Note: I saw the first two episodes of Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night at Anime Boston 2024 in an advance screening held by HIDIVE, ahead of the show’s official premiere in April 6, 2024.
Following the first episode, Yoru and Kano begin a part-time job at a cafe. During their breaks, the two discuss on what to do as Jelee. There’s some really good comedy here where Kano is way too ambitious for her own good and Yoru has to be her voice of reason. One of Kano’s ideas is to set up a subscription service. That would be a good idea except Jelee has yet to gain enough traction to get patrons. Surprisingly however, the two immediately meet their first patron, a girl named Mei Kim Anouk “Kimura” Takanashi (Miyuri Shimabukuro). Kimura also happens to be a talented pianist and composer. Since Jelee lacks an actual composer, Yoru and Kano realize that Kimura would be a great find for the group.
I said in the Episode 1 review that Jellyfish benefits from the addition of a third main character and I stand by this. To start off, Kimura has a really good arc in this episode. Growing up, Kimura struggled with the pressure of her musical education and getting bullied by her classmates. Things turned around however when she met Nonoka by chance, during a meet and greet, and the idol gave her some encouraging words. Naturally, Kimura wants to repay the favor, hence her offering money and music for Kano. However, she wants Kano to return to her old idol group the Sunflower Dolls, something which Kano refuses to do. This makes Mei upset but when Kano fulfills a promise she made to her, Mei realizes that her “idol” is still the same person and she’s enamored with that person and not the persona she once had. Overall, it’s a solid arc with some compelling twists and turns. It’s also an ingenious way for the show to further utilize Kano’s idol past and offer a more positive spin on that backstory.
Mei also happens to be a goddamn creep and that makes this show a hundred times funnier. Her fandom for Nonoka is at an obsessive level. She’s acquired all the Nonoka merchandise that she can. She hangs a picture of Kano next to a portrait of her favorite composer (which is quite the image, by the way). Her appearance is practically a splitting image of Nonoka. At one point, Mei and Kano accidentally switch bags and this leads to her obtaining Kano’s jacket, which Mei “naturally” proceeds to sniff to her heart’s content before wearing it to school the next day. I admit that this part of Mei’s personality can get in the way of the more sincere arc mentioned in the previous paragraph. Like, can I really go “awww” when I also know that this girl is perving out? That said, I can’t deny that this bit is really darn funny. It got a lot of laughs out of me and it made me more optimistic about what this show has to offer.
I don’t believe the first two episodes will air back to back so when the show airs for real, first-time viewers will have to wait two weeks to get to this episode. That’s kind of a bummer. I can’t speak for the rest of the show but I do think it finds it stride more in this episode than the first. At the very least, it’s certainly a lot funnier than the premiere.
OP: “Irodori” by KanoeRana
ED: “1 Nichi wa 25 Nikan” by Anna Tsurushima
Watch Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night on HIDIVE
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