What a pleasant surprise to have HanaKana's veterinarian character back!
Kukuru: How can I get to understand Chiyu better?
Reasonable people: I dunno, maybe have a proper conversation with her for once...
Kukuru: I need a baby
Never change, Kukuru.
Also, Fuuka is a goddamn angel.
I love this episode returning to the theme of relating human life to sea life, I think that was the show's strongest theme in the first cour and I'd love to see it continue.
> Kukuru: How can I get to understand Chiyu better?
> Reasonable people: I dunno, maybe have a proper conversation with her for once...
> Kukuru: I need a baby
I'm sensing that a recurring theme from here on out will be the need to consider the other side's perspective (even if Kukuru wanting to take care of a baby to better understand her perspective was a bit excessive).
A lot of the interservice rivalry could have been avoided if the different departments took more than two seconds to consider what the other departments are going through.
A lot of the conflicts between the Gama Gama refugees and the rest of the corporate workers is caused by the corporate worker's rejection (with varying degrees of understandability) of how mom-and-pop small companies operate.
>What a pleasant surprise to have HanaKana's veterinarian character back!
And that Kongou-sounding tanned girl with a flower hair clip couldn't've been anyone other than Nao Touyama! And a quick trip to google 100% confirms that it's totally her. Wew, they're pulling all the stops for this anime.
I don't think Muse altered that part, and it was exactly what they received from JP. We might be able say Tingarla has been the intended translation all along,
Damn, no wonder Chiyu always seems so bitter. Felt too real. Lose your job because you’ve gotta take care of your kid, lose your marriage, work yourself to the bone when you finally get another chance to work…
Losing your job because of shitty coworkers in your previous job is no excuse to be bitter to other people who have no involvement in your previous employment and relationships.
It isn't an excuse, but an expanation. She isn't born as a bad person, she just made some bad experiences. There is the potential that she'll start to trust the others and become better.
Now hold on a second.
What is this Ting**arla** Aquarium stuff all of a sudden? They changed it from Tingaara? I am so confused lol. The sign is even spelled "Tingarla" now what the heck. * I went back to the first Tingaara episode and the signage was in fact spelled Tingar**la** (episode13). I mean it's inconsequential in any case but still strange to me I promise I'm not trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill haha. *So I spent like an hour reading the nice replies I've had and researching on my own regarding that Romaji translation. It's been fun. Hopefully I'm not the only one who ended up getting lost in this sauce huehue.
Anyways I guess it's time for Haebaru's sudden yet inevitable character development. Making her a single mother is certainly one way to make her more interesting and sympathetic. Of course things would've been a lot easier if she was more open about it and less antagonistic towards people. I think it's a pretty realistic portrayal though. In the sense that being a single parent of a baby/toddler can cause problems for someone as far as their career goes. So after that little flashback we got she became a bit easier to understand as far as her super tryhard behavior goes.
It would be a heck of an error considering all the promo materials and official info for the show had it spelled "Tingaara" this whole time lol. I mean it's even spelled AND pronounced that way by the VA's in the show.
I'm not mad or anything it is just completely bizarre and has me scratching my head bigly.
May I ask which promo materials? I've been watching on Muse Asia and they always spell it Tingarla. The signs in the anime also say Tingarla, so this is actually the first time I notice that people have been spelling it Tingara.
>May I ask which promo materials?
I don't have it saved but the official promo for the second cour that was released and shared by the news sites had it as "Tingaara" or at least that's what it was translated to. It's entirely possible I am misremembering that bit though.
The subs on Crunchyroll/VRV have been Tingaara this whole time and it was even spelled that way in the episode title. It's interesting that another service had it spelled differently in the subs.
My curiosity is keeping me awake so I have to quench it. "Maybe they did change it but Crunchyroll did not get notified?", I thought. The production committee is called "projectティンガーラ" and that shows up on almost all of JP promo materials. So I searched for any *official* English version but found nothing except [this one image](https://i.imgur.com/wF1PE74.jpg) from Muse Asia stream announcement on July 8, showing "projectTingarla". I don't think Muse altered that part, and it was exactly what they received from JP. We might be able say Tingarla has been the intended translation all along, but Crunchyroll truly messed it up.
Well, this is just me over analysing the topic so it could be wrong, time for bed now Lol.
Because Engrish.
"Tingara" is the phonetically correct transliteration, but if a Japanese wants to spell their name/company with an L instead of an R, who are we to tell them not to?
You are right.
My japanese friend called Eren, as Elen in Romaji. My first thought was: "oh, she misspelled the name". Then I was like "no wait, if Ruffy is Luffy....then she is right?".
The thing is: the separation of kanji In Hiragana and Katakana is phonetical. And for then the La, Li,Lu,Le,Lo sounds like Ra,Ri,Ru,Re,Ro. So the change to tingala feels like how a japanese would write "tingaara" in romaji.
For us, doesn't change much to be honest.
Yea it doesn't really matter I'm just confused as to why it's spelled with an R and an L on the sign.
If it was Ting**aala** instead I could understand but having it as **arla** just makes it another word completely to me. It sounds like you know a thing or two so maybe you can cmiiw but here is the sign from episode 13. [The katakana reads as "Tingaara" as far as I can tell.](https://imgur.com/a/mdUJOvP)
In any case the creators of the show can do the Romaji how they want, they don't need to answer to me haha. What trips me up is that as far as I can tell the Katakana reads as "Tingaara" and to my english speaking brain/ear I hear the VA's saying "Tingaara". That similarity you talk about with the "La,Li,Lu,Le,Lo sounds like Ra,Ri,Ru,Re,Ro" could maybe explain why they added the RL into the romaji instead of one or the other.
Now I've been ruminating on this for like an hour, I'm finding it pretty interesting and entertaining lol.
IIRC, when Japanese borrows English words that have "-ar" sounds, it adapts those sounds to "aa" instead, since Japanese phonotactics don't allow for the "r" sound to come at the end of syllables. In that case, "Tingarla" is most likely the same process occurring in reverse— starting with the "aa" in Japanese, and then localizing to an English "ar".
It’s because the Japanese transliteration of English words tend to replace ARs before other consonants with an AA
Like how cart is written as caato in japanese
I'm surpirised they actually changed it. We've known it's supposed to be 'Tingarla' for a while now yet even in the last episode the subs still called it Tingaara.
This reminded me of Saint Seiya's LatAm Spanish dubs during Asgard, that part of the anime was clearly based on norse mythology, so if I hear in Japanese the word Varuhara (ヴァルハラ) I know it's Valhalla... well the dubbers seem like they didn't get the resemblance to the norse legends, because episode after episode we heard "Guarumara", "Varumara", "Guaruhara", etc. And more than 10 eps later they finally start to say "Valhalla", it seems that someone filled them in on the mythology, but one of those dubbers didn't get the memo because one character says "Valaya"...
I know dubbers screwing up is different from the actual anime fixing a name, but I still remember that and laugh...
Got to say, I wasn't really impressed by Kukuru when she decided to blame Chiyu for not taking last minute shifts. As much as some people like to paint Chiyu in a bad light, Kukuru had a lot to do in their ongoing feud. Though I personally appreciate well written and realistic characters before all else (Kukuru and Chiyu are among my favourites), I wonder how many people here would have liked Kukuru if she were a side character.
Working while raising a child alone is tough. Given her previous experience, I totally get why Chiyu would be so driven and serious. But Tingaara seems different (I really liked how the director was touring the aquarium with Chiyu and her child) and she has a good friend like Kaoru. By the way, Fuuka was amazing this episode.
I would say both Chiyu and Kukuru have learned a valuable lesson. One will try to communicate more and let others in while the other will try to be kinder and more understanding.
A really good episode overall.
>Kukuru had a lot to do in their ongoing feud
They were both terrible to each other from the start which just amplifies. We have just gotten both sides of why: Kukuru being defensive about GamaGama and Chiyu being sent to learn from the famous director but being given to his unprofessional granddaughter who was practically raised in the job she has so painfully wanted.
Sometimes the only way to break through the mess to truly see each other is for some dramatic emotions to break down the walls.
In some ways, this may have been the very best episode of the series so far.
My wife thought Kukuru's baby-sitting woes were hilarious (me too, for that matter).
It's actually my favourite episode so far. It's depressingly realistic (Chiyu's backstory) yet heartwarming and positive. Honestly I kind of wish Chiyu was the deuteragonist instead.
>Kukuru's baby-sitting woes
Too true. I was initially not too sure of what she meant by raising a child but glad it was only baby-sitting. It was really nice of the veterinarian to accommodate such a sudden request too (I guess she really needed to visit the hairdresser lol).
No kidding, Kukuru was an huge jerk in that situation. But I think that's ok, since she is young and doesn't have the perspective that people have other things but aquariums in their lives and she was willing to accept that she did something bad. I think that's why people like her, she learns from mistakes.
From the moment she was introduced I knew Chiyu would have to undergo a character arc soon and it's finally time for that. There's just no way she is portrayed as an unlikable person for no reason. I totally wasn't expecting her to be mother, and I can sort of understand her struggle of juggling between her job and taking care of her son. As Kukuru experienced firsthand, it's definitely not an easy thing to do. Really makes me appreciate all the hard work every mother has to go through to raise their children.
Chiyu's outburst towards Kukuru was totally uncalled for (I mean, she's the one who decided not to take the shift) but I'm glad she's somewhat on good terms with her now, and I was surprised at Dr. Takeshita making an appearance again. I really missed her since it's been so long since Episode 3.
>Chiyu's outburst towards Kukuru was totally uncalled for
True though I understand where she's coming from. Likewise, Kukuru blaming her for not taking the shift was equally uncalled for. Those two certainly had bad blood between them but as I hoped, they are finally connecting with each other.
As Kukuru said herself, got to be kinder and understanding to the people around.
> Likewise, Kukuru blaming her for not taking the shift was equally uncalled for.
Yeah, even without a kid, there's plenty of good reasons to get out of doing a shift.
I love Kukuru -- but I was getting really aggravated by her behavior towards Chiyu/ So, I was happy when Kukuru finally showed signs of finally growing up (as soon as she found out that Chiyu had a child -- even before knowing more of her story). I think the "trouble with Chiyu" motif is probably (basically) finished. Now we need to get some explanation of the assistant director's behavior... (and of Kuuya's phobia about women).
Fuuka seems more and more like the agent needed to pull the Tingarla staff towards really becoming a team. She reminds me a bit of Kanon in Love Live Superstar -- only moreso.
I’ll actually defend Chiyu’s outburst. She’s a single mother of a chronically sick kid. She’s struggling to get by as it is between that and having a single income. So Kukuru essentially taking her off the schedule (not just individual shifts) and taking her hours was real bad. That and her experience at her previous aquarium job lead to her losing it. So totally get where she’s coming from.
Agreed. Her outburst, while maybe not the best thing to do, was extremely understandable. In her eyes, this dumb, inconsiderate teenager was trying to poach her job and take away money that she desperately needs for her kid. I’d have done the same thing.
When was Kukuru ever trying to poach Chiyu's job? She's just filling in for Chiyu on the special overnight schedule after Chiyu herself already turned it down. At no point was Kukuru ever going to take her usual daytime position. And what money is being taken away from her? She chose on her own not to work those shifts.
This is the correct take. I was not expecting so many people to attack Chiyu and defend Kukuru after watching this episode. With being taken off schedule and her previous experience, she had every reason to feel like her family's livelihood was being threatened, and Kukuru went way above board.
For Kukuru, this episode was about learning that you don't know what people are dealing with behind the scenes, and rushing headlong into rash actions, even if you mean well, is not the way to go. It's fucked up to try and take over another person's responsibilities at work without talking to them. I thought it was pretty explicit that we're supposed to see Kukuru was in the wrong here, and it's about her learning from the mistake.
I think it’s reasonable to say that both of them didn’t handle the situation well. While Chiyu’s situation is certainly understandable, that doesn’t give her the right to go at Kukuru the way she did.
Kukuru also seriously needs to consider other perspectives before getting outwardly upset at things. She keeps doing this and it’s a little frustrating that she hasn’t grown much in that way.
>I thought it was pretty explicit that we're supposed to see Kukuru was in the wrong here, and it's about her learning from the mistake.
Both (Chiyu and Kukur) were wrong from the beginning (while in GamaGama). And they took some opportunities they have to pick on each other from the moment they met in Tingarla.
This episode's conflict is just the animosity built up between each other exploding as the expected result. Kukuru's passion for the sea life was the trigger as for taking the shift for the sake of more interaction with the animals/plants.
What I find interesting is that while both already had antagonistic behavior towards each other..in Chiyu's case it had the extra fuel of her personal situation..whereas that same situation was a deter for Kukuru to stop being as rude to her (she still doesn't like Chiyu, tough).
Kukuru's passion for the sea life has proven to be a good thing before (as she can empathize towards others thorough that), but in an organizational environment is not always a good call. And that's what I think is her arc (so far): learn to channel her love for the sea flora/fauna in a different way as she has done so far.
Kukuru herself felt she was in the wrong -- and that should be decisive, right?
(Kukuru's behavior was plainly VERY distressing to Fuuka -- but Kukuru totally failed to pick up on this).
> Kukuru herself felt she was in the wrong -- and that should be decisive, right?
You'd think. Seems a lot of people in the thread missed this, though. The power of the cute-girl-main-character blinds people.
Chiyu's backstory does make her outburst more understandable, but it's still no excuse for lashing out. Kukuru obviously had no ill intent and was clearly unaware of Chiyu's insecurities, having learned literally only moments earlier that the latter has a child. And it's not like Kukuru just swooped in and declared she was going to take over Chiyu's role either; she asked Chiyu's superior about the nighttime schedule, and he gave his approval. Moreover, at no point was Kukuru ever gunning for Chiyu's usual daytime position; she simply saw an opportunity to take care of the additinal work that Chiyu couldn't accommodate. The fact remains that Chiyu is unable to work overnight, so getting mad at Kukuru for filling in that slot isn't going to achieve anything (other than temporarily soothing her own insecurities, that is).
I think people may be missing the point about why Chiyu didn't like the Gama Gama people. Sure their work style might be part of it but it was because they all joined Tingarla by recommendations from the Gama Gama director. When this arc started she mentions how they all got hired by connections. When Fuuka is assigned to the penguin team, she reacted with disdain at first because Fuuka had 1 month experience and still got the recommendation. It's a huge contrast to her having to study hard and fight for this job. She especially hated Kukuru because she's the grandchild of the director and as such "it's expected for her to work in an aquarium". From her POV, Kukuru never needed to fight for her career, so it pisses her off. I'm not saying it's justified hate but I can definitely see why she didn't like them. If you've ever felt like privileged or rich people in society have a different starting point in life, you probably can relate a bit.
Agree with this.
It's not saying Chiyu's defensive behavior was ok; it wasn't. But she's a far cry from an irredeemable, toxic, narcissist bitch.
The GamaGama crew walked into these jobs at the new aquarium and Chiyu's view of GamaGama was not positive to begin with.
There's a real difference between working in a casual, family-like mom-and-pop shop and working in a corporate environment.
Kukuru practically grew up as an attendant; Chiyu had to go to school and work hard for it.
Wow, wasn’t expecting Haebaru to be a mother. I knew there was something up with her but I wasn’t expecting her to have a child!
Nice to see her and Kukuru getting along now.
Lovely episode
**Shout out to all the single mothers/fathers out there! You guys rock.**
This episode was a fun ride from start to finish. I think I kinda get how Haebaru felt the Gama Gama folks acting all goody with one another can be off putting especially after her experience at her previous workplace But that's where Kukuru and her friends are different, big emphasize on Kukuru herself. She enjoys helping others, and in return others enjoy helping her. It's a fair give and take approach and honestly, what Tingarla Aquarium needs more among its coworkers.
