「みんなでポカポカ合宿へ」 (Minna de Pokapoka Gasshuku e)
“A Passionate Overnight Stay with Everyone”

While all the Kyouko melodrama last time would’ve worked fine as a finale, an episode where the Fun Club and Student Council let loose with animal pajamas, reluctant cosplaying, oil barrel baths, and lesbian kissing works just as well if not better. They weren’t just any old animal pajamas either, but full-body ones that Chinatsu was overjoyed about. The lesbian kissing was of the “suck you dry” variety too, which Akari got a good dose of back in episode five (…that lucky girl). Amidst all that, they even managed to find time to slip Mirakurun and Rivalun in, giving Taketatsu Ayana and Yuuki Aoi some lines one last time. I can only think of one word to sums up all that awesomeness — Tomato!

It seems befitting given that all the random hijinks picked up after Kyouko put on her tomato pajamas and opened Yui’s eyes to the pleasures of sadism. I got a pretty good kick out of seeing Kyouko get stomped on repeatedly and Yui choosing not to stop, which made just about everything afterward funny in its own way. This includes the sight of the box that’s served their club so well. There was no shortage of smart-ass remarks between Himawari and Sakurako either — something I’ve grown quite fond of since I can be pretty sarcastic myself. Just about everything in this finale seemed to hit a comedic chord with me, such as Chinatsu’s overconfidence cosplaying as Mirakurun and Kyouko awarding the victory to a very reluctant Himawari instead. It felt like a nonstop troll-fest or sorts, where the girls didn’t hesitate to dish out pranks as quickly as they were taking them. If there’s one thing to take away from Yuruyuri, it’s that everything we’ve heard about middle school girls being innocent is a lie. In reality, they’re just a bunch of lesbian trolls. Very funny lesbian trolls, but lesbian trolls nonetheless.

This episode more or less showcased everything that the series has to offer from the character nuances to the quirky interactions, which is what made it a great way to go out. Even Akari got more screen time than she realized, including the close-out death scene, despite Mari robbing her of her title call job. She may have been victimized until the very end, but her oil barrel spill was one of the funniest moments of the entire episode. To me, it was only second to “killing” Chitose to stop her rampage. Leading up to that, I just love the way Kyouko embraced Chitose’s inner beast, though I do wish they showed Ayano’s reaction to that. After all, Chinatsu’s reaction to Chitose manhandling Yui was absolute gold. I can’t complain though, seeing as Yui put Ayano on the spot and she came through for them. I can only imagine what would’ve happened if Ayano kissed Kyouko on the lips instead. There probably wouldn’t be a trace of Chitose left — just a pool of blood.

* Full-length images: 05, 08, 12, 19, 29, 44.

 

Final Impressions:

Three months ago, I was hoping that director Oota Masahiko and screenwriter Aoshima Takashi would take their experience working on Minami-ki s1 and Mitsudomoe and provide some laughs similar to those series. Three months later, it’s safe to say that they did just that. However, a lot of credit goes to Namori’s light yuri manga itself, which proved to have “cruder” forms of humor than I imagined. At times, the jokes are of the slapstick variety, but at others it’s a lot more unrelenting and sarcastic as seen in the mistreatment that Akari receives. Rather than Minami-ki s1 and Mitsudomoe, what Yuruyuri really reminded of was Ichigo Mashimaro — an absolutely hilarious slice-of-life comedy. Kyouko fills in the idiotic role opposite of Yui just like Miu did with Chika. The difference of course is that Yuruyuri takes place in middle school instead of elementary school, which opens the door (more like the gate) to a whole whack of lesbian goodness. Chitose will forever be my go-to-girl in that regard, as her ultra-sensory lesbian radar knows no bounds. I also loved hearing Toyosaki Aki voice her with a Kansai accent.

As far as slice-of-life comedies go, it’s easy to see why the manga was voted number one by a significant margin in the Yuri Hime S magazine it was serialized in before moving to Yuri Hime (no S). The girls are all amiable with their distinct personalities and the light yuri aspect serves as a starting point for a lot of the humor. At the same time, it’s not the be-all-end-all of the humor, as there are so many other silly scenarios they get caught up thanks to Kyouko. It helps that the show features two distinct groups — the Fun Club and the Student Council — that can probably star in a slice-of-life comedy on their own yet are lumped together to give us a bustling cast of ten girls. The series slowly introduced them to give them some proper limelight and not overwhelm the viewer. After getting to know everyone, it’s hard to even remember what the show was like without the entire cast. With a plethora of comedic avenues that can be explored, it was ultimately the delivery of the material that made Yuruyuri so memorable. Even if you don’t care for the yuri aspect, it’s well worth a watch for any comedy-lovers out there. Just don’t forget about Akarin. She’s the heroine.

36 Comments

  1. I died of laughter from this episode. I would honestly want to see a sequel season to this and Ikoku even if it comes out a year later.

    I’m going to miss this and Ikoku so much. For me, they were the two most looked forward to shows this season out of everything else so far.

