Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d check back in on the bedraggled stars of Scum’s Wish, who are presumably hard at work doing the most mutually destructive things they can do to each other. Though to be fair, they were actually on the right track going into our last episode, with both Mugi and Hana having resolved to announce their crushes and thereby move past them. Unfortunately, Akane would never turn down such a ripe opportunity for chaos, and thus answered Mugi’s confession by manipulating him into sleeping with her.
That’s all of a course with Scum’s Wish’s usual style, wherein youthful dreams are left to rot into festering obsessions, and every day stacks fresh sorrows upon the old. In the context of Mugi and Hana’s somber perspectives, I actually quite enjoy Akane’s proud “I am going to cause problems on purpose” attitude, a callousness and whimsical cruelty that positions her in a long and illustrious line of bodice-ripping baddies. Akane is a Dear Brother character in a world with no melodrama antibodies, offering a perpetual promise that things could always be worse. Let’s see how her latest crimes play out as we return to Scum’s Wish!
Episode 9
An open window and bright sky lead us back into Hana’s bedroom, as she lays face-down on the bed. The open composition, lightly wafting curtains, and Hana’s relaxed posture all convey a sensation of release and relief – the air is clear now, and Hana is no longer laboring under such a heavy burden
“I want to just die.” Of course, she’s still Hana
Hana knows that Mugi is being tricked, but has at this point internalized enough of Akane’s perspective to reflect that men actually just want a flattering fantasy
She thus decides to let Mugi deal with his own bullshit, and agrees to go on a trip with Ecchan
The ensuing shots establishing Hana’s journey maintain the same wide, unobstructed compositions and light colors of the cold open, alongside an emphasis on wind gently blowing past her. All these signifiers point towards a tonal reset, space and light promising freedom and opportunity
“Is this a heartbreak trip? A grieving trip?” And once again, Hana herself provides a swift counterpoint, her reflections emphasizing that she brings a personal raincloud wherever she goes
“The wind feels so nice.” Ecchan immediately aligns herself with this inviting atmosphere, encouraging Hana to look beyond her gloomy preoccupations
Masaomi Ando’s love of screen-in-screen partitioning is put to a simple but effective use here; we see first a panel of Hana staring out the car window, then one of Ecchan’s eye lingering over her, then a panel capturing both of them as Ecchan leans over, emphasizing both the emotional distance between them and Ecchan’s efforts to dispel it
In spite of her persistent lamenting about having her heart broken, Hana is still consistently flustered by Ecchan’s attention. The girl protests too much – even her articulations of sorrow emphasize how she is still full of roiling emotions, and her instinctive responses to Ecchan prove how hungry she still is for affection. A fair articulation of how high school romances tend to go; adolescents are full of deeply, self-consciously felt emotions, but those emotions are roughly as constant as a summer storm
Though Ecchan promises they’ll be alone, it turns out her cousin Atsuya is also at the house. Another funny flourish of screen partitioning as they eat dinner, with the frame placed so that Atsuya is cut out of both Ecchan and Hana’s view of the dinner table until he asserts his place by speaking
“Are you mad?” “Of course.” “How mad?” “Guess.” Ecchan and Atsuya are sort of arguing, but it’s still closer to flirting
“Were you planning on making her yours this trip?” “That’s right! And you’ve ruined it!” Gotta love Ecchan’s shamelessness
“You know she’ll never fall in love with you. You just wanted one last memory together.” A line that illustrates one of my issues with this show’s writing. Though Atsuya says this line, it’s actually so reflective of Ecchan’s perspective that it tips over into somewhat unbelievable synchronicity of perspective. A show that’s as preoccupied with diving into psychology as this demands an understanding of the countless differences separating our perspectives, but Scum’s Wish has an unfortunate habit of leaning on a “collective internal voice,” which is essentially just the voice of the author. The author’s earnest preoccupation with these adolescent emotions makes them a fine enough vehicle for articulating them, but not for reflecting back on them from a more mature perspective, and also results in situations like this, where it’s a little too obvious that everyone is working from a shared understanding of romance and identity. It’s a big part of what makes this story a fanciful melodrama rather than an incisive character study, which is why I tend to embrace it on its own terms through savoring self-appointed narrative irritants like Akane
“What’s so wrong with choosing my own ending?” Of course, there is something very true to the adolescent experience in these characters’ lofty self-assessments and preoccupation with finality, in spite of not having truly entered the world in the first place
Effective use of greyscale and letterboxing as we cut to a key memory, when Hana offered Ecchan a candy whose wrapper she’s saved ever since
And then a nice new use of screen-in-screen partitions: Hana and Atsuya are captured in tall adjacent panels, evoking the sense of a challenge that Hana cannot meet, causing her to turn away
The two go on an early morning walk. The morning fog echoes the atmosphere of ambiguity in this place, as the recently unmoored Hana is dragged forward by Ecchan
Atsuya urges her to pin down these ambiguous feelings, stating that “Sanae is not someone you should use as a replacement.”