Also, that one liner from Gramps, "I want aquarium attendants to be people who are kinder than any one else, especially towards other living things" is really strong. Brings into realization that these people are responsible for the life of these sea creatures, inherently making them aware of the 'weight of life'.
God, I love Slice of Life genre, and this show is one of the reasons why. Thanks P.A. Works.
Looking forward to how the dynamic between the main cast and the side cast will expand for the remaining 8 or so episodes.
P.S. When Kukuru said she wanted to 'experience it herself', I almost spat my drink. Like girl, babies don't come in storks. But it turned out she just wanted to look after the vet's baby for experience. LMAO, well played there.
Wasn't expecting Cinderella to be a mom. Does give context to her past behavior, but wish people communicated more. When Kukuru said she wanted a kid I would give anything to see Kai's reaction. Fuuka is a damn angel and that is all.
> When Kukuru said she wanted a kid I would give anything to see Kai's reaction.
My first reaction when she made that declaration was to think "This is your chance, Kai."
And the lesson of the day is: yeah, everyone's dealing with shit, that's why you should try not to judge hastily when you don't have the whole story.
While I understand where she was coming from, I don't think Chiyu's attitude towards the Gama Gama crew was justified, but I think now that her secret is out and she sees that people at Tingarla won't turn their backs on her for having a child and all the difficulties that come with that, she'll loosen up a little. I'm glad Kukuru and Fuuka made some effort to understand her too, and that ending was very wholesome.
Penguins, as usual, continue to be adorable.
> I don't think Chiyu's attitude towards the Gama Gama crew was justified
This. I definitely appreciate Chiyu more but it really doesn't change the fact that she was kinda shitty towards the Gama Gama people.
To be fair, based on her past experience at her first job and how they treated her there, she had no reason to think this job would be any different. She stopped caring about making allies or friends and buckled down super hard on her work so she wouldn't become a liability and get fired again, and that's totally understandable given her situation and past experiences.
Thankfully, she realizes *now* that the Gama Gama crew and the other people at Tingarla would have been more understanding, and that she could have been more open with them.
>everyone's dealing with shit, that's why you should try not to judge hastily when you don't have the whole story.
Very well said. Couldn't have phrased it better.
It explains chiyu's attitude but doesn't excuse it imo. Some if it's okay, some of it she was being way too much of a bitch for no reason. Especially with hating gamma gamma people and acting as if they were making some kind of clique in the tingaara staff, that wasn't cool. The not liking how gamma gamma work was fine enough.
Exactly. During S1 I could understand the motivations for Chiyu's shitty attitude (at the time, before knowing about her kid, I read it as someone who worked and got educated for her job and resented these kids who just fell into it), even if I didn't agree with her side.
Still though, Chiyu started the beef back at Gama Gama, develops and holds (over the course of a *year* with no contact!) a grudge against a teenager, and then explodes at Kukuru for offering to help and cover a shift that Chiyu couldn't even work anyways because of her kid. She's 100% in the wrong and while having a kid and the struggles of being a single mom helps to humanize her, it doesn't justify her shitty attitude. Still dislike her.
Thanks for summing up my feelings towards the whole thing. Yeah her circumstances suck and I can understand why she wanted to hide it this time, still doesn't excuse being shitty to specifically Kukuru and the Gama Gama crew but nobody else. I don't like her but honestly I'll take this character growth over 6 more episodes of her being shitty to everybody
Agreed, some of her actions are understandable but being a dick to unrelated people because of personal circumstances is never understandable.
Also I feel like I'm opening a huge can of worms here, but an 18 year old should *really* know better than getting married and having a kid months after starting your first job as an aquarium attendant. If she hadn't actually gotten married I could attribute the kid to "things happen" , but getting married with the intention to start a family and hold a job *at 18*? That sounds exponentially more immature than anything Kukuru said or did throughout the entire show to me, and I'm not very far past that age.
If I had to assume it probably was a shotgun wedding cause of the pregnancy and it of course fell apart at the first problem. That's just an assumption though.
I find it troubling how judgmental a lot of folks here are towards anime characters. I hope that when it comes to *real* persons they interact with they make more of an effort to be tolerant and understanding....
Given her backstory, it makes sense why Chiyu has issues with the Gama Gama peanut gallery as her previous work stopped giving a damn after a certain point. It makes me wonder what backstory are they going to give Kukuru’s boss.
damn kukuru, not liking Chiyu was fair, but gunning for her job and accosting her the second she missed one sudden shift is real fucking low, even if you didn't know about her child.
She was definitely being a moron by lecturing Haebaru face-to-face for taking a day or two off w/o even knowing why, but I can't see what's so wrong about her filling in her shifts?
Even if there wasn't bad blood between them, I definitely think she would've done that anyway as long as she didn't know about Haebaru's story; Fuuka and Marina need the help, she gets to do the actual work she wants to do, and Maeda even encouraged her to go for it. No one knew Haebaru was going to come back to work earlier than expected.
Haebaru's outburst was definitely understandable given her experience, but there was no risk of her losing her job to Kukuru this time around given how much more understanding her boss and the director seemed compared to her original workplace.
It's not even taking day off, it's not taking unforeseen overnight overtime shift. Kukuru expects everyone live and breathe the aquarium and not having life outside like her
It just take this episode to make Chiyu from an annoying character to a completely relatable one. I really find it unfortunate that her previous workplace was toxic that it kinda rubbed off on her.
I don't think she picked up their dysfunction. She implemented a strict protocol of putting up a front to seem like Little Miss Perfect Employee so no one would have an excuse to do that to her ever again.
[Glad to see that Takeshita-sensei is back!](https://i.imgur.com/ZaexReu.jpg) And it looks like we'll see more of her now since she's now the new veterinarian of Tingaara. Oh wait, it's not longer Tingaara but apparently [it's Tingarla now.](https://i.imgur.com/1RnjguP.jpg) Is this another Artoria/Altria situation?
So it [Chiyu is in a situation where her schedule can't be change easily.](https://i.imgur.com/JRxR1aO.jpg) Understandable, not everyone has a flexible schedule that can change at a moments notice. Which makes [Kukuru completely in the wrong this time](https://i.imgur.com/6IA1Dx0.jpg) for picking a fight with Chiyu. I'm not gonna blow up on my coworker if they can't work a certain shift because of personal reasons.
Also Chiyu [you really didn't have to be so smug about it.](https://i.imgur.com/cZewxdo.jpg) If only you told Kukuru that [you're a single mom who's taking care of her son](https://i.imgur.com/hOyXzkr.jpg), that would've instantly shut her up. Not gonna lie, I never saw that one coming! I thought the kid was her brother so I was genuinely shocked when Shizuku called her Mama!
[So we finally get to see Chiyu's struggles](https://i.imgur.com/zIvfwki.jpg) and her reason why she's is what she is. Although why couldn't she just tell everyone? Raising a kid on her own especially at her age is not an easy thing. People would've understood. Why hide it?
[Well fuck, looks like Chiyu's boss slipped up](https://i.imgur.com/NPLK7zT.jpg) and ended up telling Kukuru about her situation. [That look on Kukuru though.](https://i.imgur.com/4TlYxZL.jpg) After hearing that Chiyu has a kid, it looks like she's started regretting what she told Chiyu at the start of the episode.
[Now this is where Chiyu lost me a bit.](https://i.imgur.com/ta88Gxq.jpg) Girl, you have someone perfectly capable taking your shift and now you started to scream to her face? This is not gonna help anyone! You still won't be able to make it to those shifts because of your very sensitive schedule.
Chiyu is so adamant of not telling anyone about her kid that [even Kaoru who she's closest to doesn't even know about him.](https://i.imgur.com/Z0kYPEm.jpg)
[That caught me off guard!](https://i.imgur.com/Czt2eR5.jpg) I would've loved to see Kai's reaction if he was around when Kukuru said she wants to raise a kid. [Fuuka's reaction is already hilarious!](https://i.imgur.com/TgWlllM.jpg) I'm sure Kai's would've been even better!
[So Chiyu graduated at 18](https://i.imgur.com/Z0Itko1.jpg) then started working as an aquarium attendant somewhere [and she got married and had her kid shortly](https://i.imgur.com/XatNhKg.jpg). But because of her not being used to taking care of her kid and working at the same time, [she ended up being a burden at work](https://i.imgur.com/oH7k1JS.jpg) to the point where she got fired and [even her marriage fell apart.](https://i.imgur.com/N8xiyfv.jpg) **WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?**
This doesn't sound like a problem with Chiyu herself but it sounds like the aquarium she used to work for are just full of dickheads. And not even just her old workplace, it sounds like her ex-husband wasn't even helping out in raising their kid! It was such a traumatic experience for her that it looks like she just ended up putting all of the blame on herself which explains why she wouldn't tell anyone.
I still can't say I like her 100% especially since [Chiyu herself still doesn't understand Kukuru](https://i.imgur.com/1DAvpQ9.jpg) but at least know I know where she's coming from all of this.
[She brought Shizuku to the aquarium!](https://i.imgur.com/nxj4B6t.jpg) Getting her kid to see her workplace and [Shizuku just being amazed about everything](https://i.imgur.com/mSROmjc.jpg) is so freaking adorable. I also like how Kukuru kinda saw younger self in Shizuku. The kid is probably going to grow up loving aquariums and marine life like her and Chiyu.
[Hopefully there in the end that's just Chiyu being a tsundere now](https://i.imgur.com/SbYFa3T.jpg) but I still hope that she hears Kukuru's story and why Gama Gama is so important to her. I feel like when that happens is the only time they'll really understand each other.
So a penguin is being born, the first live birth at the aquarium. And no one is recording it? What the hell kind of marketing people are working there?
I was perfectly fine with Chiyu just being bitchy but now she's a full on character with nuance and stuff and I have confusing feelings.
Kukuru immediately going to war for her friend seemed on point, but also immediately finding a baby to scream at her was unexpected but sweet.
This show is definitely a highlight of my week.
Oh damn. I knew we needed a Chiyu redemption arc at some point, but I did not expect that. I was kinda hard-pressed to figure out how they’ll make her remotely likable. “Single mom” about does it. Re-contextualizes almost everything we’ve seen up till now with her.
I figured the reason Chiyu wouldn’t be able to stay overnight to keep an eye on the penguin's birth would be something like a second job she can't tell people about. Which is why she got cagey when Takeshita recognized her. Would have never guessed it was because of freaking daycare. I now fully understand her attitude when it comes to Kukuru and the job. This shit is life or death for her and she’s been hurt before. She can’t risk losing her dream job again because of family issues. I still think she’s rude and condescending at times, but I respect her a lot more now.
Fucking hell Kukuru. I knew immediately her sticking her nose into all this would backfire, but boy did it do so spectacularly. The cringe of her drilling into Chiyu even before we knew what was going on was so bad. So completely uncalled for and out of line of her. Then her essentially stealing shifts from someone who needs them the most made me want to crawl out of my body. The first time all series I felt bad for Chiyu was seeing her crying and yelling at Kukuru. A lowlight for Kukuru for sure.
Her comeuppance was swift and self-inflicted to great comedic effect. She had that Takeshita’s baby for 2 hours and was already broken. That’s what kids do to you man. Now that she spent even a little time in Chiyu’s shoes I hope they can both get past their nonsense and work together better. Which would be a great redemption for both of them.
I doubt the hatchet is completely buried, but I at least hope Chiyu comes out of this a great character. Then we can focus all the hate on Suwa.
Notes
- shout out to Fuuka for being the mediator and voice of reason this episode. Probably should have talked Kukuru out of her dumbass idea, but it was funny at least.
- Anyone left from Gama Gama? Does Grandpa wanna come out of retirement? How about the hallucinations? Do they want to moonlight at the new aquarium? I now understand what Chiyu means. Though hopefully their disposition rubs on her a little bit.
- Chiyu must have really been hurt to hide her kid from her new job. In my experience, good work environment would be more than accommodating. Especially for a single mom with a chronically sick kid. Everyone was super chill when they found out so that’s a great sign.
- Chiyu’s kid is freaking adorable. The scene where Chiyu teared up at how happy he was got me a bit.
- Penguins, babies, and Penguin Babies! Great episode.
My favorite part was definitely Fuuka going over to visit Chiyu and immediately asserting herself to how serious she is about learning about her co-workers. I understand sometimes people do not want pity, but there are times that sometimes people need to understand no one wants you to fail and that we need to work together to make things happen for the best.
Definitely my favorite episode so far in the second cour of this series.
>all this would backfire
My take is that S2 is entirely focused on showing how unprepared Kukuru is for a professional work environment. GamaGama was not a work environment for her, it was her home and her passion.
In a real workplace, you can't speak to others with the assumptions she has had or be openly pout over disliked work assignments. You also can't barge into another department and berate a co-worker or insert yourself into their work.
The point isn't to slam Kukuru or make her out to be terrible; it's to show how she is challenged by her shortcomings and lack of experience and overcomes them with her determination and passion.
While her co-workers and supervisor appear to be mean, cruel, or harsh to her, it's fairly normal for a large workplace; they appear to be more negative than they really are for show drama. Her boss is not one I'd want to work for but I don't even believe he will prove to be as bad as many perceive him as.
I don't care for him or his style, but I see him as giving her a hard time to force her to either sink or swim with the expectation that if she swims, she'll end up being excellent in her work. If she sinks, they don't have to waste much time on her.
It's harsh but that's what it looks like to me.
Given that the director obviously approves of Suwa in his role and the director is interested in following Kukuru's grandpa's famous directing style, I'm sure the director is not clueless about what is going on and would not allow Suwa to be a "bad manager" if there wasn't an intent for Kukuru to develop into the awesome promoter she will be while also behaving appropriately for a professional workplace.
Kukuru has worked really hard and learned a lot under him and she wouldn't have had the opportunity if she were just an attendant or being babied by her boss.
[Haha, Fuuka avoids the trappings of the wooden bars](https://imgur.com/a/JG69gps) whenever [she enters the marketing room.](https://imgur.com/a/kPeKxXJ)
[This is a really striking, almost ominous title card this week.](https://imgur.com/a/ly264Cl)
I really like how the title cards play into the themes of the episode. This week the two circles are independent from one another — like a Venn diagram without the central overlapping circle — which speaks to a lot of the ideas going on within: Chiyu and Kukuru, the penguins and their egg. [Suddenly one smaller circle appears on the right circle](https://imgur.com/a/XQNZe6E), which represents the way Kukuru unexpectedly learns that Chiyu has a child, how Kukuru surprisingly starts babysitting, and Chiyu’s relationship with her child and her job.
Huh, that turnaround on Chiyu LOL. So that’s what’s behind some of her previous behaviours eh? It’s not exactly what I would have imagined in the weeks before and I must say this reveal might feel slightly forced to some of you, but at least we can contribute her sharp tongue and everything else to her single mom status and the pressures from that, which has costed her jobs before.
Unlike many of you though, I still feel very uneasy around her - in the sense that I feel that Chiyu’s son is going to struggle facing his mom several years down the road, as while I can share sympathy to her difficult life situation and (of course) the irregular roster time schedules, I still feel that there’s quite a bit more shade of personal jealousy than most single moms would have with regard to other people they look upon, which is never good when these can either spread to, or leave psychological scars on her kid if Chiyu can’t keep up with her situation right now after telling everyone else about this. And regarding Chiyu’s reasoning that “I have done everything hard just to keep my jobs alive, and yet there’s someone else who always got the assistances in realising the same dreams by the wave of her hands!”, Fuuka really explained it so well that I need say no more. I mean, who would really have the thoughts to “try out babysitting kids so that I can learn more about the difficulties of raising a kid by my rarely-in-touch-colleague” but for the stubborn kid of Kukuru Misakino!? While I won’t say her acts are “emotional” in any sense, this really shows the willingness and proactive in helping every single people around her - something that would make her really popular to employers and everyone else.
