Yuri Is My Job! Ep 10: I Ended Up Writing This Up 3x Because It’s So Confusing
What I appreciate about Yuri Is My Job! episode 10 is that the relationships can still be complicated and nuanced even when there isn’t the usual dichotomy of “the act” and “reality” as it has been in previous episodes. That’s not to say that “the act” isn’t involved, however. It is. There just isn’t the question if what is being said is real or fake. It’s presented as pure manipulation.
I’m interested in one specific part in particular — the flashback. As alluded to in a previous episode, romance was once brought into the cafe and almost ruined everything. That’s why Sumika has been so against Kanoko having romantic feelings for Hime. So to try and convince Kanoko of why it’s such a bad thing, she tells her (and us) the story about the tragic story of Saionji and Goeido.
It’s pretty sad, not just because of how badly Saionji’s heart is broken, but because of how Sumika was affected. At the start of the flashback, we just knew that Sumika was the top senior, then Saionji and then Goeido was the lowest rank. When Saionji and Goeido start spending more time together, nothing feels off except for what we know (their romance is going to destroy everything). That and the fact that Sumika is suspicious Saionji has feelings for Goeido and Sumika thinks Goeido is bad news, which she isn’t wrong…
