This is a translation of 461’s entry.
※ This entry includes contents to 『Bloom Into You』 episode 44 (for sale August 27, 2019). Please be aware if you have yet to read it.
If 『Bloom Into You』 were a conventional romance manga, having the story end with episode 40 『The One Whom I Love』 would make sense. In a completely unknown state of what will be depicted in the remaining five episodes began the new relationship 「Touko and Yuu’s story」, and if I look back its contents are certainly to be admired.
Touko’s maturation
From episode 41 『The Sea Chart is Blank』, Yuu wanted to define the relationship between herself and Touko.
「We’re…… g- girlfriends, after all」 「Doesn’t this kind of thing feel like what lovers do?」
Yuu from the start was a girl with a longing for shoujo manga and love songs, and felt loneliness from being unable to fit with such role models. Now that she’s obtained special, it seems she also had a longing to settle into the seats called 「girlfriends」 and 「lovers」, and to be given those roles.
On the other hand, Touko is slow to respond to the word 「girlfriends」.
「I hadn’t given it much thought」 「We are, I guess?」
This reaction that seemed like she didn’t think about anything, and that Touko who Yuu said was 「weak when I have a go」 appeared awfully calm, had readers feeling just a little disquiet.
At seeing such a cute, bashful Yuu, she just smiles and says 「let’s go home」! You weren’t that kind of person before.
Touko’s thoughts about it are revealed in episode 44 『Evening and Morning』.
She says, she doesn’t feel like she can tie the relationship between herself and Yuu to the words 「lovers」 and 「going out」. The 「special」 they’re feeling now might eventually become 「ordinary」. With their relationship to be changing like that, there’s no need to tie it to existing terms and 「Yuu and me」 would be fine, right?
Volume 1 episode 1 「You’re fine the way you are」
Volume 1 episode 3 「You won’t come to love me, either. That’s fine」
Volume 2 episode 10 「Stay the way you are, okay」
Volume 6 episode 34 「Yuu… you have changed……」
From Touko, who wanted Yuu who 「doesn’t get special」 to remain unchanging, and never tried to change anything other than becoming a replacement for her older sister, comes affirmation that both of them are changing, and hope for it to continue. It recalls a certain important line said by Touko near the end of the stage 「Bloom Into You」, that isn’t in the original work. (BD will be out at the end of October)
That’s a certain sign that Touko herself has changed and matured over forty-four episodes.
When Yuu sees the photo with Mio and indirectly tells Touko 「you don’t look alike」, Touko’s response also frankly affirms it.
“Bloom Into You” is 『Yagate Kimi ni Naru』’s English title, which directly translates to 「mature and become yourself」.
It must be said that 「Touko’s story」 told in this volume is completed here.
Special to everyday
This conversation presents more than just that to the readers.
『Bloom Into You』 is a story about Yuu and Touko pursuing 「special」.
Because you’re special to me, Koito
I want to have a special relationship with you
This keyword first appeared in the classmate’s lines when he confessed to Yuu, and frequently appears in the story with various meanings.
That is not only in lines and monologues but also in the motifs of stars and light, impressively depicted from start to finish.
The cover of episode 43 『Description Problem, Continued』 also expressed that the two have finally obtained it.
Spending time at home. Cooking side by side. In episode 42 『Description Problem』, Yuu was thinking about 「more than a kiss or a date… something that’s more out of the ordinary」.
All of those experiences that can be thought of as special now, will eventually become ordinary as the months and years pass.
Special becomes more everyday, as they remain by each other’s side.
Touko’s words reassured Yuu, who had vague unease thinking about Touko’s future as she’s heading out into a radiant world.
By suggesting not only 「now」 but also such a future for them, the depiction lets the readers think that 「Yuu and Touko will be all right」, as Nakatani-sensei had said.
Nakatani: About romance, starting to go out with another is not the goal. It’s difficult to know what to end with, but I intend to end it in a way that gives the peace of mind where 「with this, Yuu and Touko will be all right now」. I would like to make the final volume 8 end with the peace of mind that 「what must be seen can be seen」 in their story. Will I be able to do it? I’ll try, so please look forward to it!
http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/51584383.html [TL note: please be aware that the site also displays NSFW images]
You & I
Touko said she didn’t want to give their relationship a name.