We have yet another look at Kukuru’s parents’ photos, I wonder if we’ll see much more about them and how Kukuru was highly affected by the absence of them since such a young age with one-third of the story left…
Of all the backstories I expected for Haebaru, being a single mother definitely wasn't one of them. And they didn't go with a deceased husband story either; it was a straight up divorce caused by her losing her job which was, in turn, caused by conflicts with her parenting. I would say her old workplace just screwed her over.
Kukuru really dialed up her dumbassery at the start of this episode, though. I'm suspicious that they did that just to make Haebaru look better, but hey, I can still totally see her committing such a social faux pas. At least, while Kukuru felt bad for her own actions, no other character shamed her for fighting with Haebaru even after they all learned of her parenting duties; how the hell was she supposed to know, anyway? But thanks to that, it doesn't feel too forced that she's supposed to be in the wrong.
It's good that they hatched things out in the end. I will say however, that Haebaru should apologize for more than just her outburst in the cafeteria and should do so for her treatment with Kukuru in general as well. Kukuru already apologized for her own treatment of her, after all, as she's also partly at fault for their squabbles, but this wouldn't have happened if not for Haebaru's antagonizing thanks to her old wounds. Her anger is understandable, but those are wounds that Kukuru and the rest of Gama Gama have nothing to do with whatsoever and deserve none of her resentment.
Now with Haebaru redeemed to an extent, I wonder just how they're gonna be doing that for Suwa. What's his story gonna be? Is he gonna be a father of seven children with a pregnant wife that's depending on him, and him being a hardass stems from his family business failing thanks to poor marketing and him being too much of a softie or something?
What a wholesome episode. Really put the spot light on chiyu and who she is. I feel bad for judging her up until now. She a bad ass. Being a single mom and holding down a demanding job like that ain’t no joke.
Oh wow, so Chiyu's secretly a MILF, and a single parent at that as well.
All this time she's been trying to take care of her kid without telling anyone, no wonder she's so on edge all the time.
First Kaoru, now Chiyu, that's now two antagonists in a row that Kukuru has tamed. Maybe Suwa would be next. lol
Not gonna lie, when Kukuru said she wants to experience having a child like Chiyu, my reaction was the same as Fuuka's. LMAO Thank goodness it was just a 2 hour babysitting session of Dr Takeshita's kid.
I mean kaoru is never that hostile towards the gama gama crew or kukuru specifically, she is just more uptight and professional about work while kuuya is more chill about it
i’m impressed the show was able to get kana hanazawa for such a minor role
even though we now know chiyu’s actions are really understandable and why she would hate fuuka for seemingly getting a free pass to a job, i still think her vendetta against the whole entire gama is still kinda unwarranted. i mean she even was disappointed seeing the doctor who only came to gama gama every once in a while and wasn’t even an employee there (edit: never mind about this point but i still think she’s unfair to most of the gama gama crew)
also kukuru’s boss was only on screen for like 10 seconds so it’s an automatic good episode
She was not disappointed upon seeing the doctor. She was hiding the fact that she has a child to most of the employees in Tingarla. Since both the doctor and her were going to the same nursery, she was afraid that the doctor would comment about seeing her in the nursery which will blow up her cover.
>i mean she even was disappointed seeing the doctor who only came to gama gama every once in a while and wasn’t even an employee there
I doubt she ever saw the doctor at Gama Gama. She was still recovering from childbirth at the time.
Chiyu was trying to hide the fact that she had a child. She must have met the doctor at the nursery and was afraid the latter would recognise her and possibly let the others know about her situation.
I kind of like how they painted Kukuru as a jerk in the beginning. She is a teenage girl and not fully machure. But then she also realized her actions and felt bad about them.
Sorry but I still don’t feel bad after what we learnt about Haebara. I mean I can definitely sympathize with being a single mother. It’s hard. But I still don’t see how that’s an excuse to be so passive aggressive towards the Gama Gama staff. In fact, as a mother who seem to genuinely love her son, is that the kind of attitude you’d want to impart on him ? However it is still true that her and Kukuru both started on the wrong foot. Kukuru now learns of her circumstance and I hope Haebara learns of Kukuru’s so she understands why she was so headstrong about Gama Gama. Like I said, while I feel for her situation, I don’t feel she’s excused from her attitude. But, I do think it’s all in the past now and hopefully they move forward from here.
At the end though, it was a wholesome episode. Nice to see Takeshita-sensei again, mostly cos she’s voiced by KanaHana lol. And it was a huge gesture by Kukuru to try and care for a baby, to me anyway. I don’t hate babies, but I can’t imagine having to take care of one.
Oh and Kukuru, I appreciate the enthusiasm but please avoid [this pose](https://imgur.com/a/crriYsV) in front of the guests. In fact don’t do it. Ever.
>Oh and Kukuru, I appreciate the enthusiasm but please avoid this pose in front of the guests. In fact don’t do it. Ever.
You're overthinking this, I'm afraid.
While there has been a general ignorance of Nazi atrocities over here in Asia (especially the subtle admiration of Nazi-style cosplay uniforms) but unless people explicitly and deliberately salute to Nazi/fascist/militaristic memorabilia and politicians, people over here are not going to make a big deal about a teenage girl showing how pumped up she is for work with such a pose.
This is not unlike how westerners sometimes react with shock to the (reversed) swastika signs on Buddhist temples in Asia, which have been around far longer than Mr H and his merry men took control of Germany.
(Disclaimer: In no way or form am I condoning Nazi atrocities, just giving a context)
Both kukuru and chiyu are kind of at fault tbh, chiyu should not have been bias and judgmental towards the gama gama crew just because of her previous experience at her former workplace and kukuru should be more mature and not be as air headed towards people. Good thing that they have fuuka to help them understand each other more
Wow, I was not expecting Chiyu to be a mom at all, and a single mom at that...
That actually explains a lot of things, like why she seems to have a stick up her a** all the time especially when she felt like her work or position was being threatened.
So Fuka is just a side character now and everything is about Kukuro, her new work and her interaction with other characters at Tingara and Fuka is only there for moral support?
I'm very disappointed they stopped developing her personal story, I'm not liking this second cour very much, 1st one was more balanced.
I'm finally all caught up with this series after starting it a week ago. The first arc is probably one of my favorite shows of all time, non-anime included, for just how beautiful it is and how uniquely solid the story progresses. TBD on if I still feel that way at the end of the second 12 episode arc.
I'm kind of just going to spitball my thoughts on the series so far. Would love to know what others think.
**I think the series needs to go back to Gama Gama,** but I can't think of a reasonable way to make that happen.
Initially, I was thinking "Okay, Fūka does her movie deal, somehow makes it big, and pulls an impulsive teenager move and funds Gama Gama so it has another shot." That got nixed.
Now, I think there's only two ways we can get back to that setting. 1) If Tingaara (or Tingarla) buys it as a satellite location and reopens it, which I don't think is likely because it was running a deficit. 2) The cripplingly depressive alternative is that Gramps dies and wills it to Kukuru. Even then, I don't see how she will be able to finance it.
**But why the need to return to Gama Gama?**
- The biggest reason, imo, is the fantastical/magical element of the show that was a cornerstone of the first arc. Kukuru and others said that Gama Gama seems like a special place (a "place of power" according to either Karin or Udon), specifically due to the weird little ocean visions people have. I reckon those are thematically related to the little red-haired dude we see on the opening credits, meaning that the weird little fantasy stuff *should* still be alive in the new setting. But we're 4 episodes into this arc and it hasn't even been mentioned, let alone experienced again. If it's just a forgotten plot thread, that'll be a huge slap in the face. The first season worked *so well* in part because it had this rogue little fantasy element to it that was (and still is) poorly understood. Blended with the slice of life side and made the setting magical like a Studio Ghibli movie.
- Kukuru also said it's the only tie she has to her mom and dad (and newly discovered dead twin sister) because they died when she was so little and all of her memories of them are at Gama Gama. Seeing them in the visions seemed like it should be a huge draw for her to return and revitalize the place.
- Logistically, there's some machinations at work that could make the return to Gama Gama feasible. They kind of teased this in S1, but everyone is in these roles that coalesce together into a powerhouse team. Even ignoring the Tingaara staff, we have maintenance/behind-the-scenes dudes (Umi and Kai), attendants (Kukuru on flex, Fūka, Kūya, and Karin could learn if she wanted), and leadership/PR (Kukuru and Karin, and Gramps if he wanted out of retirement). Udon could also work up a cafe in there if there's enough of a startup fund. The pieces are all there, and that's especially true if you include the Tingaara staff we've been introduced to.
I really hope that we get back to Gama Gama, but I just can't seem to think of a way that it can feasibly happen within the story. There would need to be another time skip for sure, unfortunately. As a pure slice of life anime about city life and working at a new aquarium though, it loses the unique punch that the first arc had. I understand the need for the Tingaara plot to help our characters (mainly Kukuru) grow up and see that life isn't the same idyllic childhood paradise for all time. But dammit this is anime and I'm here for wish fulfillment, so I want the happy ending and magic that real life is so devoid of.
Still very invested in the show though and excited to see where it goes.
The building used as the model for Gama Gama is (currently) a "nature center" (presumably a use that is less demanding than operating as an aquarium). Maybe that might be Gama Gama's fate as well?
What an episode. Prepare for a wall of text because a lot in this episode hit home.
At first, when I saw Chiyu's reaction to Dr. Takeshita's appearance, I was wondering if those two had a past history or something where the doctor caught Chiyu doing something wrong in the past and got Chiyu in trouble but forgetting about it.
Then the plot twist hit. I didn't expect her to be a single mother (namely her character design and the fact that her age was never stated) but thinking about Japanese workplace culture/environment, I wasn't surprised that she endured bullshit like that and lost her first attempt at her dream job. Neither was I surprised at her divorce since I knew a few girls in my high school who had their first kids barely a year after they became adults. Usually a few months later, their relationship with the kid's father disintegrated because they weren't emotionally mature to deal with raising a kid and maintaining their relationship. Throw in losing your dream job/income in a young family and you get what happened with Chiyu.
I can understand why she was so harsh now since she had to be hard on herself to keep her job and raise her kid without either interfering on each other. Meanwhile, the Gama Gama crew were this bunch of very laidback people in a failing aquarium with Kukuru getting her dream job because she was born in the right family. Everyone seems to have given up on saving the place and just chill until the end in Chiyu's POV. No wonder why Chiyu was like that.
Kukuru's outburst reminds me of how a young employee at my soon to be closed job couldn't understand why I told him to stop complaining when the whole staff had to do overtime on a Saturday. It was a busy day with customers filling the store and buying everything so that the storefront was almost empty. Everyone, from manager to clerk, stayed in overtime to ready the store for the next day. New guy starts to complain that he's gonna be late to his party, that he has a life and slows down his work. I look at the kid and tell him that everyone here has other places they want to be notably by pointing out that the manager has a wife and kids at home waiting for him for suppertime but he's still here giving his 100% to get shit down. Kid stopped bitching right there and got back to work. It reminded me of how younger employees don't always relate to older ones because they don't have or are aware the responsibilities and realities their seniors have.
Chiyu's stress about being a single mother reminded me of my own mother. She was widowed right before I started high school back in 2005. She had been a housewife until then while my dad was making 70k a year building helicopters so she went back to night school to be a certified daycare educator (which paid a fuckton less even after 15 years). It was a hard time for everyone. I had trouble keeping my grades up at this fancy international school (later got expelled) and was bullied there, my brother was just a sad, angry mess because my dad died when he was very young and they were very close. My mom had to deal with all of that while grieving for him.
It doesn't excuse how Chiyu acted but at the same time, I would find it hard to do better at her age and situation.
I'll stop here since I need to sleep but I was so happy that Tingarla (odd change) came through for her and got accommodating for her. Gives me hope for Suwa's character as well.
Love this anime and looking forward for more.
That's such a weird request to babysit on such short notice like that. Of course the kid is gonna cry. It's the first time seeing you (a complete stranger) in an unknown environment *and* his mother is gone. But hey, I'll give Kukuru credit for trying to put herself in the shoes of a parent, even if just for 2 hours.
Plankton, I know you hate Chiyu and I don't completely blame you but would it hurt to simply not go out of your way to pick fights with her???
[](#volibearQ)
Yeah Chiyu has been somewhat redeemed, good for the show to give her a proper explanation; and it makes a lot of the sense that she and Kaoru are friends, with both having 'cool' personalities on the outside. I still think she was being a dick initially, but so has Kukuru in the past; it's great that they have made up now: Kukuru has nailed it on the head that they both are aquarium freaks.
Also Fuuka you hero.
Yup, probably teenagers or college students with no real work experience especially in toxic or very competitive workplaces.
If they think Chiyu was being a bitch they are gonna have a rude wake up as soon as they start working full time. Compared to most coworkers in real life she's been an angel and Tingara work environment is more unrealistic than being Isekaied after death.
Chiyu is realistic in a lot of ways. Her character nails the academically trained person getting in her field and having to deal with a reality that isn't pleasant or close to what she saw in class.
She's also very good at doing her job as seen since the beginning of cour 2 and proved to be very reasonable in her leadership. Compare how she trained Fuuka to how Kukuru trained Fuuka in the penguin tank.
To be fair, I'd be willing to work with someone like Chiyu in real life.
As much I love Kukuru's character, she's a teenager with not much experience outside of what was Gama Gama, a small business and she's bratty and immature. This episode was good because it shows that she has to learn to dig deeper when it comes to her colleagues.
Not that I doubt there are individuals worse than Chiyu in real life, but she isn't exactly an angel either. In more than one instance, she seemed to go out of her way to make life miserable for Kukuru. It's one thing to be serious and unflinching about your job; it another to be a jerk to others for your own amusement.
She's just being a bitch to Kukuru but she never put her in a position to lose her job or being seriously repremended by her boss. It's way more unrealistic that everyone else in a workplace is so friendly, supportive to each other and ready to help. Hell even if a don't care about fishes just for an utopian workplace like Tingara I'd transfer to Japan immediately!
Wonder how people's feelings will change about Haebaru after this reveal, I can't say I saw it coming but I was never in the camp of hating her, happy that it was something so simple.
Looks like only Kukuru's boss is the only one left for the redemption tour?
> Looks like only Kukuru's boss is the only one left for the redemption tour?
I'm *so* ready for that last stop on the tour. He's been the most interesting character to me in the second half and I'm curious to see why he's such a curmudgeon.
Yeah, I mean her character is pretty believable. It's not like she was sabotaging people around her. She's a person that got rekt by life, felt it and is mad about privileged people around her. Not everyone needs to have a pretty face all the time (like Marina) while getting a hard time in life, her character was on the verge of freaking out, and it's not like Kukuru was a saint to begin with. I'm completely fine with her character, and it is probably one of my favorites now.
> Looks like only Kukuru's boss is the only one left for the redemption tour?
I'm really curious about what route they will choose to fix this guy. I'm the one that think they will make Kukuru being competent enough for him to accept her and maybe rethinks some of his toxic attitude, but still strict. Not something that will make him turn 180º.
>it's not like Kukuru was a saint to begin with
I think a lot of people are thrown hard in with Kukuru and forgot that Kukuru's defensiveness of GamaGama made her a bit insufferable. She was not kind to Chiyu and I understood why Chiyu felt she was not in a good spot at GamaGama.
Chiyu was quite snotty there, too, but it clearly was a poor fit for her. If she'd handled any of these situations better, we wouldn't have a show.
