Bloom Into You

Episode 3:

This show is so cute! I love everything about it and I hope it keeps up being as cute and pure as it has been so far. I love the idea of them just growing into loving each other. <3

I also now want one of those things that shines the stars up onto your ceiling. That'd be dope.

So. ready. for. episode. 4.

No one had better die, I'll be so mad.
 
Indeed, what is it about her?

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So annoyed.

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Looking down on others. (I do wonder if there is more meaning to this shot than just a random escalator angle.)

I know it's her "I don't get it" attitude. I wouldn't be watching this if not for her.
 
04:

I remember this point in the story, being very wary, and going oh god, are they going to insert some artificial and cliche drama here with this guy? Have him be a gigantic douchebag, black mail them or take advantage of the situation. Only for the manga to completely subvert my expectations right on it's head and I really appreciated that.
 
Yeah, Yuu's toooootally unmoved by Nanami. She doesn't feel aaaaaaanything. "I'll just stick around for no reason and let you smooch me--b-but it's not because I like you or anything!"

Yup. No sparks whatsoever.

I mean, I guess she's interested in how interested Nanami is, and, given her non-wishing wishing to actually understand love, maybe it's less a denial of feelings than, perhaps, a curiosity at the prospect of witnessing this phenomenon up close--perhaps in the hopes that it might jumpstart her indifference. (Well, that and she clearly likes Nanami, of course.)

Which is me saying I like the nuance the adaptation--by simple virtue of being animated--has brought to the story.
I don't like Maki. And I think he could be replaced with some introspective monologuing and not be missed at all.

Just as the anime has enlivened the nuance in Yuu's interaction with Nanami, for me, so too has it thrown a magnifying glass over Maki and his forthcoming cluttering up of further yuri-filled glances between out heroines.
GenSan said:
I remember this point in the story, being very wary, and going oh god, are they going to insert some artificial and cliche drama here with this guy? Have him be a gigantic douchebag, black mail them or take advantage of the situation. Only for the manga to completely subvert my expectations right on it's head and I really appreciated that.
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Me too. Or, well, specifically the dread he inspired, when he first showed up. And his whole devil-may-care attitude towards the situation, playing that aloof "I just watch everyone!" archetype I absolutely hate.

That this dread is not realized was a relief. But...unless my mind has deliberately revised my memories of what I've read, I feel like he hasn't been particularly instrumental in pushing aspects of the story ahead--at least not in ways that would make it necessary for him to be the one to do it.

That said, his detachment from everything makes him functionally a better option than, say, Yuu's sister or one of her friends, so...maybe I just don't like his haircut.
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Hey.
Oh, and the scene where Sayaka all but gives away the game to Maki was really well done, I thought. Her deflection was great, even if it didn't work well enough.
 
Episode 4:

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The year is 2018. Some fool decides to go up to you and ask you this question. What do you do?

a) Kiss your partner.
b) Correct their term usage by saying the proper words for these things are now "spoon," "bigger spoon," "spork," and "knife."
c) Say, "The husbando's the one with ligma." :lenny:
d) Cry, because you are, in fact, walking alone, and have no one else to back you up for your planned dunk on this fool.

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*Kill Bill Theme intensifies*

Maki certainly is... interesting. And also kind of freaky. Who gets off on watching two people awkward their way around romance? Figures it's got to be the guy who has none of this mushy experience to begin with. Now I've got my eye on that other Student Council newcomer. What kind of backstory will he get if this is the material an unassuming guy like Maki gets? Guess my theories about him getting a crush on Yuu won't come true anymore, seeing he's a lot more invested in other people's relationships than his.

Lots of nifty imagery again this week, like Maki's own private theater and Yuu's anxiety about Nanami's kiss going public. This show can take all the crazy artistic decisions it wants and I'd take them all in like the sappy sucker I am.

I'm enjoying how assertive Yuu is in this relationship - she doesn't understand what's going on just yet so she'll go with the flow for now, but the minute she has questions, she won't hesitate to speak up. Maybe she does need an outsider's POV like Maki's after all, so she'll know when she's starting to act like a doofus for Nanami-senpai... which shouldn't take too long now, according to him.

Does Sayaka have a crush on Nanami too? Her conversation with Maki implied there's some deeper angst in there than "I'm sore my best friend didn't choose me, her best friend, to make a campaign speech for her." She grabs at Nanami's sleeve in the OP and gives her That Look after all.

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eyyyyyy
 
interregnum said:
Me too. Or, well, specifically the dread he inspired, when he first showed up. And his whole devil-may-care attitude towards the situation, playing that aloof "I just watch everyone!" archetype I absolutely hate.

