Yeah, the whole romance angle has really been done through like how scenes are shot and arranged, it's less about the things they actually say.

Like one of the visual things that was simultaneously subtle yet really, obviously purposeful has been Reina and Kumiko's body language when they're alone vs. when they're with Kumiko's friends.

When they're with friends, they maintain the same (rather distant, actually) personal space as everyone else. And the way the images are composed really intentionally highlight that separation - 1 2 3

But when they're alone, there's an immediate difference, no separation of personal space at all 1 2 3

And like you mentioned, the show makes heavy use out of perspective shots to push Kumiko's attraction to Reina. That's typically something like an A-B-A sequence - A: we see Kumiko looking at something, B: we cut to what she's looking at, A: we cut back to Kumiko's response to what she's looking at. Pretty much all of the "objectifying" shots in the whole first season aren't just done for fanservice, they're the B shots of Kumiko checking out Reina (and occasionally vice versa).

Which I mean, like, that's all really normal visual language to use in a romance. The weird thing with Hibike is that the script itself is rarely admitting a thing, while the visuals themselves seem to have a completely different idea about matters.

last edited at Oct 12, 2016 11:20PM

You know, on the one hand you make a good case for how much Kumiko and Reina are growing.

On the other hand, one of the things I actually thought was super interesting about season 1 was how much it actually rejected a lot of the typical communal social values that you usually see in anime. The band as a group gets better, but not everyone likes everyone, and Kumiko and then Reina cause waves by competing for solos and parts in the band instead of just valuing what their seniors want. Kumiko and Reina both want to be great, and part of that quest for improvement isn't just improving themselves but being better than others, beating them out for the top spot, even if they're on your team. And we'd get that in the personal drama too, like when Reina gets really annoyed at that twin-tails girl she goes outside and yells to herself about what a bitch she is. It's easy to overlook but it's really pretty subversive, that's not how most Japanese fiction values behaving in a group.

Kumiko's quest so far in season 2 seems much more typical, she's trying to find a solution that'll settle everyone down, soothe hurt feelings, and help the group. It'll be interesting to see how the story handles it and if it plays with Kumiko's role as peacemaker at all.

Aaaaand episode 2 goes right back to, "teehee, what, no, we're just friends!"

Goddamn it KyoAni

Got a link Faylicia?

Yeah, it's not clear what's actually going on with that girl but her life plainly seems to be in chaos. She needs an adult figure she can depend on, not sex in a hospital bed with a possible concussion.

It also seems like she was using sex to change the subject, to distract the doctor from asking her about stuff she doesn't want to answer. Like, I don't think the writer wants us to think this is all just hunky dory romantic, the doc is making bad decisions and doesn't know anything about this girl.

I wonder if her parents disowned her for being a lesbian...

It seems like it's 60/40 that, or that she hurt herself so that she could get closer to the doctor, and it's going to be some sort of stalker-ish subtext, something like The Girl At My Door.

Yeah Beloved is gorgeous

I'm not sure I'm gonna like where this age gap thing is going, but maybe it'll surprise me.

Seriously, the last scene of the festival was extremely gay. It's funny cause I can read echii manga with straight face, and at that scene I felt embarassed about how gay it was. (not in a bad way) The hand holding was too long.
What Reina did when Shuichi ran by them was also interesting. I know she might be doing it to tease Kumiko, but what she said after "Spineless guys are no good" seemed as if she was saying "I'm not spineless like him, so I'm a better fit for Kumiko"

Yeah, it totally felt like Reina basically telling him to get away from her girl. And she looked pretty dang satisfied with herself watching him leave.

It also just felt kind of telling that Reina waits until the other girls leave before she asks Kumiko to the festival. Like as soon as they're alone they immediately act way more intimate and are more touchy-feely with each other, when Kumiko's het friends are around they don't touch.

And that final scene with the fireworks was shot 100% like any other, "Oh man I want to kiss you" romance scene. I'm going to be seriously pissed at KyoAni if they try backing out of this, because it's undeniably designed to be read as a romantic relationship at this point.

Watched episode 1 of the new season. If anything KyoAni seems to be doubling down on the gay. Like, it's really noticeable as soon as Kumiko's friends leave the atmosphere between Kumiko and Reina gets more intimate and flirty, and I don't know how you could possibly interpret the last scene as anything but a date. Shoot they've already basically progressed farther than a lot of KyoAni canon het couples.

Would be surprised if they actually come out and say "we're dating" out loud, but it's a lot more than just queerbaiting subtext at this point too.

My perception is Norae is bi, while Seola has been a closeted lesbian her whole life.
None of this was said directly in the story, but it's been quite heavily hinted, in my books at least.

That's always been my interpretation as well. No-Rae's always seemed pretty honest with herself that she's attracted to Seol-A, it's just that Seol-A is so (seemingly) obviously straight and No-Rae doesn't want to fuck up their friendship, plus she's slow to embrace relationships anyway. There was also that shot of No-Rae at the mixer, where she's getting kissed on one cheek by a girl and on the other cheek by a boy and blushing, but it's not really clear which of those kisses is making her blush. It felt like kind of a visual metaphor for her bisexuality.

Seol-A has had lots of boyfriends, but whether there's physical attraction or not, she's plainly never been emotionally invested in any of those relationships. Especially with the way she drinks, her het relationships have been pretty fucked up. Part of her development with her attraction with No-Rae has been her then mentally reviewing her old friendship back in high school and realizing that she's not just romantically attracted to No-Rae, she's always been attracted to girls. And her never really consciously understanding that is plainly part of what's been fucking her relationships with other women - just look at how weird she acts to No-Rae in the beginning, she's coming on to her super hard, while simultaneously not admitting to herself what she's doing one bit.

I do think that one thing that's easy to overlook is how deeply homophobic the society they live in is. It's not spelled out for the reader, it's just kind of an unspoken truth to their lives, they're both terrified of even floating a hint about being gay or of telling anyone. Some of that is their own personality and being afraid of rejection, but I think a big part of it is also that they're sure that if they come out as being gay or bi it won't just make things socially awkward, it could completely destroy their relationship. It's not that this isn't a queer story, it's that the characters dare not say it out loud.

last edited at Oct 7, 2016 5:43PM