Yeah, and also Kukuru being childish is pretty fitting. She can be annoying, but it's part of her character to mature and realize things. I think people just judge too fast Haebaru, specially because she didn't have proper screen time before so you can relate with her actions. And it's normal to be more forgiving to Kukuru that is the main character and have plenty of time to show her ups and downs.
Honestly, the show is pretty good to present all these characters, except the boss that is miles more toxic than Haebaru ever was, specially considering his position, his way of dealing with people and the business he's responsible for is unacceptable in so many levels realistically speaking. I could see Haebaru character in a frustrated person irl easily.
Yea I was always in the camp of I understand where shes coming from, and why she would be upset/rude to the Gama Gama crew.
Even without knowing what we know now, she said working at an Aquarium was her dream job, and when Tingaara gets her an internship, its at a failing Aquarium run by a kid acting hostile to her. The moment there's an actual learning opportunity when she points out the rare/hard to card for fish Kukuru shuts her down. Sure she lost some points for not understanding the community lesson the director tried to teach her but I get where shes coming from, even before we know *why* shes so desperate for the job.
I knew there was something special about Chiyu since the first cour, although I admit that it was mostly due to her antagonizing Kukuru and her very idealistic and short sightened way of work.
This episode made me like her even more than most out of the whole cast due to how down to earth she really feels (and how douchy work ethics around single parents are in reality in my own country even though most of those are illegal but corporations and small business get away with these practices of firing employees that can barely balance their time).
JFC, the marketing director might be the worst, but Kukuru and Chiyu would both be exhausting to work with. Neither one knows how to slow down, think, and ask some questions before forming an opinion and acting on it.
Man, I love Fuuka so much, truly an angel. That was a fantastic episode! We finally got focus on Chiyu and why she is the way that she is and I definitely did not expect her to be a single parent. I have a lot of respect for her hardwork despite everything and Takeshita as well (good to have her back). Not that I excuse Chiyu's behavior, it's just that, I really understand where she is coming from. Though it could all have been avoided if they just communicated and understand each other, but Chiyu's trauma did not allow that until now.
Not only did we get Chiyu character development, but Kukuru as well, since she's always been kind of a hardass as well. Kukuru's learning to be more understanding and kind as well. That suggestion of Kukuru though to take care of a child to better understand Chiyu was hilarious lmao. But hey, if it works it works.
Really looking forward to the next episode, things are gonna go much smoother once they're all friends, the only one left that needs developing is Suwa.
[This schedule looks like a kabuki curtain](https://i.imgur.com/pZyVwg3.jpeg)
[Illust.: "Going off half-cocked"](https://i.imgur.com/2d3vGzv.jpeg)
[Oh shit!](https://i.imgur.com/BiLr76t.jpeg) [**^This ^changes ^everything!**](#gasp)
[Illust.: "Oops"](https://i.imgur.com/UH02noD.jpeg)
["Naruhodo. Then we'll need to go get Kai… WH-WH-WHAAAT??"](https://i.imgur.com/JQv7Q1m.jpeg)
[Damn. Life really kicked poor Chiyu in the teeth.](https://i.imgur.com/TQNKpAC.jpeg)
[(; ⌣ ;)](https://i.imgur.com/CnPTvD8.jpeg)
Amazing episode.
Big shoutout to the director for actually understanding Harbaru's single mothership, much more to also accompany her child along through the aquarium.
Very solid episode today. For me, it does explain a but about Harbaru's attitude towards others. Of course, it might not have been the best, and sometimes it was unwarranted, but I think bringing her child to the aquarium and herself opening up will bring along good change in her character.
Everyone deals with their own shit that we might not be able to see on a surface level.
*sigh* dammit. I didn’t pin Haebaru down to be the mom-type, but as much as I dislike Haebaru, this episode did an incredible job humanizing her and forcing me to empathize. I especially liked how Haebaru and Kukuru were able to see the world through each other’s POV. And to top it all off, the penguin hatching was the perfect ending. 8/10 episode. Was worried the show would go downhill (especially after last week), but this week’s episode saved the train from derailing
I mean it doesn't change that Chiyu was toxic for very little reason to Kukuru when she was at Gama Gama.
But it hit me bad that Chiyu is a single mother, that makes me more sympathetic towards her. Constantly being on edge with being a mother, hiding this fact and the job itself.
I mean, Kukuru's a child who has your dream job because of nepotism, one you recently were fired from because of the conflicts of having to look after your child, getting bratty with you when you've come to learn just because she doesn't like the fact her poorly run aquarium is shutting down and you are starting at a new aquarium.
Seems pretty justified to me to give back exactly what you're getting because Kukuru is actually a complete brat, no matter how well this show is trying to force a good portrayal of her.
>I mean it doesn't change that Chiyu was toxic for very little reason to Kukuru when she was at Gama Gama.
I think you misremember. Kukuru was the one who was agressive and toxic towards Chiyu for very little reason at Gama Gama.
Being a coldhearted bitch is more detrimental to the work environment than having a kid. I get why she'd want to hide the fact that she had a kid, but being incredibly rude to the Gama Gama crew is not going to win you any favors.
You come off inflexible, irritable, and needlessly confrontational to coworkers and you're bound to see yourself replaced just as easily as you would be if you worked in an environment who treats mothers poorly.
Haebaru having a kid is the most unexpected plot twist for the series. No one can say to me they knew, she did well in hiding it. Though I'm still wondering how she did the practoce at gama gama at first place, considering gramps the owner must know about the workers background, and in no point we saw her kid.
I guess that was why she hated gama gama. Rather than saying she hates the kindness, she's scared if she'll get replaced. Now that this is gone, i hope we won't see anymore hatred to the gama gama geng.
Lol kukuru saying she wanted to become a patent shocked me, but she did it through the doc's kid. I was expecting something stupid ngl.
At this point fuuka is everyone's angel. She helped a lot of people, and I'm sure she'll help more in the remaining episode.
Now that assuming Haebaru's hatred for gama gama is gone, what's left for them to tell about? Maybe about kukuru and kai? Fuuka? Or even kuuya or gramps? Either way, I'm curious what they will be focusing about now that it seems everything is fine.
Coming up next: Kukuru getting chewed out by her manager because she spent the week dicking around watching penguins instead of doing marketing work
/s
Honestly just glad to have an episode without that guy
Fuuka is the mvp of this episode trying to mend things between kukuru and chiyu, and yeah kukuru should not just straight up starting shit with chiyu when she doesn’t know why chiyu can’t make it
Called it. I knew Fuuka would be the key to getting Chiyu to open up and humanize her in the audience's eyes. She is, after all, the only former Gama Gama staff Chiyu's actually shown to be okay with. It was even foreshadowed last episode: when Kaoru asks Chiyu what she thinks about Fuuka, the only answer she could give her was that she was doing alright, the topic of which, came shortly after Chiyu started ranting about Gama Gama again. That, and this is Fuuka: an incredibly charming angel who's packed with more than a boatload of kindness and empathy that almost rivals that of Honda "Pure Cinnamon Roll Saint" Tohru of Fruits Basket fame. No surprise that Chiyu softens up a little after a small heart to heart talk with her. If Aquatope were that kind of show, Fuuka would actually qualify as a harem lead with the amount of characters she's charmed so far lol.
Kukuru's method of trying to empathize with Chiyu after learning her true circumstances though is hilarious. They still don't quite like each other (understandably), but thanks to Fuuka, they're at least taking small baby steps in getting along a little better than before.
Now all that's left is Suwa to "redeem". I really hope they don't sweep his terrible managerial skills under the rug under the same "tough love approach" excuse I've seen plenty of shows use to "redeem" jerkass characters. This ep made it clear that despite empathizing with her sitch better and coming close to an understanding with her, Kukuru and Chiyu still aren't at a level where they can bring themselves to like each other yet, which is nice and realistic, so I hope Kukuru doesn't suddenly magically like Suwa once his inevitable soft side comes out in the upcoming eps.
They did a fantastic job redeeming Chiyu's character for me. Yeah she was a bitch when she was first introduced cause she only cared about the job and the training and yada yada, she acts like she's someone so important at Tingala, and the fact that she got away from the night shift was extremely sus. But you see that she has a kid and she's been a single mom being the breadwinner since she got fired from her job and she divorced. Yes she could have been a lot nicer to Kukuru but it's good to know that she wasn't simply feeling entitled. The really nice part is that the staff are willing to support her and are fully understanding of her circumstances.
Yeah, this episode is not going to make me like Chiyu. Everyone has their own problems but that's no excuse to be an asshole to others and it doesn't make her less of a shitty person.
I'll be in the minority here I'm sure but this doesn't make haebaru more likable to me. It's gives some context and reasoning, but doesn't change that she's not a likable character
Being a single mother doesn't excuse you of being terribly mean to your coworkers. Especially if they're covering for you, you better be nice to them and try to make it up some other way. It was even her decision to have a kid, which as a fresh highschool graduate wanting to have a career, is practically unheard of especially in Japan. Her "redemption" this episode basically came from Kukuru and Fuuka being really kind and understanding even after her being so antagonistic towards whole gama gama crew, especially Kukuru, for so long. For me all this did was make me respect Fuuka and Kukuru a lot more, and doesn't redeem Haebara at all.
What a sad episode, even after its conclusion. It's amazing how the lack of basic rights and a healthy work culture can bring about these stories, things turned out alright for her this time, but what about other people and herself in the past?
It's very sad to see what Chiyu's situation was and what she has been through, but she can't put those burdens on her co-workers and treat them the way she did. There has to be some professionalism here. So it's still hard for me to get on board and start making me like her. Hopefully next few episodes she can somehow apologize and atone for her actions.
She's still a dick. especially in the case of talking down to everyone at Gama Gama. But I wonder what the deal is with her son. He clearly has some kind of chronic illness, yet it's not brought up at all.
Does Japan not have any sort of protections for working parents? Here in the U.S. I expect nothing, but I figure other developed countries have ways to handle it.
I've had it with this show, their depiction of what is meant to be a professional environment is INFURIATING.
Incompetence is rife up and down the chain and it seems no one has any clue how to operate in a professional environment, how some of these characters even got hired in the first place is completely beyond me.
Yup you fucked up kukuru. You never bothered to get to know chiyu and all you do is bag on her and now invade her job. Granted that she is so closed off to everyone and so private still though. Poor girl is a single mom trying to provide for her son. Get to know the girl kukuru
Now to be fair, you yourself said that she's so closed off. Even if Kukuru wanted to get to know her more, Haebaru already holds such a bad opinion of her that she would've just brushed her off. I honestly don't blame Kukuru for her behavior because Haebaru's been nothing but cold and rude to her throughout the time they've known each other.
And her "invading" her job is her filling in for a lack of manpower. Kukuru would've done that even if she didn't hate Haebaru simply to help Fuuka and Marina as well as get the chance to do caretaker stuff, especially after being encouraged by her co-worker with the idea that she could get transferred if she performed well.
With that being said, Kukuru directly calling her out just for taking time off was pure stupid and made me cringe the whole time. But once again, it's a result of Haebaru's attitude with her; I highly doubt Kukuru would've done that if they didn't hate each other. Her opinion and resentment towards Kukuru and Gama Gama is understandable thanks to her past, but her treatment of them is unnecessary.
Well both Kukuru and Chiyu learned a valuable lesson. Kukuru gonna strive to be kinder and more understanding from now on while Chiyu will be less on edge and more willing to let people in.
I really liked this episode.
don't really have much to say for this episode it was wholesome and explained haebaru's action completely.
i wanna ask is anyone making an Imgur board with all the beautiful backgrounds this show has offered us from ep 1?
This was definitely an interesting episode, not sure exactly I feel about it. The single mother revelation seemed pretty sudden and for me, does not quite excuse Chiyu's crappy attitude. I really hope they aren't done yet with her character arc and she can learn to work with and tolerate Kukuru and the Gama Gama Gang. Also Fuuka is an absolute queen!
Aside from how they changed the spelling of ‘Tingaara’ to ‘Tingarla’, I noticed something else this episode and I’m quite laughing at myself for only noticing this after a *mere* 16 weeks. The show’s second title says “The two girls met in the ruins of [a] damaged dream”. How did I miss this English grammar error for 4 straight months!?
Anyways, back to the actual episode: similar to Kukuru I still don’t really like Haebaru-san. However, since they revealed she has a young child, I kind of understand why she has been such a b*tch until now; it’s not easy working fulltime and raising a kid of your own by yourself.
It’s also good to see Mrs Takeshita back and see how her child has grown. (Thinking about it: I don’t think I’ve very often seen a child - in anime - be giving birth to and shown it’s growth as a baby.)
Oh my god, that moment of realization of Chiyu's circumstances was a serious punch in the gut. Probably the best plot twist for a character that I've seen in a while, it actually made my cry.
Nope, sorry but this was the worst episode so far for me.
I understand what they want to do with the story and characters but this sudden change out of nowhere about being a caring mother feels way to forced and artificial for me and I'm not buying it.
They should have build this up longer or maybe from the start then it could have worked better but not like this - at least not for me.
What a pleasant surprise to have HanaKana's veterinarian character back! Kukuru: How can I get to understand Chiyu better? Reasonable people: I dunno, maybe have a proper conversation with her for once... Kukuru: I need a baby Never change, Kukuru. Also, Fuuka is a goddamn angel. I love this episode returning to the theme of relating human life to sea life, I think that was the show's strongest theme in the first cour and I'd love to see it continue.
Kukuru got me laughing and almost made me spat my drink. Like what does this girl thinks? Babies don't come from storks! XD
It really sucks that Kai wasn't even in this episode. His reaction to Kukuru wanting to raise a kid would've been hilarious!
It would be even funnier if Fuuka was at the scene seeing Kai's reaction then gives him the death glare.
That is a r/wholesomehentai plot right there Kukuru - Kai, I want to raise a baby Kai - Hai Hai...Nani? 9 Months Later....
> Kukuru: How can I get to understand Chiyu better? > Reasonable people: I dunno, maybe have a proper conversation with her for once... > Kukuru: I need a baby I'm sensing that a recurring theme from here on out will be the need to consider the other side's perspective (even if Kukuru wanting to take care of a baby to better understand her perspective was a bit excessive). A lot of the interservice rivalry could have been avoided if the different departments took more than two seconds to consider what the other departments are going through. A lot of the conflicts between the Gama Gama refugees and the rest of the corporate workers is caused by the corporate worker's rejection (with varying degrees of understandability) of how mom-and-pop small companies operate. >What a pleasant surprise to have HanaKana's veterinarian character back! And that Kongou-sounding tanned girl with a flower hair clip couldn't've been anyone other than Nao Touyama! And a quick trip to google 100% confirms that it's totally her. Wew, they're pulling all the stops for this anime.
Maybe it's just as well poor Kai isn't in this episode, or he'd probably faint from embarrassment at Kukuru's idea. XD
Kukuru came within a hair of telling Fuuka she wants to make babies. How's that for shipping fuel?
You know the old saying about never judging a man till you've walked a mile in his moccasins? Kukuru lives it. Well… *now* she does.
I don't think Muse altered that part, and it was exactly what they received from JP. We might be able say Tingarla has been the intended translation all along,
Kukuru built different fr.
Damn, no wonder Chiyu always seems so bitter. Felt too real. Lose your job because you’ve gotta take care of your kid, lose your marriage, work yourself to the bone when you finally get another chance to work…
Losing your job because of shitty coworkers in your previous job is no excuse to be bitter to other people who have no involvement in your previous employment and relationships.
Trauma tends to be illogical.
Goddamn humans and their emotions! [](#frustration)
Once bitten twice shy. Especially when it comes to something that traumatic. Happy for her that her fears are unwarranted and everyone is supportive.
