I don't watch a lot of anime. Granted, over the summer I watched all of InuYasha because I knew there was a new series coming out that sounded fun. But in general it rarely goes over one season of something a year. Yet, in 2021 I've now watched over half a dozen series, and got into reading manga as well which I never really did before, and we're still in the first month.
All of that thanks to Bloom Into You (Yagate Kimi ni Naru).
After finishing the series I kind of went off the deep end a little, trying to get my hands on as much yuri anime as I could. After that series I wanted more. I found this big Yuri Anime List that categorised yuri anime by grade and intensity. I made a big spreadsheet to keep track of it all. One could say that I became a little obsessed.
So what is this anime that did all that?
The story is about a girl named Yuu. Yuu always wanted to fall in love. But she has a particular image of what that is supposed to be like. Butterflies in your stomach, feeling like you're walking on air, that kind of thing. Then when, at the end of middle school, a buy confesses his feelings for her she feels... nothing. This makes her feel that she is incapable of experiencing romance herself.
Starting high school she then meets another girl, Touko, who she learns has also never felt that way about anyone. That despite being quite popular and having had many love confessions. This makes her think that they are the same. But Touko disagrees. She says she has never had those feelings... until now with Yuu. And though Yuu doesn't have those feelings in return, Touko asks her to allow her to love her regardless so that she doesn't have to give up these feelings she thought she'd never be able to have. Yuu, hoping to be able to unlock those feelings within herself, agrees.
Thus the series follows the evolving relationship between these two girls. Touko gently, but steadily, keeps pushing thing a little further and further. Holding hands. Walking close. Even kissing. Yuu, a little reluctantly, agrees to it all. Meanwhile they deal with their friends, things going on at the school. A large part of the story revolves around this play that they want to put on. And of course things in the play relate directly to things going on with the two main characters.
It is said that this isn't a romance story, but a love story of self-realisation. I am not sure I agree with it not being a romance story. It definitely is about the evolution of a romantic relationship between the two main characters, even if it comes at it from an unusual angle. But it is also definitely about both of them needing to grow, or bloom as you will, into their relationship. And for this they almost come to it from opposite directions. Yuu needs to learn what her love looks like and, although outside of the scope of the anime, near the end of the manga she comes to a realisation that puts her entire time with Touko in a new context. Touko, on the other hand, needs to learn to love herself so that she can accept someone loving her.
Touko feels that she can love Yuu because Yuu is incapable of loving her back. At some point she even makes Yuu promise to never fall in love with her. And this becomes stronger still later, in a heartrending moment, where she confesses to Yuu that she hates herself and that she wouldn't be able to love someone who loves something that she hates. Yes, this series had me near constantly in tears.
What is so beautiful about it as well is that all characters are complex and multi-layered. From the above description it might sound like Yuu is a bit of a loner and shut-in, but she is anything but. She is friendly and social and outgoing. A kind person who always puts others above herself. Youko, meanwhile, at first glance comes across as the typical 'perfect' student. But there is so much more going on with her as well. But considering how incredibly central that is to the story it would be too much of a spoiler to say any more. And it's not just the main two. Characters like Sayaka, who is in a continual friendly competition for the highest grades with Touko, and Seiji, probably the only true aromantic in the story, are well realised as well.
The one big drawback of the anime is that it doesn't really end. This is because it is based on an eight-volume manga series, but the anime only covers the first four-and-a-half volumes. So in the anime there is no resolution to their relationship, you don't find out what happens with the play, it just kind of stops. And it stops at a nice moment as the two of them spend a lovely day together, thus ending on a moment of hope. But there is no real resolution to any of the big issues.
As such when I finished the anime I immediately opened my Comixology account, which I use about as often as I used to watch anime in a year, and bought the entire manga series. Reading the first half of the story again it is clear that the anime follows it pretty much word-for-word. As such reading the rest of the manga gives a pretty good sense of what the rest of the series would be like. And yes, the manga does resolve the main issues and ends the way that one would expect a romance story to end. So I feel content with having the full story now. Even so, I do hope that they'll decide to make a second season to finish the anime as well. They might have to stretch things out a little more to fill up a full season, with only three-and-a-half volumes to draw from, or they might need to make it a slightly shorter series. But I feel that they absolutely need to complete this story.
Bloom Into You is often called one of the best, if not the best, yuri anime. And I can't say that I disagree. It is definitely my favourite at the moment. I have seen others before this one, other really good ones. And I've seen really good ones after this one, after I started my yuri anime binge. But this one feels like something special in a way that I can't fully put into words. I can see myself a bit in Yuu, even though she's different in so many ways. Safe to say that the series really touched me and set me on a journey that, so far, I am enjoying very much.
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