Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m thinking it’s about time to check back in on the continuing trials of Yuki Yuna, as the Hero Club celebrates their recent domestication of transfer student-slash-Divine Tree guardian Karin Miyoshi. In spite of her efforts to live a life of spartan dedication to her martial duties, Karin was unable to resist the charms of her new companions, and was last seen sharing in the celebration of her recent birthday. I’m sorry Karin, but this show’s slice of life predilections are at least as significant as its action ones, thus there’s simply no way you’re avoiding a lot of snacks and club meetings.
With Karin now integrated into the overall group dynamic, I suspect we’ll be turning back to matters of Divine Tree defense, and am curious to see what new wrinkles this narrative phase might provide. Outside of the understandable tension provided by Fu unilaterally conscripting her friends into a deadly supernatural battle, our cast have so far been largely unchallenged and on the same page regarding their current circumstances, so I suspect complications will be arriving soon. Let’s see what Uezu has in store for our heroes as the battle for the Divine Tree continues!
Episode 4
We open on a music lesson, with the anxious Itsuki being called to perform in front of the class. Itsuki’s certainly the group member who could most use some personal development, as she’s so far been characterized mostly as her sister’s loyal subordinate. All of the others have chosen to fight of their own volition; Itsuki is still just following the group
“I’m a bit anxious about singing in front of others.” An easy stand-in for her general reluctance to take initiative or draw attention to herself
I’m a little surprised that Karin still hasn’t been added to the OP. Interesting
“Shining Hearts.” An episode title too applicable to basically any magical girl drama to give us any clues
The episode proper pans in on Gyuki, one of the best-named familiars I’ve come across
Holy shit, their website is receiving over ten thousand views a day. How many people even live in their town? I can’t imagine their hero club activities are of national interest
Ah, I see, they’re juicing the numbers with adorable kitten pictures. I should really consider that tactic myself, adding some daily Eevee pictures to the blog
The group are already assigning Karin goofy nicknames, a fine illustration of her comfortable integration into their conversational dynamic
Itsuki uses her tarot cards to predict how she’ll do on her singing test, and sees only Death in her future. The tarot cards also seem to reflect Itsuki’s generally hesitant nature – she relies on them much like she relies on her sister, letting others dictate her path so she doesn’t have to embrace the frightful prospect of taking center stage and being responsible for her destiny
Fu, of course, is utterly unbothered by such predictions
Nice array of expressions as they all react to her drawing Death four times in a row – I particularly like how Togo is clearly just amused by this whole situation, but trying not to laugh outright
And thus the club decides to help Itsuki pass her singing test
“Itsuki’s a pretty good singer when she’s alone.” Clearly framing this conflict as not about her singing ability, but her confidence in taking the lead
At karaoke practice, Yuna attempts to cajole Karin into a duet in order to further their bond, but Fu has a better idea: play into Karin’s clearly competitive nature
Tomoyo Kurosawa putting some good work in conveying Itsuki’s awkwardly wavering singing voice
Togo’s song is of course a martial anthem. Seems clear enough at this point that she’s just a military nerd
Fu gets a message from the Taisha, telling her to “expect the worst.” She retreats to the bathroom to collect herself, at which point Karin confronts her, stating that she’s not well-suited to being a leader. Excellent, this is precisely the sort of thing I was hoping for – some genuine uncertainty from our heretofore unflappable leader, as well as some tension in the group. “The protagonists ably rise to every challenge they face without fear or complaint” doesn’t really make for thrilling drama
“As a junior, you should be following me.” And Fu’s response doesn’t really address the heart of Karin’s complaint. Between this and Fu’s initial concealing of the Hero Club’s true nature, it seems clear that Fu isn’t actually a good leader – she conceals too much, doesn’t really trust her teammates, and was only able to pull this team together because Itsuki trusts her utterly, Togo feels obligated to defend their island, and Yuna is too happy-go-lucky to feel the weight of their responsibility
As the group discusses karaoke on their way home, it’s clear that Fu again declined to share this warning with her friends. Her suggestion that Itsuki “just needs to study a bit more” rings hollow when she clearly doesn’t believe in her sister enough to share this key information
The next day, Karin arrives with a bunch of throat-assisting supplements. Perhaps going overboard, but she’s at least taking direct actions to help Itsuki, unlike Fu