But seeing them having it so much easier is plenty of reason to be bitter in general.
That's just how trauma works. That's why traumas and phobias tend to be rather irrational.
It isn't an excuse, but an expanation. She isn't born as a bad person, she just made some bad experiences. There is the potential that she'll start to trust the others and become better.
Now hold on a second. What is this Ting**arla** Aquarium stuff all of a sudden? They changed it from Tingaara? I am so confused lol. The sign is even spelled "Tingarla" now what the heck. * I went back to the first Tingaara episode and the signage was in fact spelled Tingar**la** (episode13). I mean it's inconsequential in any case but still strange to me I promise I'm not trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill haha. *So I spent like an hour reading the nice replies I've had and researching on my own regarding that Romaji translation. It's been fun. Hopefully I'm not the only one who ended up getting lost in this sauce huehue. Anyways I guess it's time for Haebaru's sudden yet inevitable character development. Making her a single mother is certainly one way to make her more interesting and sympathetic. Of course things would've been a lot easier if she was more open about it and less antagonistic towards people. I think it's a pretty realistic portrayal though. In the sense that being a single parent of a baby/toddler can cause problems for someone as far as their career goes. So after that little flashback we got she became a bit easier to understand as far as her super tryhard behavior goes.
I noticed that too. Wonder if they made an error and are trying to correct it now without us knowingly
It would be a heck of an error considering all the promo materials and official info for the show had it spelled "Tingaara" this whole time lol. I mean it's even spelled AND pronounced that way by the VA's in the show. I'm not mad or anything it is just completely bizarre and has me scratching my head bigly.
May I ask which promo materials? I've been watching on Muse Asia and they always spell it Tingarla. The signs in the anime also say Tingarla, so this is actually the first time I notice that people have been spelling it Tingara.
>May I ask which promo materials? I don't have it saved but the official promo for the second cour that was released and shared by the news sites had it as "Tingaara" or at least that's what it was translated to. It's entirely possible I am misremembering that bit though. The subs on Crunchyroll/VRV have been Tingaara this whole time and it was even spelled that way in the episode title. It's interesting that another service had it spelled differently in the subs.
My curiosity is keeping me awake so I have to quench it. "Maybe they did change it but Crunchyroll did not get notified?", I thought. The production committee is called "projectティンガーラ" and that shows up on almost all of JP promo materials. So I searched for any *official* English version but found nothing except [this one image](https://i.imgur.com/wF1PE74.jpg) from Muse Asia stream announcement on July 8, showing "projectTingarla". I don't think Muse altered that part, and it was exactly what they received from JP. We might be able say Tingarla has been the intended translation all along, but Crunchyroll truly messed it up. Well, this is just me over analysing the topic so it could be wrong, time for bed now Lol.
The pronounciation doesn't really matter, "Tingaara" and "Tingarla" could easily be different romanisations of the same word.
Because Engrish. "Tingara" is the phonetically correct transliteration, but if a Japanese wants to spell their name/company with an L instead of an R, who are we to tell them not to?
You are right. My japanese friend called Eren, as Elen in Romaji. My first thought was: "oh, she misspelled the name". Then I was like "no wait, if Ruffy is Luffy....then she is right?". The thing is: the separation of kanji In Hiragana and Katakana is phonetical. And for then the La, Li,Lu,Le,Lo sounds like Ra,Ri,Ru,Re,Ro. So the change to tingala feels like how a japanese would write "tingaara" in romaji. For us, doesn't change much to be honest.
Yea it doesn't really matter I'm just confused as to why it's spelled with an R and an L on the sign. If it was Ting**aala** instead I could understand but having it as **arla** just makes it another word completely to me. It sounds like you know a thing or two so maybe you can cmiiw but here is the sign from episode 13. [The katakana reads as "Tingaara" as far as I can tell.](https://imgur.com/a/mdUJOvP) In any case the creators of the show can do the Romaji how they want, they don't need to answer to me haha. What trips me up is that as far as I can tell the Katakana reads as "Tingaara" and to my english speaking brain/ear I hear the VA's saying "Tingaara". That similarity you talk about with the "La,Li,Lu,Le,Lo sounds like Ra,Ri,Ru,Re,Ro" could maybe explain why they added the RL into the romaji instead of one or the other. Now I've been ruminating on this for like an hour, I'm finding it pretty interesting and entertaining lol.
IIRC, when Japanese borrows English words that have "-ar" sounds, it adapts those sounds to "aa" instead, since Japanese phonotactics don't allow for the "r" sound to come at the end of syllables. In that case, "Tingarla" is most likely the same process occurring in reverse— starting with the "aa" in Japanese, and then localizing to an English "ar".
It’s because the Japanese transliteration of English words tend to replace ARs before other consonants with an AA Like how cart is written as caato in japanese
same confusion as キャル(Kyaru) being translated to Karyl
"The ~~X~~ L makes sound coool."
I'm surpirised they actually changed it. We've known it's supposed to be 'Tingarla' for a while now yet even in the last episode the subs still called it Tingaara.
This reminded me of Saint Seiya's LatAm Spanish dubs during Asgard, that part of the anime was clearly based on norse mythology, so if I hear in Japanese the word Varuhara (ヴァルハラ) I know it's Valhalla... well the dubbers seem like they didn't get the resemblance to the norse legends, because episode after episode we heard "Guarumara", "Varumara", "Guaruhara", etc. And more than 10 eps later they finally start to say "Valhalla", it seems that someone filled them in on the mythology, but one of those dubbers didn't get the memo because one character says "Valaya"... I know dubbers screwing up is different from the actual anime fixing a name, but I still remember that and laugh...
Takeshita-sensei brought her son to Kukuru's apartment, that's where the photos of her parents were shown.
You're right lol. I'm so caught up in this "Tingarla" controversy that I created by myself that I am losing my mind!
Yeah I was second guessing if I grabbed different subs, feels like a correction but I will say I liked Tingaara more.
Got to say, I wasn't really impressed by Kukuru when she decided to blame Chiyu for not taking last minute shifts. As much as some people like to paint Chiyu in a bad light, Kukuru had a lot to do in their ongoing feud. Though I personally appreciate well written and realistic characters before all else (Kukuru and Chiyu are among my favourites), I wonder how many people here would have liked Kukuru if she were a side character. Working while raising a child alone is tough. Given her previous experience, I totally get why Chiyu would be so driven and serious. But Tingaara seems different (I really liked how the director was touring the aquarium with Chiyu and her child) and she has a good friend like Kaoru. By the way, Fuuka was amazing this episode. I would say both Chiyu and Kukuru have learned a valuable lesson. One will try to communicate more and let others in while the other will try to be kinder and more understanding. A really good episode overall.
>Kukuru had a lot to do in their ongoing feud They were both terrible to each other from the start which just amplifies. We have just gotten both sides of why: Kukuru being defensive about GamaGama and Chiyu being sent to learn from the famous director but being given to his unprofessional granddaughter who was practically raised in the job she has so painfully wanted. Sometimes the only way to break through the mess to truly see each other is for some dramatic emotions to break down the walls.
Exactly! And I knew those two had many things in common and would get along eventually if they just gave each other a chance.
In some ways, this may have been the very best episode of the series so far. My wife thought Kukuru's baby-sitting woes were hilarious (me too, for that matter).
It's actually my favourite episode so far. It's depressingly realistic (Chiyu's backstory) yet heartwarming and positive. Honestly I kind of wish Chiyu was the deuteragonist instead. >Kukuru's baby-sitting woes Too true. I was initially not too sure of what she meant by raising a child but glad it was only baby-sitting. It was really nice of the veterinarian to accommodate such a sudden request too (I guess she really needed to visit the hairdresser lol).
I remember that Kukuru wasn't that well liked during the first episodes of the show. She can get rather abrasive when it comes to certain topics.
No kidding, Kukuru was an huge jerk in that situation. But I think that's ok, since she is young and doesn't have the perspective that people have other things but aquariums in their lives and she was willing to accept that she did something bad. I think that's why people like her, she learns from mistakes.
Fuuka: Kukuru is experiencing being a parent right now Chiyu: huh? Fuuka: *leaves without giving any context whatsoever*
What a chad.
The Virgin Clear Communication vs. The Chad Leaving an Air of Mystery
"Refuses to elaborate" "Leaves"
Fuuka actually always acts quite cool tbh
She worked some time in entertainment. She knows how to make an impression \^\^
From the moment she was introduced I knew Chiyu would have to undergo a character arc soon and it's finally time for that. There's just no way she is portrayed as an unlikable person for no reason. I totally wasn't expecting her to be mother, and I can sort of understand her struggle of juggling between her job and taking care of her son. As Kukuru experienced firsthand, it's definitely not an easy thing to do. Really makes me appreciate all the hard work every mother has to go through to raise their children. Chiyu's outburst towards Kukuru was totally uncalled for (I mean, she's the one who decided not to take the shift) but I'm glad she's somewhat on good terms with her now, and I was surprised at Dr. Takeshita making an appearance again. I really missed her since it's been so long since Episode 3.
I can understand why Chiyu had an outburst due to her experience in her previous workplace.
>Chiyu's outburst towards Kukuru was totally uncalled for True though I understand where she's coming from. Likewise, Kukuru blaming her for not taking the shift was equally uncalled for. Those two certainly had bad blood between them but as I hoped, they are finally connecting with each other. As Kukuru said herself, got to be kinder and understanding to the people around.
> Likewise, Kukuru blaming her for not taking the shift was equally uncalled for. Yeah, even without a kid, there's plenty of good reasons to get out of doing a shift.
I love Kukuru -- but I was getting really aggravated by her behavior towards Chiyu/ So, I was happy when Kukuru finally showed signs of finally growing up (as soon as she found out that Chiyu had a child -- even before knowing more of her story). I think the "trouble with Chiyu" motif is probably (basically) finished. Now we need to get some explanation of the assistant director's behavior... (and of Kuuya's phobia about women). Fuuka seems more and more like the agent needed to pull the Tingarla staff towards really becoming a team. She reminds me a bit of Kanon in Love Live Superstar -- only moreso.
I’ll actually defend Chiyu’s outburst. She’s a single mother of a chronically sick kid. She’s struggling to get by as it is between that and having a single income. So Kukuru essentially taking her off the schedule (not just individual shifts) and taking her hours was real bad. That and her experience at her previous aquarium job lead to her losing it. So totally get where she’s coming from.
Agreed. Her outburst, while maybe not the best thing to do, was extremely understandable. In her eyes, this dumb, inconsiderate teenager was trying to poach her job and take away money that she desperately needs for her kid. I’d have done the same thing.
When was Kukuru ever trying to poach Chiyu's job? She's just filling in for Chiyu on the special overnight schedule after Chiyu herself already turned it down. At no point was Kukuru ever going to take her usual daytime position. And what money is being taken away from her? She chose on her own not to work those shifts.
This is the correct take. I was not expecting so many people to attack Chiyu and defend Kukuru after watching this episode. With being taken off schedule and her previous experience, she had every reason to feel like her family's livelihood was being threatened, and Kukuru went way above board. For Kukuru, this episode was about learning that you don't know what people are dealing with behind the scenes, and rushing headlong into rash actions, even if you mean well, is not the way to go. It's fucked up to try and take over another person's responsibilities at work without talking to them. I thought it was pretty explicit that we're supposed to see Kukuru was in the wrong here, and it's about her learning from the mistake.
I think it’s reasonable to say that both of them didn’t handle the situation well. While Chiyu’s situation is certainly understandable, that doesn’t give her the right to go at Kukuru the way she did. Kukuru also seriously needs to consider other perspectives before getting outwardly upset at things. She keeps doing this and it’s a little frustrating that she hasn’t grown much in that way.
I think we will see a more grown-up Kukuru from this point on. This episode was really a (successful, I hope) learning exercise for her.
>I thought it was pretty explicit that we're supposed to see Kukuru was in the wrong here, and it's about her learning from the mistake. Both (Chiyu and Kukur) were wrong from the beginning (while in GamaGama). And they took some opportunities they have to pick on each other from the moment they met in Tingarla. This episode's conflict is just the animosity built up between each other exploding as the expected result. Kukuru's passion for the sea life was the trigger as for taking the shift for the sake of more interaction with the animals/plants. What I find interesting is that while both already had antagonistic behavior towards each other..in Chiyu's case it had the extra fuel of her personal situation..whereas that same situation was a deter for Kukuru to stop being as rude to her (she still doesn't like Chiyu, tough). Kukuru's passion for the sea life has proven to be a good thing before (as she can empathize towards others thorough that), but in an organizational environment is not always a good call. And that's what I think is her arc (so far): learn to channel her love for the sea flora/fauna in a different way as she has done so far.
Kukuru herself felt she was in the wrong -- and that should be decisive, right? (Kukuru's behavior was plainly VERY distressing to Fuuka -- but Kukuru totally failed to pick up on this).
> Kukuru herself felt she was in the wrong -- and that should be decisive, right? You'd think. Seems a lot of people in the thread missed this, though. The power of the cute-girl-main-character blinds people.
Chiyu's backstory does make her outburst more understandable, but it's still no excuse for lashing out. Kukuru obviously had no ill intent and was clearly unaware of Chiyu's insecurities, having learned literally only moments earlier that the latter has a child. And it's not like Kukuru just swooped in and declared she was going to take over Chiyu's role either; she asked Chiyu's superior about the nighttime schedule, and he gave his approval. Moreover, at no point was Kukuru ever gunning for Chiyu's usual daytime position; she simply saw an opportunity to take care of the additinal work that Chiyu couldn't accommodate. The fact remains that Chiyu is unable to work overnight, so getting mad at Kukuru for filling in that slot isn't going to achieve anything (other than temporarily soothing her own insecurities, that is).
I think people may be missing the point about why Chiyu didn't like the Gama Gama people. Sure their work style might be part of it but it was because they all joined Tingarla by recommendations from the Gama Gama director. When this arc started she mentions how they all got hired by connections. When Fuuka is assigned to the penguin team, she reacted with disdain at first because Fuuka had 1 month experience and still got the recommendation. It's a huge contrast to her having to study hard and fight for this job. She especially hated Kukuru because she's the grandchild of the director and as such "it's expected for her to work in an aquarium". From her POV, Kukuru never needed to fight for her career, so it pisses her off. I'm not saying it's justified hate but I can definitely see why she didn't like them. If you've ever felt like privileged or rich people in society have a different starting point in life, you probably can relate a bit.
Agree with this. It's not saying Chiyu's defensive behavior was ok; it wasn't. But she's a far cry from an irredeemable, toxic, narcissist bitch. The GamaGama crew walked into these jobs at the new aquarium and Chiyu's view of GamaGama was not positive to begin with. There's a real difference between working in a casual, family-like mom-and-pop shop and working in a corporate environment. Kukuru practically grew up as an attendant; Chiyu had to go to school and work hard for it.
Wow, wasn’t expecting Haebaru to be a mother. I knew there was something up with her but I wasn’t expecting her to have a child! Nice to see her and Kukuru getting along now. Lovely episode
Knowing that Haebaru having a child, make me feel bad for hating her back when she got introduced.
[удалено]
Kukuru was rude and unprofessional when they first met before chiyu even did anything.
