Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we return once more to Cafe Liebe, with Blume elections settled and Schwesterns firmly solidified. It’s been a bumpy road to this point, as the navigation of personas inherent in our themed cafe has forced basically all of our “students” to reckon with the performances they already adopt in their own lives. Through the ornate rituals of Cafe Liebe, they have found new ways to express their own feelings, whether through embracing its time-honored artifice or realizing how their true intentions stray from its formula.
Cafe Liebe encourages intimacy up to a specific predetermined threshold; there is no love within its walls, only a performance of longing calibrated to the expectations of the crowd. And while you could rightfully argue that media of liberation becoming its own convention is a betrayal of those seeking genuine free expression, it is equally clear that these precise restrictions allowed characters like Kanoko and Mitsuki to feel safe within its walls, cushioned within a world of limits and language they could fully understand. Just like the formative dramas it is based on, Cafe Liebe is a sanctuary of adolescence, a cushioned world where they can play-act the feelings that frighten them, and thereby gain the confidence to embrace their true selves. Let’s see how their journey continues as we return to Yuri is My Job!
Episode 12
We open with Hime announcing the summer has arrived through discussing summer uniforms with Kanoko. As always, she’s doing her best to push Kanoko forward, help her express herself and be more visible in her environment
And Mai greets them at the door with Cafe Liebe’s own summer uniforms
It’s quite an ornate and fully-developed fantasy Cafe Liebe is offering. Their cakes must be ridiculously overpriced
“Or rather, this feels like cosplay.” First time here, Hime?
Now that Kanoko and Sumika have gotten over their disagreements, Sumika can freely wingman for her Schwestern, asking Hime how cute Kanoko looks in her new uniform
The group collectively wonder whether Mitsuki in this new uniform might cause some sort of international incident
“I’m just worried you might not want to look too sexy in public.” “In that case, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m a second-year, so it’s not inappropriate, given my character.” An exchange that reveals how completely Mitsuki sinks into her performance here, and how fully it shields her actual feelings. Mitsuki generally seems uncomfortable being observed or fawned over in her actual life, and thus Mai assumes she would be similarly out of sorts in this attention-drawing costume. But Mitsuki’s sole concern is whether the outfit fits her character; unlike Hime or Kanoko, she is not adopting her everyday persona to the cafe floor, she is embodying an entirely separate persona. The cafe performance stands apart from her own identity, which means she has no sense of insecurity in expressing herself in ways that she wouldn’t normally, because all of that is simply “mastering the performance” in the way she might master a musical piece. The only time she’s had difficulty separating her own feelings from her performed ones is when it came to Hime; compared to that, wearing a sexy costume is nothing
Her only possible concern is betraying the intended tone of the summer uniforms
It thus falls to Hime to be protective of her big sister, one of the countless instances of their intended Schwestern roles reversing backstage, where Hime knows the rules and Mitsuki is oblivious
Sumika lords over the cafe as Blume, graciously thanking her supporters and highlighting her bond with Kanoko. She was definitely the right choice
“Just leave it all up to me. I’m your big sister, Kanoko.” Sumika also blends fact and fiction, leaning on the expected conventions of the Schwestern system to help Kanoko become more comfortable being the center of attention. “Cafe Liebe is a false performance of intimacy” is largely true, but facile; exploring how that regimented performance of intimacy might facilitate genuine comfort in your own feelings, and how that echoes the ways Cafe Liebe’s own influences facilitated personal awakenings in their readers, is the real meat of the issue
Meanwhile, Hime is still stunned by Mitsuki’s boobs, and doing her best to body-block her from the cafe patrons
“I’m just very glad to be able to stand here in the salon with you, wearing the same cute uniform.” We see again that it’s only regarding her feelings towards Hime that Mitsuki allows herself to blend her performance and her earnest feelings. In terms of socializing, that might be the only aspect of her honest self that she’s fully comfortable with, fully believes in
