Back to give my two cents on Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night. That’s kind of a weird sentence to start on since this show is airing weekly but I saw the first two episodes during Anime Boston 2024 so it’s actually been almost a month since I blogged about the show.
I don’t normally do this in my episode reviews but I did re-watch the first two episodes once they were up on HIDIVE and there are a couple of things I want to add before I get to Episode 3. I came out of the music scene in Episode 1 a bit more positively. Like, I still don’t know if it has a lot of pizazz to it but that’s a bit unfair since the scene is supposed to be a humble beginning for JELEE. Keeping the instrumental to acoustics only is actually a great decision as it really feels like Kano is singing her heart out and making the most of what she has and where she is at in her career and that’s enough to reignite a spark inside Yoru. I also want to comment on Mei’s piano scene at the end of Episode 2. That’s a very well directed scene. The dramatic music pairs really well with Mei’s fangirl flashback, acknowledging the downward spiral that it was and signifying Mei letting go all of that in favor of a more genuine and much healthier friendship with Kano.
Episode 3 of Jellyfish formally introduces us to the fourth and final member of the main cast, Kiui Watase (Miyu Tomita). Kiui (Kiwi?) is Yoru’s childhood friend and she attends a prestigious prep school as its student council president while also working as a VTuber under the alias, “Nox Ryūgasaki”. When Yoru finishes a character design for JELEE and Mei writes a new song, Kano randomly thinks that it’d be really neat to put the two in an animated music video. Knowing that Kiui has experience in animation, sound mixing, and video editing, Yoru contacts her about making the MV a reality. Despite her busy schedule, Kiui agrees to help out.
Even putting aside the MV, I have a hard picturing Kiui’s daily schedule. Like, a teenager could go to school, work in the student council, and work full time as a VTuber but that ought to require some incredible time management skills. It then becomes apparent that something isn’t right here. Mahiru mentions that she and Kiui haven’t met in person in two years. Kiui’s school uniform is shown to be tucked away in a garment bag and we see her dillydallying with games and snacks in broad daylight. The truth finally comes out when Yoru runs into some of Kiui’s classmates during her school festival. She learns from them that Kiui is not the student council president and she actually hasn’t attended school for some time. A flashback then shows Kiui struggling to fit in her school, resulting in her living a secluded life at home. Yoru was kept in the dark because Kiui didn’t want her friend to be disappointed in her.
There’s an interesting thing about Jellyfish‘s main cast, in that they’re each a fan of one of the other characters. Mei is a fan of Kano, Kano is a fan of Yoru, and Yoru is a fan of Kiui. In every one of these relationships, someone is idolizing someone else. I don’t know if this is necessarily a theme in the show but Jellyfish doesn’t seem to treat these bonds as genuine and it spends each of the three episodes ironing them out into something more meaningful. Kano was disappointed in how ordinary and unambitious Yoru was but she apologized to her and she ended up inspiring Yoru into drawing again. Mei got so wrapped up in being a Nodoka fangirl that she couldn’t separate the idol persona from the actual person until Kano fulfilled the promise she made to her. Kano is still a fan of Yoru’s drawings and Mei is still Kano’s fangirl but their idolizing does dial down as they get to know their “idols” more and that’s when they actually become friends with them. We see this type of resolution happen again in this episode. Kiui may have lied about everything but that doesn’t stop Yoru from admiring her. What makes Yoru like Kiui isn’t popularity or awesomeness but rather, the latter’s ability to persevere through adversity. Kiui’s low points doesn’t bother Yoru because Yoru believes that she will overcome them.
Yoru demonstrates this faith during a play for her school festival. The play is a re-enactment of the Ama-no-Iwato folktale. Yoru plays the role of Ama-no-Uzume, one of the deities trying to get Amaterasu to come out of the cave she’s secluded herself in. It’s hardly something Yoru would want to do but she accepts the role to challenge herself. When she learns the truth about Kiui, Yoru realizes that the play is the perfect vehicle for Yoru to encourage Kiui not to shut herself away. Yoru’s acting and dancing isn’t that great but that’s actually the part of the point. She’s willing to embarrass herself because doing so will help her friend.
With her spirits lifted, Kiui finishes the MV for JELEE, which is presented as this episode’s ED. I’m personally not the biggest fan of this type of MV but I must hand it to Jellyfish in that it absolutely nails the look and feel of a MV made by an independent content creator. The backgrounds, the graphics, the virtual avatar, and the lyrics showing up on the screen. The staff got this video down to a T. The song is pretty good too. It’s catchy and the more elaborate production conveys how much Kano’s friends add to her singing. I also like how the lyrics match Kano’s M.O. while also being applicable to the other characters, especially Kiui.
ED: “Saikyou Girl” by JELEE
Watch Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night on HIDIVE
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