Bloom Into You

## The Anime

### Soundtrack

The opening to Bloom Into You is the standard, both visually and musically of what an anime opening can be. It's the right amount of yearning combined with a pretty good instrumental, and also relatively interesting visuals. More than that, it even fits the tone of the anime. Definitely an addition to my playlist.

I don't know how to describe the vibe of the ending song. It's almost like "falling in love", if that makes sense. "hectopascal", sung by the voice actors is actually a pretty good song. I love whimsy ending songs like these. Honestly, I expected a more melancholic song, but this is definitely a warm surprise. Wonderful.

### Thoughts

Bloom Into You is a misleadingly good anime. It brings up some pretty heavy themes, like borderline sexual assault, aromanticism, intrapersonal issues, and more. Unfortunately, barely any of those themes or plotlines are resolved by the twelfth episode. The reason for that is the slothlike pacing of the story which blueballs you at the end with an openingless final episode that doesn't resolve anything. It's like the writer died in the middle of writing the story. What the hell, man?

I mentioned the numerous themes brought up in Bloom Into You earlier. Most of them revolve around Yuu and Touko's relationship. Their relationship, first of all, is a very strange one. It's almost like Yuu is half-assing keeping the distance between them and Touko takes advantage of Yuu's kindness. There were so many scenes where Yuu is coerced into doing romantic things for Touko, and most of them made me really uncomfortable. Not because they happened, but because nobody takes it seriously. Like, Yuu just brushes off the fact that Touko took her first kiss. That's crazy. I totally get that she's supposed to be aromantic and all that, but that doesn't excuse the way Touko takes advantage of her.

One good thing I like about Yuu and Touko's relationship is pretty emphasized at the start of the anime. It's the basis of their relationship: barely anything, maybe a short conversation. I love how illogical it is. Touko is this neurotically perfection-reaching academic weapon that tries to be somebody she's not, so it makes so much sense that she is weirdly infatuated with the first person that sees and doesn't judge her for who she truly is. It's textbook wish fulfillment for her side, which in turn plays into her aspirations for filling her sister's shoes. On the other hand, Yuu's side is also pretty interesting. I love seeing her trying to juggle what love really means for her, to the point that she turns down someone who was close to her. It's clear that she's trying so hard to understand why Touko even likes her, because she doesn't even like herself. Unfortunately, even though everything is set up for an intriguing story, nothing is resolved. Waste of my time.

Something that serves as the emotional center of the story is Touko's relationship with her late sister. I don't disagree that it's not emotional. It's very interesting seeing how much Touko tries to be her sister. There are so many pretty good moments that show it, like the line-reading scene where she tries to embody a character in the play (more on that later), or the scene where she talked to another member of her sister's student council. What spoils the cake is the "why", to me. Why does Touko want to be her sister so badly? Why? Maybe I just didn't pay attention, but there weren't any scenes that insinuated even a quanta of a reason for her want to be her sister, other than that she was seen as perfect (to her). It just doesn't make sense!

Speaking of "the play", the ending of Bloom Into You is hilariously underwhelming. To give you the context, second half of this anime was basically building up to the student council (basically all the important characters) performing a play, something the student council hadn't done in seven years. For context, the play's supposed to be vaguely relatable to Touko, about multiple personalities and stuff. Last time the student council were supposed to do it, it was supposed to be led by Touko's sister. So, it makes sense that with her being weirdly infatuated with her sister, she would have to do it, I won't disagree with that. It was supposed to build up to some really incredible moments, I thought. There were so many scenes with all of the characters that built up a really good foundation to what was supposed to be a breathtaking climax. It could've been a Your Lie In April level ending. BUT IT WAS BOTCHED. The twelfth episode: NOTHING HAPPENS. Okay, one thing does happen. Yuu pushes her friend the change the play so that Touko's character would choose her own personality, not one that was defined by others. Also, they chose the name for the play, which seemed like a missed opportunity for it to be the name of the anime. Anyways, there was not thirteenth or fourteenth episode. It's like as if Arima Kousei didn't play his final piece, Ballade No. 1 In G Minor, Op. 23 in the final episode. WHAT WAS THE POINT? Would Yuu and Touko's relationship grow closer? What would happen with the play? What about Sayaka's infatuation for Touko? What would happen after the play? What about Touko's relationship with her late sister? None of these and more are never resolved. Waste. Of. My. Time.

The side characters were nice, though. Maki is a pretty good red herring at the start. It's set up where he accidentally witnesses Yuu and Touko's first kiss so that it's implied that he likes one of them (probably Yuu). I found it pretty interesting that his backstory was pretty fleshed out. Basically, he just wants to be a spectator of romance. Someone who would just give advice, to the point that he even rejects someone who he was giving advice to. Other than Maki, there's Sayaka Saeki, the Yearner. Hello, that's me. Just kidding, I would never identify with an anime character. Unlike most people, she knows how fragile Touko is. But no matter how much she tries, she can't get any closer to Touko. It's nice seeing her struggle. That's literally everything her character is, though. Not that interesting. Other than those two, there are some other side characters, but they aren't really that fleshed out. I would say they're background characters with background plotlines, like the lesbian teacher with the barista girlfriend.

The visuals of this anime were pretty good, especially for an anime released in 2018. Nothing exceptional, though. It's good in a standard way. One criticism I would give isn't even technically related to the visuals. It's the fact that so many mid moments are uplifted by the "wow" effect, which is the visual and auditory elements corroborating each other to elevate an otherwise boring moment. Like, it's so boring that the show pulled off a train going past into a "flow state" moment twice. Can you get any less creative than that?

To summarize, Bloom Into You is an anime which sets itself up to be incredible. Imagine Days With My Stepsister combined with Your Lie In April. It tries to be so good, which I appreciate. But, it misses the mark by a lot, unfortunately. There are some gem moments, but most moments are mid or sloppy, so to speak. Underwhelmingly good. Not worth your time. There are better slow-paced romance animes out there! 7/10 Gem-Slop.