Yuri

Alternate Titles: Yuri Kuma, Love Bullet Yuri Kuma

Review by Chiaki

Embark on a bizarre, seemingly nonsensical visual journey and come out on the other side with a depth of commentary rooted in symbolism.

Here’s the problem with symbolism: everyone can see something different, or nothing at all. It’s that frustrating debate that happens around art that I’m reminded of the age old “if a tree falls.” If the audience doesn’t understand the symbolism, does that make it not real? If the audience sees symbolism that the creator didn’t intend does that make it superficial?

There’s no one answer to these questions. Personally, I think that the truth lies somewhere between the artist’s interpretation and the audience’s reception. I think that the artist can make thoughtful decisions and that has as much merit as what people see in it.

So, let’s start there. Yuri Kuma is directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara who was also behind Revolutionary Girl Utena and Mawaru Penguindrum. Looking at his body of work, he’s a creator who has something to say about love, sexuality, and the world society constructs for those things along with how that world intersects with the individual’s world.

That alone is kind of bold, when you think about it. A Japanese man talking about sexuality and the system in a very frank and real way. Yuri Kuma fits in snugly with this body of work, contributing its own perspective – unsurprisingly given the title – focusing on lesbians.

The story is part fantasy, part fairy tale, part insanity, in equal measure. It takes place in a world where “bears” and “humans” are at odds and they are separated by the “wall of severance.” Sworn enemies, they fight whenever they come into contact with each other.  Our heroine, Kureha, lost her mother to a bear attack. However, as bears cross the wall an infiltrate her all-girls school she ends up learning deeper truths about her past and the society.

The thing I think most anime viewers will struggle with when it comes to Yuri Kuma is the same thing that I think the same barrier almost all of Ikuharas’s work has. Where many anime thrive on plot, or characters, Yuri Kuma thrives on ideas, messages, and metaphor. The story and its players are vessels for the message Ikuhara wants to give, so approaching Yuri Kuma from a “plot” perspective is almost a disservice to Ikuhara’s work.

The central conflict evolves from believing in love despite the pressures to be invisible and conform in society. At the start of the series we’re presented with the following:

“Can’t Follow Societal Cues = Evil = Bear”

And then the classroom continues their discussion on how people who don’t follow societies rules are caught up in the “invisible storm” that we later find out is quite literally everyone else. The Invisible Storm serves two functions as presented in the anime. The first is to force people to be invisible once more through force. The second is to strengthen the community:

“The ritual of banding together to exclude someone makes the invisible connection called “us” feel real to them.”

The classroom takes place in the “human world” so I initially interpreted this to be “straight” and the bears to be “lesbians” but I don’t think this is quite what Ikuhara was intending. The reason why I changed this is because of the lone 3 male characters presented in the anime. There is a “bear court” that operates on behalf of the wall of severance and the “goddess” that oversees this world. They have the names of “sexy” “cool” and “beauty.” Throughout the anime they call characters into question and ask them “if their love is real.”

There are two things I see this court representing. The first is the male gaze. They’re passing judgment on the characters and offer commentary on how something that is “sexy” is approved – much like how men view homosexual women in society.

The other thing I think this court represents that changed my opinion of what the bears represented is specifically the media. By being a part of the wall of severance they’re keeping the bears and the humans apart and judging their interactions. Looking at it from this perspective, I begin to think that they represent the male gaze as told through the media on the perspective of lesbians and how they’re portrayed: that lesbians are either aggressive and sexual (bears) or almost completely devoid of passionate interaction and are “innocent” (humans).

“Only one thing is certain — Desire. Love is a savage emotion. To love someone is to rule them. To want to become one with them so badly that you consume them.”

Operating under this, the ending becomes clearer as it is two people who break this mold and define their love. Through this lens we can see that the “story” (and story meaning Ikuhara conveying his message) has a complete flow and reaches a satisfying conclusion.

All of this being said, you have to be in the mood for an Ikuhara show. And many people aren’t and don’t want to look into these things, or won’t see them. Personally (the final official score is an aggregation of my score and Kazuo’s) I give this anime 4.5/5

[starrater]