Forum - View topicJellyfish Can't Swim in the Night (TV).
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Eilavel
Posts: 42 |
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Its nice as a side story (and its nice for their actions in ep1 to have consequences!), but other than the phone call in the middle our main cast feel like the side characters. I think having this plot over 2 episodes interweaved with a story about a core group character would have worked better for me, though I can see the appeal in the stand alone.
In terms of our guest characters, I can see there a lot of love there and its sweet that they are each others priority. On the other hand, even to the end of the episode I did feel slightly uncomfortable for the daughter, and I'm not sure "being a massive stan is fantastic" is... er... actually great life advice? Is getting more enmeshed in her mothers idol career really a positive outcome? Theres a big burden of social costs and emotional labour here which is shown but then just sort of shunted aside through the power of love. Which is on brand but in the long run would it really work so well? |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23833 |
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"Being a massive stan is fantastic" is not the lesson for Ariel that I came away with. Rather what I got from the show was that Ariel learned not to let the opinion of others stop her from embracing something she likes. Kind of "let your freak flag fly and if others have a problem with that, then tough nuggies."
I have to be honest: I like our main cast but frankly I'd be way more interested in a show about a divorced, single mom clinging to her dream of being an idol. That's a great premise for a show. |
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Eilavel
Posts: 42 |
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I guess my issue is that when her freak flag is cheering her mother and wearing outfits her mother made her, is it her freak flag? I know she would say it is, but children at that age really don't have that level of autonomy. But I'm probably not holding the show to a fair standard for the story its telling there.
Miiko is certainly an interesting concept (part of why I would have prefered interweaving is it would also give her story more space to breathe), but personally I'm less into idols so I'm happy the show is about a more syncretic project. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15495 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Isn't it implied that Ariel's mother made the outfits because she realised Ariel was having a tough time with her confidence and so she could wear thr clothes at home which she did like and boosted her confidence to make friends? Miiko questioned if she was sure if she wanted to wear it outside, nothing really points that she pushed the fashion onto her daughter, more than enabling her to take part at home in dress up. I would say that although kids don't tend to have a full autonomy, they can enjoy elements of expression and totally okay to do so in ways that may be out of the norm. It is then up to them to decide if they want to take it out of their safe space and be more public. There is some bad history of kids be accused of unhealthily influenced in dress because it is not the norm for their gender or something. |
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Eilavel
Posts: 42 |
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My understanding was she got made them and stopped wearing them outside because she got made fun of, but started because she wanted to own it. That parts all fine, because clearly, the villains are the horrible brats making fun of her, its being in the idol feed, being number 1 stan ect. But its probably just me being sensitive, or perhaps the show is touching on interesting enough themes in such a fast way its making me overthink, which is more than I can say for a lot of stuff airing. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2008 |
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I keep forgetting to comment here. As the episodes go by I think the main group has become a solid group of characters, most of their struggles are fairly realistic/well portrayed and there has been some decent character progression. Said progression is anything but subtle like the rest of the show but it is done well enough. Some members of the group get a bit more attention than certain others though.
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Panino Manino
 Posts: 745 |
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7
Should driver schools use such huge and potent motorbikes to teach teens? I can't believe they gave a license to Kano! Surprised that she didn't killed herself and Mahiro in the end. But what to even say about this episode... That character, Koharu, talks jokingly if she isn't "committing a crime" with Kano and Kiwi. But talking seriously, isn't she clearly an adult flirting and trying to put her hands on a minor? No problem with all that talk about boobs per si, really no problem, let the girls talk about their bodies, but I just got the feeling that Koharu was acting like "a pervert", trying to get the girls attention and trust. In the end she even manages to find where Kiwi lives. Like some say, "a bit problematic". I'm not someone "qualified" to discuss these matters, like I said I'm not sure what to say about this episode, but something caught my attention while watching. I reminded that someone more brilliant minds had theorized Kiwi could be a "trans coded character". Maybe they're right? I remind someone pointing that Kiwi got specially upset when a man trying to pick her after noticing her bust, and that her virtual character is androgynous and flat. Now it seems confirmed that she hides her bust and by seemingly accepting Koharu's advances it seems to confirm that at least she may be gay. Anyway, the series really improved a lot after it stopped with the flashbacks and things happen from the interacting inside the episodes. Despite they having forgotten Kano's writers block... edit I need to take this series more seriously, after the bad impression the first episodes gave me, because it's becoming a bit "too deep for me". Unfortunately breasts are distracting, as they usually are, but this episode and dialogue as full of subtext and symbolism about "impostor syndrome" and authenticity, right? |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4093 |
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I'm 50-75% certain Koharu used to be a guy, if that helps. If this show wasn't so earnest, I'd swear it was an unqualified mess. One thing I can say for certain is that those two were far too unguarded with an adult woman they just meet. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15495 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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You would have to be super blind to not pick up the queer subtext in the 7th episode. For one was that Koharu was clearly flirting with Kiui, and is super easy to compare it to the guy who tried to hit on her in the previous episode. I do think there is the room to have some transgender readings, whether these were the implications of the cosmetic surgeries that Koharu went through, her face and breasts. A little unsure of what the scar on her back was, my immediate thoughts were removing a tattoo. But also a lot of what she said about moving forward could perhaps be transition related, but perhaps another reading was that she used to be part of gangs and changed her appearance to leave it behind.
