Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Today I’m eager to stop back in at Cafe Liebe, as our salon employees prepare for the upcoming Blume election. With Hime and Mitsuki having reestablished their friendship, our focus has turned to Hime’s friend Kanoko, who is tentatively confronting her fear of the admittedly intimidating Sumika. Of course, what Kanoko seems to perceive as “gyaru delinquency” is really just an expression of confidence in self; Sumika is happy with who she is, and thus does not feel compelled to mold her personality into precisely one internally coherent shape.
To our gallery of anxious and performance-bound heroines, Sumika’s confidence feels pretty close to a superpower. Hime knows how to please others, but her performance is not authentic to her actual feelings, which she generally keeps tightly buried. Mitsuki only knows how to commit herself to clearly defined tasks, and uses the formalized language of Cafe Liebe to substitute for her lack of casual conversational aptitude. And Kanoko can barely talk at all, only feeling comfortable expressing herself with Hime, and even there hiding the actual nature of her feelings.
Compared to them, Sumika’s comfort in her own skin and unapologetic embracing of her hobbies must indeed feel intimidating – for she has discovered the secret lying beyond the horizon, and understands that all of this adolescent performative roleplaying is only useful insofar as it leads you to a satisfying, authentic self. Fuck the haters, find your people, and let the rest take care of itself. Now let’s get back to the show!
Episode 8
“For Whom Shall I Cast My Vote?” A clearly Blume-related episode title, emphasizing the winner-takes-all nature of this competition. The Blume election serves as a fine metaphor for the self-defeating adolescent philosophies prompting such anxiety in Hime and the others. Hime in particular sees socialization as something you have to “win” at, or risk being made an outcast – a fair enough concern, given how her prior relationship with Mitsuki played out. But while it’s true that everyone should seek a degree of comfort in socialization like Sumika has, framing socialization as a realm of “winners” and “losers” is an inherently anxiety-provoking and self-sabotaging way to approach relationships. Expressing an earnest selfhood will make some people like you more and other people like you less, and that’s just how life is – you can’t avoid that outcome, you have to embrace it and push through, acting as kindly as you can while still remaining true to your own feelings and interests. Neither high school nor Cafe Liebe are the real world; the judgment that high school implies and Cafe Liebe acknowledges is a false idol, a diversion that will ultimately just lead you further from a happy understanding and expression of the self. If you only act such as to make everyone around you the most happy, you will never be happy with yourself
We open on a flashback from Sumika, revealing two prior cafe employees who were apparently Schwestern, and actually close beyond that, as we see them embrace in the employee lounge
“Here at the salon, we students get along very well. And I don’t mean in a fictional sense.” There is a clear line dividing Sumika’s cafe performance and her actual personality, which makes sense. She’s the one with the most confident and clearly defined off-stage personality – in contrast, Hime, Mitsuki, and Kanoko are all bleeding aspects of their public personas into their cafe personas, finding it either natural or liberating to draw on their real feelings and anxieties. Hime sees the cafe as just a variation on her “everyone must love me” ethos, Mitsuki finds comfort in regimented language, and Kanoko slips naturally into the shy younger sister role because she just actually is that shy
Sumika notes their performances only work so well because the “students” are actually getting along and progressing their real-life friendships
“I thought she was a timid friend, but no. She’s bringing romance into this place.” Kanoko isn’t just too anxious to get by without Hime’s help, she’s actively obsessed with her
And as ever when she sees a vein of fertile on-stage drama, Sumika immediately digs into it, questioning Kanoko on her support for Hime. Sumika clearly relishes the “dramatic irritant” part of her job, shoving tempestuous pairs together and actively calling out hidden feelings
“See how Ayanokouji-san is sulking over there?” Yep, Sumika loves this shit. She immediately calls out Mitsuki while simultaneously challenging Hime’s loyalties
As expected, Mitsuki accidentally rises to the occasion, clearly torn between her loyalty to the stated principles of the Blume system and her obvious fondness for Hime
“But if my Onee-sama won’t support me, I’ll be so sad.” That in turn facilitates one of Hime’s most trusted tricks, the classic “aww, I’m just a little guy, I’m a little guy and it’s my birthday” routine
Oh my god, Hime making that smug smile while smooshed against Mitsuki’s chest
