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「私たちの海は終わらない」 (Watashitachi no Umi wa Owaranai)
“Our Oceans are Endless”
Everyone knew by the end of last episode that Gama Gama’s fate was all but sealed. This episode hammered it home. I wouldn’t quite call it a funeral. It was definitely more of a celebration for the life that Gama Gama had as well as the happiness it gave to so many people.
Some little kids love to put up a tough act. With how belligerent Rui behaves, we know he’s a kid but sometimes it can be hard to remember that kids are quite sensitive and can behave obnoxiously to compensate or hide those signs of vulnerability. So it’s definitely expected that he teared up hard on the final day, because Gama Gama is his precious place. At least he can probably challenge Kuya to more quizzes at Tingaara. As for Kuya, the old man gave him a place to belong when he had been unfairly rejected by society. For all his stoic posturing – a tough exterior derived from harsh life experiences, pretending he didn’t really care, he truly did care. And that really endears me to his character, seeing his hard-ass facade breaking down.
Given how the aquarium seems to provide visions of spirits from people who have passed on, I feel inclined to believe the girl Kukuru sees is not the future version of herself like many had posited. Rather, it is the spirit of her dead twin watching over her. Making sure she’s going to be okay. I think Kukuru can feel more courage going forwards knowing that she has a guardian angel by her side. Especially with heavy implications Kai and Karin are looking to join Kukuru on the next step of her journey.
Fuuka leaving to chase her dreams only makes sense. We saw how broken she was feeling when it didn’t seem to work out. And these golden second chance opportunities absolutely can’t be passed up on. But damn did it hurt to see Kukuru going off to cry by herself at the airport. Fuuka is the kind of friend anyone would want to have. She is true to the people she cares about. It can really suck, because that kind of selflessness gets taken advantage of – as we saw with the kouhai who usurped her. Nevertheless I feel more sorry for the kind of pathetic people who would only think about themselves and take advantage of others, because they are self-centred and will struggle to have true bonds or connections with other people. For me at least, one’s connections to others is a huge part to the meaning behind life. So at the very least, although Kukuru and Fuuka might have parted ways, they have forged a genuine connection that will last a lifetime – having bonded over that once in a lifetime experience where they endeavoured to save Gama Gama Aquarium together.
I’m curious to see where Aquatope goes. Seems inevitable that Kukuru will join Tingaara, and despite the personal shortcomings she acknowledges, I have to agree with Tingaara’s director Hoshino at the end of the day. She has the experience and no one can question her dedication or commitment to looking after sea life. Regardless of her fuck-ups, she’s only what – 16 or 17? For all the criticisms I’ve made, there’s no question she’s done and achieved at her age is remarkable. Any kind of hiring manager can see that. Perhaps she’s got some way to go before becoming the best version of herself. As do most young people. However her drive and determination seem second to none so I have no doubt that she’s well on her way to reaching that goal.
Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see you all next week!
She’s 18, going by the date on the maternity book shown in previous episodes. Something involving the way eras work in Japan, the date, etc. Perhaps someone else can explain better.
Guess I’ll have to wait to see this episode next week, but I’m really excited to see how the series will progress.
To add on for more clarity:
“”That is not year 2015. You see the writing 平成 which refers to the Heisei calendar. 15 in Heisei calendar means 2003 in Gregorian calendar.””
16, 17, 18 or whatever being the stand-in director for a failing aquarium is no menial feat.
You could tell she was really on top of the paperwork and looking after animal aspects relating to the job. The reason Gama Gama shut down was not because of Kukuru being a bad manager or her making any egregious mistakes. In fact, it probably only kept going for so long because she invested so much of herself into keeping it alive.
The facility infrastructure was simply way past its shelf life and couldn’t keep up in a way that could ensure the aquatic life could remain safe – a variable far beyond her control.
I was prepared for what happened in this ep because the last ep really put the fate of Gama Gama set in stone, and of course you gotta have that last-minute rush in the airport scene that many dramas have. I think Fuuku said she’d be Kukuru’s sister in spirit, because she just up and left anyway, which is kind of a letdown after what this show appeared to be setting up. Because this is anime-only, we don’t know exactly what is in store for them, but we know Kukuru finally moved on and is going to work at the larger aquarium where she’ll likely meet new co-workers, but that’s it!
To be fair, she did promise her mom that she would return home after the summer was over. It’s not like she could really stay in Okinawa forever without imposing on others.
> I feel inclined to believe the girl Kukuru sees is not the future version of herself like
> many had posited. Rather, it is the spirit of her dead twin watching over her. Making
> sure she’s going to be okay. I think Kukuru can feel more courage going forwards
> knowing that she has a guardian angel by her side.
Regarding that weird experience a number of characters get when at Gama Gama, I feel as though this aquarium cherry picking those with near debilitating regret. For Fuuka it would be her defeat as an Idol, Kukuru would be her late parents and twin sis, the random patron in EP 8 or 9 who had a death in the family.
> Fuuka leaving to chase her dreams only makes sense. We saw how broken she was
> feeling when it didn’t seem to work out. And these golden second chance
> opportunities absolutely can’t be passed up on. But damn did it hurt to see Kukuru
> going off to cry by herself at the airport. Fuuka is the kind of friend anyone would
> want to have. She is true to the people she cares about.
I have to say, I have mix feelings about Fuuka giving the Idol life a second try. In a way I thought her place is working at an aquarium as a staff. So a director felt Fuuka fits a role while the agency she was employed at didn’t find her useful, who’s right in this situation? What’s worse the Agency refused to provide the director that called for Fuuka’s contact info–does Fuuka have a non-compete agreement with that agency?
> I’m curious to see where Aquatope goes.
Aquatope doesn’t go any farther than what we already saw, Fuuka and Kukuru goes back to their normal life prior to meeting each other. The two girls will create a new path for themselves and forge new relationships while strengthening current ones.
Have you read other opinions of Aquatope? There are some thoughts there which greatly extend discussion (and that particular author has a pretty good track record of being on the money).
Which part of my response to Zaiden’s post do you feel is lacking insight or feel is a repeat of what Zaiden wrote?
All of it.
1) It’s not debilitating regret, but deep-seated longing.
2) Irrelevant details. It sometimes take new perspective to appreciate what one already had
3) Wrong. If they walk separate paths, the series’ tagline would NOT be “they met in the remains of a shattered dream”
Now that I think about it, you’re the one who refused to read and comment on another article that answered the specific questions you had about Yuki Yuna is a Hero, and claimed that Laid-Back Camp was too “lavished” in their meals.
I have a modest proposal: drop a comment off at that other blog I provide and strike up a conversation with that author. They might have a few worthwhile thoughts on things (as you can see from their replies to those who do comment): truth be told, it’s not like this is the sole, definitive authority on anime. Other people offer some great analysis, and you’d have a much broader perspective on things by speaking with more people who write about anime.
What would really suck is if Fuuka and Kukur never saw each other again…..boy if that happened….I get depressed thinking about that idea.
This isn’t 5 Centimeters per Second….