We witness a flashback to elementary school, when a “group of strangers” arrived at the sisters’ house, and apparently informed them that their parents had died. The masks worn by these strangers make me wonder if their deaths had something to do with the Divine Tree, and if this was when Fu was forced to take on their duties. This also goes some distance in explaining why Fu is the way she is – she’s had to be both Itsuki’s sister and mother for years, so she’s accustomed to shouldering difficult truths, which likely makes it harder to share her burdens with those who rely on her
“Her back became the safest place in the world to me.” Kinda explains both of them, really
And of course, Itsuki now feels guilty that she’s unable to share Fu’s burdens
Lovely, gentle domestic scene as Fu prepares breakfast for the two of them, prompting Itsuki to again realize how much her sister protects her
“You always have a hard time looking after me.” “Well, I have my own reasons. To put it bluntly, I have to maintain world peace. We’re heroes, after all.” An exceedingly strange way to phrase her obligation to support her sister
“Reasons don’t matter, as long as you can work towards them.” This explanation also just confuses Itsuki, making her wonder if there’s been any greater purpose in her following her sister. Most people have to believe in what they’re pursuing to find meaning and conviction, but Fu frames everything as an arbitrary obligation – “I have to do this because I have to do it”
“I don’t have any reasons for anything”
Seems Karin has some general difficulty with map directions
Fu and Itsuki arrive at the current caretakers of one of their kittens, only to find the young girl hosting him doesn’t want to give him up to his new family. Fu says not to worry, and that she’ll handle it
The girl’s protests prompt some reflection from Fu – that she too should have fought for her sister, rather than allow Itsuki to become a hero
Of course, this sort of shared responsibility is exactly what Itsuki has been hoping for. A very clean way of connecting their current duties to their long-standing dynamic
At the singing test, Itsuki discovers a note of encouragement left by all her clubmates. Just as the memories of karaoke fueled her private practice, so do their words of encouragement help her now
And in the end, her success prompts a desire to actually become a singer – a goal all her own, and one she decides to keep secret from her sister, thereby further establishing her independence
And Done
Damn, that was an excellent episode! And we didn’t even need to dig any deeper into the show’s supernatural conflict – just by more closely observing the relationship between Fu and Itsuki, Yuki Yuna was able to deliver a poignant and multifaceted slice of character drama, while enriching our understanding of both the sisters. I particularly like how their issues weren’t neatly tied up and resolved; this was a key moment for Itsuki learning to express herself, but her ultimate success came from a realization that it’s perfectly okay to find your strength in the people around you, while Fu’s efforts to help and protect her sister were well-intended but frequently misguided and self-defeating. We’re teasing out some welcome subtleties in the group’s characterization, and simultaneously planting seeds for future issues regarding Fu’s questionable approach to leadership. A thoughtful and very welcome installment!
This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you do.
No mention of the post-credits stinger? This is the first but not the only episode with one.
The first season of YuYuYu had three writers, and all three are central creators in the franchise. Takahiro (five episodes) is of course the concept creator of the entire franchise, and the author of its first novel, Washio Sumi is a Hero. Makoto Uezu (three episodes) was series composer for all three seasons of the anime. And Osamu Murata (four episodes, of which this one is the first) is better known by the pen name Aoi Akashiro, and under that pen name wrote the second and subsequent novels in the franchise as well as short stories, audio dramas and game scenarios. If I had to pick one of the S1 writers as the “big gun” brought out for especially important episodes, I think it would be Murata/Akashiro.
Speaking of staff, I didn’t even notice until my most recent rewatch, but the next episode, episode 5 has Kou Yoshinari credited for “effects design collaboration”.
This episode’s bit of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it worldbuilding (or just miss it if you can’t understand Japanese, since none of it is subtitled): In the scene in Itsuki’s classroom after the flashback and the breakfast scene, the blackboard reads “The origin of the Divine Era” and in large circled text, “VIRUS”. Only a few words of the teacher’s lesson can be made out over Itsuki’s inner monologue, but it sounds like he’s describing some catastrophe that the Taisha and Shinju saved the world from, and a new calendar era that began the year when the world came under their protection.