I think that giving names such as 「girlfriends」 or 「lovers」 to relationships also determines the roles and positions.
In contrast to Yuu who stands in front of the stove making the meat sauce, Touko’s position changes many times as she goes from making the salad, to taking the pot of boiled pasta, to draining the hot water into the sink.
By being illustrated like that, the readers can easily understand what Touko is saying.
The relationship between 「Yuu and me」, which can’t be expressed with words right now, will be changing even more as the years go by.
I don’t want us to have labels, I want us to stay as 「you and me」. That’s greedy of Touko and Touko-like, and seems to be a message from Nakatani-sensei that no one needs to be bound to existing values and roles.
Furthermore, if I do a Deep Reading Bookstore, the relationship between Yuu and Touko might not be a thing where one leads the other. Sometimes, Yuu leads Touko by the hand. Other times, Touko gives Yuu a push forward. This time, Yuu was depicted as top and Touko as bottom, but that isn’t a fixed thing either. That’s how I read it.
Summary of what I read from the cool-like things that Touko-senpai says
- Touko’s own maturation
- the future for them as special becomes more ordinary
- it’s fine if there’s you and me; we don’t have to fixate on roles
—
Senpai, you idiot
Touko said she doesn’t want to tie the relationship between 「you and me」 to words, but Touko bound herself to a word (role) as seen here.
Calm down… I have to act like a senpai from now on, right?
In accordance with this comment in episode 42, Touko wants to become like an older, reliable partner for Yuu, so she’s been holding back, unlike before when she expressed her feelings onto Yuu as she pleased. She was trying to behave like a senpai, reflecting that up to now she’s only given Yuu trouble and just relying on her help.
Knowing that, I can make sense of Touko appearing awfully calm in episode 41. When a good mood is about to get going, she breaks away and changes the conversation to 「things that must be done」 with 「let’s go home」, which is the same as this time’s 「all right, let’s go shopping for dinner」.
Choosing a horror movie to watch together was also to show off the appeal of a reliable senpai. So even though it’s clear that she’s more afraid, she wouldn’t hug just to flirt.
Touko is released from such overambitions by Yuu as expected.
Senpai, you idiot
Like a repeat of volume 4 episode 22 when Yuu begins to go against Touko’s thinking, Yuu’s impressive monologue removes one of Touko’s walls again.
I don’t need you to act like the older one. You don’t have to think about paying me back. You don’t have to hold back. As Yuu brings Touko’s hair that she’s often touched to her mouth, those words also release her own desires.
—
Did you get excited? I did.
Here are some cute Yuu and Touko.
Was there anyone who could expect those contents from this cover and announcement picture?
Before climbing to the top of the ridge
I want to go back a little to talk about episodes 42 and 43. Like when climbing Mount Fuji, it’s recommended to stay overnight at the 8th station. It also helps prevent altitude sickness.
The entries on this blog about the original work stopped at episode 40. I went to enjoy the student general meeting.
I thoroughly enjoyed the student general meeting. The stage reading had me laughing and crying. I’ll never forget Takada-san and Kotobuki-san’s live hectopascal. The flapjack octopus strap was sold out, so I couldn’t buy it.
In episode 42, the most striking thing was that Touko said she would’ve asked for a kiss as the bet’s prize if she won, to which Yuu replied 「isn’t that something you could do normally without using the winner’s right」.
Touko thinking that kissing and dating can’t be done without some reason gives the charming sense of her inexperience with going out. However, this depiction shows more than just that.
As written above, 『Bloom Into You』 is a story about Yuu who doesn’t get special, is given special from Touko which causes her to choose her own special.
Yuu who doesn’t get special is taught it by Touko. This time, Touko who doesn’t quite get 「normal for the special us」 is taught it by Yuu.
The two complement each other. They can grasp the stars that can’t be reached alone.
Continuing to episode 43, there is another depiction about 「special」. Standing on the stage put by the community theater troupe while bathed in light, Touko gives off a presence that captivates viewers even with her short turn, and Yuu who watches her from the dark seating is seized with a little uneasiness.
「Surely, from now on… even more people will find Nanami-senpai.」
However, Touko finds Yuu and gives her a broad smile. Touko might become special to many people, but the special she finds among the many is Yuu.
