Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we are returning for the last time to the tortured drama of Scum’s Wish, as our gaggle of lovelorn teenagers and their exceedingly dubious authority figures seek love, validation, or whatever else might fill the void inside them. From the initial dynamic of Hana and Mugi using each other’s bodies as surrogates for their true loves, we have spun our poor heroes through every pairing imaginable, with a mutually fulfilling and genuinely healthy relationship seemingly forever out of reach.
Well, until our last episode, at least. Scum’s Wish’s penultimate episode actually went a tremendous distance towards slotting our various leads into healthier perspectives. Having spent most of her life in a destructive spiral of self-loathing, Akane was at last reached by Kanai’s feelings, as he demonstrated that he not only loved all of her, but was moved to that love without the condition of being loved equally in return. And with their bond secured, Mugi was in turn able to move on as well, sharing his first and last date with Akane under the city lights.
So where does that leave our poor Hanabi? Well, the door is now open for a genuine Hana-Mugi relationship, although given their collective baggage, it might be best just to cut their losses and frame college as a romantic do-over. Nonetheless, we’ve got twenty minutes left to fuck everything up, so let’s see where the chips fall as we return to Scum’s Wish!
Episode 12
Some lovely compositions introduce us to a bright November, with a shot of the sun through the orange-leafed trees followed by one leaf falling upon reflective water, sending ripples through the reflection of the overhanging branch. As always, I am impressed by Masaomi Ando’s mastery of visual compositions, and in particular the juxtaposition of sequential images that I generally associate with master mangaka more than anime directors. Ando possesses a remarkable understanding of the dramatic impact of negative space, as well as how the residual echo of one image might inform our interpretation of the next. It’s little surprise that he so frequently embraces outright panel-in-panel flourishes for his productions, following in the footsteps of similarly gifted composition experts with a flair for the dramatic like Tomino and Osamu Dezaki
Overheard conversations emphasize the sensation of time passing quicker than we realize it, as only the bright banner of the Bellflower Festival reminds these students that autumn has arrived. When you’re slotted into a routine as regular as high school, time can really slip away
I like this transition from these classmates’ “did you hear” to Hana at the vending machines, which makes it seem like she’s actively blocking out the gossip at this point
“Seasons change, leaving me behind.” As loathe as I am to validate your sad sack behavior, it does seem like all your costars have outgrown you
A fine, simple use of screen partitions as Hana is told she’s been volunteered to be a stagehand for the school festival. The increasingly close, zoomed-in screens emphasize an invasion of her personal space
Urged on by Mugi’s prior words, she decides to embrace this connection with her classmates. And yet she is still unable to call out when Mugi himself passes by
Hanai tells Hana he’s getting married in the spring. This show’s t-shirt game remains unmatched, I absolutely need Hana’s No Cat No Life shirt
“I guess it didn’t work out for Mugi. Serves him right.” Yeah, you’ve earned that one
“She asked you to wear contacts, didn’t she?” “How did you know?” “Well, I preferred you with glasses.” A natural echo of what each of them want from Hanai, with Hana coveting the soft, nonthreatening idol while Akane seeks a genuine partner, someone who can “see” the real, unfiltered her. And an appropriate flourish of body language, as Hana briefly moves towards grabbing his hand, then thinks better of it
She pinky swears her agreement to be at the wedding, a suitable conclusion to all their relationship ever was
Ando’s partitions are put to another natural purpose as the festival arrives: demonstrating the scene in montage, like a scrapbook photo collection
“You two, Male Students A and B!” What an ice-cold term of acknowledgment
“Who do I want to be with? I quietly locked away the first few names that popped into my head.” Honestly, good for you, Hanabi. Your biggest problem throughout this series has been your inability to define yourself beyond the context of who you either are or want to be with – the more time you spend getting to know yourself as an independent individual, the happier and more prepared for a genuinely fulfilling relationship you’ll be
She stumbles into a class putting on a fashion show and sees Moka, stunning and self-assured in a bridal gown. Moka’s understanding of her own desires seems like it imbues her with an otherworldly confidence, something conveyed through Ando’s appropriation of another classic Dezaki trick – the postcard memory shot, a still image with distinctively detailed linework and coloring
“You’ll see once you do something for yourself.” The same advice – what do you want, Hanabi?
