Being Rinne is suffering.
Impression
It felt like I was the only one rooting for Rinne throughout the entire episode. Even the girls themselves were all for Fuuka. And then my heart betrayed my head and started supporting Fuuka as well – because Rinne wants to be left alone, and the last thing I want is for Rinne to be left alone. I’m pretty conflicted, but at any rate it’s now looking increasingly unlikely that my preferred outcome of Rinne winning but also being saved will end up happening. Rinne is just super stubborn (it would be kind of cute if it wasn’t having such a destructive effect on her) and nothing Fuuka is saying is getting through to her. As has been mentioned multiple times before, there’s a huge hypocrisy and irony in Rinne having become the very sort of person she despised whilst trying to ensure her own (partially physical and certainly mental) safety. And then there’s how Rinne has been beating herself up so much to the point that it no longer matters whether her justifications are inconsistent or illogical because they’re just a broken record she plays over and over in her head by now. She needs Fuuka to beat something different into her head.
I can honestly sympathise with her train of thought. It is true that her grandfather would have passed away happier if she’d been there. Maybe she should have handled the bullying differently before it had escalated to that point. But all these are mistakes revealed in hindsight, and it’s so much easier to blame yourself with hindsight because you have a perspective you never would have gotten if a chain of events hadn’t already happened. It’s not like, for instance, her grandfather would never have died if she was there for him. I have a feeling it was about time, to be honest, and that he knew that as well. Rinne being around probably increased his strength, actually. As for beating those little fuckers up, I don’t think that was a mistake at all. Her mistake was letting the bullying get that bad, but it’s not really something she has complete control over and I hesitate to say at all that bully victims ever make mistakes whilst they’re being bullied. In the long-run, maybe I wouldn’t recommend her having done that back then given how she remains hung up over it to this day. But I remember those events, and that episode, very vividly. It’s the most memorable episode of the entire season to me (of all four shows I’m even following, that is). And that day I learned that justice was a cute loli. If it was wrong to have half-killed those bullies at that point, then I don’t want to be right.
Now, about Fuuka. Remember how I expressed concerns over her power level? I don’t think this episode did anything to remedy that. It might have made things worse, in fact. I know she has the talent, and Einhart initially picked her up because she had natural talent, but it’s weird to see Fuuka dominating to this extent, although it could be because Rinne’s heart has been rather unstable recently and it’s affecting her performance. I was also really uncomfortable with all that stuff about Fuuka’s fist being a gift from God, and that she’s blessed with God’s Strike and all that. I know she’s gifted, but… a gift from God? It even came from Sieg, which really made me queasy, because Sieg has actual credibility. Why couldn’t it have been, I don’t know, Harry who went on about all that? Four months of martial arts on Fuuka’s part has resulted in not only an impending defeat for Rinne (partially) yet again at the hands of Strike Arts, but also to a Fuu-chan who has both incomparable talent and a work ethic that bears surprisingly quick fruit, meaning she’d satisfy the ideologies of both Nove and the (now repentant) Jill. Being Rinne truly is suffering.
I don’t know whether she’ll ever return to being as kind and cute as loli Rinne was, but I think I’ve seen this expression before. It’s what Fate-chan used to look like. It might be time for Rinne to grit those teeth.
“Power without perception is spiritually useless and of no true consequence.” I think they point out rather well that Rinne would beat Fuuka rather readily if she her heart was not so clouded with internal strife. As I’ve said, Rinne is not some weak newbie but rather highly motivated and experienced street fighter who has survived by toughness and quick wits. She is state where she can get the most out of her training. Whereas, Rinne has been damaged from day one and thus has effectively been operating at diminished capacity. I think Jill’s training might not even be so abnormal or strange. Perhaps she even felt that Rinne would work her way out of her funk with training. Sadly, she needed more in the vein of mental health professionals.. With the last declaration, one would assume that Fuuka will win to saves the day and that feels lame. But beating sense into people who won’t listen is the first commandment in the Book of Nanoha. Praise be to yuri.
They were BOTH wonderful and adorable lolis who should have been adopted together by perhaps someone else. I would gladly have donated my comfortable lap to provide a good place to sit and read. Duty and honor and all that. o7
I hope that really is the case. Rinne’s power level seems to have fallen and it’s really hard to get a gauge on it given her wavering mental state. It would be nice if she had a good, clean title match with Einhart if she somehow beats Fuuka and regains her smile. Yes, I know it’s wishful thinking.
I have of course offered my adoption services to Rinne for the entire season now, although the more likely outcome is that she returns to sleeping in the same bed as Fuuka and lives happily ever after with her. Maybe they might even adopt a loli from the orphanage they both grew up in.
At least the lesbian vibe in Nanohaverse is never as creepy as Sakura and her pet stalker Tomoyo.
Yeah, I feel sorry for Rinne. I understand her a lot more now. She knows she’s like this, but she doesn’t want to drag anyone else into her problems. I totally get that. About wanting to be left alone, I get that too. And well yeah everyone was cheering for Fuuka, because Fuuka’s right. They want Rinne to be saved. Vivio would like to be friends with Rinne.
Hmm, yeah, she’s looking in hindsight. I experienced something similar. To make things short, I was on a dance team for a club at university. And it wasn’t pleasant dealing with a team leader who could onl see the goal and treated me like a tool, which lead to me developing social anxiety. Part of me feels like everything could have been avoided if I had just not chosen to participate, but I also wouldn’t have forged strong bonds with the rest of members. But yeah in hindsight you see you could’ve made so many different choices but at the time it wasn’t as simple as that. You didn’t know what was going to happen.
I think it’s plot, really, that Fuuka was born to fight, as stated by Vivio (if I remember correctly), that she mastered both the ancient and modern styles of martial arts at the same time in 4 months. Although Nove did say it was a gamble. Since Rinne is stubborn, Fuuka has to win.
Whoever wins will be right. Whoever wins will be justice. And because there’s a 99% chance that the Nanoha formula has only deviated but not completely abandoned its roots, the odds are that yes, Fuuka will win.
I hope things are alright now! I think it’s not uncommon for people to wonder whether, if they hadn’t made a certain choice in their lives, things would have ended up completely differently. What’s important is to try not to regret and to focus on the positives, neither of which Rinne has been doing for the last four years. Not through any fault of her own. She’s been severely deprived of hugs and headpats.