SPOILERS: I get the feeling Bloom into Yuu is loved by the people who’ve watched it here, and I wanted to understand that love. What makes Bloom into Yuu a meaningful representation of yuri romance that gets people’s attention? I took a couple breaks watching and realized halfway through that I couldn’t sit still during later episodes.

I’ll start with the art style and music in advance of that. Nakatani’s art style is refreshing, with its cute and soft color palette and lines, and designs that make a character’s facial features pop into your head. I loved how most of the characters looked, spoke, and moved as the animation was ok but really came into its own during romantic scenes where the budget was released. These moments also had the necessary musical swells, but for the most part the show’s music was serviceable. I noticed I was hearing the same background tracks repeatedly during slow moments and they were a bit too repetitive. I liked the OP though, so it was alright.

Since the rest of this review is largely negative, I want to precede it by saying that Bloom into Yuu was artistically rich. It was a heartfelt and largely accurate portrayal of love that I would praise on its own but couldn’t praise from a character and narrative-driven sense. In that regard, I’ll move onto the characters.

The main heroines and their immediate social circle were disproportionately ignored by the narrative but excessively used to drive it in how little they could. In order of importance, we have Yuu Koito, Touko Nanami, Sayaka Saeki, Koyomi Kanou (who only really became breakout in the last four episodes), and the rest. Sayaka and Koyomi were supporting roles amongst a larger cast of supporting characters including the rest of the student council, Yuu’s closest friends and family, and the school staff/café owner. A lot of attention was given to these side characters, for instance, during the student council elections, the sports festival, and preparations for the cultural fair. This is a significant chunk of episode time which isn’t just used to air out the tension set by the plot but hold the only plot element continuous throughout the show – the relationship between Yuu and Touko. In normal circumstances, you could chalk these events up to slice of life, but Bloom Into Yuu is a lot more dramatic in its presentation. Musical numbers meander through melancholic and sad notes illustrating the tension between Yuu and Touko during these scenes. Side characters constantly remind the audience of how strangely perfect Touko’s behavior is, how devoted Yuu is for seemingly no reason, and how no one knows how either of them act in private. These elements are serviceable only for the relationship plot, so how do they play out in scenes that aren’t directly related to them? Well, to me, they comes off as slow and boring, padding out the plot they service. Characters that are otherwise interesting are sidelined for beaten conversation topics and themes surrounding the heroines’ relationship.

Maybe previous watchers will remember the scene where Touko makes Yuu promise that, if she lasts throughout the sports festival without getting distracted, she’ll make a move on Touko despite having no feelings for her. The sports festival itself lasted about 1.5 episodes out of a 13 episode show. Throughout the festival, scenes were topical to how devoted Touko was to replicate her late sister’s passion and how mixed Yuu’s feelings were to be responsible for doting on Touko despite having quote “no romantic attraction”. However, these are the exact same internal conflicts the two experiences in every episode arc, and this arc ends on episode 9 of 13. Yuu eventually tries to fulfill her promise but stops halfway before Touko finishes the job by planting a kiss on her lips anyway, the exact same way other episodes had ended previously.

I think part of my trouble watching their romance was how little was done for me to like Touko as a character, which isn’t necessarily an objective fault but nonetheless important if such a heavy focus is given to one of two characters. Touko and Yuu’s relationship was presented as thematically selfish and one-sided on purpose, with Touko taking as much as Yuu could spare. But if both characters regard themselves as selfish and broken, who’s really to blame? That’s easy – it’s Touko. Immaturity and spontaneous desire aren’t things that I have a problem with in presenting young romance, but Bloom Into Yuu didn’t know how flawed its own characters were. Touko forced Yuu into repeated romantic altercations despite knowing her feelings weren’t reciprocated and while imposing boundaries that Yuu should never cross, including developing any feelings at all for Touko from them. This immature, selfish behavior is an order of magnitude greater than any of Yuu’s self-centeredness, but both are portrayed as equals in a narrative light. Yuu’s confusion and selfishness for enjoying spoiling Touko are given the same attention as Touko’s selfishness for being spoiled. I understand why this was the kind of presentation given. There would be no point in showing off the show’s most romantic moments in an overly negative light, but Yuu’s depressing feelings about them were so consistently attended to without resolution. After each romantic moment, the same conflict over how Yuu felt manipulated played out and was resolved with “well, Touko’s just figuring it out, and I have to help.” It’s hard to demonstrate the beauty of a relationship when every romantic moment is reasonably mired in conflict, and these feelings never went away. Nearly every conflict could be attributed to Touko’s behavior, but these aren’t addressed in a reasonable light until episode 13, when the show is already ending. It’s no surprise that she became hard to like for me, because it felt like she was stealing the love away from these scenes time after time. I don’t want to imply that love isn’t immature, selfish and spontaneous like Bloom Into Yuu portrays it, but it betrays a feeling of meaningfulness that they certainly wanted illicit from those romantic moments, when the music swelled and the animation team kicked it up.

This is where my main issue with Bloom Into Yuu rears its face – Touko as a character. Everything, including the context of side character stories, revolves around Touko specifically. Sayaka’s backstory leads into how she fell for Touko. Koyomi’s conflict over how she writes her play is centered on Touko’s anonymity and character. Miyako and Riko, the other yuri couple, are constantly thinking about Sayaka’s feelings for Touko or presented in parallel. Even Yuu’s friends are completely enamored with Touko as a mysterious young exemplar. Yuu herself is obsessed with helping Touko through her personal struggle with self-fulfillment. So why isn’t Touko herself a likeable character? Why are her own actions and struggles bland in comparison to what Yuu goes through, but given a center stage? Why can’t she figure out how to kiss a girl? Why doesn’t she just touch grass? Why does everyone love her but simultaneously think she’s kind of pathetic? I know why I think she’s pathetic; because she roped best girl into a manipulative relationship, which the show mirrors in how immature and stupid Koyomi’s past is. This is basically “yeah we were just confused kids fooling around,” which is exactly what this bitch is doing to poor Yuu. I certainly don’t love her for it. By the end of the show I was desperate for Yuu to develop feelings for this cunt just to make her leave.

It was for these reasons I couldn’t really sit still during the show. I was desperate for a development that would resolve issues that overstayed their welcome for pure drama/romance. Despite it all, the message is beautiful: that in love, all you know is the other person for who they are, not a character they put on. So why couldn’t Bloom Into Yuu show us how lovely that could be? All it made me want to do is Bloom into Yuu. In fact, my biggest takeaway from the show is that I want to Bloom Into Yuu as hard as I can. She deserves better than what she was forced into.

In a broad sense, Bloom Into You is a character study focused on Yuu and Touko which doesn't deviate much. At some point I felt like if I was just on a ride where Nakatani was figuring out how these characters worked himself, why I couldn't get off by the time he finally did. I think the fact that a romance anime can make me feel this much is an accomplishment, though. It was effective at portraying a very human take on romance that, while failing in a narrative sense, shows off some of the beauty and conflict that can bloom from love for one another. I’ll give my hat off to Yuu for showing me that even if I think I put 100% into a relationship, there’s always someone that’ll go further for someone special, and I appreciate that. Bloom Into You was a refreshing take on romance that made me angry and didn’t know what it wanted to sell, but still sold me up until the end. That’s the best compliment that I can offer it.