Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night – 07 – Looking Ahead

When the non-truant JELEE members report that it’s time for career guidance meetings at school, talk of the future pops up. Yoru and Mei are likely headed for university after graduation, while Kiui intends to obtain the Japanese equivalent of a GED with the goal of becoming a middle school teacher. Feeling left out on the future fronrt, Kano decides to join Kiui at a motorbike riding camp. Maybe she can find out where she wants to go if she can get there quickly!

Mei is anxious about Nono-tan and Kiui spending so much time together, but this means she and Yoru get to interact more. They realize that after a period of not knowing what to do or why to do it, they’ve both been inspired by a certain someone and now find music and art to be a lot more fun than it was. I loved the cut from Mei saying how Kano pulls them along to Kano making a mess of the motorbike balance beam test.

As Kiui offers emotional support by watching Kano try and fail over and over, an older woman approaches her asking for a light, only to take a much greater interest in Kiui than having another smoke. Her name is Koharu, and Kiui and Kano later learn that not only did she get a boob job, but significant facial surgery to achieve her current cool and casual yet glamorous look.

One night after a hard day’s practice, Kano asks Kiui why she wants to be a middle school teacher. Suffice it to say, Kiui felt like her teacher didn’t have her back when she was struggling socially. If she was the teacher, she’d have told herself that “being normal” and “fitting in” aren’t prerequisites for life. She wants to help those kids who are alone, while also “saving” her past self from worrying about conforming to standard norms. Kano for her part, takes Kiui’s hands and tells her she’s not alone, and Kiui seems to genuinely appreciate it.

Kiui has to don a dark wig and her school uniform to pick up some documents at her school. When she overhears some former classmates recognizing her, she tries to pipe up to tell them off but doesn’t bother. Having made fast friends with Koharu, Kiui joins her for a bath and Kano tags along. They see her artificial Fs in all their glory, but also notice a large and unexplained scar on Koharu’s back.

Koharu tells Kano that the key to riding a motorcycle is keeping one’s eyes fixed on the road ahead. That might be scary, especially at first, but it’s not as scary as finding oneself in an unknown place with no way to turn back. Kano takes the advice to heart and passes the practical exam, though she flunks the written bit. As for Kiui, she tells Koharu her VTuber identity and the two exchange contact info, promising to meet again, at least online. As for Kano, she wastes no time whatsoever renting a motorcycle and riding up to Yoru, who is with her normal high school friends.

Kano can’t quite work up the courage to ask Yoru to hop on, Yoru hops on of her own accord, leaving the normies behind. It’s romantic as hell, and as someone who recently rode on the back of a motorcycle in Cali, I can attest to how fun and exhilarating it is. When Kano says she hadn’t really planned on going anywhere, Yoru smiles and tells her it doesn’t matter. The ride is what matters, and the fact they’re sharing it.

They end up by the waterfront overlooking the Rainbow Bridge, and Yoru explains that she’s planning to go to art college (like me!) because she wants to love the art she makes and make a “certain someone” happy. She makes it pretty obvious that Kano is that certain someone, and her desire to reciprocate after Kano helped her find herself when she was lost.

When Kano admits she’s not sure anymore why she wants to gain 100,000 followers, Yoru reminds her that she told her to draw for her. So Yoru tells her to sing for her. Then she spots a jellyfish in the water—the first either of them have ever seen in the wild—takes Kano’s hand, and runs along the beach with her. Daaaaaaw.

Kano confesses she might’ve gotten a motorbike license so she could ride with Yoru on the back, only she calls her “Mahiru.” Yoru gently teases her for being so sentimental and “heavy” all of a sudden, but it’s clearly not a sentiment with which she disagrees. At this point, if you’re not shipping Yoru x Kano hard, I just don’t know what to tell you!

Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 06 – Keeping the Peace

Kuroe Mayu didn’t appear in any of the photos of the Agata Festival because she was behind the camera, where she prefers to be. As they practice for prefectural auditions, she’s similarly concerned that she’s “in the way,” filling up a euph slot better suited to someone who’s been with Kitauji this whole time.

As Kanade notes in her Kanade way, Mayu seems to be presuming she’d be good enough to beat the others. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Mayu was from the midwest: all niceties and passive aggression. Kumiko plays the good president, telling Mayu that she needn’t worry: a band going for national gold will pick the best players, same as it ever was.

Kumiko wishes to avoid unpleasantness in the past when auditions were thrown so certain people were in and out. After school she happens to run into her old friend Azusa, and they get to talking about the future. Azusa agrees that Reina is an “ultra-rare character” for mapping out her future so precisely. As for her, she wants to stick with music for now, unsure if she’ll be able to go pro.

For her, quitting music cold turkey is unthinkable, and for what it’s worth, she can’t see Kumiko doing that either. Kumiko had been comparing her lack of future plans to Reina’s and felt them distressingly lacking, but in reality there’s a middle ground between having a general sense of where one wants to go and what they’ll ultimately end up doing. In this way, Azusa gives Kumiko some comfort from her future blues.

Before you know it, the auditions arrive, and while these are only the first of three for the three competitions, Kumiko neither wants to lose to Mayu nor beat a Mayu who didn’t give it her all. When Mayu goes in before her and starts to play, it’s obvious Mayu isn’t throwing her audition. Kumiko is not only relieved, but also motivated to give it her all.

