Yuri Is My Job!

Episode 5

This week's episode continues its deep dive into the psyches of Mitsuki and Hime. Simply put, Mitsuki does not understand how the world works. Some rules have been laid out. She follows those rules. Yet, she sees people breaking them all the time—and getting away with it. She can't see that there are unspoken exceptions to every rule, nor can she see the numerous unspoken rules that most people absorb just through living life. This, of course, gets her into trouble socially, as we saw in the flashbacks last week, making her a target for bullying just for being different. The core of her issue is that she can't empathize with other people's points of view. She cannot put herself in their shoes or see her actions objectively.

However, just because she can't understand what she's done to upset people doesn't mean she is ignorant of that fact. She knows when people are unhappy with her—it's the reasons that escape her. This is why, when thinking about the Hime situation before they are reunited in the café, she wonders if perhaps she had been the bad guy. Life has no doubt taught her to doubt herself whenever people are angry with her—that the majority of people understand things she does not.

Mitsuki exposed Hime's facade out of a mix of fear, worry, and hurt, but she believed that once the rule-breaking lies were out in the open (the cause of the whole situation in her eyes), she and Hime would become even better friends. However, to Hime, exposing her façade was an act of pure hatred and malice—a betrayal so sudden and devastating that it changed the course of her life. It never occurred to Mitsuki that Hime stopped playing the piano to save her from being bullied. The idea is so foreign to her that when told that this episode, she is first confused as to why Hime would be telling such an absurd lie at this point. It's only when Hime breaks down in tears and asks the question that has haunted her all these years—why Mitsuki hated her so much—that Mitsuki sees Hime isn't lying. While she may not truly understand the hows or whys, she realizes that it was all a misunderstanding.

To Mitsuki, this completely changes the situation. Hime was and still is her friend. What they had can be repaired, and working in the café together is the best way to do this. This is the reason for her dramatic about-face and the abrupt ending to the conversation. In Mitsuki's mind, it's all settled. However, for Hime, things are much more confusing.

While Mitsuki suffers from having a low EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), Hime's EQ is abnormally high. She can empathize with people, seeing right through them to the thoughts that drive their words and actions. This allows her to act in a way that makes them like her. However, she can't read Mitsuki the same way since Mitsuki fundamentally views the world differently from everyone else she's ever known.

Hime still believes that Mitsuki hates her. That idea is so ingrained in her that it's unlikely to go away any time soon. However, she can see that all the animosity Mitsuki was throwing her way is now gone—and that, in her way, Mitsuki was trying to tell her something important. And while Hime wants people to like her in general, what she wants most is for Mitsuki,—one of the two people in the whole world who know the true “her”—to like her. After their conversation, it now feels like there is a chance of this happening. So when told to incorporate her true feelings into her acting, the façade comes naturally again. After all, if she can win over the fictional Mitsuki in the café, perhaps she can win over the real one as well.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Sumika telling Mitsuki “that's for you to figure out” might be the worst advice to give someone like Mitsuki. She can't simply figure it out. She needs to have things explained to her directly and bluntly or misunderstandings will just keep happening.

• Paradoxically, Mitsuki's low EQ is what makes her such a great actor—even of the improv variety. There are set rules for both characters and situations—and everyone follows them. She can perform emotionally nuanced scenes even if she doesn't understand them on an emotional level.

• This café is a lot like pro wrestling. You can put out storylines, but how the audience interprets them can be drastically different from what was intended. You can only push a narrative so hard before you start to break the suspension of disbelief.

Yuri Is My Job! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.