10 Second Anime - YuruYuri S3 - Episode 5

Himawari needs help to pass a PE test. Kyoko and Ayano have similar taste in clothes, or maybe not...

Episode 5 - "The Girl Falls Into Despair"

Heh.

Unfortunately, "official" translations used "darkness" instead of "despair, hopelessness." The secondary definition for 闇 (yami) worked better with the plot this week. Himawari despaired because she couldn't do a back hip circle. Ayano despaired because she accidentally ripped Kyoko's hair ribbon off. Perhaps both of Sakurako's sisters despaired over the middle child who was nothing like they were.

 

Coach Yui tried her best to get Himawari over the bar. Kyoko helped too.

Uh, she offered encouragement...

At the very least, she didn't get in the way. Kyoko's ideas for cheerleading poses appears to fit in with her ideas for sexy poses.

 

In the end, Himawari just couldn't do it without the proper motivation: Sakurako making fun of her large breasts! She got paid back with a kick in the chin.

 

There was subtle moment of care on Sakurako's part. She could have gotten really mad at Himawari for kicking her, but she saw the blisters on her hand and realized she had been practicing really hard. Sakurako opted for feeling a bit of pride for being the one was responsible for Himawari doing a back hip circle for the first time.

 

It's such a specifically Japanese school topic. I've never seen this back flip referenced anywhere else as a source of anxiety, but it's a formulaic convention in school anime.

Chitose really lives in her own world, which is not good for her blood pressure. The whole hair ribbon fiasco was basically for two joke payoffs. First, we got to hear the many ways Ayano says "Toshino Kyoko." Second, we got an off screen Akari hair bun joke. Did Kyoko rip one off or not? Akari was traumatized either way.

 

We met the youngest Sakurako sister in the first episode acting much more mature and self-reliant than Akari, so it was nice to see her interacting with the admirable oldest Sakurako sister.

Young Sakurako asked the right question: Were Yui and Kyoko trying to be a comedic duo? Yes and no but yes. Unfortunately for Yui, yes.

Sakurako herself would only be too happy to wear an ironic t-shirt like Kyoko, much to the embarrassment of her sisters.

 

I love how the pairs in YuruYuri all appear to have an idiot and straight man, but then they're thrown into situations periodically where their roles are reversed. This time around, Himawari was the hopeless one for not being able to do something that Sakurako could do so easily. However, just like water finding its level, the idiot has to reassert her level of ridiculousness. Kyoko wore her idiot badge proudly, "I am AHO."