Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am once again harkening to the siren song of Seiren Academy, as angry trains pummel the tracks in a promise of violence to come, while dark towers cast long, shadowy fingers across the campus. In a place like this, you’re either the belle of the ball or the daughter of a rat-dog – the only certainty is uncertainty, as young champions vie for a fragment of stable ground.

Yes, it’s time for more goddamn Dear Brother, and boy am I eager to see what madness approaches. Our last episode saw Nanako being drawn fully into the world of Saint-Juste, as she played truant, ate some bad egg salad, and even took a puff from a cigarette. The two possess an obviously hopeless chemistry; each sees the other not as a person, but as a symbol, with Nanako admiring Saint-Juste’s alleged freedom while Saint-Juste covets the purity of her “petite doll.” But while symbols can retain beauty through abstraction, people are complicated and contradictory; as the distance between these two lessens, they will inevitably fail to embody each other’s longed-for ideals. However things shake out, I’m sure we’ve got a calamitous journey ahead of us as we return to Dear Brother!

Episode 19

We return to that fateful moment sheltered beneath the tree, as Nanako begs Saint-Juste to let her smoke a cigarette. The way the scene plays out feels instructive regarding their feelings towards each other. Nanako actively wants to smoke the cigarette – she desires Saint-Juste’s strength and freedom, and feels these cigarettes are essentially the embodiment of that power. In contrast, Saint-Juste does not want Nanako to actively seek a cigarette, because that would undercut what Nanako represents to her – however, she is willing to “befoul” Nanako herself, because in that case, Nanako’s desires theoretically remain pure. She will only give Nanako a cigarette if Nanako doesn’t want one

And of course, this all plays on a classic sex-oriented “soiled purity” level, particularly given Saint-Juste’s masculine affect and the phallic nature of the cigarette itself

“I want you staying just as you are… until the end of time.” Saint-Juste wishes for Nanako to join her in the picture frame for one perfect, eternal moment. As always, Saint-Juste cannot escape the past, and thus ends up retreating from the present

“The Utakata Game”

Lovely cuts setting the tree in near-total shadow, its rustling leaves contrasted against a pale blue sky. Every episode of Dear Brother winningly demonstrates how strong fundamental compositions can easily counterbalance a lack of fluid animation – this sequence is simultaneously beautiful and economical, with only the floating leaves actually moving in a simple, repeating cycle

Nanako’s declaration of love is met by a retreat from Saint-Juste, who states that if they hurry, they can catch the afternoon classes. It seems like Nanako’s adoration might have chastened her, and made her realize that Nanako ought to walk a different path

Nanako’s repeated declaration of love is contrasted against bubbles and ripples on the pond – effervescent and transient, a fleeting soap bubble of passion

Cutting back to Dear Brother himself, he reflects to his companion that they also skipped classes back in high school. Is Nanako’s rebellion significant, or merely a brief indulgence of youth?

Apparently Dear Brother has some former connection with both Saint-Juste and Kaoru

Upon returning to school, Nanako lies to her confidants, telling them she felt sick and stopped at a coffee shop to rest. Her bond with Saint-Juste remains a secret, a straying beyond the expected path that she cannot reconcile with her ordinary life

Once again, Nanako’s declaration is framed against ripples on the pond – a visual motif that pops up in a variety of anime. I suppose it’s a convenient signifier for a single action that provokes much larger consequences

“That dreamlike moment isn’t over. Instead it is expanding, inflating like a giant bubble.” Her reflections swiftly make that interpretation explicit

As the bus progresses towards the setting sun, Saint-Juste is framed as the sun itself, her absence just as notable as her presence

Even as Nanako wishes for her bubble of a daydream never to end, it is threatened by the cracks in her story, as she claims she spent the morning at a cafe that Tomoko points out only opens in the afternoon. Can she retain this fantasy without threatening her ordinary happiness, or must she choose, like Saint-Juste, to live only in the dream?

