r/yuruyuri

Rewatching yuru Yuri and I always wondered why Yui moved out from her childhood home?

So, for those who don't know what's going on, i decided to bring (for fun) ai generated images related to Yuruyuri, and i clearly see that most people don't like it, and despite that i was trying to ignore it, it's obvious that they were right.

So right now, and i promise, i will stop posting "ai-slop", i didn't want anyone here to hate me or start arguing, my intention was just for fun, but i seriously get, and I'm sorry for that

I promise i will bring something different, using the actual source, i joined this community because, one, i love this anime, and two, i was surprised when i saw the existence of this community, so i decided to be part of it.

So, for everyone who saw the previous post, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, i promise that i will bring something that it's not ai.

I'm going insane. I was going insane back then in 2021 when i discovered that song and even now i can't find an answer.

Hanshaidemitari nayandemitari koisuru otome wa yuru yuri (a sometimes excited, sometimes worried girl in love, is yuru yuri) is an insane song even since the title itself and is very energetic as well, but having the lyrics takes it to another level. How can Kyouko sing about so many things at the same time? So that's why i'm bringing to you guys the question and my own interpretation verse by verse.

"Today, too, my mind's wandering off into the sky

The teacher’s just mouthing the words, completely zoned out

I might even put up a powerful barrier in my notebook

I don’t want anyone to see! My love story"

First, we have typical Kyouko behavior, not paying attention to class, but then she says she has a "love story". If you remember, in a certain episode she made some sort of doujin about Yui so it might be that, Kyouko imagining a romantic story with her. That gives us the first candidate for the muse of this song: Yui.

But then it all goes apart.

"Ahh... out-of-body experience, my heart flutters with that girl I like.

Munching on ice cream, her profile draws near, lovey-dovey, a miracle—I’m the star! Kyupiin!

I did it… No way!? When I jolted awake at the bell,

My miracle aura is blasting full force, but I can’t even find a way to connect…"

At first this does not make any sense, but it's because in the first half she is (day)dreaming, and then in the second half she woke up. She says she likes a girl and is imagining they are close, making her feel like the star or the protagonist (shuyaku).

She realizes it's not real by the sound of the bell, and then she says 取り付く島さえ見つからない (Toritsuku shima sae mitsukaranai kedo), a more descriptive variation of 取りつく島もない (toritsukushimamonai) which literally means "there's no island to cling to", an idiom that many translator pages interpret it as "unapproachable". After searching more on the internet, Kyouko's phrasing makes that meaning more extreme because with the extra words she adds, like さえ (sae - which means "even"), at the end what she wants to say is that she is making an effort to approach someone and her attempts of doing so don't even work.

Hmmm… so that discards Yui because she does connect with her in a way words are not enough to describe it, she doesn't have to attempt anything because they are already best friends (the closest interpretation i have for them is that they may even share a queerplatonic bond). But, the wikis say Kyouko has a crush on Chinatsu, someone who has set her boundaries very quickly and strongly,…so Chinatsu is the #2 candidate?

Also, for once, Kyouko seems worried about something, her voice while singing shows it as well. That's pretty unusua-

"It’s no big deal, right? I’m still me, after all.

I’ll press the replay button again and enjoy the miracle—one more time!"

Oh, she doesn't want to think about it, and goes back to either daydreaming or Mirakurun. Okay.

After the second row of tongue twisters and saying "the feeling of love is YuruYuri", she sings this:

"This morning, for some reason, my ribbon just isn’t sitting right.

Today, too, I’ll pretend not to notice and fire off my appeal rays.

No matter what strategy I come up with, it’s a through pass.

Love is a bitter, mellow mask☆ Is it a grape?"

