Wow, I really don't know how I feel about the
Yuri Kuma Arashi finale. Kureha
choosing to become a bear to be with Ginko
was a good twist (albeit one I was spoiled by due to seen fanart for
on image boards) but what happened afterwards was... really not what I expected from this show, and not necessarily in a good way either.
Make no bones about it. Past all all the falling lilies, angelic figures, otherworldly courts and other such symbolism, the two heroines
at the end. They were put in front of a
and then were
taken up by Kumaria in a haze of heavenly light
. Can it be any more blatant then that?
I'm not saying an ending like that is inherently bad (though I'm not a fan), but it seems to run contra to the revolutionary impulses of
Yuri Kuma Arashi (or at least, that a lot of people read into it). I mean, the show spends 12 episodes saying how bad and oppressive this heteronormative system is, but then at the ending instead of their love becoming a catalyst to overturn the corrupt system, Kureha and Ginko ultimately
'escape' said system not through revolution, but through death
.
.
Is that any different from saying "Don't bother trying to change the world, since you'll
end up in a better one once you die anyways
". That kind of message masquerades as optimism, but it's really an expression of profound hopelessness. It stifles any efforts to improve the world as it is, in favor of putting your faith in an abstract 'heaven' or 'utopia' beyond the current world.
That's part of why a lot of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales really rub me the wrong way. I read on the Mary Sue that
YKA may be inspired by Andersen's fairy tales to some degree (and one episode does reference the
Little Mermaid by name), so maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. But still. From what I'd heard of Ikuhara's works, I thought he had more of subversive bone in him.
YKA pretends to be subversive, but it's ultimately complicit in the oppressive system it skewers, saying that gays, lesbians and other oppressed people should give up trying to change the world and just (literally or figuratively)
. Especially since
are a real thing, it's a rather creepy message to endorse, to say the least.
Maybe I'm not being fair. Ikuhara's works are loaded with symbolism so perhaps the
depicted at the end is not really
but simply a representation of how the heroines move beyond the corrupt system. Apparently
, Ikuhara's most well-known work, did something similar for the finale. I've never seen
, so I can't comment, but in this case I don't think it's pulled off very well, in my plebian opinion.
You know what would have really been a cool ending? When Oki (Invisible Storm's leader) encourages all the girls to "Don't think, just shoot!" if they ended up
instead of
. That would show that they all realize people like
are the real evil in the world, not the bears. That'd be a truly revolutionary message. I actually thought that was going to happen at first (it seemed like the kind of bait-and-switch I'd expect from this show), only to be sorely disappointed by the true ending.
The show up til' the ending was great. Loads of yuri, interesting symbolism, deep and conflicted characters, very stylish artistic shots. For an action junky like me, it's a testament to how good this show was that it managed to hold my attention for all 12 episodes. I don't regret watching it at all, but the ending definitely leaves a rather bitter taste in my mouth.
Frankly, I don't think Ikuhara knew what the Hell he was doing by the end. He'd put so much into the show (even hyping it up on Twitter '
Mobile Suit Gundum for the yuri genre') but by the end, it was really just a flashy, very well-directed mess. For all the pretenses of challenging society and pointing out the genre's faults, he ends up going for the hoariest old cliché of all:
the tragically dead lesbian(s) whose love is too pure for this sinful earth
.
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!