The more they clash, the more they burn! Five "girl-on-girl clash anime"! Akiba Research Institute Writer's Choice: Anime Samurai Selection No. 14

Interestingly enough, there are many different kinds of people in the world. For example, there are those who are so moved by the clash of feelings between girls that they can find no other word to describe it than the word "emotion. Is this clash of hearts caused by the girls competing for the boy of their choice? Or is it because they have feelings for each other and their hearts have crossed at a moment's notice? The reasons for this vary from person to person.

In particular, relationships between girls for the latter reason are often popular among viewers as "yuri" (meaning "love" in Japanese). However, sometimes the interaction of the girls' hearts and minds has a meaning so broad and deep that it cannot be contained by such a term.

At the same time, the strength of their words, their choice of specific words that pierce the fragile parts of their hearts with unparalleled precision, and their sometimes blue, frustrating, and shaky depictions of their feelings.... I would say, based on the basic premise that there is no superiority or inferiority between the sexes, that there are more opportunities to catch a glimpse of such subtleties than in "fights" between boys.

This may be why scenes in which girls' feelings clash with each other sometimes lead to overly sensitive depictions of their emotions and make the viewer's heart tremble.

I have already said a long time ago that the theme of this report is the "clash of hearts among girls". Looking back at the five anime that will be introduced hereafter, what kind of girl's feelings will "pierce" your heart? Let's think about it together.

◆Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Club

First of all, "Love Live! This fresh new work is the third in the series, with a second season scheduled to be broadcast in 2022. This work is characterized by the "overallism" seen in the previous "Love Live! series, but it is also a fresh work that is scheduled to air in its second season in 2022. In a positive sense, each of the nine members of the school idol group has a different costume and different view of the world of the songs, giving the work a spirituality that is rooted in the "diversity" concept that has been prevalent in recent years.

Ayumu Uehara (CV: Akuri Onishi) and Yu Takasaki (CV: Hinaki Yano), who have known each other since childhood, join the school idol and support each other. Ayumu is constantly aware of Yuu's presence during their activities and is both happy and sad at her words and actions.

However, as she realizes that Yuu is gaining the trust of the other members, she feels a sense of sadness as if she is losing her "personal Yuu-chan". Ayumu's sadness is a sign of a sincere maiden. Or is it "heavy with love"?

The problem is that Ayumu's feelings finally exploded in the 11th episode. At first, Ayumu invited Ayumu to his room and told him that his new dream was to compose a song to be sung by the members of the group. However, Ayumu was puzzled by the fact that there was a piano in Yū's room that he did not know. As a result, he pushes her down on the bed and puts his own leg between hers as an expression of his feelings (when he pushes her down, Ayumu's phone overlaps with Yu's).

The aforementioned differences were successfully resolved through the "School Idol Festival," which was the goal of the first season, as Ayumu grew up and understood that "being together with Yuu is not the only way to be friends. This was successfully resolved through the "School Idol Festival". What kind of relationship will develop between these girls in the second season that will be broadcast in the future?

While the girls are in love with each other in the so-called "yuri" style, the clash of hearts is also depicted in an easy-to-understand manner, making this a work that can be enjoyed twice in one sitting.

◆Kyoke! Euphonium

This work is absolutely indispensable when talking about the theme of "heart clash between girls. The brass band club of Kita-Uji High School in Kyoto aims to win the national championship, and the story depicts how the club members seriously clash with each other and engage in friendly competition.

Thinking back to your own school days, you may be wondering why there are so many female members in the brass band club, which often leads to complicated relationships that do not exist in male-oriented clubs, and conflicts that arise from too-dense relationships due to the long hours of restraints. Some of you may have had the experience of seeing a classmate crying in the hallway after school .......

It is the same at Kita-Uji High School.

The members of the school's brass band are overwhelmingly passionate about their own performance parts and their desire to win the national championship, to the extent that they surpass those of other schools. In addition, the members of the brass band are all highly individualistic and have strong egos, so there are constant clashes between them "only because they care about their club activities.

To briefly introduce the characters with a synopsis, the story centers around the two main characters, Kumiko Kozaki (CV: Tomoyo Kurosawa) and her classmate Rena Kosaka (CV: Chika Anzai), who joined the club as new students. When Rena, who has genius trumpet playing skills, appears in the brass band, fellow trumpet player and third-year student Kaori Nakaseko (CV: Minori Chihara) is excluded from performing the solo part in the competition. The complicated relationship between Rena and her friends and sophomore Yuko Yoshikawa (CV: Yamaoka Yuri), who is at odds with Rena because she has seen Kaori's efforts up close, stands as the biggest challenge in the first season.

