Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we\u2019re diving back into the tangled performance of masks that is Yuri is My Job!, as our heroines struggle to discover something approaching intimacy among the performances and expectations of both genre and adolescence. We arrive back after a moment of great victory for Hime and Mitsuki, with the two having simultaneously repaired their friendship and affirmed their validity as Schwestern for the cheering crowd. Though Mitsuki has tremendous difficulty admitting to her feelings, the strictly defined language of Cafe Liebe ultimately served as something like training wheels for true expression, equipping her with the language and confidence necessary to admit she genuinely loves Hime.<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, she immediately walked that confession back with a convenient \u201cthat was all part of the performance,\u201d but that too is part of why she was able to speak in the first place. To the awkward and uncertain, the itemized emotional beats of genre can be a lifeline, a common language that offers less ambiguity and vulnerability than fickle, unmediated conversation. And it\u2019s not like regular conversation lacks strict conventions \u2013 after all, it was Mitsuki\u2019s inability to match that lingo, to downplay her passions and laugh lightly with the crowd, that isolated her in the first place. And while Hime thrives in the superficial conventions that attend adolescent acquaintances, it\u2019s clear that she too is seeking something more, something lasting, honest, and maybe even transformative. Let\u2019s see if our heroines can find it as we return to Yuri is My Job!<\/span><\/p>\n Episode 7<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Called Gyaru, Right?\u201d But first, it\u2019s apparently time for a Sumika episode! Sumika\u2019s gyaru affectation is a nice embellishment on this production\u2019s core themes; not only does it provide for a dramatic contrast between her professional and private self, but it also emphasizes how subculture is its own sort of performance, complete with expected speech patterns and its own dress code. We\u2019re all just trying to find a comfortable self and discover others who appreciate that self, and any sort of hobby or stylistic affectation can act as a guideline on that journey, offering a costume that implies a certain view of the self, and thereby orienting you in a certain way towards both other members of the subculture and outsiders. Adolescent culture rotates through costumes that all in their own way signify \u201cI get it, I\u2019m a member of this crew, and if you\u2019re one too we can probably understand each other\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Given all that, it\u2019s no surprise that such subcultures are generally most prominently followed in your teen years. When you\u2019re not sure who you are, a fully prefabricated costume with its own attendant interests and values can be a comforting option; as you age, you start to know yourself better, feel less anxious about being isolated for your differences, and adopt your own personal style<\/span><\/p>\n We open on a big block of text formally introducing us to the Blume Election, in which both \u201cstudents\u201d and cafe attendees vote on who they think can serve as an example to all the other students. So it\u2019s basically an Employee of the Month determination combined with all the anxiety of a student council election. Seems horrifically stressful for the employees, but certainly an easy source of drama!<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMore weird lore stuff that I don\u2019t understand.\u201d I\u2019m with Hime. Though I suppose watching this show is giving me some perspective on why a certain kind of person would gravitate towards a lore-heavy narrative over one that is more focused on themes and human psychology. If human psychology doesn\u2019t make sense to you, lore can feel a lot more reliable and comforting, as it is for Mitsuki<\/span><\/p>\n Hime unsurprisingly translates Blume Election to \u201cstudent council president,\u201d converting this process into a language she understands<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can help Hime-chan more than I can at school.\u201d Kanoko likes Cafe Liebe for reasons similar to Mitsuki \u2013 it\u2019s a formalized world she can memorize and understand. What\u2019s more, she can then help <\/span>Hime<\/span><\/i> understand, whereas at school it\u2019s Hime who\u2019s in her element<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe salon representatives all in one group!\u201d A peek into the fictionalized Liebe Girls\u2019 Academy offers some more context for the fantasy here: the cafe patrons are essentially taking the place of ordinary students, gazing in awe as the school stars walk by. A scenario much like Dear Brother or Utena<\/span><\/p>\n I imagine it is an effective way to drum up more business, by giving the patrons a sense of urgency in meeting all the candidates and making their choice. The more ownership you feel regarding an interest, the more tightly you cling to it \u2013 an instinct that can be used for great financial effect, but which also informs the parasocial dangers of modern fandom<\/span><\/p>\n The Blume\u2019s Schwester also gets special privileges, a detail which is presumably there just to provoke Sumika and Kanoko into pairing up<\/span><\/p>\n Sumika describes it as a popularity concert, which Mitsuki unsurprisingly declares is too reductive. There are nuances to these tropes, and Mitsuki demands you respect them!<\/span><\/p>\n And patrons vote by ordering a special cake that comes with a ballot. A crafty pay-to-win scheme, encouraging more cake sales by tying them to the fate of your favorite student<\/span><\/p>\n Hime immediately begins to game out the voting, and Mai suggests she save that negotiating for the salon floor<\/span><\/p>\n Sumika asks Kanoko if she wants her phone back, and Kanoko can barely muster up three words in response. Sumika really does fluster the hell out of her<\/span><\/p>\n She doesn\u2019t take it personally though, as she swiftly surmises that Kanoko has this much trouble talking to basically anyone except Hime. Like Mitsuki, she has clear reasons for appreciating the formalized language of Cafe Liebe<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGreetings! Thanks! The basics of a good facade!