What Hana really needs is not another lover, but some sort of goddamn hobby. Her life is so empty, so entirely given over to romantic entanglements that she barely has a personality of her own. Her interests are basically “sex,” “being deplorable,” and “reveling in sweet sorrow,” making it hard to imagine how she’d manage a conversation with anyone not directly involved in her romantic drama. She needs to find somewhere else to direct her energy, after which she might start to realize that having your own life and passions is one of the most fulfilling and attractive things you can do
Of course, my impression of Hana’s myopia is naturally facilitated by the limits of the show’s own perspective. I’d suggest more incidental conversations about things other than romance to give these characters’ personalities more texture, but that might actually undercut the obsessive mood the story is working so hard to promote. It’s a tricky balance
Hana and Ecchan head out on a shopping excursion, which actually does provide a touch of that texture I’m looking for
Once again, a pointed contrast of light and color as the bright summer day is shadowed by lovers quarreling in the foreground. Hana’s emotional battle is consistently echoed through this episode’s use of lighting, the promise of freedom tarnished by reminders of romantic failure
And then more clever uses of screen-in-screen partitions, as a vision of Hana in the foreground considers both her current situation and Atsuya’s words, thereby conveying the distance between Hana’s actions and her mental assessment of those actions. Ando’s aesthetic flourishes work well for articulating the felt experience of self-consciousness
“Please, at least for now, nobody put a label on this feeling.” Having spent so much time analyzing and regretting her feelings, Hana just wants to earnestly enjoy this moment
Of course, knowing this is unfair to Ecchan, she makes sure to add “I promise this is the end”
Hana tries to stop herself from crying while reflecting on her rejection, presumably knowing that any signs of weakness will be interpreted as a call for affection, and ultimately only lead Ecchan on further
But Ecchan is actually the first to apologize, and thank Hana for humoring her one-sided love
When Hana asks why Ecchan’s choosing to end it, she replies simply “it’s too hard.” A welcome jolt of maturity and self-care here, with Ecchan accepting that making herself miserable for love is no way to live. Hana could learn from her perspective, though of course Hana seems to relish the misery too much to abandon it
“Ecchan, please stay friends with me!” “Are you kidding me? Just stop! Do you have any idea how cruel that is?” Hana continues to push, and at last Ecchan rightfully explodes. Even as Hana mentally scolds herself for being the worst, she still acts in such a way as to provoke the worst pain in those around her, prioritizing her immediate fear of abandonment and desire for praise over the needs of others. Then, having dragged others down around her, she goes right back to wallowing in how terrible she is, once again provoking others to console her. At least right now, she is a profoundly toxic person
“I want to know more about you. I promise I’ll wait until you’re ready.” It’s funny – Hana believes she is “scum” because of her inappropriate longings, her desperation to be loved in some socially unacceptable way. But honestly, her preoccupations are pretty normal – it’s these bold, sincerely felt, and ultimately superficial gestures of solidarity that are the true problem, her natural talent for drawing others towards her and not letting them go. Akane has to work at this, but Hana is a natural tar pit
“Why can’t I just live with being alone?” Ecchan, there will be other girls! You deserve better than Hana’s pity! Go to college, make some friends, join a noise band and play terrible music. The world is much larger than you think!
“I know I have to forget. But I don’t want to forget this taste.” And thus Ecchan remains affixed within Hana’s terrible orbit
Ooh, gorgeous establishing shot as we get back to school, and check in on Moka devouring some bread. Good, I think we could all use some time away from Hanabi
She sees Hana and immediately picks a fight. Excellent character
In her proud defiance, her refusal to be pinned down by her love and thereby miss all the rewarding things in life, Moka actually offers a way forward for Hana
And Done
Thank you, Moka! While everyone else seems content to revel in their own sadness and squalor, Moka alone is taking brave steps forward, understanding that life won’t wait for you to march out and savor it. She arrives like a breath of fresh air after an episode that was otherwise utterly mired in Hana’s myopic and destructive philosophy, her simultaneous need to push others away and be coveted by them. Though Hana’s attempt to reconstruct her personality according to Akane’s example failed, until she learns to let go of things, she will continue to leave a similar trail of wreckage and broken hearts in her wake. Enjoy some goddamn bread, Hanabi.
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