Episode 11 of Yurikuma Arashi, titled “What We Hope For,” is currently streaming on FUNimation and Hulu for paid subscribers. Free subscribers can watch the same episode six days from now on March 30th.
The relationship between Ginko and Kureha is ultimately revealed, where they were childhood friends only for the latter to forget everything. I am reminded of the relationship dynamic in the Tony Jaa movies The Protector and The Protector 2.
It sucks that the friendship is shortly lived when other girls start bullying and persecuting Kureha.
This scene reveals that the Invisible Storm has existed for a long time, which leads to bullying to disguise the idea of self-preservation. It is obvious that the Invisible Storm represents self-preservation and mob mentality.
I am reminded of the horror anime series, titled Another, where the students do some similar s—t that the Invisible Storm has done to Kureha.
Ginko makes the ultimate sacrifice to become Kureha’s personal protector, allow all the memories that the latter has of the former to be erased. As an added stipulation, Ginko is not allowed to talk about what transpired before her transformation into a human girl.
This paints the moral of sacrificing what you hold dear for the greater good.
It shows that Ginko genuinely cares about protecting Kureha from everybody even if it means being hated by her, too. This causes Reia to send Ginko back to where she came from, where it becomes deja vu.
Kureha was persecuted for befriending a bear and Ginko was persecuted for befriending a human.
It surprises me that the Invisible Storm is still around when its members are slowly getting killed and devoured. I think they should have gotten the picture and left Kureha alone, which they refuse to read the proverbial memo.
Kureha has a problem, but Ginko has her own problem in the form of Mitsuko’s consciousness. At least I’m glad that Ginko’s taking it out on the Invisible Storm members. I strongly believe that they got what is coming to them.
I was surprised that the Invisible Storm’s hunt for Ginko turned into a citywide war with gunfire and explosions.
Then it becomes “enchanting” when Ginko breaks free of Mitsuko’s influence. It becomes saddening when the new Invisible Storm leader tries to kill Ginko, but hits Lulu instead. Kureha’s hard work to protect Lulu from harm ended up being futile.
It was saddening to see Lulu die, but I expected to happen sooner or later because Yurikuma Arashi centers on the relationship between Ginko and Kureha. I have to say that this was an interesting episode to watch.