But also gay when we finished with Kano picking up Mahiru on her motorcycle and doing a date on the beach. I was also thinking of when Yoru hit her head on the bed, it was big dorky lesbian energy. Considering this isn't just baiting or reading too hard, this show might have done a lot to be queer without fetishising those elements. |
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Panino Manino
Posts: 745 |
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If true, definitively too deep for me. 
Oh! It parallels the earlier situation. It rhymes, poetry! Everything makes sense now.
But talking serious now, I don't think any of the two are or can be transgender, they're "just gay". That thing on Koharu's back seems like an old flower tatoo. it's just one of the modifications she made to her body to change how she sees herself. Maybe she was a "delicate flower" before this make over. Anyway, whateaver it be at least the series is interesting. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15495 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Perhaps I should have said "contrast" instead. We got a specific moment in an earlier episode Kiui had pretty much a violent reaction to a man taking interest in her body and I would say trying to flirt with her. And although at first she is not super responding to a woman asking about her chest it was not nearly as strong, and she is actually interested in her boobs. It was pretty immediately to me at least that Koharu read like a queer person thinking that they identified another queer person like themself. And the bit at the end in asking for contact info to get together, and a sort of cool response asking if she was the only one who thought they clicked. I have seen some people saying that Kiui saying she is more comfortable interacting through the computer might be still indicative that she has some kind of dysphoria, not entirely comfortable with. And combined with apparently having a large chest that she hides with the clothes that she wears. It does invite a reading of something. |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 3896 |
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I'm personally doubting Koharu being transgender mostly due to the fact that she stated that she was a B cup, which is considered average, before the implants. Granted, it is possible that she still could be transgender and her B cup was the result of her hormone therapy.
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15495 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Agreed that it is doubtful, with I too remembering she said she had a B and thinking it would require another jump that it would have required HRT. The theory isn't out of nowhere, though. That scene where Kiui got hit on by a guy did for some reason have two girls gossiping about another "girl" making herself look like a boy. For a show that people called out for having no subtlety, a number of subtle details continue to be in it. Although I was thinking it was more subtle than people gave credit for by then reading into the elements of closeted outsider with a girl meets girl event. |
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Eilavel
Posts: 42 |
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From the tattoo, I definitely took that to mean some kind of gang related background story, rather than trans, given back tattoos in a Japanese context. Not that they have to be mutually exclusive, but its the signal that seemed clearest.
Theres very obviously something going on with Kiui and themself. Being trans would probably be the most interesting of the directions that come to mind, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was something else either at this point. I'm interested to find out at least. And yes, the show is a weird mix of clumsy sincerity, occasionally very odd moments and things that may or may not be more subtle than they appear. It overall is at least rewarding my interest one way or another. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4093 |
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In regards to Koharu, here's how I reached my conclusion, which didn't come out of nowhere nor was it based on what she said or even what was done:
The way Koharu was showing off her surgery to people she just meet, she was trying to gauge something else: "Here are my breasts, do they seem fine? Look at my face, does something seem off?" I think if it was about the surgery, Koharu would have led off with why it was done without saying what was done. But since she described the process without saying the reason, the surgery was an end to a means and not the end itself. Two possible conclusions: Reconstructive surgery after a terrible accident or gender reassignment. And still, I don't think anything this show does is subtle but it is unusual.... mostly in how they do something first but only talk about it in a later episode when most viewers seem more comfortable with things getting resolved within one episode. |
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