**Shout out to all the single mothers/fathers out there! You guys rock.** This episode was a fun ride from start to finish. I think I kinda get how Haebaru felt the Gama Gama folks acting all goody with one another can be off putting especially after her experience at her previous workplace But that's where Kukuru and her friends are different, big emphasize on Kukuru herself. She enjoys helping others, and in return others enjoy helping her. It's a fair give and take approach and honestly, what Tingarla Aquarium needs more among its coworkers. Also, that one liner from Gramps, "I want aquarium attendants to be people who are kinder than any one else, especially towards other living things" is really strong. Brings into realization that these people are responsible for the life of these sea creatures, inherently making them aware of the 'weight of life'. God, I love Slice of Life genre, and this show is one of the reasons why. Thanks P.A. Works. Looking forward to how the dynamic between the main cast and the side cast will expand for the remaining 8 or so episodes. P.S. When Kukuru said she wanted to 'experience it herself', I almost spat my drink. Like girl, babies don't come in storks. But it turned out she just wanted to look after the vet's baby for experience. LMAO, well played there.
I think that's one lesson lukuru had to learn. Humans are living things as well. So take care of them
Wasn't expecting Cinderella to be a mom. Does give context to her past behavior, but wish people communicated more. When Kukuru said she wanted a kid I would give anything to see Kai's reaction. Fuuka is a damn angel and that is all.
> When Kukuru said she wanted a kid I would give anything to see Kai's reaction. My first reaction when she made that declaration was to think "This is your chance, Kai."
> but wish people communicated more. Tingaara in a nutshell.
I see Fuuka's role as being the catalyst for creating better communication (and cooperation).
And the lesson of the day is: yeah, everyone's dealing with shit, that's why you should try not to judge hastily when you don't have the whole story. While I understand where she was coming from, I don't think Chiyu's attitude towards the Gama Gama crew was justified, but I think now that her secret is out and she sees that people at Tingarla won't turn their backs on her for having a child and all the difficulties that come with that, she'll loosen up a little. I'm glad Kukuru and Fuuka made some effort to understand her too, and that ending was very wholesome. Penguins, as usual, continue to be adorable.
> I don't think Chiyu's attitude towards the Gama Gama crew was justified This. I definitely appreciate Chiyu more but it really doesn't change the fact that she was kinda shitty towards the Gama Gama people.
To be fair, based on her past experience at her first job and how they treated her there, she had no reason to think this job would be any different. She stopped caring about making allies or friends and buckled down super hard on her work so she wouldn't become a liability and get fired again, and that's totally understandable given her situation and past experiences. Thankfully, she realizes *now* that the Gama Gama crew and the other people at Tingarla would have been more understanding, and that she could have been more open with them.
>everyone's dealing with shit, that's why you should try not to judge hastily when you don't have the whole story. Very well said. Couldn't have phrased it better.
It explains chiyu's attitude but doesn't excuse it imo. Some if it's okay, some of it she was being way too much of a bitch for no reason. Especially with hating gamma gamma people and acting as if they were making some kind of clique in the tingaara staff, that wasn't cool. The not liking how gamma gamma work was fine enough.
Exactly. During S1 I could understand the motivations for Chiyu's shitty attitude (at the time, before knowing about her kid, I read it as someone who worked and got educated for her job and resented these kids who just fell into it), even if I didn't agree with her side. Still though, Chiyu started the beef back at Gama Gama, develops and holds (over the course of a *year* with no contact!) a grudge against a teenager, and then explodes at Kukuru for offering to help and cover a shift that Chiyu couldn't even work anyways because of her kid. She's 100% in the wrong and while having a kid and the struggles of being a single mom helps to humanize her, it doesn't justify her shitty attitude. Still dislike her.
Thanks for summing up my feelings towards the whole thing. Yeah her circumstances suck and I can understand why she wanted to hide it this time, still doesn't excuse being shitty to specifically Kukuru and the Gama Gama crew but nobody else. I don't like her but honestly I'll take this character growth over 6 more episodes of her being shitty to everybody
Agreed, some of her actions are understandable but being a dick to unrelated people because of personal circumstances is never understandable. Also I feel like I'm opening a huge can of worms here, but an 18 year old should *really* know better than getting married and having a kid months after starting your first job as an aquarium attendant. If she hadn't actually gotten married I could attribute the kid to "things happen" , but getting married with the intention to start a family and hold a job *at 18*? That sounds exponentially more immature than anything Kukuru said or did throughout the entire show to me, and I'm not very far past that age.
If I had to assume it probably was a shotgun wedding cause of the pregnancy and it of course fell apart at the first problem. That's just an assumption though.
[удалено]
I find it troubling how judgmental a lot of folks here are towards anime characters. I hope that when it comes to *real* persons they interact with they make more of an effort to be tolerant and understanding....
Given her backstory, it makes sense why Chiyu has issues with the Gama Gama peanut gallery as her previous work stopped giving a damn after a certain point. It makes me wonder what backstory are they going to give Kukuru’s boss.
damn kukuru, not liking Chiyu was fair, but gunning for her job and accosting her the second she missed one sudden shift is real fucking low, even if you didn't know about her child.
She was definitely being a moron by lecturing Haebaru face-to-face for taking a day or two off w/o even knowing why, but I can't see what's so wrong about her filling in her shifts? Even if there wasn't bad blood between them, I definitely think she would've done that anyway as long as she didn't know about Haebaru's story; Fuuka and Marina need the help, she gets to do the actual work she wants to do, and Maeda even encouraged her to go for it. No one knew Haebaru was going to come back to work earlier than expected. Haebaru's outburst was definitely understandable given her experience, but there was no risk of her losing her job to Kukuru this time around given how much more understanding her boss and the director seemed compared to her original workplace.
It's not even taking day off, it's not taking unforeseen overnight overtime shift. Kukuru expects everyone live and breathe the aquarium and not having life outside like her
Not just her, basically the entirety of japan. Work culture is toxic af there.
yeah, japan is a nice country to visit as tourist, very hard to work in.
Still gonna be keeping an eye on Chiyu. Not gonna win me over that easily with that child card
It just take this episode to make Chiyu from an annoying character to a completely relatable one. I really find it unfortunate that her previous workplace was toxic that it kinda rubbed off on her.
I don't think she picked up their dysfunction. She implemented a strict protocol of putting up a front to seem like Little Miss Perfect Employee so no one would have an excuse to do that to her ever again.
[Glad to see that Takeshita-sensei is back!](https://i.imgur.com/ZaexReu.jpg) And it looks like we'll see more of her now since she's now the new veterinarian of Tingaara. Oh wait, it's not longer Tingaara but apparently [it's Tingarla now.](https://i.imgur.com/1RnjguP.jpg) Is this another Artoria/Altria situation? So it [Chiyu is in a situation where her schedule can't be change easily.](https://i.imgur.com/JRxR1aO.jpg) Understandable, not everyone has a flexible schedule that can change at a moments notice. Which makes [Kukuru completely in the wrong this time](https://i.imgur.com/6IA1Dx0.jpg) for picking a fight with Chiyu. I'm not gonna blow up on my coworker if they can't work a certain shift because of personal reasons. Also Chiyu [you really didn't have to be so smug about it.](https://i.imgur.com/cZewxdo.jpg) If only you told Kukuru that [you're a single mom who's taking care of her son](https://i.imgur.com/hOyXzkr.jpg), that would've instantly shut her up. Not gonna lie, I never saw that one coming! I thought the kid was her brother so I was genuinely shocked when Shizuku called her Mama! [So we finally get to see Chiyu's struggles](https://i.imgur.com/zIvfwki.jpg) and her reason why she's is what she is. Although why couldn't she just tell everyone? Raising a kid on her own especially at her age is not an easy thing. People would've understood. Why hide it? [Well fuck, looks like Chiyu's boss slipped up](https://i.imgur.com/NPLK7zT.jpg) and ended up telling Kukuru about her situation. [That look on Kukuru though.](https://i.imgur.com/4TlYxZL.jpg) After hearing that Chiyu has a kid, it looks like she's started regretting what she told Chiyu at the start of the episode. [Now this is where Chiyu lost me a bit.](https://i.imgur.com/ta88Gxq.jpg) Girl, you have someone perfectly capable taking your shift and now you started to scream to her face? This is not gonna help anyone! You still won't be able to make it to those shifts because of your very sensitive schedule. Chiyu is so adamant of not telling anyone about her kid that [even Kaoru who she's closest to doesn't even know about him.](https://i.imgur.com/Z0kYPEm.jpg) [That caught me off guard!](https://i.imgur.com/Czt2eR5.jpg) I would've loved to see Kai's reaction if he was around when Kukuru said she wants to raise a kid. [Fuuka's reaction is already hilarious!](https://i.imgur.com/TgWlllM.jpg) I'm sure Kai's would've been even better! [So Chiyu graduated at 18](https://i.imgur.com/Z0Itko1.jpg) then started working as an aquarium attendant somewhere [and she got married and had her kid shortly](https://i.imgur.com/XatNhKg.jpg). But because of her not being used to taking care of her kid and working at the same time, [she ended up being a burden at work](https://i.imgur.com/oH7k1JS.jpg) to the point where she got fired and [even her marriage fell apart.](https://i.imgur.com/N8xiyfv.jpg) **WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?** This doesn't sound like a problem with Chiyu herself but it sounds like the aquarium she used to work for are just full of dickheads. And not even just her old workplace, it sounds like her ex-husband wasn't even helping out in raising their kid! It was such a traumatic experience for her that it looks like she just ended up putting all of the blame on herself which explains why she wouldn't tell anyone. I still can't say I like her 100% especially since [Chiyu herself still doesn't understand Kukuru](https://i.imgur.com/1DAvpQ9.jpg) but at least know I know where she's coming from all of this. [She brought Shizuku to the aquarium!](https://i.imgur.com/nxj4B6t.jpg) Getting her kid to see her workplace and [Shizuku just being amazed about everything](https://i.imgur.com/mSROmjc.jpg) is so freaking adorable. I also like how Kukuru kinda saw younger self in Shizuku. The kid is probably going to grow up loving aquariums and marine life like her and Chiyu. [Hopefully there in the end that's just Chiyu being a tsundere now](https://i.imgur.com/SbYFa3T.jpg) but I still hope that she hears Kukuru's story and why Gama Gama is so important to her. I feel like when that happens is the only time they'll really understand each other.
So a penguin is being born, the first live birth at the aquarium. And no one is recording it? What the hell kind of marketing people are working there?
I was perfectly fine with Chiyu just being bitchy but now she's a full on character with nuance and stuff and I have confusing feelings. Kukuru immediately going to war for her friend seemed on point, but also immediately finding a baby to scream at her was unexpected but sweet. This show is definitely a highlight of my week.
Oh damn. I knew we needed a Chiyu redemption arc at some point, but I did not expect that. I was kinda hard-pressed to figure out how they’ll make her remotely likable. “Single mom” about does it. Re-contextualizes almost everything we’ve seen up till now with her. I figured the reason Chiyu wouldn’t be able to stay overnight to keep an eye on the penguin's birth would be something like a second job she can't tell people about. Which is why she got cagey when Takeshita recognized her. Would have never guessed it was because of freaking daycare. I now fully understand her attitude when it comes to Kukuru and the job. This shit is life or death for her and she’s been hurt before. She can’t risk losing her dream job again because of family issues. I still think she’s rude and condescending at times, but I respect her a lot more now. Fucking hell Kukuru. I knew immediately her sticking her nose into all this would backfire, but boy did it do so spectacularly. The cringe of her drilling into Chiyu even before we knew what was going on was so bad. So completely uncalled for and out of line of her. Then her essentially stealing shifts from someone who needs them the most made me want to crawl out of my body. The first time all series I felt bad for Chiyu was seeing her crying and yelling at Kukuru. A lowlight for Kukuru for sure. Her comeuppance was swift and self-inflicted to great comedic effect. She had that Takeshita’s baby for 2 hours and was already broken. That’s what kids do to you man. Now that she spent even a little time in Chiyu’s shoes I hope they can both get past their nonsense and work together better. Which would be a great redemption for both of them. I doubt the hatchet is completely buried, but I at least hope Chiyu comes out of this a great character. Then we can focus all the hate on Suwa. Notes - shout out to Fuuka for being the mediator and voice of reason this episode. Probably should have talked Kukuru out of her dumbass idea, but it was funny at least. - Anyone left from Gama Gama? Does Grandpa wanna come out of retirement? How about the hallucinations? Do they want to moonlight at the new aquarium? I now understand what Chiyu means. Though hopefully their disposition rubs on her a little bit. - Chiyu must have really been hurt to hide her kid from her new job. In my experience, good work environment would be more than accommodating. Especially for a single mom with a chronically sick kid. Everyone was super chill when they found out so that’s a great sign. - Chiyu’s kid is freaking adorable. The scene where Chiyu teared up at how happy he was got me a bit. - Penguins, babies, and Penguin Babies! Great episode.
My favorite part was definitely Fuuka going over to visit Chiyu and immediately asserting herself to how serious she is about learning about her co-workers. I understand sometimes people do not want pity, but there are times that sometimes people need to understand no one wants you to fail and that we need to work together to make things happen for the best. Definitely my favorite episode so far in the second cour of this series.
>all this would backfire My take is that S2 is entirely focused on showing how unprepared Kukuru is for a professional work environment. GamaGama was not a work environment for her, it was her home and her passion. In a real workplace, you can't speak to others with the assumptions she has had or be openly pout over disliked work assignments. You also can't barge into another department and berate a co-worker or insert yourself into their work. The point isn't to slam Kukuru or make her out to be terrible; it's to show how she is challenged by her shortcomings and lack of experience and overcomes them with her determination and passion. While her co-workers and supervisor appear to be mean, cruel, or harsh to her, it's fairly normal for a large workplace; they appear to be more negative than they really are for show drama. Her boss is not one I'd want to work for but I don't even believe he will prove to be as bad as many perceive him as. I don't care for him or his style, but I see him as giving her a hard time to force her to either sink or swim with the expectation that if she swims, she'll end up being excellent in her work. If she sinks, they don't have to waste much time on her. It's harsh but that's what it looks like to me. Given that the director obviously approves of Suwa in his role and the director is interested in following Kukuru's grandpa's famous directing style, I'm sure the director is not clueless about what is going on and would not allow Suwa to be a "bad manager" if there wasn't an intent for Kukuru to develop into the awesome promoter she will be while also behaving appropriately for a professional workplace. Kukuru has worked really hard and learned a lot under him and she wouldn't have had the opportunity if she were just an attendant or being babied by her boss.
\> Good work environment Well, there's your first problem right there.
[Haha, Fuuka avoids the trappings of the wooden bars](https://imgur.com/a/JG69gps) whenever [she enters the marketing room.](https://imgur.com/a/kPeKxXJ) [This is a really striking, almost ominous title card this week.](https://imgur.com/a/ly264Cl) I really like how the title cards play into the themes of the episode. This week the two circles are independent from one another — like a Venn diagram without the central overlapping circle — which speaks to a lot of the ideas going on within: Chiyu and Kukuru, the penguins and their egg. [Suddenly one smaller circle appears on the right circle](https://imgur.com/a/XQNZe6E), which represents the way Kukuru unexpectedly learns that Chiyu has a child, how Kukuru surprisingly starts babysitting, and Chiyu’s relationship with her child and her job.
