What They Say:
One day an asteroid hits the earth and makes all the bears on the planet attack humans. In response humans put up a giant wall and have managed to keep them out until a couple of them decide to disguise themselves as humans and sneak in. Two girls named, Kureha and Sumika are lovers and Kureha despises bears, but when Sumika disappears one day, Kureha has to come face to face with them in order to save her.
The Review:
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers):
Jealousy is the name of the game in this week’s Yurikuma, and there are no winners. After last week’s mostly heartwarming affair, this episode pulls out all the stops and there’s a lot to take in. Thankfully in typical Ikuhara fashion it all ties together well thematically, and makes for one of the best episodes yet.
Before focusing on the fallout for last week’s revelation, first we get Yurika’s backstory and it’s a doozy. Like Ginko she was an abandoned bear, and was rescued by a mysterious man who wanted to keep her pristine and in a “box” before abandoning her upon finding something else more beautiful. It draws some immediate parallels to Yuri’s backstory in Penguindrum with her abusive father who also obsessed over her staying “beautiful”. In this case though the metaphor isn’t quite as sexually disturbing (the less said about chisels the better) but the “box” thing clearly to refers to isolation and well…sex.
Eventually she meets Kureha’s mom, Reia who gives her love and helps to open up her “box” (way to be subtle Ikuhara). Unfortunately for her though, the love she feels and the love Reia feels aren’t quite the same and eventually Reia gives birth to Ginko. This causes Yurika to retreat back to her “box” but she eventually tries to force her love onto Reia, and catches her giving the pendant she gave her to Ginko as a love charm. Reia kills her in a jealous rage and decides to have her revenge by watching over Kureha and keeping her isolated (both socially and sexually) the same way she is. Yep that’s jealousy for you.
The jealously train doesn’t quite stop there though. Back in the present, Yurika tells Kureha about Ginko’s true identity and tries to convince her to take revenge for her mother. Meanwhile after finding out the truth about Ginko’s “crime”, Lulu tries to convince her to give up on Kureha. Though it’s a bit hard to tell if it’s out of genuine concern for her or not wanting to share her with Kureha since she’s insistent on the idea that Ginko should be satisfied with just her. Of course Ginko’s not willing to give up and it leads to another challenge from the Wall of Severance.
Although before getting to that, there’s a pretty interesting revelation regarding the bear judges. Turns out they’re working for Kumalia, and she’s been the one maintaining the Wall of Severance. Her actually being important to the story aside from obvious fairy tale metaphors isn’t too surprising and it’s not the first time Ikuhara’s pulled that kind of thing but it certain raises a lot of questions. If this means the bear judges exist to presumably allow for passage between the two sides, it explains most of what they’ve done so far but I’m curious as to why exactly they’ve been separated in the first place. In any event she’ll probably be confronted sooner or later (meaning it probably won’t be long before Yurika gets ousted somehow) and I can’t wait to see what happens when she is.
As for the wall challenge of the week, it’s the heaviest one so far. Kureha tries to take her revenge on Ginko with Yurika egging her on, but Ginko tries to tell her the truth about why she has her mother’s pendant. Yurika insists that she’s a criminal and even the things she’s done in Kureha’s defense are inexcusable but Kureha starts having second thoughts upon recalling how much Ginko’s cared about her. Sadly there’s no happy ending here since right as Kureha gives up, Lulu tells her the truth about Ginko’s sin against Sumika and Kureha decides to take revenge right then and there. With all those cards out it’s hard to say where exactly things are gonna go from here but it’s safe to say Ginko and Kureha’s relationship just flew even further south. Way to ruin things Lulu.
In Summary:
Yurikuma brings out one of it’s best episodes yet as we get to explore Yurika’s backstory and Kureha finally finds out the truth about Ginko and Sumika. Between that and the revelation about Kumalia there’s a lot to look forward to in the near future and I can’t wait to see where the show takes it next. More please.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Funimation, Hulu