But Tomoko is as good a friend as ever, and declares she is mostly just relieved to see Nanako so happy

We then get a rare glimpse of Miya-sama’s home, as her brother enquires about Saint-Juste’s attendance record

Oooh, that bastard! He actually mentions Nanako was abducted by Saint-Juste, letting Miya-sama know about her infidelity to the Sorority

Some wonderful postcard memory shots of Nanako and Saint-Juste as she reflects on how she doesn’t wish to be alone, as she seemingly can’t bear to be isolated with her reflections on having actually admitted her love

“I never thought I’d say those words.” Nanako’s reflections on her rebellion only emphasize her youth and inexperience

Arriving home, she is greeted by a new dress her father purchased. Here at least, she is still cherished as the child she once was – of course, as Saint-Juste’s overlaid voice emphasizes, her identity here is actually quite akin to her treatment as an innocent doll by her new love

Alone at last, she can no longer escape the anxiety of awaiting Saint-Juste’s response

Saint-Juste remains ascendant at school the next day, once again playing basketball in direct defiance of Miya-sama’s wishes

This sequence is a fine demonstration of how sound design can itself create a sense of movement or action; we’re mostly just panning across stills, but the frantic, overlapping cries of Saint-Juste’s groupies nonetheless gives the scene a real sense of energy

Kaoru swiftly dresses down the peanut gallery. Good to see her back on the court as well

While our two titans banter comfortably, Nanako clings to the shadows, uncertain of her current relationship with Saint-Juste

“I can’t even say ‘hello’ like I used to anymore.” A confession always changes a relational dynamic, and an unanswered confession leaves all the more power in the hands of its recipient, even setting aside how Nanako and Saint-Juste possessed a wildly unequal power dynamic in the first place

Saint-Juste defines Nanako not as a groupie, but as “an acquaintance of Henmi Takahiko,” further gesturing towards the apparent significance of their secret history

“I’ve forgotten him completely” is Kaoru’s reply. The imagery seems to tether Henmi to whatever great rift prompted Saint-Juste’s retreat into the belltower, as we see those birds in flight contrasted against the tower’s stained glass

I quite like this montage across Seiren’s signature features as Nanako translates a passage about love. This school has most often been framed as imposing and ominous, but in this moment we can appreciate its clear beauty, and understand why such grand scenery would instill exuberant romantic feelings in its student body. Ensconced within scenery so strongly evoking classic romantic melodramas, why wouldn’t these students feel like they’ve been transported to just such a tale?

“I sit alone on these tracks, tracks reddened with rust.” In the passage she reads, trains are framed specifically as vectors of transition – objects that will carry you forward into an unknown future. But Nanako, like the speaker and Saint-Juste, is trapped in a single moment

Seeing Nanako’s state, Kaoru invites her out to a cafe after school

Kaoru warns her that falling for Rei will only cause pain, because “Rei is enslaved to a goddess.” Yeah, there is a ridiculous load of baggage involved in this whole family situation

“Her love was so profound that it was beyond my ability to even imagine, and that even now she might still feel that same way.” Yep. Kaoru speaks from experience, standing many steps down the same path Nanoko is preparing to walk

Thus we arrive at our episode title, with Kaoru warning Nanako that love is “utakata,” a bubble on the surface of the water

But of course, life is the same way. We must strive and fall and skin our knees precisely because our time is so short – “its beauty lies in its brevity”

“But we must never despise it for being so ephemeral.” Thus Kaoru has come to terms with her hopeless love. But must Nanako walk the same path?

Late at night, Miya-sama calls Saint-Juste directly, and reminisces on when they first met at ten and eleven years old

“That is why you must only look at me.” Miya-sama’s iron grip over the sorority appears to be an expansion or reprise of her relationship with Rei. While Kaoru sees love as inherently ephemeral, something you cannot reach towards without destroying, Miya-sama believes love is a cage

And Done

Thus concludes an episode that offered a welcome degree of context regarding the thorny history of Saint-Juste and Miya-sama, as well as two fundamentally opposing perspectives on the nature of love itself. And yet, for all the differences between Kaoru and Miya-sama’s perspective, they both seem to embody that fear Nanako recited, the terror of being left alone and languishing as the train pulls away. Kaoru attempts to find solace in the beauty of impermanence, while Miya-sama and Saint-Juste cling to a vanishing past, but none of Seiren’s titans seem capable of actually moving beyond the passions which inspired their strange, circular routine. After initially serving as a catalyst provoking these figures into motion, Nanako now seems at risk of falling into their rhythm, and accepting that love cannot survive beyond its initial, momentary splendor. As our heroes continue to dance and sway to a never-ending tune, I can only hope Nanako regains her independence once more!

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