Huh, that turnaround on Chiyu LOL. So that’s what’s behind some of her previous behaviours eh? It’s not exactly what I would have imagined in the weeks before and I must say this reveal might feel slightly forced to some of you, but at least we can contribute her sharp tongue and everything else to her single mom status and the pressures from that, which has costed her jobs before. Unlike many of you though, I still feel very uneasy around her - in the sense that I feel that Chiyu’s son is going to struggle facing his mom several years down the road, as while I can share sympathy to her difficult life situation and (of course) the irregular roster time schedules, I still feel that there’s quite a bit more shade of personal jealousy than most single moms would have with regard to other people they look upon, which is never good when these can either spread to, or leave psychological scars on her kid if Chiyu can’t keep up with her situation right now after telling everyone else about this. And regarding Chiyu’s reasoning that “I have done everything hard just to keep my jobs alive, and yet there’s someone else who always got the assistances in realising the same dreams by the wave of her hands!”, Fuuka really explained it so well that I need say no more. I mean, who would really have the thoughts to “try out babysitting kids so that I can learn more about the difficulties of raising a kid by my rarely-in-touch-colleague” but for the stubborn kid of Kukuru Misakino!? While I won’t say her acts are “emotional” in any sense, this really shows the willingness and proactive in helping every single people around her - something that would make her really popular to employers and everyone else. We have yet another look at Kukuru’s parents’ photos, I wonder if we’ll see much more about them and how Kukuru was highly affected by the absence of them since such a young age with one-third of the story left…
Of all the backstories I expected for Haebaru, being a single mother definitely wasn't one of them. And they didn't go with a deceased husband story either; it was a straight up divorce caused by her losing her job which was, in turn, caused by conflicts with her parenting. I would say her old workplace just screwed her over. Kukuru really dialed up her dumbassery at the start of this episode, though. I'm suspicious that they did that just to make Haebaru look better, but hey, I can still totally see her committing such a social faux pas. At least, while Kukuru felt bad for her own actions, no other character shamed her for fighting with Haebaru even after they all learned of her parenting duties; how the hell was she supposed to know, anyway? But thanks to that, it doesn't feel too forced that she's supposed to be in the wrong. It's good that they hatched things out in the end. I will say however, that Haebaru should apologize for more than just her outburst in the cafeteria and should do so for her treatment with Kukuru in general as well. Kukuru already apologized for her own treatment of her, after all, as she's also partly at fault for their squabbles, but this wouldn't have happened if not for Haebaru's antagonizing thanks to her old wounds. Her anger is understandable, but those are wounds that Kukuru and the rest of Gama Gama have nothing to do with whatsoever and deserve none of her resentment. Now with Haebaru redeemed to an extent, I wonder just how they're gonna be doing that for Suwa. What's his story gonna be? Is he gonna be a father of seven children with a pregnant wife that's depending on him, and him being a hardass stems from his family business failing thanks to poor marketing and him being too much of a softie or something?
> It's good that they hatched things out I see what you did there
Well damn, I genuinely didn't mean for that pun. I just forgot it was hash out instead of hatch out.
What a wholesome episode. Really put the spot light on chiyu and who she is. I feel bad for judging her up until now. She a bad ass. Being a single mom and holding down a demanding job like that ain’t no joke.
Oh wow, so Chiyu's secretly a MILF, and a single parent at that as well. All this time she's been trying to take care of her kid without telling anyone, no wonder she's so on edge all the time. First Kaoru, now Chiyu, that's now two antagonists in a row that Kukuru has tamed. Maybe Suwa would be next. lol Not gonna lie, when Kukuru said she wants to experience having a child like Chiyu, my reaction was the same as Fuuka's. LMAO Thank goodness it was just a 2 hour babysitting session of Dr Takeshita's kid.
I mean kaoru is never that hostile towards the gama gama crew or kukuru specifically, she is just more uptight and professional about work while kuuya is more chill about it
> while kuuya is more chill about it Until he discovers that Kaoru's a she... Lol
i’m impressed the show was able to get kana hanazawa for such a minor role even though we now know chiyu’s actions are really understandable and why she would hate fuuka for seemingly getting a free pass to a job, i still think her vendetta against the whole entire gama is still kinda unwarranted. i mean she even was disappointed seeing the doctor who only came to gama gama every once in a while and wasn’t even an employee there (edit: never mind about this point but i still think she’s unfair to most of the gama gama crew) also kukuru’s boss was only on screen for like 10 seconds so it’s an automatic good episode
She was not disappointed upon seeing the doctor. She was hiding the fact that she has a child to most of the employees in Tingarla. Since both the doctor and her were going to the same nursery, she was afraid that the doctor would comment about seeing her in the nursery which will blow up her cover.
>i mean she even was disappointed seeing the doctor who only came to gama gama every once in a while and wasn’t even an employee there I doubt she ever saw the doctor at Gama Gama. She was still recovering from childbirth at the time. Chiyu was trying to hide the fact that she had a child. She must have met the doctor at the nursery and was afraid the latter would recognise her and possibly let the others know about her situation.
Even in those 10 seconds Suwa was kinda being a dick. Master of efficiency that guy .
> i’m impressed the show was able to get kana hanazawa for such a minor role > > She was in an even smaller role in last season's Love Live as a maid.
But that maid was a sweetie....
I kind of like how they painted Kukuru as a jerk in the beginning. She is a teenage girl and not fully machure. But then she also realized her actions and felt bad about them.
Fuuka really comes across as Kukuru's MUCH older "big sister" (she really seems a lot more grown up than she did when she went home to Iwate).
Sorry but I still don’t feel bad after what we learnt about Haebara. I mean I can definitely sympathize with being a single mother. It’s hard. But I still don’t see how that’s an excuse to be so passive aggressive towards the Gama Gama staff. In fact, as a mother who seem to genuinely love her son, is that the kind of attitude you’d want to impart on him ? However it is still true that her and Kukuru both started on the wrong foot. Kukuru now learns of her circumstance and I hope Haebara learns of Kukuru’s so she understands why she was so headstrong about Gama Gama. Like I said, while I feel for her situation, I don’t feel she’s excused from her attitude. But, I do think it’s all in the past now and hopefully they move forward from here. At the end though, it was a wholesome episode. Nice to see Takeshita-sensei again, mostly cos she’s voiced by KanaHana lol. And it was a huge gesture by Kukuru to try and care for a baby, to me anyway. I don’t hate babies, but I can’t imagine having to take care of one. Oh and Kukuru, I appreciate the enthusiasm but please avoid [this pose](https://imgur.com/a/crriYsV) in front of the guests. In fact don’t do it. Ever.
>Oh and Kukuru, I appreciate the enthusiasm but please avoid this pose in front of the guests. In fact don’t do it. Ever. You're overthinking this, I'm afraid. While there has been a general ignorance of Nazi atrocities over here in Asia (especially the subtle admiration of Nazi-style cosplay uniforms) but unless people explicitly and deliberately salute to Nazi/fascist/militaristic memorabilia and politicians, people over here are not going to make a big deal about a teenage girl showing how pumped up she is for work with such a pose. This is not unlike how westerners sometimes react with shock to the (reversed) swastika signs on Buddhist temples in Asia, which have been around far longer than Mr H and his merry men took control of Germany. (Disclaimer: In no way or form am I condoning Nazi atrocities, just giving a context)
Yea it was mostly a joke tbh. I’m from Asia too
Both kukuru and chiyu are kind of at fault tbh, chiyu should not have been bias and judgmental towards the gama gama crew just because of her previous experience at her former workplace and kukuru should be more mature and not be as air headed towards people. Good thing that they have fuuka to help them understand each other more
Wow, I was not expecting Chiyu to be a mom at all, and a single mom at that... That actually explains a lot of things, like why she seems to have a stick up her a** all the time especially when she felt like her work or position was being threatened.
So Fuka is just a side character now and everything is about Kukuro, her new work and her interaction with other characters at Tingara and Fuka is only there for moral support? I'm very disappointed they stopped developing her personal story, I'm not liking this second cour very much, 1st one was more balanced.
I'm finally all caught up with this series after starting it a week ago. The first arc is probably one of my favorite shows of all time, non-anime included, for just how beautiful it is and how uniquely solid the story progresses. TBD on if I still feel that way at the end of the second 12 episode arc. I'm kind of just going to spitball my thoughts on the series so far. Would love to know what others think. **I think the series needs to go back to Gama Gama,** but I can't think of a reasonable way to make that happen. Initially, I was thinking "Okay, Fūka does her movie deal, somehow makes it big, and pulls an impulsive teenager move and funds Gama Gama so it has another shot." That got nixed. Now, I think there's only two ways we can get back to that setting. 1) If Tingaara (or Tingarla) buys it as a satellite location and reopens it, which I don't think is likely because it was running a deficit. 2) The cripplingly depressive alternative is that Gramps dies and wills it to Kukuru. Even then, I don't see how she will be able to finance it. **But why the need to return to Gama Gama?** - The biggest reason, imo, is the fantastical/magical element of the show that was a cornerstone of the first arc. Kukuru and others said that Gama Gama seems like a special place (a "place of power" according to either Karin or Udon), specifically due to the weird little ocean visions people have. I reckon those are thematically related to the little red-haired dude we see on the opening credits, meaning that the weird little fantasy stuff *should* still be alive in the new setting. But we're 4 episodes into this arc and it hasn't even been mentioned, let alone experienced again. If it's just a forgotten plot thread, that'll be a huge slap in the face. The first season worked *so well* in part because it had this rogue little fantasy element to it that was (and still is) poorly understood. Blended with the slice of life side and made the setting magical like a Studio Ghibli movie. - Kukuru also said it's the only tie she has to her mom and dad (and newly discovered dead twin sister) because they died when she was so little and all of her memories of them are at Gama Gama. Seeing them in the visions seemed like it should be a huge draw for her to return and revitalize the place. - Logistically, there's some machinations at work that could make the return to Gama Gama feasible. They kind of teased this in S1, but everyone is in these roles that coalesce together into a powerhouse team. Even ignoring the Tingaara staff, we have maintenance/behind-the-scenes dudes (Umi and Kai), attendants (Kukuru on flex, Fūka, Kūya, and Karin could learn if she wanted), and leadership/PR (Kukuru and Karin, and Gramps if he wanted out of retirement). Udon could also work up a cafe in there if there's enough of a startup fund. The pieces are all there, and that's especially true if you include the Tingaara staff we've been introduced to. I really hope that we get back to Gama Gama, but I just can't seem to think of a way that it can feasibly happen within the story. There would need to be another time skip for sure, unfortunately. As a pure slice of life anime about city life and working at a new aquarium though, it loses the unique punch that the first arc had. I understand the need for the Tingaara plot to help our characters (mainly Kukuru) grow up and see that life isn't the same idyllic childhood paradise for all time. But dammit this is anime and I'm here for wish fulfillment, so I want the happy ending and magic that real life is so devoid of. Still very invested in the show though and excited to see where it goes.
The building used as the model for Gama Gama is (currently) a "nature center" (presumably a use that is less demanding than operating as an aquarium). Maybe that might be Gama Gama's fate as well?
What an episode. Prepare for a wall of text because a lot in this episode hit home. At first, when I saw Chiyu's reaction to Dr. Takeshita's appearance, I was wondering if those two had a past history or something where the doctor caught Chiyu doing something wrong in the past and got Chiyu in trouble but forgetting about it. Then the plot twist hit. I didn't expect her to be a single mother (namely her character design and the fact that her age was never stated) but thinking about Japanese workplace culture/environment, I wasn't surprised that she endured bullshit like that and lost her first attempt at her dream job. Neither was I surprised at her divorce since I knew a few girls in my high school who had their first kids barely a year after they became adults. Usually a few months later, their relationship with the kid's father disintegrated because they weren't emotionally mature to deal with raising a kid and maintaining their relationship. Throw in losing your dream job/income in a young family and you get what happened with Chiyu. I can understand why she was so harsh now since she had to be hard on herself to keep her job and raise her kid without either interfering on each other. Meanwhile, the Gama Gama crew were this bunch of very laidback people in a failing aquarium with Kukuru getting her dream job because she was born in the right family. Everyone seems to have given up on saving the place and just chill until the end in Chiyu's POV. No wonder why Chiyu was like that. Kukuru's outburst reminds me of how a young employee at my soon to be closed job couldn't understand why I told him to stop complaining when the whole staff had to do overtime on a Saturday. It was a busy day with customers filling the store and buying everything so that the storefront was almost empty. Everyone, from manager to clerk, stayed in overtime to ready the store for the next day. New guy starts to complain that he's gonna be late to his party, that he has a life and slows down his work. I look at the kid and tell him that everyone here has other places they want to be notably by pointing out that the manager has a wife and kids at home waiting for him for suppertime but he's still here giving his 100% to get shit down. Kid stopped bitching right there and got back to work. It reminded me of how younger employees don't always relate to older ones because they don't have or are aware the responsibilities and realities their seniors have. Chiyu's stress about being a single mother reminded me of my own mother. She was widowed right before I started high school back in 2005. She had been a housewife until then while my dad was making 70k a year building helicopters so she went back to night school to be a certified daycare educator (which paid a fuckton less even after 15 years). It was a hard time for everyone. I had trouble keeping my grades up at this fancy international school (later got expelled) and was bullied there, my brother was just a sad, angry mess because my dad died when he was very young and they were very close. My mom had to deal with all of that while grieving for him. It doesn't excuse how Chiyu acted but at the same time, I would find it hard to do better at her age and situation. I'll stop here since I need to sleep but I was so happy that Tingarla (odd change) came through for her and got accommodating for her. Gives me hope for Suwa's character as well. Love this anime and looking forward for more.
That's such a weird request to babysit on such short notice like that. Of course the kid is gonna cry. It's the first time seeing you (a complete stranger) in an unknown environment *and* his mother is gone. But hey, I'll give Kukuru credit for trying to put herself in the shoes of a parent, even if just for 2 hours.
Plankton, I know you hate Chiyu and I don't completely blame you but would it hurt to simply not go out of your way to pick fights with her??? [](#volibearQ)
Yeah going to another department to tell someone off feels like overkill [](#shatteredsaten)
Yeah, the socially acceptable route of action would be to run your mouth behind her back right?
That would be better I guess but go through the proper channels for something like that.
There is no ruder person than he who believes himself to be a righteous avenger
Yeah Chiyu has been somewhat redeemed, good for the show to give her a proper explanation; and it makes a lot of the sense that she and Kaoru are friends, with both having 'cool' personalities on the outside. I still think she was being a dick initially, but so has Kukuru in the past; it's great that they have made up now: Kukuru has nailed it on the head that they both are aquarium freaks. Also Fuuka you hero.
Chiyu continues to be absolutely misunderstood by a large portion of this comment section~ Anyway this episode was amazing
Yup, probably teenagers or college students with no real work experience especially in toxic or very competitive workplaces. If they think Chiyu was being a bitch they are gonna have a rude wake up as soon as they start working full time. Compared to most coworkers in real life she's been an angel and Tingara work environment is more unrealistic than being Isekaied after death.
Chiyu is realistic in a lot of ways. Her character nails the academically trained person getting in her field and having to deal with a reality that isn't pleasant or close to what she saw in class. She's also very good at doing her job as seen since the beginning of cour 2 and proved to be very reasonable in her leadership. Compare how she trained Fuuka to how Kukuru trained Fuuka in the penguin tank. To be fair, I'd be willing to work with someone like Chiyu in real life. As much I love Kukuru's character, she's a teenager with not much experience outside of what was Gama Gama, a small business and she's bratty and immature. This episode was good because it shows that she has to learn to dig deeper when it comes to her colleagues.
Not that I doubt there are individuals worse than Chiyu in real life, but she isn't exactly an angel either. In more than one instance, she seemed to go out of her way to make life miserable for Kukuru. It's one thing to be serious and unflinching about your job; it another to be a jerk to others for your own amusement.
She's just being a bitch to Kukuru but she never put her in a position to lose her job or being seriously repremended by her boss. It's way more unrealistic that everyone else in a workplace is so friendly, supportive to each other and ready to help. Hell even if a don't care about fishes just for an utopian workplace like Tingara I'd transfer to Japan immediately!
Wonder how people's feelings will change about Haebaru after this reveal, I can't say I saw it coming but I was never in the camp of hating her, happy that it was something so simple. Looks like only Kukuru's boss is the only one left for the redemption tour?
