Yama no Susume Season 3 Notes

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S3E1

Pretty great first episode, the biggest change so far being the new tracks in the OST, more introspective in feeling to match the new season's tone. This episode establishes the current status quo with Aoi showing noticeable improvements when it comes to mountain climbing and feeling up to taking on Mt. Fuji once more. But while she's improved in the climbing aspect, with her classmates starting to play a bigger role in the series, we see that she still has a lot to improve on when it comes to socializing with others.

Also, gay. Incredibly gay. Yamasusu is back, babyyyyy!!!

S3E2

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China's ep! While it's a more jovial and fun outing than his next episode in #10, there's no better way to truly kick off what this season's philosophy will be than the incredibly loose approach to the drawings, with the designs taking on a much simpler look that allow for a greater degree of expression. Being China's solo direction effort as well, the aspects outside of just the animation are used to subtly express the characters' feelings as well; most notably here:

with everything around Aoi gradually getting enveloped by the depth-of-field blur, as well as the zoom-out with Aoi staying in place in the frame, we feel that sense of separation from the rest of the world as we enter Aoi's psyche as she zones out and is stuck in her own head. It's only when she gets snapped out of it by the store manager that the depth-of-field goes away and she's quickly brought back to reality. This subtle approach has a point as well; by framing Aoi's voiced line like a continuation of her inner monologue, we can once again see how much progress Aoi's made, because even if she did it subconsciously, Aoi was able to voice her opinion without regressing into her shell, and as a result was able to have her doubts be answered.

The scene itself (as well as the entire episode) isn't anything special, literally just a trip to buy some boots. But China is able to see the potential for expression in that, to tell us something about the characters through that mundanity as opposed to in spite of it. As expected from the true kyoani fanatic that he is. Really a sign of things to come with his next episode... can't wait!

S3E3

Aoi goes on a solo training trip for Mt. Fuji, and we see the perks of traveling alone, but also the dangers that can come with it. Once she meets Kokona, she's able to climb with her and see the benefits of traveling with others—taking her to places she didn't know about, having someone to offer both physical and mental support, and just it being motivating to try hard to keep up with another person. Also, yet another sign of progress of Aoi comfortably able to socialize with Kokona without Hinata's help (tho that's been a thing in season 2 already, it's in the next episode where we see actual progress in this season as opposed to just reminders of how far she's come)

S3E4

great commentary on this ep here, specifically the classroom scene.

・the classroom scene 😭 Being the first substantial scene in the classroom since season 1, you can see how much mountain climbing has improved Aoi's life. She went back to her coping mechanism of looking busy with her knitting, but thanks to her venturing out and discovering a whole new world that she was missing out on this whole time, these activities that she used to be content just doing on her own weren't going to cut it for her anymore. That's not to say that she has to completely abandon those hobbies, in fact it was those hobbies that gave her a topic to talk to her classmate about. It's more about getting acclimated to sharing the fun of those hobbies with others. And of course, it was thanks to mountain climbing, or more specifically Hinata, that allowed for that change, so of course Aoi wants to bring her along for their karaoke outing 🥺

・Yuki Yonemori's favorite characters are these random mob characters, btw. Very good picks, because these designs are really really cute. As expected from a kyoani veteran to pour as much personality into the background characters as the main characters.

・godddd this part,,,, it's especially relatable because it comes right after that classroom scene where Aoi literally just had a "normal" conversation. It's not something that you can force, but anxiety still just takes over everything, and when you're in that headspace, every normal conversation you've ever had goes flying out of your memory.

・Before I get into the karaoke scene, so much can be said about Norio's own takes on the designs with some of the roundest, blobbiest, expressive, and tender designs of the series—a series that's already filled to the brim with them, mind you!

・People have already talked at length about the layouts in this scene, which you should check out. But watching this in the same season as Bocchi The Rock really made the strengths of this scene stand out that much more to me; thanks to Norio's layouts that emphasize Aoi's presence, he's able to pull off the tricky task of portraying isolation, loneliness, and conspicuousness despite the scene taking place in a tiny & crowded room. Bocchi #1 uses these very same techniques (and plenty of others ofc) to portray these same feelings of isolation, but what makes that interesting is the way those techniques are progressed and subtly change as the episode plays out. Mainly (and most relevant to Norio's scene here) is how those same three-dimensional layouts are used, except now, Bocchi isn't alone as the focus of these shots anymore. Although they're again being used to convey the isolation that Bocchi's still perceiving, having other characters be included in the same space that Bocchi occupies tells the viewer of the companionship/connection with others that she has now, those of which Bocchi still hasn't recognized yet.