When Asuka Tanaka (CV: Minako Kotobuki), the vice president of the brass band, who is always calm and sometimes cool-headed and never reveals her true feelings, is about to leave the brass band due to family reasons, Kumiko, who adores her, tells her to "be more honest about your feelings" and explodes her feelings in a selfish but humanly correct manner, just like a junior. Kumiko, who adored her, even expressed her feelings in a selfish but humanly correct manner, as a junior member of the brass band.

In addition, the problems between Kimi Kusaki (CV: Nao Higashiyama), a sophomore who left the brass band, and Mizore Arumozuka (CV: Atsumi Tanezaki), who remains in the club, involve the entire club and lead to a situation that cannot be described in such cute terms as an agonizing dispute. In the end, it turns out that Mizore, who had feelings for Nozomi more than anyone else, was traumatized by the memory of Nozomi's past separation from her, and the two settle into a good relationship. The story of "Hibike! Euphonium" is a work in which, no matter where you look in the correlation between the characters, you can always find arrows pointing out the differences between them because they care about each other.

In addition, the unique dialogue, which is based on a pseudo-sister-brother relationship between senior and junior members and approaches the realistic brass band situation, such as "I love the sound that this person makes" and "There is a sound that only this person can make," is a work that will grab viewers' hearts even more than the others. It is a truly frightening work, "Hibike! Euphonium" is available at .......

The aforementioned film work "Liz and the Blue Bird," featuring what happens after Nozomi and Mizore, is another example of a very successful spin-off. In the film, the story is told in the manner of the sad fairy tale "Liz and the Blue Bird," which describes the decision to separate from one's loved one (i.e., the blue bird), with Mizore as Liz and Kimi, whom she adores, as the blue bird (which is the greatest foreshadowing in the film). The delicate depiction of their feelings in the story is truly remarkable. Director Naoko Yamada is unrivaled when it comes to creating anime works based on girls and adolescence. Once again, we are made keenly aware that we will never be able to beat her skill.

◆ "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun" series

The "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun" series has remained popular since the 1960s, and the third season, "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T," aired from January to September 2020.

The setting of this work is a "school city" in the western part of Tokyo that was built for the purpose of ESP education. The main character, Mikoto Misaka (CV: Rina Sato), who is known as the "rail gun" and boasts the highest level of ability in the city, and her junior students, including Kuroko Shirai (CV: Rina Sato), the "Judgment Committee Member" who protects public morals in the city, are all involved in the story. The four main characters are Kuroko Shirai (CV: Satomi Arai), who is a "Judgement Officer," her colleague Shikatoshi Hatsuharu (CV: Aki Toyosaki), and Hatsuharu's best friend, Ruiko Saten (CV: Kanae Ito).

To begin with, Misaka and Kuroko attend Tokiwadai Junior High School, one of the most prestigious young ladies' schools in the school city. As the story depicts the events that take place in the surrounding area, there is inevitably a lot of interaction between the girls. In this work, each character has a unique supernatural ability that helps her solve various cases, but she also has a complex about her own abilities. Hatsuharu and Saten, in particular, have episodes in which they torment themselves over their abilities.

Episode 5 of the first season is particularly recommended to enjoy the clash of their feelings. In this episode, when Kuroko and Hatsuharu are fighting against a car thief, Kuroko acts on her own initiative, and Hatsuharu, who is worried about her safety, is attacked by the enemy.

This incident escalated into a heated argument, and Kuroko and Hatsuharu were temporarily separated. Kuroko reveals to Misaka and Hatsuharu reveals to Saten that they had promised each other that they would become a full-fledged member of the Public Discipline Committee after a certain incident in the past. (Actually, Kuroko had forgotten about this promise, which is also the origin of the fight here.) As they talk, Kuroko and Hatsuharu realize that their earlier clash was caused by their mutual feelings for each other, and they run out into the city to confront the car thief once again. Then, as if by coincidence, their precious "partners" appear and ....... Kuroko and Hatsuharu slowly make their way through their adolescence, sometimes clashing with each other. It was a wonderful episode that showed the deep connection between the two girls.

Also in episode 23, when Misaka faces a big problem, she tries to go through it alone, just as Kuroko did in the previous episode. At that point, Saten asked Misaka, "What do you see in your eyes right now? and the scene in which Saten makes Misaka aware of the presence of Kuroko and Hatsuharu, who are looking at her with concern, is also one of the highlights of the series. Because of her own high level of ability, Misaka, who had never known how to rely on those around her, has grown through the presence of her friends.

As mentioned above, this work carefully depicts the attitude of caring for others. Whether or not they have supernatural powers, they continue to build trust with each other as just "important friends" in a good sense. It is one of the masterpieces of school anime.

As a side note, although the school city is designed in a futuristic style, the motif of Tachikawa City, Tokyo, may have helped the viewers to become more involved in the work. The realistic atmosphere of the city makes the characters more realistic, and as a result, the viewers can deeply empathize with the feelings of the girls. Besides, the sound of the word "school city" is always exciting to hear, isn't it?