That this dread is not realized was a relief. But...unless my mind has deliberately revised my memories of what I've read, I feel like he hasn't been particularly instrumental in pushing aspects of the story ahead--at least not in ways that would make it necessary for him to be the one to do it.

That said, his detachment from everything makes him functionally a better option than, say, Yuu's sister or one of her friends, so...maybe I just don't like his haircut.
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Maki just feels like a self-insert shipper to me honestly, A.K.A. basically all of us here. Your maki, everyone is maki.

Also:
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Hi
Handsome.

Franconator said:
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eyyyyyy
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The subbers were truly doing god's work there. There is never a bad time for a pun.
 
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Episode 4.
I've never related to a guy in a shoujo-ai until now.
Maki is your basic yuri fanboy. He found a ship he likes, and he wants to see it succeed while cheering for it. That's a good dude right there. Knows his stuff, too. He had Kotio figured out before she herself figured it out.
 
Ep. 4:
Ye, I don't really care about the council or the school in general.
If this was a BL, the dude who saw them would try to blackmail Koito into dating him/sleeping with him. But here he becomes a shipper. :D Didn't see that coming at all. I just hope he's not the type who sees two lesbians as a potential three way.
No, he's not. This is somehow worse. The whole "I'm gonna obsessively watch them" stage felt really creepy to me.
 
Episode 4 covered two more chapters in the manga. I'm consistently impressed at how they manage to squeeze in two chapters per episode, and yet it's basically a panel-for-panel adaptation, and it never feels rushed or anything.
And they still find ways to add little details here and there, like the butterflies drawing Maki's attention and Touko's wings onstage in Maki's imagination.
It's honestly one of the most faithful adaptations I've ever seen, if not the most. This still remains a joy to watch :3
Now I'm wondering if they'll sprinkle in the little one-off interludes as well, like the very next half-chapter, and incorporate them into the episodes...
Like the interlude that kicked off Volume 5 featuring another glimpse into teacher's relationship with the cafe manager (one of my favorite scenes :Q)
 
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Episode 4:

Intense moments.

Maki is interesting. I hope he doesn't become a problem.
Starletka said:
Ye, I don't really care about the council or the school in general.
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Me neither. These kinds of stories are always set in school, which isn't nearly as interesting or dramatic as they try to make it be.
 
GenSan said:
Handsome.
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All the doki doki, my sweet.

All the doki doki.

GenSan said:
Maki just feels like a self-insert shipper to me honestly, A.K.A. basically all of us here. Your maki, everyone is maki.
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Starletka said:
The whole "I'm gonna obsessively watch them" stage felt really creepy to me.
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Both of these thoughts clicked something into place for me:

While I still dislike Maki's narrative role as external observer/instigator (that he's a shipper insert eluded me entirely, such was my disinterest in him) and think he could easily be replaced by any number of characters or literary devices, it is the method by which his role is given context that really bothers me.

Why does he have to have a big explanation for why he's rooting for Yuu and Nanami? Wouldn't it be simpler for him to, y'know, just have taken notice? I mean, that he sees them kissing is more than enough for him to say, "Hey, it's none of my business, but I think you like her back." Why the dog and pony show to justify his ability to notice that two girls kissing each other and not be freaked out by it? (There might be a social aspect to this I'm discounting, I know, but even so.) Why does he need to monologue about being a romance voyeur to be able to notice that, yes, @Franconator, Sayaka does seem a bit more than freindship-jealous about Nanami's interest in Yuu? I mean, regular people notice stuff all the time. I don't need an elaborate backstory to tell that the girl whose entire mood changes every time ABC-san walks in the room might be nursing a bit of a crush.

He's not the end of the world, and I don't mean to spend a lot of time on him. It just stands out, I guess, in an otherwise grounded and nuanced show, that they'd have a guy whose motivations require such deliberate and specific exposition.

PixieProc said:
I'm consistently impressed at how they manage to squeeze in two chapters per episode, and yet it's basically a panel-for-panel adaptation, and it never feels rushed or anything.
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PixieProc said:
Now I'm wondering if they'll sprinkle in the little one-off interludes as well
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I know! This is doing very, very well, as an adaptation. They're staying true to what's in the books, but also filling in the gaps between panels in very natural ways--and (my favorite part) doing well to pick how to express each moment from the panels on screen. (I will again point to the Sayaka/Maki scene, with the shot of her heel bobbing up and down in hesitation at his question/comment being the first thing to come to mind.)

The show's also lucky in that the comic appears to be quite well-suited to being made into an anime, so I don't think they have to do much adding or changing or, well, adapting what's on the page to make more sense--visually or otherwise--on the screen.