\u201d Yep, a lot of Hime\u2019s performance just comes down to confidently executed pleasantries<\/span><\/p>\n Kanoko is comfortable enough being an outsider, but Hime directs her to get comfortable with their coworkers, and so the quest is on<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe whole academy is abuzz about the Blume, and I tire of it.\u201d Sumika\u2019s got an interesting job here \u2013 she\u2019s basically the floor manager, which means she keeps an eye on everything from behind the veil of her book, while also interjecting new conversational topics to keep up a steady flow of dramatic performances. Here, she acts tired of the Blume ceremony simply to provoke Mitsuki into defending it, thereby creating some fun floor drama while simultaneously advertising the election<\/span><\/p>\n Their confrontation immediately earns two more cake orders, as each of them offers a pitch for why the other should become Blume. Of course, Hime still doesn\u2019t fully understand the game, and thus questions why Mitsuki would suggest Mizuno should take the title<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPlaying hard-to-get, little sister? You could try occasionally betraying your sister to be nice to me, you know.\u201d Mizuno understands her own archetype perfectly, and seems to relish the chance to perform the seductive, almost carnivorous upperclassman<\/span><\/p>\n But Kanoko takes the stand, interrupting Mizuno\u2019s performance and protecting Hime! Her most aggressive play so far, but one which has nothing to do with her salon performance and everything to do with her feelings towards Hime. She\u2019ll have to be careful, lest the one relationship she can neither lose nor define becomes more grist for salon drama<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is normal, right? It\u2019s just photos of a friend.\u201d Oh my god Kanoko<\/span><\/p>\n Kanoko is now pretty sure Mizuno knows her secret, and thus cheers herself up by taking even <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> pictures of Hime napping. Goddamn, girl<\/span><\/p>\n The next day, Mizuno attempts to greet Kanoko in her own gyaru clothes, and Kanoko assumes she is being abducted by a stranger. Kanoko\u2019s really outdoing herself this episode<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt the salon, I\u2019m just holding a book open. It makes me look more like an intellectual senpai, right?\u201d While also concealing the fact that she\u2019s perpetually scanning the room for conflicts or unattended customers. Mizuno is good enough at her job that her performance scans as natural behavior to both Hime and Kanoko, leading to this surprise at her actual personality<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAgain\u2026 she\u2019s messing with me using Hime-chan!\u201d A trick that only works because you\u2019re so wildly overdefensive, Kanoko. If no one else is even allowed to shake hands with Hime, your secret won\u2019t stay a secret for long<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s slacking off, right? She\u2019s not even reading that book.\u201d Kanoko immediately frames Mizuno\u2019s behavior in a framework that\u2019s most flattering to her prior impressions, rather than accepting that she might be wrong about someone unlike herself. This is one self-defeating philosophy that often lies behind a shy affectation, a determination to frame everyone else in the most unflattering light possible, so as to justify one\u2019s own anxiety about reaching out<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe inside of a book is a vast space. Bigger than this tiny academy.\u201d Mizuno then goes on an extended tangent about the magic of books, immediately challenging Kanoko\u2019s unflattering impression of her<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe classism breeds a snobbish atmosphere, and the sarcasm of it all is very funny,\u201d Mizuno states, referring to a book that\u2019s clearly Pride and Prejudice. She ain\u2019t wrong \u2013 Jane Austen is a very funny writer, and clearly set much of the groundwork for the cynical, snarky protagonists and comedies of manners of our modern era<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, Kanoko still assumes she hasn\u2019t read the book, and is thus judging her for giving customers a false impression<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a gyaru, but\u2026\u201d Gotta admit that it\u2019s pretty funny Kanoko has built up gyarus of all things as these incredibly intimidating members of society<\/span><\/p>\n It certainly works with the show\u2019s themes, though. Kanoko is trying to put people in boxes, because she finds that more comfortable and less confusing, a quality she shares with Mitsuki. But Sumika possesses genuine self-confidence, meaning she doesn\u2019t have to cling to external labels in order to define her identity; she can embrace gyaru aesthetics while also being a Jane Austen fan, because she is confident embracing her own distinctive, multifaceted identity<\/span><\/p>\n After their shift, Kanoko realizes that Sumika actually was describing the book accurately<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe only books I read in the salon are ones I\u2019ve already read.\u201d Sumika understands they all have their facades, but saw a potential point of genuine friendship in her and Kanoko\u2019s shared appreciation of literature. We are not our affectations, we are our passions<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just trying to be friendly, is all.\u201d It really doesn\u2019t have to be more complicated than that \u2013 a lesson both Kanoko and Mitsuki could learn from<\/span><\/p>\n And Done<\/b><\/p>\n Oh my god Kanoko, you are such a mess! I thought <\/span>Mitsuki<\/span><\/i> was a disaster, but Kanoko is even worse, having failed to find any vector for comfortable communication outside of speaking to Hime specifically. Still, she\u2019s certainly found herself a capable coach in learning how to socialize, as Sumika is clearly the most confident, mature, and accommodating member of their staff. It was delightful watching Sumika run circles around Kanoko here, and I\u2019m eager to see their relationship evolve now that the ice has at last been broken. Will Sumika introduce Kanoko to scrunchies and baggy socks? We can only dream.<\/span><\/p>\n This\u00a0article\u00a0was\u00a0mad<\/a><\/em>e possible by reader support<\/a>. Thank you all for\u00a0all that you do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wrongeverytime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/August11110547.jpg?resize=584%2C329&ssl=1\")
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<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n