(L) Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? BLOOM (Season 3)

[Infinite Zenith]

It looks like we've hit the halfway point. This episode was all about Chino, and strikes a brilliant balance between looking to the future (via the graduation photos) and living in the present (putting on a successful Bread Festival). This has been BLOOM's strongest suit insofar.

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Another cute and heartwarming episode there.

The haircutting bits were pretty entertaining. Glad we avoided total disaster. Just on the level of a quirky kind of look for those that got a cut. I suppose that much banter during a haircut is best saved for those that are doing it for a living and can keep their focus . All those scenes were great though. Cocoa and Chino was downright adorable, Rize and Maya was very cute, and same goes for Megu, Chiya, and Syaro.

The bread festival was a bigger success this time. Though a bit sad we couldn't see the return of Rabbit Horse. Definitely helped show Chino's growth though. She's matured so much. Has also managed to grow sillier due to Cocoa's influence, but it is all pretty darn positive. Much more confident now and the hit of her new blend shows her barista skills are improving at the same time.

Wow, must've been an earlier day for you, going from that time stamp. Glad to see you enjoyed this one!

[Kanon]

I wonder if the show will go full circle and end with Chino becoming an older sister figure to a younger girl. That's assuming we get a complete anime adaptation, which I'm definitely hoping for. This series is in my top 3 slice of life of all time.

[Master_Yoma]

Well Chino, Maya and Megumi wants to change there image but there asking the wrong people

Chino gets to play with the bunnies thanks to Sharo

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith

It looks like we've hit the halfway point. This episode was all about Chino, and strikes a brilliant balance between looking to the future (via the graduation photos) and living in the present (putting on a successful Bread Festival). This has been BLOOM's strongest suit insofar.

Wow, must've been an earlier day for you, going from that time stamp. Glad to see you enjoyed this one!

It was in all honesty . Only choice was catching the episode right before work or waiting several hours to enjoy it. Didn't want to go with the latter .

No doubt this season has done a fantastic job so far on walking that line. Both celebrating the growth of the main cast and looking ahead to what is to come for them. I'm sure sooner or later we're going to follow that path with focusing a bit on Rize's eventual graduation. But so far this season has been a lot of positive progression.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Master_Yoma

Well Chino, Maya and Megumi wants to change there image but there asking the wrong people

Chino gets to play with the bunnies thanks to Sharo

It actually worked out pretty nicely for Megu and Maya. And it would have probably worked for Chino as well if she hadn't made that joke.

[Liddo-kun]

episode 6:

this anime is always so cute.

Chino starting to play pranks by making faces like the rabbits.

and that's a delicious looking coffee she made.

everyone has their hair styled for graduation pic. Well, it's a special event, better look good. ^^

[Liddo-kun]

episode 7:

heartwarming moment when Cocoa's magic trick reminded Chino of her mom.

and everyone is so cute in their costumes.

one of my favorite episodes.

looking forward to next week!

[FlareKnight]

Geeze that was both utterly hilarious and sweet at the same time. I'm not sure what episode is the best of this season since they have all been fantastic.

Considering the supernatural aspect of Tippy, I'm totally down for Chino's mother visiting on Halloween. Even though she didn't interact directly with Chino (maybe since she couldn't speak anyways) she did leave something to help Chino smile. Helping to support Chino's big sister was a nice touch.

The ending was so darn sweet that I nearly forgot how fun the first part was. Everyone just rallying for Chiya was really nice. Megu and Maya got the best moments and really they hadn't interacted with Chiya by themselves all that much. But Rize was a big help. Syaro got involved too. It was all really nice.

And honestly had never thought until now that they could theoretically create a new Chimame squad with Chiya .

[BWTraveller]

And here I thought the magician was Aoyama-sensei. Also, I'd always wondered what happened to Tippy's soul. Looks like she went with Chino's mom to make room for Grandpa. I have to agree, this was one of the cutest episodes so far.

On a different note, Sharo needs to watch out when wearing that police costume. It was clearly designed for a shape she doesn't have. It kind of looked like she could pop out when she yelled at the three Lapins.

[Infinite Zenith]

This episode delves into a side of GochiUsa that we've not really touched upon since Sing For You, and for this, it really gives the entire series a newfound meaning: the short version of this is that Saki's still looking out for Chino, but ultimately reassured to learn that Chino's found a fantastic group of friends to be happy with.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

And honestly had never thought until now that they could theoretically create a new Chimame squad with Chiya .

I just love how both Sharo and Chiya just call Megu and Maya "MaMe-chan".

[Kanon]

That was a fantastic episode. Full of laughs and with some heartwarming moments. I kind of wish Saki could have talked, if only to say a thank you to Cocoa (which would have left her puzzled), because I am certain she is grateful for everything she's done for her daughter, the fact she decided to show up in front of her is proof enough.

Rize's outfit looking baggy on Syaro (especially around the chest) made sense, but I wonder how Rize managed to fit into Syaro's own outfit. It should have been bursting at the seams.

The new ChiMaMe squad delivered most the comedy this time around. Loved that MaMe couldn't agree on which animal they were disguised as

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

And honestly had never thought until now that they could theoretically create a new Chimame squad with Chiya .

It had never occurred to me either. Chino's reaction was hilarious.

[arkhangelsk]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith Review

When I think about it, I’m not sure how anime manage to pull things like this off: at the science fairs I adjudicate, folks of high school age act more similarly with my peers at university than they do the kindergarten-aged children I helped to look after at the local Chinese academy years ago.