That said: the interludes...I dunno. Depends on whether or not there's time, where they're going to end the season, and whether or not they decide to slip the core of the interludes into other scenes.
 
interregnum said:
That said: the interludes...I dunno. Depends on whether or not there's time, where they're going to end the season, and whether or not they decide to slip the core of the interludes into other scenes.
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Some of them are pretty well suited to slip into the main storyline. Others... Well, if nothing else, they could include them as extras on the Blu-ray.
 
Episode 5:

A really cute and watchable episode. The dynamic between Yuu and Touko is unique. I'm curious to see how long this one-sided relationship lasts. I'm bracing for drama to sprout up out of nowhere—as it usually happens with these kinds of stories. I wouldn't mind if that didn't happen, though. I'm starting to enjoy how chill this is.

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So, I broke out the manga for a dialogue comparison, at one point, and...look, I'm not complaining, but holy crap the covers to the books are gorgeous.

You were never going to win that war, show. You just weren't.

Also: Interludes. Aaaaaaaaand check.
I don't remember much about my myriad math classes, but I'm almost certain that "you just use this formula like this!" was never the answer, when I was stuck on something.

Now I'm not suggesting that this popular anime stock answer is just laziness on the parts of writers who don't remember any specifics from their myriad math classes, but...I am doing exactly that.

Right, so, lots more space to make the beats crammed into the manga hit, in this--particularly at the end, with Yuu seeing everyone in the house paired up but her. (Everyone's more spread out, and there's way more moving around, in the anime, which really gives that scene some pop. They're just sitting at the table, in the book.) Because, interestingly, she thinks to herself that she is paired with Nanami and kind of resents that that isn't a known thing.

Not that any of the pairs in the house were casting judgment on her or even particualrly making note of her single-ness. But she doesn't like that she looks or feels off-balance with the rest of the family. That is, that she looks/feels this way--internally, about herself. And, further, she laments that her heart isn't doing her the favor of (presumably) simply opening itself to Nanami's affection. Which, considering her opening monologue for the series is "I don't feel love," is no small thing.

The question becomes, then: does she wish she was in love, or does she wish she was in love with Nanami?

And, boy, they sure are lax about the dress code. Back in my day, we got demerits for this kind of thing, ladies!
 
Waiting for GenSan post waiting for GenSan post waiting for GenSan post waiting for GenSan po--
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GenSan said:
Yuu's oneechan truly the best wing woman.
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Word.

I think the seamless inclusion of the Interludes just goes to show how on top of the pacing this series is. Slipped right in like it was always meant to be there.

Again, I don't know if it's a credit to the source material or the production that this is such a quality adaptation.
 
Episode 5:

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"Yes, I'd like a story as old as the kind of men I like, please."

Cute role-reversal there when it's just the two of them: Yuu gets more bold, Nanami gets more squeamish. It's easy to see now why Yuu would have a soft spot for Nanami, especially since this side of her would really change other people's opinion of her. I like how Yuu's starting to pick her feelings apart to really think about them, which is a real improvement over her dismissive attitude towards romance before. She's still expecting love to be this sudden thing, but it looks like she wouldn't be opposed to the idea that it can be something gradual and careful too. On the other hand, Nanami looks pleased Yuu is at least giving the relationship a shot, but something about Yuu's "eh, we're together now, I guess" attitude should give some cause for worry.

There's another thing about this show I like, and it's how non-invasive the side characters feel. They don't just show up to comment on the main couple's new relationship; they're real characters with their own stories too, and that's something that helps make the story feel more natural. One other thing the side characters' realness does is help the show avoid falling into the cliche misunderstanding trap. Because they're their own people with their own baggage and stories, their actions don't really get determined or dictated by the story's flow. They act on their own accord instead, and according to the personalities they were given.

And what happened to Yuu's friend's story? They can't just introduce a plot element like that and just forget about it.

interregnum said:
I don't remember much about my myriad math classes, but I'm almost certain that "you just use this formula like this!" was never the answer, when I was stuck on something.
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Aw, cut her some slack. Anyone'd find it hard to concentrate when their crush is right there.

And, boy, they sure are lax about the dress code. Back in my day, we got demerits for this kind of thing, ladies!
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I was so confused Yuu's friend wore a different uniform from everyone else and thought she was just in a separate class or something. Either that, or she was just too chill to give a shit about the dress code, just like any responsible student-athlete.

Again, I don't know if it's a credit to the source material or the production that this is such a quality adaptation.
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The adaptation's take definitely deserves a shout-out. It takes a real sense for the material to make the right soundtrack, voice acting, and animation choices for something like this. Everything about it is just the right kind of gentle and easiness, so that's really all on the adaptation team. The material might give it a good foundation, but there's also something special about the way the anime interprets certain scenes or dialogue.
 
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