◆IS <Infinite Stratos

From here, we will change things up a bit and focus on "harem anime" over two works. The clash of feelings between girls can be a pure battle of love, such as when they compete for the boy they like.

First, as a "high speed school battle romantic comedy," "IS" is a textbook work filled with harem anime developments such as a boy entering an all-girls school by himself, the appearance of a caring, tsundere childhood friend, and the appearance of a mysterious transfer student. Infinite Stratos" as a textbook work filled with harem-like developments.

The story takes place in a world where the IS (Infinite Stratos), a flying powered suit that can only be piloted by women, exists. The main character, Kazunatsu Orihara (CV: Koki Uchiyama), is the only male in the world who can control the IS, and he enrolls in IS Academy, a practically all-girls school that trains IS pilots. With a personality that can only be relied on at the critical moment, he captivates the heroines one after another.

One of the most popular heroines in the series at the time it went on the air was Charles Dunois, played by Kana Hanazawa. At first, she appears as the second male character who can pilot the IS, but in fact she is a girl, a beautiful girl in men's clothing. When she revealed her true identity, Ichinatsu became aware of Charles' girlishness, and there were scenes where he was attracted to her. (Incidentally, I bought a full set of Adidas jerseys similar to her design at the time).

The recommended episode is episode 9, in which IS itself does not appear. The other heroines follow Isatsu and Charles when they go out to buy swimsuits, and their former rival Cecilia Alcott (CV: Yukana) demands that they apply sun oil. This is an episode.

Despite the love battles between the girls, I can't shake the impression that Charles was the only one who could not break the image of the girls. This is because Charles had such a strong impact on the audience.

In addition, throughout the work, Isatsu is insensitive to love and has the habit of missing the heroines' key lines, as if he were a harem protagonist, and viewers were left wondering "Why did he miss that? This is the reason why I think the work is entertaining and does not end with the viewer's feeling of envy toward his situation.

◆Yosuga no Sora

Last but not least, this work left a legend in the anime history of the 2010s.

The reason why it is legendary is because the original work is a love adventure game for 18 years old and older, and the style of the work perfectly incorporated the nuance of the original work. The heroine is a different heroine for each route, as the original was a route-branching adventure game.

The fact that the timing of the anime's broadcast coincided with the governor of Tokyo's intention to revise the "Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance on the Sound Upbringing of Youth" is also an unforgettable episode for me. It was a worrisome time for us, as we were concerned that the ordinance would have a strong influence on works depicting heterosexual relationships, such as this one. However, as if such fears were groundless, the film's straightforward depiction of a "secret affair" that develops into a relationship between a man and a woman, and the fact that it was aired on terrestrial television, made me, as a viewer who watched it in real time, think that it was "too revolutionary," "How could they go this far? (Even so, there were still visual restrictions, and many scenes were blacked out outside of AT-X.)

The story takes place in Okukizome, a rural area far from the city. Yuu Kasugano (CV: Hiro Shimono), who lost his parents in an unforeseen accident, and his twin sister Sora Kasugano (CV: Hiroko Taguchi) visit this place where they have a connection with their father and live alone together. There, she meets her former childhood friend Ei Tennome (CV: Kayo Sakata) and her new friend Kazuha Nagisa (CV: Ryoko Ono), a young lady who plays the viola.

It is in the latter half of the story that we witness the "clash of the girls. The story follows a love battle between Nao Yohime (CV: Yuka Inokuchi), a childhood friend of Yuu's, and Sora as they try to outdo each other with their clever "verbal attacks". As is typical in romance adventure games, there are "branching routes" in the episodes that Nao and Sora are in charge of. In some episodes, Nao and Sora had scenes that appeared to be exactly the same, but in other episodes, Nao reconciled with Sora, with whom she had a history, while in other episodes, Sora cleverly overcomes Nao in the branching route, a gimmick that took advantage of viewers' sense of deja vu.

Incidentally, Sora crosses a line he is not supposed to cross with Yuu at the end of the story, but at the same time his relationship with Yuu is known by those around him. Ultimately, the two break off the yosuga (=relationship) they met in the land and leave for a new world on a train, but is this heading for a new place in the real world or for heaven? ...... The epilogue, in which the brother and sister are united, is ephemerally beautiful, and the overall color tone of the work, which is based on the color "white," makes the viewer feel as if he or she is daydreaming.

＜Writer's Introduction

Kota Ichijo

Freelance writer, born in 1995. Born in 1995, Ichijo grew up in Tokyo and Berlin. He is a city boy with potential and vibes loved by the gods. He writes mainly about anime/voice-over music, hip-hop, and high-school romance, which keeps the light on even the coldest nights and darkest days.

Twitter: @kota_ichijo