So, everyone agrees Kyouko is the smartest girl in the cast, right? She is very self aware of things and likes to play pretend, it is a choice for her to be chaotic, considering she had a very different personality just a couple of years ago in their timeline. Here, she talks about "appeal rays" and strategies (for flirting i guess) that don't work, and then she makes a pun about love being bitter like a grape. Or wait, the translator told me another thing…

愛は苦くてメロウな仮面☆ブドウかい? (Ai wa nigakute merou na kamen ☆ budou kai) has a literal meaning AND an homophone meaning (it means another thing when it's said out loud)

First, there's the "love is a bitter and mellow mask like a grape" meaning, that comes from the question at the end メロウな仮面☆ブドウかい? (merou na kamen☆Budou kai - mellow mask ☆ Is it a grape?). And yeah, you don't always know how grapes are going to taste, they may seem sweet but they can surprise you, as if they're wearing a mask(?

But there's also the expression 仮面舞踏会 (Kamen Butōkai) which means masquerade ball/party. Therefore,when she sings "kamen budokai" it can mean either "mask like a grape" or "like a masquerade". That's how candidate #3, Ayano, comes in, and now the whole verse (and song) feels different. With the Ayano perspective, stuff like this homophone expression makes much more sense.

Chinatsu is very direct with her refusal of Kyouko´s advances, her attention is totally aimed towards Yui. It's true that after getting used to the blonde's shenanigans she began to actually consider her like a close and reliable friend (she even told that to her sister), but there's no hidden science for this. If Chinatsu is ever being contradictory, is because she seems completely sweet but goes full yandere, "evil" and posessive about Yui, leaving Kyouko out of the question. Ayano, on the other hand? She is the epitome of being tsundere and I'm pretty sure Kyouko KNOWS about it. As a result, they both enter in some sort of performance, Ayano acting aloof and distant while dying of love inside, and Kyouko following her silly TOSHINO KYOUKO activities, making jokes but also being kinda careful and patient with her. It is a fact she cares a lot about her.

Thanks to this reading, verses mentioning failed strategies, appeal rays and ways to connect are Kyouko's attempts to get through that tsun-tsun shell Ayano has hid herself into. And saying "love is bitter and mellow like a masquerade" tells us what kind of relationship they have because of this. It is not that it's fake, but rather what they are doing is deeper that it seems and there is a mask to break.

Anyway! Remember we were analyzing a song!

"Ah—it’s not going as smoothly as the manga I wrote.

Here and there, this way and that, I’m backed into a corner on all sides.

Something’s blocking my path… Hmm!?"

Kyouko is confronted with the fact that manga is not real (?. Easy solutions are not possible, events are not predictable, she doesn't have the control of things the same way she draws and writes doujin.

"I knew it! I should just go straight ahead at full speed

Miracle aura wide open—deep down, I really want a spell to catch her eye!

Worrying isn’t my style—I’m just me, after all

This time, I’ll hit the skip button and enjoy the miracle—one more time!"

She has an idea, maybe she can even be more direct, more chaotic, if that's what it takes to catch her muse's attention. But instead, she chooses to be laid-back again, she SKIPS the feeling of being worried.

And at last, we enter the third row of tongue twisters (which include Kyouko saying "I’m in love, and I’m YuruYuri!", wow, she is YuruYuri incarnate) followed by the bridge.

The chorus repeats again: she is dreaming sapphic stuff, wakes up and in reality her advances don't go well, but decides to not worry so much and continue dreaming or escaping to her Mirakurun world. A last sequence of tongue twisters, and the song ends.

Compared to other energetic songs from the cast, this one feels different for some reason. It is not overly optimistic, but rather self conscious about the dilemma the character is in. The wording is so ambiguous that there is an equal probability for candidates #2 and #3 to be true, depending on the angle you take.

With Chinatsu's route, you can argue that Kyouko indeed tries to get her attention in some sort of pushy way. However, after the 1st season, Kyouko is not insisting that much. They even had that christmas date and got along pretty well. Also they see each other every day at the Amusement Club. So there's little space for an existential crisis there.

With Ayano's route, she is a lot less obvious on the surface. She doesn't do many pushy things at first, but gradually she starts spending more time with her and the other Student Council members. She is aware Ayano is just distant and cold because she is shy, so her approaches and jokes are more careful. That means a dilemma does exist, but just because you need to read between the lines. And here we are just talking about the 2nd season, from which this song comes.

What do you think? Am i insane? Am i thinking too deep about this? Which team you are on? I would like to read your interpretations.

＼Akkarin!／