The very same is being used in Norio's episode, because although Aoi is feeling isolated, right there alongside her in the focus of the layout is none other than Hinata. Even when she's in this headspace that emphasizes her presence and separates her from the others, Hinata still draws some of the viewer's focus to her to establish that, no matter how alone Aoi feels, she still has someone right by her side, ready to lend her support. As she gets more comfortable, the layouts start shifting the focus to the other characters, either by more heavily emphasizing their relative closeness to the camera, shifting the focus onto them entirely, or eliminating that singular focus entirely and have everyone stand as equals, going so far as to obscure their faces and only show their uniforms. At this point, there is no separation between them, and they can all comfortably occupy the same space, knowing that everyone is there for the same reason: just to relax and have fun.

Using these incredibly tricky-to-pull-off techniques, not just for show, but to convey emotion in the best, most communicative way possible—that's the ethos of Norio's whole career, whether he's animating the most visceral & pivotal fight scenes in anime or solo'ing more lowkey efforts like this, his unbelievable skill is always in service of the characters and their stories.

・And now, at the final scene, the isolation that Aoi could only look down and shield her eyes from is now something she has and courage to face head-on and start to move forward from. All thanks to the strength that's been lying dormant in her all this time, and to the indelible support of Hinata. Hmm, I wonder what'll happen to their relationship once she makes more progress on that and won't need to rely on Hinata anymore 🤔 guess I'll have to watch more to find out!

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S3E7

Satoshi Furuhashi brings a particularly unique take to fugo's designs, with the noses being much bigger & at times more defined, and the smiles tapering down at the edges to resemble the characters' lips. With such expressive takes, it makes scenes like Taiki Konno's, who handled all the scenes where Hinata tried speaking to an absent Aoi out of habit (the train, planetarium, and the crepe scene), all the more subtly impactful, especially when paired with Ayako Kurata's visual & situational storytelling. Those small moments of embarrassment and awkwardness always hit me so hard. ;-;

The beginning of the season's final arc, it sets the stage by showing how well Aoi is doing at her job all on her own. Her story here is some of the most wholesome & heartwarming of the whole series with Aoi seeing the real value of her job, and to see it as more than just a process just to earn some spending money. On the other side of the episode, however, is someone else who's feeling that change just as much—Hinata. Hinata hasn't changed much, pretty much throughout the whole series so far, only acting as the driving force behind Aoi's improvement. Now that Aoi's improved so much, Hinata still needs to adjust and figure out what role she can still play in Aoi's life, even as she comes to not need her help anymore. Especially with the scene of Hinata looking into Susuki's window and seeing Aoi doing so well. You can see how happy Hinata is for her, but even if she hasn't realized it yet, you can feel the bittersweet notes of this realization starting to seep in, that things just can't stay the same between them anymore.

S3E8

aghhh this episode 😭 The classroom scene (animated by Zenghao Zhou (周 正浩)? unless they did the other classroom scene) was especially great, and emblematic of Daisuke Hiramaki's strengths (he's the director of koias, which is filled with stuff like this), with the striking change in colors to the dull greys given to the scene by the pitch white windows, and the more defined lighting adding to the underlying, yet powerful emotions of the scene.

His sense for using the depth in the layouts for the storytelling is utilized greatly here as well, with Hinata walking towards the camera when walking past Aoi's desk, and away from the camera when we're looking back at her from Aoi's position. It's the distance that Hinata feels is right for Aoi, who's doing so well on her own, that Hinata feels she'd only get in the way of that. It's really heartbreaking, and such a relatable feeling, when you feel like the role you play in someone's life is no longer needed anymore... Even Hiramaki's notes in the Action column here are enough to learn that all of these are very deliberate choices on his part, going so far as to describing, not only the characters' movements and framing, but their emotions as well, to give the animators later down the line an idea of how to draw the characters.