    I only suspect that Chitose wouldn’t be alive by season 2 though. Lol. All that blood loss… hahaha.

    octoberasian
  2. The bloody massacre killed me almost as much as the blood curdling scream chinatsu gave and akarin smiling as she talks about how she lost consciousness after falling in a river out in the wilderness. I’m going to be going through withdrawls when nichijou ends too as these were my go to shows, with a wonderful leading cast of women. SO SAD IT’S OVER. I really enjoyed the ride though. Funny, cute, and well done, satisfying until the end.I’ll miss chitose’s bleeding and her voice and ayano’s crazy one liners alot not to mention the voice work of them all, A+ stuff…

    Relic
    1. I feel your pain. I am not sure how I will manage without Nichijou and Yuru Yuri each week. I am not even sure the one two punch of Working + Ika Musume will be able to fill the void.

      Here is hoping and praying we will get a season two of this hilarious series, and soon.

      Skizzit
  3. I lol’d at chitose’s 6th sense whenever kyouko and ayano had a moment in their oil barrel bath. Poor akarin. The bit with chitose starting a fantasy of kyouko and ayano which lead to ayano cleaning her nose and lead to a chizuru moment was a nice chain of events :D. Hope this gets a season 2. I just love this show.

    To stop a rampaging chitose, one must obtain a kyouko and a ayano and have them fulfill her fantasy oops it almost killed her. XD

    Rayyy
  4. Weird… I felt like I’m not watching the final episode at all. I was hoping they’d put a surprise on us in the previews but it was sad to see it’s nonexistant. I need me some MOAR YURU YURI!! Oh well… I just hope something as good as this would fill the void left in my mondays. Thanks for blogging this, you could say that I enjoyed reading your posts as much as the episode itself. Also…Yuru Yuri is the best yuri show I’ve ever seen(not like I watched that many lol). Oh! almost forgot. Akarin! ;_;

    Nhelraios
  5. it’s easy to see why the manga was voted number one by a significant margin in the Yuri Hime S magazine it’s serialized in.

    Just for the sake of accuracy, its serialized in Yuri Hime, being one of the relatively few series to survive the cancellation of Yuri Hime S, which was the more male-targeted imprint they made a go at producing, but ultimately didn’t work out. Yuri Hime‘s reader-base is distinctly female slanted.

    Anyway, this was my most anticipated show of the season, and it delivered. My only quibbles are not even a tease at Akaza Akane, and no sign at all of Sakurako’s two sisters.

    I’d watch an entire series based around almost any given subset of this cast, so there are certainly tons and tons of more stories Namori can make, and there should be enough for a second season as it stands. Really want more focus on Himawari and Sakurako though. HHHHNNNGGGG

    Fencedude
  6. lol, this was a great episode. There was almost everything. Even Mari had an appearance. I missed her so much XD. Now I wish there was a real Mirakurun anime :p, and I hate mahou shoujo anime XD. This was one of the more enjoyable anime this season.

    x
  7. i am going to miss watching this series every monday….it is easily one of my favorites this season, and even it is unlikely, i am looking forward to a second season — there aren’t enough yuri animes. i just do hope sakurako/himawari gets more screentime, and i also don’t get why akane got a va….i don’t remember her appearing…? or does it have a drama cd i don’t know about.

    Medoi
  8. And as expected, nobody complains about the half a dozen or so lesbian kisses but a gay kiss happens in NO.6 and a bunch of people flip their shit over it… jesus.

    Regardless, was a very good final episode and a very funny series overall. I’m glad I watched it, since at first I wasn’t going to.

  9. Am I the only one slightly disappointed that they never touched Akarin’s older sister since episode 1?

    Good series, interesting characters, and I enjoyed the empty eyes of everyone after Chitose got them.

    Avalanche
  10. What a riot, twice as much as the Kyoto trip. I find it funny how there’s more blood-gore from Chitose’s exploding nose than any show currently out there uncensored. Glad the series didn’t left any of us disappointed.

    T.K.
  11. Hahaha how like Pedovine to waste his time jerking to pointless underaged fanservice~
    Supposedly he says he writes this blog to inspire fans to try new stuff, and yet waste time on this. Not to mention this season has Sket Dan, a unique slice of life which is mostly different in humor cast and atmosphere than your usual K-On wannabe. Oh well it’s not like it’s the first time he lies, haha~
    Anyway; A LYING, CHILD JERKING PERVERT; YOUR HERO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN~~!!!<3

    PS: 😛 Didja miss me Divine? *wink wink sparkles sparkles*

    See Key
  12. Awesome series, Amuse me more even than BakatoTest… I´m still laughing from the last episode! I love Kyoko, I will have to check the manga to learn about Akari and Chinatsu´s sisters… I Will miss this seriesso much… Hoping for a S2… Divine, thanks for blogging this!

    kingdragun
  13. Man this anime follows up to the 4th volume only and there are 7 volume released!!!
    They could do at least more five episode…
    I will misss this…
    yuri yurararara yuru yuri
    yuri yurararara yuru yuri
    dai jiken!!!

    shoryuma

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *