I broke down and registered an account just for this. I was thinking about the latest episode and why Ginko and Lulu are the only ones being judged when there is honestly no lack of bears in this series. Here is my somewhat unclear theory:

Courts are convened when there's a criminal charge or a case to pass a verdict on. The other bears aren't subjected to the judgement process, because they are already acting like bears (wanting to eat people) and there is no room for doubt on that part. Lulu and Ginko are being judged on the charge of not acting like bears (rescuing Kureha from other bears, remembering the past, loving selflessly?), so the whole court process forces them to agree to eat people in exchange for continuing their course of action and helping Kureha through Yuri Approval. Eating people is not a crime for bears, but maybe helping them is? Or maybe the other bears don't care about the end result of getting Yuri Approval, because what they want is purely selfish and they don't care about judgement?

Actually, I'm not very sure if the two bears on the roof in the first episode were Ginko and Lulu - the two other bears shown in the series were also black and brown, and neither bear was wearing anything identifying. Did Lulu and Ginko transform in the first episode so they could save Kureha?

The call to Kureha from the Judgemens seems to come before this whole process, though, when bears are waiting to attack her on the roof. Also, Ginko always seems to know when the judgement will begin - maybe because she initiates the process?

Giovanna wrote:

Nocturnalux wrote:

The trials themselves seem to approve of lesbian attraction as part of a male fantasy while the school represses it on the grounds of reinforcing conformity.

I think it's interesting that the only men in the show are in a position of power and judgment over what's acceptable behavior for these girls/bears and what's not. So far they have no other interaction with the female cast, who are subject to their judgments. I think it's pretty accurate to western society and I can't imagine it being less so in Japan. In America, a small group of old white men decides how long a lesbian sex scene is allowed to last, if it's allowed at all. They can censor what they don't like, and they cripple the movie industry.

I can't wait to see if there are more men, or if they're going to stick with an excellent little twist here.

(PS: The documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated is AWESOME.)

This reminds me of the whole debacle with Blue Is The Warmest Colour in the States. I heard that some theatres simply refused to show it because of the lesbian sex scenes and that it had to be heavily edited. There were no issues here in Europe, I got to see it on the big screen.

It is also interesting that the ones calling the shots are not only male but bears. The female bears are judged by human society and by their male counterparts.

On a personal level I find the trials fascinating in their oddity. My mother is a prosecutor so I grew up around courts. She began working in the early 80's and I remember her telling me how it was not all that unusual for men to be infuriated at being judged by women (although technically the prosecutor does no actual judging but is too involved in the process for most people to care much). Women judges causes even more of a recoil reaction. Nowadays things have changed greatly although there are still echoes of that attitude. Also, in my country there are now more women working as judges, prosecutors and lawyers than there are men. It's not just a fad either, the tendency becomes more pronounced with each year.

kurukuru wrote:

Actually, I'm not very sure if the two bears on the roof in the first episode were Ginko and Lulu - the two other bears shown in the series were also black and brown, and neither bear was wearing anything identifying. Did Lulu and Ginko transform in the first episode so they could save Kureha?

I agree, I think those two bears in episode 1 were Konomi and Mitsuko. I think their design was left deliberately ambiguous (viewers will most likely assume they're Lulu and Ginko because they are the only bears we know at that point), so that the reveal in the following episode would be more dramatic.

I think Ginko and Lulu have been going through the trial and getting approval just to protect Kureha, and that means eating other girls/bears who threaten her. So in the first episode it's Konomi and Mitsuko who attempted to attack Kureha on the roof, in episode 2 it was Konomi alone, and episode 3 was really clear that Ginko and Lulu were there to interrupt Mitsuko in order to save Kureha. Then they proceed to eat Eriko who led the "Let's search evil!" campaign/Invisible Storm.

The question I have is who did Lulu and Ginko eat in episode 1, if they ate anyone at all? Was that scene in the end of the episode just there to mislead us? The whole thing with Sumika is still not very clear, except Mitsuko claims credit for eating her and I don't really doubt her.

