12 moments in anime 2009 #5; Aoi Hana, Fumi coming out of the closet to Akira

         For my next entry into the “12 moments of anime 2009” series I’m choosing Fumi’s confession to Akira that she’s a lesbian from Aoi Hana episode 4.

        First of all, I have to say that I absolutely loved this episode, the range of human emotions and uncertainties displayed by both Fumi and Akira felt true to life and believable. Too often in anime when a main character finally reveals their real feeling it’s takes so long and is done in such an over the top manner that it stretches the limits of believability, but in Aoi Hana it felt true and right.

 

        I felt that the scene where Fumi confesses to Akira that she a lesbian and is in love with Yasuko, and that she and Yasuko are dating was very powerful and poignant. Fumi who is a very sensitive and insecure girl placed a lot of trust and pressure on Akira at that moment. As Fumi said at the beginning of their conversation she really values her friendship with Akira and doesn’t want to ruin it. I could feel the tremendous emotional pressures building on Akira with her childhood friend not only confessing to her that she’s a lesbian but asking her not to find it and her gross, and please don’t hate her.

        You can see how this plays out with Akira by the thought that she places on this situation during her train ride home, while she told Fumi that she doesn’t have a problem with girls liking girls she also wonders if she’s too simple minded, and we also see her uncertainty playing out why she sort of asks Kyoko about this. I also felt that Fumi displayed a tremendous amount courage and vulnerability in this episode. Fumi displays a tremendous level of courage by telling Akira that she a lesbian but she also shows her vulnerability when she practically begs Akira to not find her gross and not to hate her.

          This episode touched on the very human desires of wanting to love, and be loved, and also the very human need to be accepted for who you are by your friends, and the toll that these desires can take on someone when the relationship falls outside of what mainstream society considers normal.

 

Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) episode 11 (the finale); A sweet satisfying ending to a wonderful series.

 

        This episode begins with the change of seasons (and the change from summer to winter school uniforms) and life seems to be moving on just fine for Fumi and Akira. The two girls seem to be following their normal routine of meeting at the train station and sharing the train ride to school, and both Fumi and Akira seem to be getting along well at school.

         Even as life goes on for Fumi and Akira, change is in the air as Fumi must discard older books to make way for newer books triggering a flashback to her and Yasuko’s kiss, and Akira can also sense change because Akira finds out that next year she’ll be on stage next year. One afternoon Fumi and Yasuko see each other on the train platform and they exchange polite glances. When Yasuko boards the train Fumi lets that train drive away without getting on and she watches it head off into the distance. Later, Kyoko finds out from Yasuko’s sister that Yasuko will be going overseas to study after she graduates, and I think she lets it slip to Akira.

        After the train leaves the station, Akira spots Fumi standing there and they decide to stop at a cafe where Fumi tells Akira that she still has some feelings for Yasuko. Akira tells her it’s OK, people just can’t turn off their feelings at will. Later, we see that Yasuko leads her basketball team to second place in the nationals, and we also see that Kyoko sends Yasuko a text congratulating her and wishing her luck in her overseas studies.

       Life moves on, fall gives way to winter, and Christmas Eve approaches and Akira decides to have a Christmas Eve party and she invites Fumi and her three friends to her party. Later, we find out from Akira that Kyoko won’t be attending because she’s spending the day with Kou. Also, Fumi gets a little down because her cousin sends her a picture post card of she and her husband with a message telling Fumi that they’ve moved and she would like Fumi to pay them a visit.

        As Christmas approaches, Fumi sees Akira and Kou together while shopping; Akira got a call from Kou asking her to help him pick out a gift for Kyoko. While Fumi watches them together she doesn’t bother to get their attention and lets them continue shopping. Later, in the bath, Fumi thinks to herself that Akira and Kou aren’t dating and she probably wouldn’t mind if they were,  but why did she lack the courage to walk up and say “hi”.

          At Akira’s Christmas Eve party Shinobu stops by her room to say “hi” and Akira gives him grief, and when he leaves the room the other girls joke about flirting with him, and we see that Mogi is blushing  because of this talk. Later, the girls look through some old photo albums from Akira’s childhood and they lots of pictures of Fumi and Akira together. Over at Kou’s place, we see that Kyoko really likes her gift and she manages to get Kou to tell her that he got Akira to help pick it out. Kyoko sends Akira a text thanking her for helping Kou pick out such a nice gift for her, and Akira shows the text to Fumi who gets a laugh out of the whole thing.

       As Akira’s family and Fumi are seeing off the other three girls, Mogi runs up to Shinobu and puts a letter in his hand and rushes off with the other girls. Well, Mogi gave Shinobu a confession letter that included asking him out on a date.

        Later, as Fumi and Akira are getting ready for bed, Fumi says she’s impressed that Mogi had the nerve to ask Shinobu out, but Akira doesn’t understand why Mogi likes her brother. Around midnight, neither Fumi or Akira can sleep, so they go for a walk around the snow covered city, they stop at the tree where Fumi cried her eyes out as a kid, and then they head over to visit their old elementary school that will be torn down soon.

       Akira thinks the school is creepy at night, but Fumi insists on walking around the school’s grounds. Then Fumi gets the answer to the question Yasuko asked her a while ago, “do you remember you’re first love”? Fumi now understands that her very first love was Akira back in elementary school, and tears begin to roll down Fumi’s cheeks as she remembers her love for Akira. Then Akira notices Fumi tears and says she’s sorry if she did anything, But Fumi tells her she remembered something wonderful and they walk back home holding hands. Well, that’s all for this episode and this wonderful series.

       This episode was a very mellow and unstated episode that was loaded with many powerful feelings, and the whole theme of this episode was that while life goes on, things also change and move forward. It seems that most of the main characters have managed to mature and move forward through life’s trials and tribulations.