And once they set off on that trip, Hinata feeling that missing piece is obvious, but Aoi feels it just as much and if only Hinata knew that and how much she means to her and- aaaaaaaaaaaaa i wanna see my gay daughters be happy together 😭😭

Shimada's second-to-last AD'd episode, and it's expectedly strong here as well. Even as it didn't move quite as much, the drawings were great all the way through, with some of the best expressions of the show

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S3E9

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but if only they could've shared that silver lining together... ;-;

S3E10

Oh boy. Heeeere we go. It's the big one. Already talked about at length here and here. Check out this really great comment too. I've pretty much already talked about the story and conflicting emotions in ep 8, but obviously China's episode brings all these feelings to the forefront in his iconic, subtle KyoAni-inspired way. The episode's title itself explains it better than I ever can: すれ違う季節. "Passing Seasons". Along with this small moment in Aoi & Hinata's relationship being a sign of how much time has passed, すれ違う has a more specific meaning, where, for example, it's used in a situation where two people pass each other by on a street without noticing one another. To my understanding, the word has an inseparable (and untranslatable, lol) connotation of a "missed opportunity", which is such a perfect way to describe this episode. There's no better scene to illustrate this than the second one, artist_unknown & Takahito Sakazume's scene,

where both Aoi & Hinata have their feelings for one another, and yet it ends with both of their feelings unsaid. Despite these probably being the most polished drawings of the episode, it's through them that the fragility, yet utmost importance of this moment is depicted. The movement picking up & meticulously depicted with Hinata's frantic wave and Aoi's frustrated run, and with them the emotional weight of a moment's end. The moment when all of these feelings that were meant to be conveyed to Aoi are left to stew inside Hinata's head. The moment when she's once again left alone, feeling like an irreplaceable piece of her is missing.

And yet, it ends with both of them unable to put their feelings into words. And these feelings continue to brew, ready to burst & overflow at any moment. There is no other piece of art that conveys this feeling better; that feeling of having so much to say, so much that it's overwhelming to the point where you don't even know how to begin to put it into words & have no choice but to leave it unsaid. そして、瞬間がすれ違う。 And so, the moment passes them by.

Much like his last outing in season 2's #13, Imaoka left many of these drawings uncorrected, letting each individual artists' flaunt their personal styles at the risk of letting uncorrected art through. And there's no better example of this than Ken "Leaf" Yamamoto's scene:

with Hinata's legs animated on 4s, with the leaf cut (an environmental cut that normally would've been left to the art team) having one layer mostly on 3s and another mostly on 4s. Or Jin Oyama's Takeuchi-influenced acting, with a pretty distinct style of his own. That risk taking isn't for nothing, this inconsistency has not only been a staple of Yamasusu & an inseparable part of its identity by this point; but it's also crucial in this episode that's swamped in unstable feelings amidst this period of change that are beginning to reach a boiling point.

In tandem with that theme of change is the improvement of the characters. On her stroll, Hinata comes across Kaede and Yuuka and tags along for their study session. She sees a lot of her relationship with Aoi in their relationship with how much Yuuka is relied on by Kaede. Just like how Yuuka pushes Kaede to study & embrace her feminine side even though they're both far out of her element, Hinata takes Aoi out of her comfort zone, first to climbing mountains to spend time with her, and then to start socializing with others. But Kaede tells her that the point of her stepping out of that comfort zone isn't to change what she's passionate about, nor to completely abandon what makes her comfortable—but to open up different options for the future, and so that she can dedicate even more of herself to climbing mountains. And this applies to more than the literal education context here—when Aoi starts socializing with others, that doesn't mean she's going to completely abandon Hinata. And if Aoi stops relying on Hinata (which isn't going to happen anyways, you can't ever "stop" relying on others because there will always be things you can improve on), that doesn't mean Hinata will lose all worth to Aoi. Aoi's reliance on Hinata isn't the only reason she stays with her; you don't ever need "a reason" to stay together with someone—you do it because you love them. Of course, though Hinata may have rationally came to this realization by this point, human emotions like jealousy and inadequacy don't play by logic, and as Hinata continues to confront this change in their relationship, the only way things can be resolved is if they confront it together.

On the other side of that conflict is Aoi, who, despite her initial unease about hanging out with classmates without Hinata by her side, things go surprisingly well as Aoi exceeds her own expectations, not realizing herself how much she's improved; especially in one of the most emotionally satisfying scenes in the show, the one that China himself lovingly drew:

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The scene starts out with Aoi's pose awkwardly holding her bag making it look like she's hiding from the light, her body being just short of the bright window to her side isolates/traps her, even though she's taking up most of the frame's space. Even though the day's gone smoothly, you can see the small discomfort she still feels around them.

As she's confronted by Kasumi about how unapproachable she used to be and how much she's brightened up, we see the image of Aoi other people now see her as: tall, strong, and independent.

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And now, these profile shots, it's now the window that takes up the most space to match how much freer & relaxed the characters now feel with one another, no longer needing to worry about making the other feel uncomfortable.

