Episode 1131 piece So slowly pushes Kuma’s backstory directly into our hearts – it’s a masterful emotional assassination.
Kuma and Ginny are lovely and miserable to the same extent. Kuma’s desire to alleviate the suffering of others is his defining personality trait. This feature is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. We see how Kuma cared for the villagers, literally absorbed their pain and spread it across itself. This emphasizes his noble, self-sacrificing spirit and plays his religious role as a community pastor. Ginny was torn apart because part of her admiration for Kumar was his desire to help others, but she knew he was pushing herself beyond her limitations. Ginny wants to protect Kuma like Kuma protects villagers, but he is too stubborn and/or selfless to let her go.
This tension also extends to their personal relationships. They have feelings for each other and have done everything together – why not get married? But Kuma is turned away by the trauma past, which becomes a continuation of his self-sacrificing nature. Kuma values Ginny’s safety more than his happiness (and hers). Of course, it is ironic that we know how right he is to be afraid of the terrible outcome, but for the moment, it is hard not to see it from Ginny’s perspective and think that Kumar is too cautious or mindful.
All of this is made by toei Team again. Kuma’s scenes run out of painful red paws, while Ginny cries in another room, heartbreakingly presented with visual and cinematic excellence to sell the pain of the moment. It is this high quality that enhances the core material that makes me excited and feared by the impact of the next few episodes on my pitiful heart.
