All the credit goes to this AMAZING source! Please check out their post, it contains even more detailed images of each scene. Plus they included a map of each location!
So I noticed that the pattern on the stained glass window in episode 7 of Yuri Kuma Arashi is in the same diamond shape as the bird/lily pattern seen at the school...
Wait a second, that angel at the top, though... Looks familiar...
So even now, this forest presents an unyielding rampart of briars...
And continues to deny entry from the outside... And it will probably do so until the time of my death.
While watching Yuri Kuma Arashi last week, I couldn't help but notice similarities to this particular story arc of Maria-sama ga Miteru in which the character Sei's back story is revealed, to Yuriika's back story.
More pictures under the cut...
The love between Sei and Shiori, as well as Yuriika's one sided love for Kureha's mother both ended tragically. Shiori transfers to a different school in order to pursue her dream of becoming a nun, and keep herself from being led astray by Sei, while Kureha's mother ended up having a child.
Cutting from the flash back, to the current time, in story.
As a result of their heartbreak, they both in the end give up on their love. Interestingly, though Sei cuts her hair short,Yuriika only ties hers up. The S-class genre which Maria-sama ga Miteru is a modern take on typically represents relationships between girls as only a fleeting, temporary moment. One which ends the moment you graduate from high school.
(Source: Episode 10-11 of Maria-sama ga Miteru, you can watch it, and other Marimite episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/SWElo_6rJDdb4)
Shabadado: The Origin of Life Sexy's Catchphrase...
maybe.
Apparently Akiko Morishima, the Yuri Kuma Arashi mangaka, is a notoriously huge fan of Sayumi Michishige of Morning Musume, who recently graduated from being the leader. Morishima stated on her twitter in October 2014 that she is moved to tears every time she watches this video...
The pattern of the Yurikamome and falling lilies is cut in half on her office wall, creating an upside-down triangle that's shadowed on the wall of drawers that hold photos of the dead. Now keep that image in your mind for a minute.
In episode 6 and 7 we see Kaoru in a room full of draping fabric, and fog, giving the room an almost ghostly or unsettling feel...
In the commentary of the Adolescence of Utena, Ikuhara (the director of both the film, as well as Yuri Kuma Arashi), says:
"This space in which the characters Touga and Shiori exist, we intended to represent as a world in which dead people reside. Like the entrance to the world of the deceased. Also, in terms of sounds effects we even brought in sounds from the lobby of a hospital. In other words, the reason that Shiori is with Touga is because we wanted to convey the sense that Shiori is one who is haunted by the dead."
In the 7th episode of Yuri Kuma, you can see a hint of the grave boxes that hold the photos of deceased students in Yuriika's office.
Also interesting to point out, Yuriika's last name contains the kanji for "box" and "relationship" (箱仲). This could be important, considering how Akae Katyusha literally means "red headband" and that character wore exactly that...
This could imply that Yuriika is simply the care-taker of the boxes.
Or...
She's a much more sinister character. It's hard to look at her in any other light. With her design being a homage to one of the witches in the horror movie Suspiria, and how this scene takes place in her office...
The bear rising up from the red fabric may be a homage to the red devil in the Belladonna of Sadness. (One of the many works that influenced Revolutionary Girl Utena.)
Looking at a particular scene from the Belladonna, the Devil at this point (the red phallic shape), has just struck a deal with the Belladonna. In exchange for her body and soul, he'll save her husband. Symbolic of her awakening sexuality, the "devil" was born from her fabric in the beginning of the movie, and slowly gets larger and larger as the movie progresses.
It's interesting that Yuriika could be then considered as either a "witch," or the "devil." But of course, the red devil in her office may be a red herring in regards to her true character.
Considering how the "door of friends" is the exact replica of the ceiling window from Suspiria, (which is where a girl is brutally murdered, as a man continuously stabs her through the heart)... Her character may go in any direction. Perhaps Yuriika is only the gate keeper to the world of the dead, and has nothing to do with the bear that ate Kaoru. If the Adolescence of Utena is a hint, Kaoru may be in the same boat (haha) as Shiori: a girl being haunted by a ghost.
But either way, I've got my eye on you, Yuriika...
Black-headed gulls (Yurikamome) are often seen lined up single file together while resting.
Bird pillar.
(if the video doesn't work, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDnylpSAJBE)
Yurikamome spend their days inland at lakes and rivers, before returning to the ocean at night where they sleep floating on the surface of the water. In the morning, they ride the air current and begin ascending in a spiral like fashion, creating a spiral staircase-esque "pillar of birds." After they get enough elevation, the pillar falls apart and the birds spread their wings to glide west-ward towards land.
A brand spanking new translation group, formed for the sole purpose of translating the Yuri Kuma Arashi manga. We’re currently looking for more help! Our group at the moment only consists of a main translator, an editor, and a misc worker who doodles stuff and cleans pages. Send us some samples of your previous translation work to our Email: [email protected].
Gounod's Ave Maria starts playing in the background of Ginko and Lulu's transformation sequence, but in episode 3, the second verse of the prayer song starts as Kureha lifts her gun,
"Holy Mary, Holy Mary
Pray for us sinners
Now and in
The hour of our death
Ave Maria"
You can also hear this particular song prominently used in the anime Maria-sama ga Miteru (The Virgin Mary is Watching) as you can see in this clip.
EDIT: the Yuri Kuma Arashi clip was deleted, so you'll have to watch the scene on Funimation's site.
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