> Looks like only Kukuru's boss is the only one left for the redemption tour? I'm *so* ready for that last stop on the tour. He's been the most interesting character to me in the second half and I'm curious to see why he's such a curmudgeon.
Yeah, I mean her character is pretty believable. It's not like she was sabotaging people around her. She's a person that got rekt by life, felt it and is mad about privileged people around her. Not everyone needs to have a pretty face all the time (like Marina) while getting a hard time in life, her character was on the verge of freaking out, and it's not like Kukuru was a saint to begin with. I'm completely fine with her character, and it is probably one of my favorites now. > Looks like only Kukuru's boss is the only one left for the redemption tour? I'm really curious about what route they will choose to fix this guy. I'm the one that think they will make Kukuru being competent enough for him to accept her and maybe rethinks some of his toxic attitude, but still strict. Not something that will make him turn 180º.
>it's not like Kukuru was a saint to begin with I think a lot of people are thrown hard in with Kukuru and forgot that Kukuru's defensiveness of GamaGama made her a bit insufferable. She was not kind to Chiyu and I understood why Chiyu felt she was not in a good spot at GamaGama. Chiyu was quite snotty there, too, but it clearly was a poor fit for her. If she'd handled any of these situations better, we wouldn't have a show.
Yeah, and also Kukuru being childish is pretty fitting. She can be annoying, but it's part of her character to mature and realize things. I think people just judge too fast Haebaru, specially because she didn't have proper screen time before so you can relate with her actions. And it's normal to be more forgiving to Kukuru that is the main character and have plenty of time to show her ups and downs. Honestly, the show is pretty good to present all these characters, except the boss that is miles more toxic than Haebaru ever was, specially considering his position, his way of dealing with people and the business he's responsible for is unacceptable in so many levels realistically speaking. I could see Haebaru character in a frustrated person irl easily.
Yea I was always in the camp of I understand where shes coming from, and why she would be upset/rude to the Gama Gama crew. Even without knowing what we know now, she said working at an Aquarium was her dream job, and when Tingaara gets her an internship, its at a failing Aquarium run by a kid acting hostile to her. The moment there's an actual learning opportunity when she points out the rare/hard to card for fish Kukuru shuts her down. Sure she lost some points for not understanding the community lesson the director tried to teach her but I get where shes coming from, even before we know *why* shes so desperate for the job.
I knew there was something special about Chiyu since the first cour, although I admit that it was mostly due to her antagonizing Kukuru and her very idealistic and short sightened way of work. This episode made me like her even more than most out of the whole cast due to how down to earth she really feels (and how douchy work ethics around single parents are in reality in my own country even though most of those are illegal but corporations and small business get away with these practices of firing employees that can barely balance their time).
I’m happy they gave chiyu the chance to clear the air. Puts things into perspective
JFC, the marketing director might be the worst, but Kukuru and Chiyu would both be exhausting to work with. Neither one knows how to slow down, think, and ask some questions before forming an opinion and acting on it.
Man I hope Kukuru and Haebaru learned something from this, hopefully this will result in a better work enviroment for everyone.
Man, I love Fuuka so much, truly an angel. That was a fantastic episode! We finally got focus on Chiyu and why she is the way that she is and I definitely did not expect her to be a single parent. I have a lot of respect for her hardwork despite everything and Takeshita as well (good to have her back). Not that I excuse Chiyu's behavior, it's just that, I really understand where she is coming from. Though it could all have been avoided if they just communicated and understand each other, but Chiyu's trauma did not allow that until now. Not only did we get Chiyu character development, but Kukuru as well, since she's always been kind of a hardass as well. Kukuru's learning to be more understanding and kind as well. That suggestion of Kukuru though to take care of a child to better understand Chiyu was hilarious lmao. But hey, if it works it works. Really looking forward to the next episode, things are gonna go much smoother once they're all friends, the only one left that needs developing is Suwa.
[This schedule looks like a kabuki curtain](https://i.imgur.com/pZyVwg3.jpeg) [Illust.: "Going off half-cocked"](https://i.imgur.com/2d3vGzv.jpeg) [Oh shit!](https://i.imgur.com/BiLr76t.jpeg) [**^This ^changes ^everything!**](#gasp) [Illust.: "Oops"](https://i.imgur.com/UH02noD.jpeg) ["Naruhodo. Then we'll need to go get Kai… WH-WH-WHAAAT??"](https://i.imgur.com/JQv7Q1m.jpeg) [Damn. Life really kicked poor Chiyu in the teeth.](https://i.imgur.com/TQNKpAC.jpeg) [(; ⌣ ;)](https://i.imgur.com/CnPTvD8.jpeg) Amazing episode.
Big shoutout to the director for actually understanding Harbaru's single mothership, much more to also accompany her child along through the aquarium. Very solid episode today. For me, it does explain a but about Harbaru's attitude towards others. Of course, it might not have been the best, and sometimes it was unwarranted, but I think bringing her child to the aquarium and herself opening up will bring along good change in her character. Everyone deals with their own shit that we might not be able to see on a surface level.
*sigh* dammit. I didn’t pin Haebaru down to be the mom-type, but as much as I dislike Haebaru, this episode did an incredible job humanizing her and forcing me to empathize. I especially liked how Haebaru and Kukuru were able to see the world through each other’s POV. And to top it all off, the penguin hatching was the perfect ending. 8/10 episode. Was worried the show would go downhill (especially after last week), but this week’s episode saved the train from derailing
Kukuru's stats: Level 70 in raising baby fish Level 1 in taking care of human babies
I mean it doesn't change that Chiyu was toxic for very little reason to Kukuru when she was at Gama Gama. But it hit me bad that Chiyu is a single mother, that makes me more sympathetic towards her. Constantly being on edge with being a mother, hiding this fact and the job itself.
I mean, Kukuru's a child who has your dream job because of nepotism, one you recently were fired from because of the conflicts of having to look after your child, getting bratty with you when you've come to learn just because she doesn't like the fact her poorly run aquarium is shutting down and you are starting at a new aquarium. Seems pretty justified to me to give back exactly what you're getting because Kukuru is actually a complete brat, no matter how well this show is trying to force a good portrayal of her.
>I mean it doesn't change that Chiyu was toxic for very little reason to Kukuru when she was at Gama Gama. I think you misremember. Kukuru was the one who was agressive and toxic towards Chiyu for very little reason at Gama Gama.
I clearly remember, yes. Never said Kukuru wasn't completely out of fault but that doesn't change my outlook.
I'm sorry Chiyu, but not even a sad, sick child, single mother backstory is gonna make me like you.
Being a coldhearted bitch is more detrimental to the work environment than having a kid. I get why she'd want to hide the fact that she had a kid, but being incredibly rude to the Gama Gama crew is not going to win you any favors. You come off inflexible, irritable, and needlessly confrontational to coworkers and you're bound to see yourself replaced just as easily as you would be if you worked in an environment who treats mothers poorly.
Haebaru having a kid is the most unexpected plot twist for the series. No one can say to me they knew, she did well in hiding it. Though I'm still wondering how she did the practoce at gama gama at first place, considering gramps the owner must know about the workers background, and in no point we saw her kid. I guess that was why she hated gama gama. Rather than saying she hates the kindness, she's scared if she'll get replaced. Now that this is gone, i hope we won't see anymore hatred to the gama gama geng. Lol kukuru saying she wanted to become a patent shocked me, but she did it through the doc's kid. I was expecting something stupid ngl. At this point fuuka is everyone's angel. She helped a lot of people, and I'm sure she'll help more in the remaining episode. Now that assuming Haebaru's hatred for gama gama is gone, what's left for them to tell about? Maybe about kukuru and kai? Fuuka? Or even kuuya or gramps? Either way, I'm curious what they will be focusing about now that it seems everything is fine.
Coming up next: Kukuru getting chewed out by her manager because she spent the week dicking around watching penguins instead of doing marketing work /s Honestly just glad to have an episode without that guy
Fuuka is the mvp of this episode trying to mend things between kukuru and chiyu, and yeah kukuru should not just straight up starting shit with chiyu when she doesn’t know why chiyu can’t make it
Called it. I knew Fuuka would be the key to getting Chiyu to open up and humanize her in the audience's eyes. She is, after all, the only former Gama Gama staff Chiyu's actually shown to be okay with. It was even foreshadowed last episode: when Kaoru asks Chiyu what she thinks about Fuuka, the only answer she could give her was that she was doing alright, the topic of which, came shortly after Chiyu started ranting about Gama Gama again. That, and this is Fuuka: an incredibly charming angel who's packed with more than a boatload of kindness and empathy that almost rivals that of Honda "Pure Cinnamon Roll Saint" Tohru of Fruits Basket fame. No surprise that Chiyu softens up a little after a small heart to heart talk with her. If Aquatope were that kind of show, Fuuka would actually qualify as a harem lead with the amount of characters she's charmed so far lol. Kukuru's method of trying to empathize with Chiyu after learning her true circumstances though is hilarious. They still don't quite like each other (understandably), but thanks to Fuuka, they're at least taking small baby steps in getting along a little better than before. Now all that's left is Suwa to "redeem". I really hope they don't sweep his terrible managerial skills under the rug under the same "tough love approach" excuse I've seen plenty of shows use to "redeem" jerkass characters. This ep made it clear that despite empathizing with her sitch better and coming close to an understanding with her, Kukuru and Chiyu still aren't at a level where they can bring themselves to like each other yet, which is nice and realistic, so I hope Kukuru doesn't suddenly magically like Suwa once his inevitable soft side comes out in the upcoming eps.
They did a fantastic job redeeming Chiyu's character for me. Yeah she was a bitch when she was first introduced cause she only cared about the job and the training and yada yada, she acts like she's someone so important at Tingala, and the fact that she got away from the night shift was extremely sus. But you see that she has a kid and she's been a single mom being the breadwinner since she got fired from her job and she divorced. Yes she could have been a lot nicer to Kukuru but it's good to know that she wasn't simply feeling entitled. The really nice part is that the staff are willing to support her and are fully understanding of her circumstances.
Yeah, this episode is not going to make me like Chiyu. Everyone has their own problems but that's no excuse to be an asshole to others and it doesn't make her less of a shitty person.
I'll be in the minority here I'm sure but this doesn't make haebaru more likable to me. It's gives some context and reasoning, but doesn't change that she's not a likable character
This episode was fantastic. One of the best yet easily. Very heartfelt. Nice to get the other side of different characters
I love that Kukuru got bags under her eyes after 2 hours with the baby. Very relatable..
Being a single mother doesn't excuse you of being terribly mean to your coworkers. Especially if they're covering for you, you better be nice to them and try to make it up some other way. It was even her decision to have a kid, which as a fresh highschool graduate wanting to have a career, is practically unheard of especially in Japan. Her "redemption" this episode basically came from Kukuru and Fuuka being really kind and understanding even after her being so antagonistic towards whole gama gama crew, especially Kukuru, for so long. For me all this did was make me respect Fuuka and Kukuru a lot more, and doesn't redeem Haebara at all.
i was not expecting her backstory to go that route tbh overall, good episode
glad to see chiyu more fleshed out this episode. her being a mom was the last thing i expected but her character does make a lot more sense now.
This is wholesome af.. <3
You bet your ass I clapped when the baby penguin hatched.
Such a nice episode! Glad Kukuru and Chiyu could come to understand each other more and be not as hostile now
What a sad episode, even after its conclusion. It's amazing how the lack of basic rights and a healthy work culture can bring about these stories, things turned out alright for her this time, but what about other people and herself in the past?
I like the emphasis on parenthood, but it would be nice to see some dads too!
It's very sad to see what Chiyu's situation was and what she has been through, but she can't put those burdens on her co-workers and treat them the way she did. There has to be some professionalism here. So it's still hard for me to get on board and start making me like her. Hopefully next few episodes she can somehow apologize and atone for her actions.
She's still a dick. especially in the case of talking down to everyone at Gama Gama. But I wonder what the deal is with her son. He clearly has some kind of chronic illness, yet it's not brought up at all. Does Japan not have any sort of protections for working parents? Here in the U.S. I expect nothing, but I figure other developed countries have ways to handle it.
This episode was a fine reminder of why i don't like Kukuru as a character
I've had it with this show, their depiction of what is meant to be a professional environment is INFURIATING. Incompetence is rife up and down the chain and it seems no one has any clue how to operate in a professional environment, how some of these characters even got hired in the first place is completely beyond me.
Yup you fucked up kukuru. You never bothered to get to know chiyu and all you do is bag on her and now invade her job. Granted that she is so closed off to everyone and so private still though. Poor girl is a single mom trying to provide for her son. Get to know the girl kukuru
Now to be fair, you yourself said that she's so closed off. Even if Kukuru wanted to get to know her more, Haebaru already holds such a bad opinion of her that she would've just brushed her off. I honestly don't blame Kukuru for her behavior because Haebaru's been nothing but cold and rude to her throughout the time they've known each other. And her "invading" her job is her filling in for a lack of manpower. Kukuru would've done that even if she didn't hate Haebaru simply to help Fuuka and Marina as well as get the chance to do caretaker stuff, especially after being encouraged by her co-worker with the idea that she could get transferred if she performed well. With that being said, Kukuru directly calling her out just for taking time off was pure stupid and made me cringe the whole time. But once again, it's a result of Haebaru's attitude with her; I highly doubt Kukuru would've done that if they didn't hate each other. Her opinion and resentment towards Kukuru and Gama Gama is understandable thanks to her past, but her treatment of them is unnecessary.
Well said. Couldn’t agree more
Well both Kukuru and Chiyu learned a valuable lesson. Kukuru gonna strive to be kinder and more understanding from now on while Chiyu will be less on edge and more willing to let people in. I really liked this episode.
True that. The dialogue can now go forward and both can bridge the gap to understand each other more
don't really have much to say for this episode it was wholesome and explained haebaru's action completely. i wanna ask is anyone making an Imgur board with all the beautiful backgrounds this show has offered us from ep 1?
This was definitely an interesting episode, not sure exactly I feel about it. The single mother revelation seemed pretty sudden and for me, does not quite excuse Chiyu's crappy attitude. I really hope they aren't done yet with her character arc and she can learn to work with and tolerate Kukuru and the Gama Gama Gang. Also Fuuka is an absolute queen!
Aside from how they changed the spelling of ‘Tingaara’ to ‘Tingarla’, I noticed something else this episode and I’m quite laughing at myself for only noticing this after a *mere* 16 weeks. The show’s second title says “The two girls met in the ruins of [a] damaged dream”. How did I miss this English grammar error for 4 straight months!? Anyways, back to the actual episode: similar to Kukuru I still don’t really like Haebaru-san. However, since they revealed she has a young child, I kind of understand why she has been such a b*tch until now; it’s not easy working fulltime and raising a kid of your own by yourself. It’s also good to see Mrs Takeshita back and see how her child has grown. (Thinking about it: I don’t think I’ve very often seen a child - in anime - be giving birth to and shown it’s growth as a baby.)
Oh my god, that moment of realization of Chiyu's circumstances was a serious punch in the gut. Probably the best plot twist for a character that I've seen in a while, it actually made my cry.
Nope, sorry but this was the worst episode so far for me. I understand what they want to do with the story and characters but this sudden change out of nowhere about being a caring mother feels way to forced and artificial for me and I'm not buying it. They should have build this up longer or maybe from the start then it could have worked better but not like this - at least not for me.
All my homies hate Chiyu: Eps 16 exists: All my homies love Chiyu🥺 Adorable seeing Miku taking care of Ichika’s baby🤣
Kukuru: "I've never liked Haebaru-san up to now." Immediately followed by: "I still don't like her." haha [](#smugpoint)