         When this series began, Fumi was a sad and hurt person, but as time went by she has managed to mature and more forward with Akira’s help. The symbolism of Fumi not getting on the train when she saw Yasuko boarding the train can be seen as she’s now mature enough to realize that some things in life need to come to an end and you have to let some things just move on without you. In the end, Fumi has really been blessed, she’s had three loves before she was even sixteen years old. Fumi is now a much more mature person for her experiences, and it was really nice to see her shed tears of joy at the end of the episode.

        Yasuko seems to have come to the conclusion that she needs to break with her past and take a change of scenery after graduation. I think that she’s matured to the point where she realizes that if she’s not ready to give up on an impossible love it’s better to separate herself from the situation and work on being a better, more mature person.

        Kyoko has also managed to mature and move forward, she’s no longer being a semi-stalker when it comes to Yasuko, her text message to Yasuko was very touching and shows that she coming to terms with Yasuko not having affections for her.

        Another thing that I thought was really awesome was Mogi going for the win, she really some courage when she handed her confession letter to Shinobu in front of Akira, her parents, and all the other girls. I think that Shinobu’s mother was doing backflips of joy after seeing her son get a confession letter, she’s told him a few times that she’s not worried about Akira, she’s worried about him. I think that Shinobu getting a girlfriend might just break him of his overly protective attitude towards Akira.

        Overall, I feel that this was a very rewarding and enjoyable romance with all the feelings being  potrayed in a understated but powerful manner, and this series never went into the over-the-top mode like so many other anime. A prime example of this was the ending scene between Fumi and Akira, any other show of this type would have had Fumi confessing her love to Akira making for an uncomfortable cliffhanger ending that also puts Akira on the spot. I think that Fumi knows that Akira isn’t gay or at least she not at the point where she knows what she wants, so Fumi will settle for holding hands and being near her friend.

       One small gripe, what’s the deal with only eleven episodes? If they could have given us two extra episodes bringing the total to thirteen we could have gotten a little more character development and back story for the issues of Kyoko and her family relationships, Kou and his mother, and more interaction between Yasuko and her sisters.

       My small gripes aside, Aoi Hana was a tremendous series, enjoyable, believable, loaded with powerful feelings and emotions, a must watch for fans of the yuri romance genre.

 

Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) episode 10 review; It’s over, but a chance for a new beginning.

        This episode begins on the Sunday of Yasuko’s sister’s wedding with Akira being driven to the ceremony by her brother. While Akira is heading to the wedding, we see that she never told Fumi about it, so after Fumi tries to call Akira she heads off for a walk.

        While this is going on, we see Yasuko talking to her sister before the wedding, and she also talks with her unrequited love, Kagami. Once Akira arrives at the ceremony she runs into Kyoko and Kou, and soon the group also runs across Yasuko who invites both Kou and Akira’s brother to attend. Well, the wedding goes off without a hitch and Kazusa and Kagami both look great and seem very happy.

       After the ceremony is over Akira checks her cellphone to find messages from Fumi, and once Akira touches base with Fumi she decides to join Fumi who’s taking a trip to a nearby tourist island. Akira’s brother volunteers to drive Akira to meet Fumi, but before they can leave, Yasuko asks if she can tag along too.

        When Fumi sees that Yasuko has also tagged along she’s not very happy, and she asks Yasuko why she’s here? Yasuko says she wanted to see and talk with her, but Fumi says she doesn’t wish to talk with her. Akira rushes to Fumi and they start walking ahead of Yasuko and Shinobu, and when Yasuko tries to use Akira to get closer to Fumi she’s told by Fumi to not put Akira in a tough spot.

       As the group is walking in pairs through the village Yasuko explains the whole bloody situation to Shinobu who pretty much keeps is mouth shut and listens quietly. Later, the group decides to check out the local cave and once they’re inside the caves Akira pulls her brother away from Fumi and Yasuko so they can talk alone. Yasuko tries to explain her situation and her feelings to Fumi but Fumi calls Yasuko selfish and a child, and Fumi tells Yasuko that if she has someone she loves then she needs to concentrate on that person. Yasuko asks Fumi what she should do about a unrequited love and Fumi tells her that she should give up gracefully. Fumi then tells Yasuko that she’s given up on her, and that she should grow up. As Fumi is walking off, we hear Yasuko trying to tell Fumi that she’s sorry. Well, that’s all for this episode.

       Well, this was one hell of an episode, while many powerful feelings and emotions were revealed it was never done in an over-the-top method. We finally got to the bottom of how Yasuko became how she is now and while all the girls that know her think that she’s a strong person we now understand that it was caused by personal weakness on her part. As Yasuko told Shinobu, she fell for Kagami after he was dating her sister for a long time and in an attempt to imitate her sister she cut her hair, and she also became more manlike in an attempt to act out/get noticed by Kagami and her sisters. It was also quite interesting to watch Yasuko basically tell Shinobu that Kyoko relationship with her is almost a copy of her relationship with Kagami, so Kyoko is almost a copy of her at that age.

       Finally, Yasuko’s relationship with Fumi reached a breaking/ turning point. We can see that Yasuko misses Fumi and still has feelings for her, and she also understands she hurt Fumi, but when she tried to talk with her Fumi she got the laid the hammer down on her by Fumi calling her selfish and childish. Even though Fumi tells Yasuko that she’s given up on her she really left the door open for Yasuko by telling her to concentrate on the one you care for and give up gracefully on a impossible love,  you need to grow up. While many may think that this is the end of Fumi/Yasuko it’s really giving Yasuko a chance for a new beginning if Yasuko can move on from Kagami and really shows she really cares for Fumi. In affect, Fumi’s been burnt once by a just fooling around relationship and she’s telling Yasuko that if you really want me, PROVE IT!