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With that small unease between them now resolved, Kasumi finally bridges the gap, and with it, our characters are now framed, not to the side of the window anymore, but directly in front, the light proudly shining in on them. The progressions Hinata goes through in this arc are obvious, but it's also important to realize how much Aoi has changed, and the movement in this scene does an amazing job of conveying that. With these progressions in the scene in mind, we're treated to one of the most precious smiles of the series 😭😭😭

But while Aoi was finally seeing the fruits of her improvement, Hinata is still in that moment of stagnation. Immediately using that window imagery as a point of contrast, the window behind Hinata isn't opening to the wide, open sky, but to the ground. Masami Mori's movements are some of his most carefully crafted to this day, and are in perfect harmony with China's careful boards & direction.

Hinata walks, looking out the window and up at the sky, but very little of that sky is shown. Her image of her relationship with Aoi is unable to leave her mind, keeping her from truly reaching that sky.

Hinata then stops in her tracks when she's confronted with the reality of their changed relationship, the real Aoi stepping in front of the old, ready to move on and take the next step. Taking the green light above her as a signal to make more memories, not as her old shielded & reclusive self, but as a self that she can be genuinely happy and fulfilled as.

The owl souvenir is a particularly heartbreaking part, as a few episodes before Hinata had invited Aoi out to Ikebukuro, but instead decided to go by herself when Aoi was busy with her new life. And now, she just missed her chance of experiencing this trip for the first time together with Aoi. And god, that hurts so, so much. It's once again emblematic of the "missed opportunity" and the "passing seasons" of the episode's title.

Because Hinata isn't accepting this new Aoi, nor the inevitable change that comes with life, Hinata is now unable to make new memories with her anymore. Just like Kaede with her studying, just like Aoi with her new social skills, Hinata needs to step out of her comfort zone and change along with Aoi, to someone other than the role in Aoi's life she's played up until now. As Aoi takes the green light and steps out into the light, Hinata is left behind, still stagnant, still stuck in the shadow of the past.

The shade being a symbol for stagnation really can't get any less subtle than it being used in this shot of a literal STOP mark on the road. Expressing emotions through the environment is a specialty of China's, with that love for the mundane and nonverbal emotions palpable throughout so much of his work, but that doesn't mean that it has to be subtle. The emotions going unsaid necessitates the usage of visual storytelling, which forces the viewer to pay attention to what's going on the screen and strengthens the immersive experience that's only possible in art.

S3E11

the season's final climbing arc is upon us as Aoi is starting to catch on that something is off with Hinata. They finally get a chance to go on a trip together, but obviously things have gone too far and just that isn't going to fix anything. Aoi gives the owl souvenir to Hinata, and I already talked last episode about how that's a point of contention. And in addition to that, Aoi decides to show that extra effort to stay up late making Hinata's favorite food, which only frustrates Hinata more—because she knows that Aoi's improved so much, but in her desire for things to remain the same, she refuses to accept it and snaps at Aoi.

Yamamoto's direction was great here, with this POV shot being particularly painful, with the viewer looking at Hinata's reflection directly from her perspective, to really get a sense that this isn't the real Hinata talking. Because that's the thing about outbursts like these—when you have all this pent-up emotion, you can't think clearly when you finally get an opportunity to let it out as you just let your emotions get the better of you--to the point that you start acting completely differently from your normal self. I hate to admit it, but god that's so relatable to me.

And the irrational decisions don't stop there. Once they start going on the trip, Aoi gets yet another opportunity to show her improvements when she's assigned by Kaede to lead the group's pace—or in Hinata's mind, a chance for Aoi to show how much better she is than Hinata and how she doesn't need her help anymore. So Hinata starts rushing ahead to the point of hurting herself (once again, completely unlike her, especially since these are the very things that she taught Aoi in the show's early days)—and to make matters worse, she resolves to tough it out without telling anyone, because doing so would be admitting a fault and further delegitimizing herself as Aoi's mentor. And when you take a step back, and step out of her shoes, you realize how badly she's blowing all of this out of proportion, and that this is all just petty overthinking; and I can see how, as a result, that can be annoying for some to watch, but that's exactly how it is when you have all these thoughts with no outlet. It borders on it being too hard for me to watch for how much it calls me out lol

