So Reira’s storybook is taken from the bond Kureha and Ginko share. I like this route because it nails on the head the simplicity of their relationship in a very earnest way. The dream sequence between the two of them reiterates everything this show has thrown at us sexually with the Lily Approvals that provides an even stronger romance between them. Lady Kumalia is the tool that connects these the Moon Girl [Kureha] and the Forest Girl [Ginko] from a storybook into reality.
What’s great here is that this is a much quieter episode than some of the previous ones we’ve had– there’s no action apart from the wonderful scene where bears are standing next to girls with blood spewing out of them in a cut-out animated style. The personalized mugs of Lulu, Ginko and Kureha are absolutely adorable and depicts life outside the harsh reality their trying to co-exist in. It’s almost as if Kureha’s house represents in alternate world that’s placed within both Kumalia and Earth where time stops forever for them. It’s a place they can accept each other without excluding anyone. I say this because of how many times we’ve see the V shape illustrate a crossroads for the girls and the house is a stopping point for them before they continue on their journey wherever it takes them. Especially since Kureha is starting to remember her own past.
This show has gone from completely strange to artistic within a single episode and I’m liking where this is going. As toned down as this episode had been I hope that the creators take into consideration Lulu’s resolution of helping Ginko achieve her dream, the criminal bear that’s revealed at the end of this and of course Kureha’s tie between her mother Reira and previous lover Sumika. Given how this episode handles Kureha’s conversation with Yurika I wouldn’t be too surprised if she turns out to be the final antagonist of Yuri Kuma. Those drawers contain pictures of the missing girls and I also wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a bear herself. I mean she does have “yuri” in her name so she MUST be one of those bears that’s hiding a deep secret in that v shaped drawer room.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: 9/10
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