When the positions are announced by Michie-sensei, Kumiko, Kanade, and Mayu learn that all three of them are in, while Kumiko will be performing the soli with Reina as they’d hoped. The only other big twist is that tuba newbie Kamaya Suzume beats out her second-year senpai Satsuki for a tuba spot.

Satsuki takes the loss in stride, but her friend Mirei goes to bat for her sake, voicing her dissatisfaction to Kumiko. Mirei does not resort to histrionics or excessive drama, but is firm and respectful. Kumiko takes a couple breaths, enters President Mode, and explains that Taki-sensei chose Suzume for a reason, and they should trust him.

Mirei stands down, but also issues a mild warning that the younger members don’t “revere” Taki-sensei to the extent of the third years. She’s also taken aback when Kumiko thanks her, but Kumiko is glad that an underclassman came to her with her concerns, and urges her to do so again if anything is bothering her.

It’s yet another instance of Kumiko, despite still lacking the confidence she’d like, actually being pretty damn good at this president business. Creating an environment where anyone can come to her with their concerns or grievances bodes well for the long-term emotional and musical growth of the band, even if there are two more rounds of auditions she must get through.

For now, she and Reina have what they want, and Reina couldn’t be cuter as she congratulates Kumiko for making it through the auditions with a playful spin and smile. No doubt Reina’s adorable exuberance reminds Kumiko why she does all this and why it’s worth it.

Mushoku Tensei II – 18 – Weighing Regrets

When he was a hopeless shut-in in Japan, Rudy probably felt that whatever else, at least he had nothing to lose. Now he has everything. He has a proper family and has found happiness. He’s made up with Norn and helps her study, and she agrees to help him with a chronicle of the Superd based on the stories Ruijerd told her.

He makes sure to spend time with Aisha too, and learns she could be a shrewd merchant if she chose to. Cliff is steadily working to ease Elinalise’s cuse. Zanoba’s figure carving has improved and now Ginger has joined him and Julie to form a found family. He continues to assist Shizuka and she makes progress. Then he comes home from his morning training to learn that Sylphie is expecting.

Rudy is overwhelmed by the news. As Sylphie says, he’s always wanted kids, and it must give her no shortage of joy to be the one to make that happen. His sisters are also congratulatory. Arrangements are made for Sylphie to get significant maternity leave from Ariel’s service, with Elise filling in as bodyguard.

At this point in Rudy’s story, there are no issues, except for the fact that they have not yet reunited with Zenith, Paul and Linia. He may have a family here and a child on the way, but the family will never quite feel complete without those three. Without them, Rudy wouldn’t be the happy, fulfilled man he now is, reveling in the routine of daily life and a routine happiness he never thought possible.

But this episode is called “Turning Point”, and so some shit had to hit the fan eventually. Mercifully, that turning point comes not due to Rudy losing anything (or anyone), but by the arrival of a letter. Rudy has had shit luck with letters (see Eris’) but this one isn’t so much devastating as it is foreboding. It’s a brief letter, written by Geese, declaring simply that Zenith’s rescue has grown “difficult” and urging him to “send help.”

The letter creates the titular turning point. As our wriggly naked Hitogami makes clear to a Rudy who is still dense about a few things regarding life, You Can’t Have It All. You can’t live a live completely free from regrets. The Man-God told him if he went to Begaritt he’d regret it, but now it’s evident that he’ll regret not going too. He must weigh his regrets to determine what to do, knowing an ideal situation is impossible.

If he goes, he will without doubt miss the birth of Sylphie’s and his first child, along with those key early developments. If he doesn’t go, Zenith’s rescue may fail and he and his sisters may never see her or Paul again. Nobody can make this choice but him, but as Rudy deliberates he gets support from all around him.

Elinalise offers to go in his place. Not only would this mean someone else would have to fill in as Ariel’s bodyguard, but for her it would be an excuse to break up with Cliff, whom she believes has the makings of a future Pope and thus feels she’s beneath him and a “youthful indiscretion.” No doubt this would break Cliff’s heart.

Zanoba promises to protect Rudy’s family should he go. Rinia, Pursena, and Luke would likely do the same if asked, but we don’t see him mention this to them. Sylphie tells him not to worry about her and do what he must. Eventually, Rudy decides that he can’t leave the family he’s made and is making to save the one that raised him. He believes he’ll regret leaving them more than he’ll regret not going.

Then, one morning after training, Rudy is resting on the porch when Norn steps out the door loaded down with adventurer’s gear, ready for a journey. She takes a couple of steps, rolls her ankle, and spills to the ground, all of her supplies spilling to the ground. When Rudy asks her why, Norn breaks into tears and tells him if he won’t go save Mom and Dad, she’ll have to.

But she can’t. No more than Zanoba can leave Julie and Ginger, or Elinalise can leave Cliff, Norn simply can’t got to Begaritt. She’d never make it. But Rudy can. He realizes this, and decides then and there that he’ll go. He helps Norn up and gathers her into a hug, telling her to look after Sylphie and not to fight with her sister while he’s gone.

It’s a choice Rudy makes that ensures he’ll have regrets, but he’s resigned to that fact. In order to achieve his ideal of having everyone around the table of his home eating, drinking, and laughing, he must leave the comfortable happy home he’s made and endure struggles and hardship. It’s a choice that demonstrates Rudeus Greyrat’s continued growth into an increasingly decent human being.