Breaking The Wall (Anima Yell & Conversations)

A major aspect in any story is the conversation between characters.  From what they say to each other to what they don't tell each other is key. However what is also key is what they "hear" vs what they are "told". Often times what is said and what is heard don't match up with each other at all. This can be due to a variety of issues.

The character that's listening doesn't hear everything. The missing pieces of dialog result in a different conclusion. Personality can effect how one translates words. Do you view a statement in the most negative way possible? Do you view in it the most idealistic way you can?  Does who is saying it matter?

Like several series, Anima Yell is heavily built around this. In episode 7 when Hizume talked about the problems with her classmates, her personality made her conclude that they hate her. However Kohane and others saw a scenario where their love for Hizume made it hard for them to talk to her. Kohane being more positive and Hizume being more negative is why they reached different conclusions.

In the long run, thanks to them actually talking about the problem and of course Kohane giving the girls a common enemy, the issues with her classmates were resolved. Granted this creates new issues for Kohane who has liking for Hizume. Worry not Hizume, you have Uki for a wife and likely stronger feelings for her. You just need to realize it.

Still the real heart of the issue with the concept of conversation and communication comes from Kana aka Hanawa herself. A character that made her real introduction at the end of episode 7 and fully joined the cast in episode 8. She's the late comer and the one that needs to basically catch up.

Her character is a prime example of how who we interact with effects us greatly. Kana interacting with others is different from Hanawa interacting with Hizume. All due to how she visualizes Hizume. However this is where a potential issue was building. One that made me worried during episode 10.

Hizume has a goal of tearing down a wall. However this wall is not going to be easy. Both because of Hizume's negative personality and Hanawa both being nervous to confront her "idol/love" and fearing being hated by Hizume. In a sense both feared being hated by the other.

So several times in the episode their own personalities and assumptions got in the way. I was starting to fear they were going all Minami-ke on us. A series where the more I think about it relies way too much on characters not understanding each other and always assuming the wrong thing. Even if doing so required  jumping through 100 rings of BS. God I think this episode ruined Minami-ke for me.

But then everything changed. The wall between Hizume and Kana become visible to the other girls. Thus leading both Hizume and Hanawa to take the first steps towards having a conversation where they would try to deal with problem of "said" vs "heard".

While it's not entirely wrong to have our "image" of a person, it's also important to know their reality. Thus having Hizume request this of course Hanawa was very important one of the many steps needed to breaking through that wall. Still another thing mattered too.

Support from the others, especially Uki. Uki through out the series from the first episode is shown as one in love, but having to deal with how to get her feelings realized.  She's dealt a lot with her own wall. The one between her and Kohane. It's not the same type of wall, but it's still there. 

So in a lot of ways she understands both where Kana is coming from and has dealt with her own Hizume. Yes, Kohane might not be negative like Hizume, but both have a huge problem reading between the lines. A lot goes over their heads.

As such this made Uki perfect for trying to get Hizume to understand where Kana was coming from. All thanks to her own experience. One might ask "Why not just confront Kohane the same way". The problem there is the issue of too much personal involvement. It's one thing to give others advice, it's another to apply it to your own situation.

We can even see this in reverse because while Hizume might have trouble understanding stuff involving herself, she has shown a few times that she at least on some level gets that Uki is madly in love with Kohane.

It's hard to claim that the wall was entirely shattered. That there won't still be issues between the two or heck any of them.  However we can say with confidence that the wall has been damaged. Hopefully all the walls will eventually crumble, but only time will tell.

So yeah this was by far one of the best episodes I've seen. Yes it may not be the first time an anime has down an episode about the "wall", but it's still an episode that deal with it. And I hope more shows have episodes dealing with smashing these walls.