Having demonstrated her true self, Moka immediately finds herself surrounded with people who appreciate her talents, people who actually care about her passion for sewing and ornate design work. You can only find your people once you’re ready to be yourself
Another clever use of screen-in-screen cuts when Hana gets back to work, here evoking her tunnel vision during stage prep, with each screen revealing one sharp moment of her focus being redirected towards some new task
Alone in a storeroom, Hana finds herself for once at peace with the idea – and then realizes Mugi is right behind her. Have they both found the peace in isolation necessary to pursue joy in unity?
And then we jump to March! Jeez, I guess they just sorta awkwardly nodded and slunk away
Yep, we’re heading straight to the end of the school year, with the cherry blossoms already in full bloom. Kinda funny, those cherry blossoms; they’re such an ingrained anime shorthand for “spring has sprung, the new school year has arrived” that you’d think they’d be utterly ubiquitous in real life, but it’s basically just another thing like school uniforms in anime, a convention whose convenience has trumped its increasingly unrealistic nature
Excellent embarrassed Hanabi expression as our overworked project manager once again yells at her to get moving
Oh shit, a new boy named Moriyama makes his move!
Sadly, he fails to make enough of an impression to earn even his eyes being fully drawn in before Sanae swoops in to rescue Hana, now having cut her hair and apparently fully embraced the “prince” yuri archetype
Hana shows some solid growth here though, turning back to apologize and thank Moriyama for expressing his feelings. She is secure enough in her own grounding to be sensitive to the fragile feelings of others
Hanabi breaks into tears at Ecchan’s willingness to talk to her again
“Sorry it took so long.” This is actually a very nice use of these repeated flash-forwards – to emphasize how emotions take time to settle, and how whatever you’re feeling in this moment is never the final verdict on your story. Not all wounds heal, but the ache does lessen with time
That sense of time’s renewal is echoed by a pan up through the green, vibrant trees, a visual parallel of the episode’s opening shots
“I’m envious. I’ve never been to a wedding before.” Believe me kid, by the time you hit your thirties you’ll be well sick of them
Kanai moves to reassure Hana, but Akane stops him, instead making the peace offering herself. A clean reversal of her earlier behavior; where she once reveled in creating emotional messes and then exiting the scene, she now feels a responsibility to ensure Hana emerges safely from this tempestuous period
“It turns out, the promise we made that day and the days we spent together had no meaning in the end.” Perhaps a comforting thought, but time spent cannot be unspent, and its meaning remains
She bumps into Mugi again, now waiting at the school lockers
Thus we now get the continuation of their school festival meeting, when they actually talked through their feelings, rather than using each other’s bodies to obliterate them
They arrive at a remarkably healthy conclusion: they’re both looking for a passionate love, and what they shared together wasn’t that. Thus they are happy they met, and those days did indeed have meaning, but it’s time to move on
And Done
My god, they did it! Those kids actually did it! In the end, it was unsurprisingly Akane that required the most dramatic shift in perspective, given her age and experience relative to the targets of her torture. But with her embracing Kanai’s honest feelings, the rest of our leads came to an inspiring collective decision: what they are currently craving is not love, but a validation to counter their sense of emptiness, their inability to feel whole without a physical presence beside them. It was not the right partner that was going to save them, but faith in their own identities – and through their various declarations and new trajectories, it seems clear that they can now move forward with these painful lessons in mind, having gained much necessary perspective from the trials of lovestruck youth. Excellent work kids, and serious plaudits to Ando and his team for so effectively, evocatively realizing their suffering and salvation. Good luck in the real world, Hanabi!
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