S3E12

ohmy GOD.... I knew I'd love this episode more on this rewatch now that I'm writing about it/internalizing each episode's purpose, but I didn't think I'd literally SOB from the catharsis that is this episode... 😭😭 The episode was competently made, both Saito and Furuhashi proving how capable they are as ADs, but it's obviously no where near the level of #10 (not many things could reach that level tbf), but despite this being the release of this tension that's been building since for five episodes, it didn't really need the production muscle when the script and boards can easily carry it. Though it's ironic that I say that, because the interesting stuff starts from Takayuki Kitagawa's expressively animated climbing scene:

With Hinata now leading the group, she's feeling the pressure to prove herself more than ever, and Kitagawa's Ebata-like movement where you can feel the weight in every step, with each subsequent cut feeling more and more straining, especially with Hinata's stumbles. Trying to put on airs & maintaining that pride is nigh-impossible when you're on the unforgiving mountains (Hinata even said that herself last ep), and the usual pleasant backgrounds shifted to reflect that: the sheer scale of the environment is no longer the majestic sight it usually is, but rather oppressive and overwhelming. The sunlight is no longer pleasant and in harmony with the environment, with the shadows being harsher to emphasize its intensity, matching Hinata's growing exhaustion

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All of this, to convey through visuals and sympathetic character writing one of the leading best lines in the show:

Climbing mountains, putting yourself out there and challenging yourself and being accepting of the inevitability of failure; it makes you more honest with yourself and your weaknesses you should improve on. And it makes you more honest with others, because Hinata's every emotion here was at their core the exact same as Aoi's early arc, even if it was brought on by different reasons: she was too afraid ask others for help. She was afraid that her presence would be a burden and hold the others back.

And when she told everyone to continue without her and to just leave her... and Aoi refused to leave her alone, and the music kicking in at that moment, and Hinata's "You don't need to stay with me" line encompassing her feelings throughout this entire arc, and Aoi's "I could never just leave you by yourself" line, and now im CRYING MY EYES OFF because Hinata's finally realized how much she's worth to Aoi and how no matter what changes from now on, their love for one another will never ever fade away and aaaaaAAAAAAAAKFJDSGHLSDFLGH I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHH 😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥺♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

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And as if that wasn't enough, they begin climbing down with Aoi carrying Hinata's bag, and Hinata still has the gall to be worried about Aoi when she's the one that's injured because that's how attached she's grown to her role as Aoi's mentor. Now that she's able to accept Aoi's help, they can help each other and that'll be their new bond holding them together.

And then... finally, we get the honest conversation we've been waiting for.

Everything gets laid out bare. Hinata's insecurities, stemming from all the time they spent apart in the gap between elementary and high school. Aoi's eternal gratitude towards Hinata, and then THIS LINE,,,,,,,,

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Just... absolute perfection. This just reaffirmed more than ever that this is an absolute 10/10, one of the best shows of all time.

So much more could be said about this episode, like these locations that used to be signs of the tension between them, and now they can walk along them together.

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And finally... the Hinata smiles we've been craving for... a genuine smile, knowing that she will always be loved by Aoi, no matter what happens.

And the two owls... separated at first, but now together, from now until forevermore... 😭😭🥺🥺♥♥

『ともだち』"Friends" (lol suuure... """""friends""""")

S3E13

And we've arrived at the end... for now. This episode brings the focus back to Aoi after being kinda starved of it outside of China's episode, and with it brings the perfect harmony in Aoi/Hinata's relationship. The show is brought down-to-earth, and back to business as usual, which was really needed after such a big conflict resolution. We needed our victory lap, and there really aren't many better ones out there than this. Even as they go back to normal, small anxieties still exist.

Now that it's Hinata's birthday, as she was thinking of what to give to her, she realized how little she got to know Hinata, since she's been so preoccupied with dealing with her own problems (god, that's a mood...). Doubling as a look back to everything that's happened as expected from a celebratory episode, Aoi remembers all the memories she's made dating all the way back to her first day of high school and her reunion with Hinata. Now that she's fully internalized how far she's come, and realizes how much she has to thank Hinata for that, she believes she hasn't done enough to repay her.

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But of course, coming off last episode, it's clear that Aoi's love is more than enough of a gift. That promise to always stay together, to learn more about the other, to help each other along the way, to improve themselves further than either of them could imagine, and always swear to stay together throughout all of that, no matter what changes between them.

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10/10. kino. peak fiction. I can't believe it's over...... is what I would be saying, if I didn't finish this rewatch JUST in time for the new yamasusu content in S4 to start!!! LET'S GOOOOOOO!!! TO THE NEXT SUMMIT!!!!! 🗻

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