The summit’s scenery, Yuu’s maturation
I wonder if the depiction of Yuu knocking on the door and Touko inviting her in is a symbol of how Yuu kept knocking on Touko’s closed door has finally yielded results.
Touko’s heat, which Yuu wanted to feel but couldn’t back then. Touko’s heart is directly under her palm. There, the sound of a heart that feels too fast truly belongs to Touko this time, and at the same time belongs to Yuu.
「I love you」 「I’m happy」
This exchange is like a repeat of the conversation made four episodes ago. Yuu is on the side of conveying the feelings called love, and Touko is on the side of accepting it. Yuu and Touko are depicted as top and bottom, as if to show not only with words but also with actions of what each always wanted to do but couldn’t, of 「conveying the feelings called love」 and 「accepting the love towards herself」.
The act of meeting their bodies might eventually become an ordinary thing to them. However, I think what it means will remain special.
The composition of one of them placing herself over the other and speaking into her lips appeared in volume 4 episode 22 『Find Myself Unable to Breathe』.
Yuu, don’t come to love me, okay?
Conversely, the answer Yuu gives as she’s on Touko and kissing her are Yuu’s true feelings, which she wasn’t able to say back then, words of intent that she chose for herself.
Those fingers I touched by chance, I now held them
I want you to read the song lyrics of the anime’s opening theme 『Kimi ni Furete』 over the scenes of episode 40’s 「it was something I chose and reached out for myself」 and episode 44’s 「I can choose for myself from now on too」.
Yuu also matured throughout the story, and became a person who can choose what she wants and the future she wants for herself.
The words which express the roles of 「girlfriends」 and 「lovers」 are not only labels, but also words which bring a sense of security that such seats can be reserved in her partner.
And I think it would be difficult to continue the undefined 「Yuu and me」, with its lack of solid framework, if their wills aren’t strong.
However, Yuu said. My 『love』 is in the words of my wish, my intent.
If Yuu, who is a little irresolute and tended to choose based on what someone told her, is a partner who chose with her own intent.
If Touko has enough self to think positively about the changing 「Yuu and me」.
The readers will truly think that Touko and Yuu will be all right now.
Anywhere is possible
A soft light through the curtains illuminates them as they greet the morning.
The words that Yuu asks Touko perhaps correspond to Touko’s monologue in volume 5 episode 23 『To the Last Stop』
And then… where can I go…?
when she was feeling the impasse of acting like her sister.
The two are free to go anywhere. Whatever destination they choose, depends on their intent.
—
Next time, the finale at last.
As for how I’ll feel after I finish reading, I can’t imagine it at all.
Translation notes:
The episode titles 『気が付けば息もできない』, 『終着駅まで』, 『わたしの好きな人』, 『海図は白紙』, 『記述問題』, 『続・記述問題』, and 『夜と朝』 have multiple translations.
One fan translation calls them “Suddenly Suffocating”, “To the Final Destination”, “The Girl I Love”, “Uncharted Territory”, “Essay Question”, “Essay Question #2”, and “Night and Morning”.
Seven Seas Entertainment, who licensed the manga in English, calls them “Can’t Even Breathe”, “Until the Last Stop”, and “The Person I Love”, “Uncharted Waters” “Essay Question”, “Essay Question, Continued”, and “Dusk and Dawn”.
Sentai Filmworks, who licensed the anime in English, calls the first two “Suddenly Suffocating” and “To the Last Stop”.
Another fan translation calls the first two “Suddenly, I Can’t Even Breathe” and “To the Last Stop”.
Yet another fan translation calls the last five “The One I Love”, “The Sea Chart is a Blank Page”, “Essay Question”, “Essay Question (cont.)”, and “Night and Day”.
The various fan and licensed translations for each title are here.
I call them “Find Myself Unable to Breathe”, “To the Last Stop”, “The One Whom I Love”, “The Sea Chart is Blank”, “Description Problem”, “Description Problem, Continued”, and “Evening and Morning”.
深読み書店 is a phrase used by YagaKimi otaku to refer to excessive interpretation. It is from the interlude title between episodes 7 and 8. I translate it as “Deep Reading Bookstore”.
A translation of fan reports about the student general meeting is here: 1, 2, 3.
Aletheia 