Kanoko again moves to interfere, but Sumika stops her. Kanoko’s love of Hime can facilitate some good on-floor interactions, but her feelings are too strong to always be a reliable guide – she shouldn’t be interrupting the cute moments between Hime and Mitsuki, because she is defined as Hime’s close friend, not a romantic rival. Kanoko can’t separate these performances from her actual feelings, thus Sumika needs to be there to steer, push, and grab her shoulders when she needs to stop
Kanoko is relieved to learn Hime doesn’t yet understand the full implications of the Schwestern pairing
“When Hime-chan is involved, she’s very impulsive.” Yep, Sumika fully understands the danger here
Kanoko calls out Sumika on the stairs behind the cafe. Very intentional blocking here, with the staircase ensuring only one of them is visible on-screen at a time, the composition echoing the emotional distance between them. Each of them is framed as speaking into a void, hoping to be understood by a partner whose emotions they cannot read
Kanoko asks what is specifically implied by the “Schwestern” title. Sumika gives her an involved but vague answer, and when Kanoko asks for clarification, Sumika tells her exactly what she wants to know: it’s not necessarily a romantic bond
“Why does Hime-chan want to be sisters with that person?” Her words earn a grimace from Sumika, whose patience is presumably running thing with Kanoko’s “Hime can only look at me” attitude
“If you’re too possessive, Hime-chan might not like that” are Sumika’s gentle actual words, while in her mind she notes that what Kanoko’s describing isn’t actually a friendship at all. Kanoko wants a monopoly on Hime’s true self
Love Sumika’s “that’s not fair” after Kanoko starts crying. If you just dissolve into tears at the slightest pressure, you prevent anyone from actually reaching out and helping you. Weakness can actually be used as a shield against growth, if you perpetually act too fragile to bear any harsh lessons. I certainly know people who I’ve simply stopped trying to give advice to, because their sense of self demands never being challenged
“I know what happens when romance gets brought into this place.” Ah, I see. That previous Schwestern’s genuine romance ended up sinking the salon dynamic, preventing the pair from fulfilling their responsibilities as a performance of sisterhood
Interesting to see how attached Sumika is to this place. I wonder why she values these performances so much – perhaps as a sort of counterpoint to her casual affectation? Masks don’t have to be shields to protect ourselves from sincerity and vulnerability – it’s simply fun to adopt a variety of personas, and multiple personas can simultaneously be “true” to the complexity of our actual personalities
Oh boy. The mid-election results come in with Mitsuki in first place, and Hime in dead last
Mai notes that all of her efforts gather votes likely just sent more votes towards Mitsuki, as the onee-sama of their pair. Her personal charm cannot overthrow Cafe Liebe convention
And Mitsuki actually blames her for pushing her ahead of Sumika. Oh lord
Kanoko actually pushes Hime into a side room to confer with her privately. Sumika’s right, Kanoko isn’t timid at all when it comes to Hime – she’s just had little reason to twist Hime’s arm before now, because she had no competition for Hime’s earnest attention
“But you want to be number one, right?” Hime is actually growing as a person, which means she’s growing beyond Kanoko
Hime admits she actually feels kinda happy that Mitsuki is being praised for skillfully executing her own facade – and what’s worse (at least from Kanoko’s perspective), she frames that happiness as a reflection of their special Schwestern bond
So of course, Kanoko takes the only sensible response: demanding Sumika become Blume, so this sisterly business of Hime’s doesn’t progress any further
Hime skillfully tethers her real feelings to her public announcement of support for Mitsuki, which of course flusters the heck out of Mitsuki
“At this rate, Hime-chan and that person will become Blume Schwestern.” Kanoko refuses to even speak Mitsuki’s name
Sumika only agrees to help so long as it will facilitate a new storyline featuring the two of them
And though Sumika briefly thinks Kanoko is too timid to cause problems, her request to abolish the Schwestern system makes it clear that she is a fundamental threat to Cafe Liebe. Thus Sumika pulls out the big guns, saying she must back off Hime or face being exposed
And Done
Ah, what a mess! After half a season of following a broken relationship that only required some honest communication to be repaired, we’re now diving into a theoretically peaceful relationship that is actually poisoned at its core, an unequal bond defined by Hime’s total lack of understanding regarding Kanoko’s true feelings. And Kanoko’s love is not a healthy kind of love; she doesn’t want Hime to grow and flourish, she wants Hime to remain isolated at her side, trusting in no one except her dear reliable Kanoko. Regardless of how this Blume election plays out, there will be no happy ending for Kanoko if she continues to demand Hime remain hers alone. Sumika, you have full clearance to do whatever needs to be done!
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