That makes sense, thanks! I totally missed that character, she had like two scenes in the first episode I think. I thought she was eaten in the later episodes but it makes more sense that Mitsuko finds them eating her (and not Sumika as we are led to believe at first).

Haha, we're running out of characters so fast. :'D Will Kaoru be next?

I LOVE the black lilies.

The YuriKuma website has been updated with preview text for episode four (but no preview images yet). From what I could surmise from google translate, the next episode might take place in the outside world (!!!) beyond the wall of severance and deals with "Princess Lulu" searching for the "Promised Kiss".

Anyone who actually knows Japanese want to take a swing at this?

王国中の愛を弟のみるん王子に奪われた「るる姫」。彼女はみるんを憎んでいた。自分のために「約束のキス」を探し、蜂蜜の壺がそれだと言って渡すみるんを冷たくあしらう。そこに思わぬ悲劇が起こり、るる姫は虚しさに包まれた。深い後悔のなか、彼女は銀子に出会う。そして光をもらった。二人がヒトの世界へ旅立つまでの物語。

AllegroDiRossi wrote:

The YuriKuma website has been updated with preview text for episode four (but no preview images yet). From what I could surmise from google translate, the next episode might take place in the outside world (!!!) beyond the wall of severance and deals with "Princess Lulu" searching for the "Promised Kiss".

Anyone who actually knows Japanese want to take a swing at this?

王国中の愛を弟のみるん王子に奪われた「るる姫」。彼女はみるんを憎んでいた。自分のために「約束のキス」を探し、蜂蜜の壺がそれだと言って渡すみるんを冷たくあしらう。そこに思わぬ悲劇が起こり、るる姫は虚しさに包まれた。深い後悔のなか、彼女は銀子に出会う。そして光をもらった。二人がヒトの世界へ旅立つまでの物語。

This may not be entirely accurate (third sentence is kinda confusing) but here's my translation:

All over the kingdom Prince Mirun (Lulu's younger brother) stole the love from Princess Lulu. Lulu who hated Mirun went to search for the Promised Kiss for her own sake. The honey jar was the thing she was looking for, she (he?) said as she treated Mirun coldly. Then an unexpected tragedy occurred and the feeling of futility enveloped Princess Lulu. Amidst deep regret, she met Ginko and received light. This is the story that happened before the two of them went to the Human world.

Sent you a PM, don't want to get off-topic here.

If there's anyone who's fluent, please translate this sentence! I'm curious what the correct translation would be.

You're soon to make some bear very happy indeed.

> siblings

> ikuhara

uh oh

maybe everything will be Okay because of the ultra-yuri focus? but i can't help but be a bit worried anyway.

uh

All over the kingdom Prince Mirun (Lulu's younger brother) stole the love from Princess Lulu.

OK, all bets placed now on how they're gonna play this one out.

I rewatched episode one with a friend (it was her first time seeing it), and I caught SO MUCH MORE after seeing episode 3.

Sumika was the previous victim of the Exclusion Ceremony. The Invisible Storm doesn't just seem to be something that happens to people who step outside the status quo, it seems to be a rite where they specifically choose someone and mark them as other. This is important because even though Sumika is dead and technically Kureha isn't in a relationship anymore, she's still become branded as the new evil of the class to be shunned. It feels like there is a NEED to have someone to exclude (by society? or to assure themselves that they are a part of the herd?) If anyone has seen Another, it very much feels like that.

- - - - -

malna wrote:

Guys, isn't this still kind of spoiler-ish? I would have preferred to find out all about it via the next episode, alas I'm not entirely immune to the bold font flashing at me.

I think it's not really that different from reading the description of an episode on TV Guide (or whatever the new cable/directTV paradigm for that is; I cut the cord long ago, so I don't know). After all, it doesn't really tell us THAT much, and it's not straight from the manga like some discussion has been. Although I can see your side of it as well.

Yasha wrote:

Not all of us have the chance to watch the episodes as they come out.

Hm, so discussing the episodes that have already been aired is also off-limits outside of spoiler tags? But then what are we to talk about in this thread? Don't get all evil on me, I'm genuinely confused!