Touko reliving her sister’s death once more, echoing the episode’s opening scene, and ending on the declaration “I will become my sister.” Cool cool, glad that’s settled

And Done

Well, that sure was a scattered jumble of scenes! This episode was certainly much less focused on any one topic than the last several, with its vague “tanabata reflections” and “beginning of summer” topics mostly just serving as a venue for scattered reflections by most of our key players. That doesn’t mean it was a bad episode, though – it was still just as thoughtful as ever, and it’s been great seeing Yuu slowly and somewhat unwittingly embrace her own feelings. Touko’s the big question at this point; the show moved closer in to her perspective than ever before this time, and the biggest takeaway was that she’s resolutely committed to not changing. As both Yuu and Sayaka learn to be more comfortable with their feelings, they’re going to start rebelling against the frame Touko has established. We’ll have to see whether Touko’s unsteady equilibrium can survive the drama of summer camp!

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