2025.9.6
Context: Yuri Kuma Arashi
You know how I claimed that not every show by Ikuhara Kunihiko is filled with metaphors when I talked about Sarazanmai
- after completing Yuri Kuma Arashi
, a show whose storytelling is so obviously based on metaphors, I start to think the problem of Sarazanmai
only exists with its own. The story of Sarazanmai
makes sense if you explain everything as supernatural occurences (I take back what I've said about it being the only way of explaining things); the same can't be said about Yuri Kuma Arashi
.
If an ordinary person tries, he may finally piece together which things largely correspond to which real-life things: bears are likely to be one's homosexuality, the "transparent storm" is obviously homophobia, to convert from bear to human is to stay in the closet, etc.... or one can assume bears are social outcasts, which would reframe everything into the simple "those who fits in bullying those who don't" narrative we've seen so many times before (albeit this time it's homosexuality-related). Either way, if you have the mapping in mind, the plot is actually simple. The visual, as is with all other Ikuhara shows, is good in a "MSG tastes good" way (homoerotic nudity notwithstanding) since they're not things you'd expect even when it comes to anime; people would find it more approachable because a lot of it are fairy-tale-like (a natural result of the chosen metaphor; unlike in Penguindrum
and even Sarazanmai
, where they're mostly abstract, since the metaphor in those shows themselves are mostly abstract things). Unfortunately Yuri Kuma Arashi
is the third one I've watched from Ikuhara, and his wacky visuals aren't gonna improve the show's quality for me anymore.
Speaking of other Ikuhara-ism features, I never particularly enjoyed the kind of rhythm where you stuff nearly every single metaphor you're going to use for the whole show within the first 3 episodes without implicitly explaining them with actual plot, it's really confusing for new viewers who haven't experienced this level of metaphor throughput (honestly where could you find this level of metaphor throughput other than Ikuhara's works?) and very disorienting even for people who've had the preparation of mind. I don't remember I've ever had this much trouble understanding w/ Penguindrum
- maybe it's because the mapping of the metaphors in Yuri Kuma Arashi
is much clearer, which probably ironically allowed and invited much more thinking.