I think it is half real (there is certainly a range of maturity levels in high school and if your relations is with a science fair, you'll be interacting with the top half) and half the anime industry indoctrinating us over the years to see this kind of thing as acceptable, just as we learn to see slapstick as acceptable and not a sign of criminally violent or psychotic tendencies, and we learn to see someone being blasted into a little star as a joke, not as evidence of plot-useful super strength on the character's part.

IMO, most kindergarten (rare) or primary school protagonists or sub-protagonists are upgraded a little in anime, sometimes overlapping with the middle schoolers such they have the maturity and agency required for plot events.

Most middle-school protagonists are broadly speaking their own age, because they must maintain differentiation from both the primary school kids and the high schoolers.

High school school is the most flexible - anime can safely sell anything from the upper regions of primary school to a young graduate. You can still sell immature ones in university or even young workers, but you can't dip that low and remain plausible. I think the very flexibility of the anime high school character is a reason why high school is so popular a setting even as the freedom the characters need and receive is more fitting perhaps of university level.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by arkhangelsk

I think it is half real (there is certainly a range of maturity levels in high school and if your relations is with a science fair, you'll be interacting with the top half) and half the anime industry indoctrinating us over the years to see this kind of thing as acceptable, just as we learn to see slapstick as acceptable and not a sign of criminally violent or psychotic tendencies, and we learn to see someone being blasted into a little star as a joke, not as evidence of plot-useful super strength on the character's part.

IMO, most kindergarten (rare) or primary school protagonists or sub-protagonists are upgraded a little in anime, sometimes overlapping with the middle schoolers such they have the maturity and agency required for plot events.

Most middle-school protagonists are broadly speaking their own age, because they must maintain differentiation from both the primary school kids and the high schoolers.

High school school is the most flexible - anime can safely sell anything from the upper regions of primary school to a young graduate. You can still sell immature ones in university or even young workers, but you can't dip that low and remain plausible. I think the very flexibility of the anime high school character is a reason why high school is so popular a setting even as the freedom the characters need and receive is more fitting perhaps of university level.

I don't know if I'd call it indoctrination, or blame it all on anime either. The idealization of cuteness has been growing for quite some time in Japan, well before anime became really and truly intense about it. I mean, the modern intensity of cuteness could be argued to have started with K-On, which was actually fairly strongly based on the creators' own memories. There's a reason K-On had a surprisingly large audience from young women: it actually fit with their own memories of high school. I'm not saying anime had nothing to do with it, but I suspect it would've developed toward this even without it, and anime reacted to it more than they encouraged it. As for slapstick, I definitely disagree with the suggestion that this's some kind of indoctrination. I mean, ANY medium that can get away with over-the-top slapstick does so at the drop of a hat, and has pretty much forever. We're not being trained to laugh at things we should be worried about, we're just being allowed a moment's escape from reality and permission to laugh at something we know to be fake, whether it's an anthropomorphic coyote getting crushed by a faulty catapult or a four-foot girl socking a boy hard enough to send him into orbit.

But I do fully agree about high school being a broad spectrum. I've seen plenty of actual high school students who make me wonder how they made it past the sixth grade, as well as some who seem remarkably mature (ironically, the ones that think they're mature are the most immature). This doesn't stop at high school though; pretty much until the mid-twenties I'm not the least bit surprised to see people acting like brats.

[Infinite Zenith]

Japan's had an affinity for all things cute as part of their culture, I personally do not believe there is any substantial evidence for indoctrination. What I'm saying there is that there's a certain level of skill in the writing and art to be able to achieve this, but what precisely lies behind this, I'm not sure about.

[Master_Yoma]

Well a month to late but just such a fun Halloween episode everyone looks really cute in there costumes but did one really need 3 Lupins

Cocoa really didnt mess up her last trick

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Master_Yoma

Well a month to late but just such a fun Halloween episode everyone looks really cute in there costumes but did one really need 3 Lupins

Cocoa really didnt mess up her last trick

Probably didn't need that many Lupin, but it makes sense. Lupin is a phenomenon right now in that town. Makes perfect sense for Syaro since it is far more cost effective than buying a costume or buying the materials to make one. And easy to believe Chino and Chiya got into the Lupin craze. Heck, I'm more surprised that Cocoa didn't end up in a costume. Although I guess knowing that Chino wanted to dress up as Lupin for Halloween convinced her to go down another route. And she was getting more into the magic tricks anyways.

Also glad they did just drop this episode now. It might have been more fitting a month ago, but I'm good with this.

[Marina2]

I really love the light effect in ep.7. They look so warm and beautiful.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by Marina2

I really love the light effect in ep.7. They look so warm and beautiful.

It's reminiscent of Tamayura's Path of Longing festival, and with Saki appearing, it hinted that the episode was really about Chino coming to find happiness anew after meeting Cocoa, rather like how Fuu strove to find her happiness through photography. I wrote about that in a post for last week, and I think the lighting in BLOOM was probably deliberate.

This week's episode is more rooted in the ordinary, but is as enjoyable as always. Hints of Rize being a great instructor have been hinted at as early as when she first took Chimame to the pool back in season one, became more apparent when she helped organise Chimame's days in Dear my Sister and trained Chino for Sing for You. Becoming a teacher is a fantastic goal to work towards, and Rize feels suited for the job.

There is one more thing on my mind:

Images

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So help me, if anyone puts "Genius Bonus" at TVTropes identifying the compounds, I am going to go to town on them

[Kanon]

This season has been fantastic. Although we didn't need to see it because it's been obvious from the way she's behaved around younger kids the past two season, the episode did a great job showing us that Rize would make a great teacher. A perfect episode for a Rize fan like me.

I laughed when Rize stated she decided to teach elementary schoolers based on her interactions with Chimame because I had the exact same reaction as Chino