“Even if you think it’s okay, some people might see it as lewd.” Sumika’s comments to Mitsuki emphasize how she understands how fragile this cafe’s fantasy is, how easily it could be interpreted in ways beyond its core intent. Of course, Mitsuki believes in their performance utterly; because she herself feels so passionate about performing Cafe Liebe correctly, she cannot imagine why anyone else would think otherwise. As in the past, she is very bad at seeing the perspectives of others, and since her own tendency to invest one hundred percent in her passions is fairly unusual, this means she generally can’t understand the feelings of most people around her
Their “solution” is to heap a giant shawl over her shoulders, which obscures the uniform entirely. Body shaming that also emphasizes how the patrons here don’t necessarily believe in this fantasy in the way Mitsuki does; not a great call
“I didn’t realize how indecent I looked until it was pointed out to me.” What’s worse, Mitsuki now sees that her prior obliviousness was a result of her not catching the real-world social cues that are still relevant here at Cafe Liebe. Even in this venue where she’s worked so hard to learn all the rules, her lack of mundane social grace has made her a failure, an outlier
“I’m sorry to be such a shameful sister.” “I’m not ashamed!” But here, in this realm, Hime can return the favor. Just as Mitsuki taught Hime how to shine at Cafe Liebe, so can Hime now help Mitsuki gain confidence in the frightening realm of real-world socialization, with all its indecipherable rules and vague tonal cues
Backstage, Hime goes even further, pushing beyond her default facade to admit she’s actually jealous of Mitsuki’s figure
“This is the students’ recommended tea. Please learn the taste well, as it’s meant to be your personal recommendation.” The staff are busy backstage studying their own assigned preferences. What a strange place this is – though I suppose only a step or two removed from many service industry jobs, where passion for your source of income is for some reason assumed as a given
“Tastes like tea.” I hear you, Hime
And of course, Mitsuki just immediately rolls out a complex analysis of the tea’s undertones and preferred accompaniments. In her preferred zone, there’s no one who can match her
“That’s cute and wonderful and all, but that’s your opinion on tea in general.” Mai is not impressed with Hime’s terrible but facade-appropriate answer
Mitsuki unsurprisingly gets on her ass immediately for not having mastered the nuances of tea flavor. She’s not an easy person to get along with; only interested in her own passions, and utterly uncompromising in terms of others’ commitment to those passions
Mai informs Hime that while her facade is great, she kinda sucks at her job
“Of course, a regular customer wouldn’t need such an explanation.” “I’ll have one. It’s been a while.” The expert Sumika knows how to tailor her explanations to flatter Cafe Liebe veterans. One reason these fantasies follow such specific rules is because part of their appeal is validating their long-time fans, giving them a sense of mastery and understanding within this private world. Mitsuki and the patrons enjoy this place for somewhat adjacent reasons
Hime eventually leans on one of her classic escape routes: the “I’m a little baby who doesn’t understand anything, could you try my tea and explain it to me” routine
“Hime, do try to refrain from using your tea as a quiz game.” Oh man, Mitsuki is actually gonna kill her
“It’s always work, work, work with her!” Hime sees socializing as easy and fulfilling, so she parses Mitsuki’s constant redirection of their energy towards work as a denial of their bond. Of course, Mitsuki is simply uncomfortable when it comes to casual conversation, and only feels at ease when she’s engaging with her core passions. A natural source of emotional disconnect
We end where we began, on Hime and Mitsuki playing piano together
And Done
Thus our Schwestern dance lightly into the summer season, somehow balancing a roiling sea of concealed feelings beneath a gracefully composed public facade. Of course, that’s in part how all of us navigate the complexities and contradictions of identity and socialization, as this production so frequently delighted in pointing out. Adolescence is in large part a process of trying on various masks, clinging to childhood certainties while seeking a performance that seems both true to your feelings and amenable to the people around you. At Cafe Liebe, personal performances are folded into a shared script, a model that can serve as a lifeline for those who, like Mitsuki or Kanoko, lack a natural fluency with the carefree niceties and harshly enforced unseriousness of adolescent socializing. And between these worlds dances Hime, eager to impress on whatever stage is offered, yet ultimately drawn to those who refuse to compromise on their personal truth. Thus the great masquerade carries on!
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