Glasslip: Why You Didn't Just Waste Five Hours Of Your Life

At it's core, Glasslip is a simple story. It's about growing up and finding a place you belong. Touko has lived in the same town and has had the same group of friends her entire life. She's had all of these things that have been sure and constant, so when their final summer together comes, and her group of friends starts changing, she feels like she's losing her place to belong.

Enter Kakeru, a boy who's been moving from place to place his entire life, and feels like he has nowhere he belongs. He has nothing constant and sure. He's also a sensitive guy who isn't the best at interacting with people and making bonds, which makes it even more difficult for him.

It's funny that so many people think this show is just a whole lot of nothing, when I'm having a hard time putting all of my thoughts into a single post. The thing is, everything that's important in this story is subtle. Glasslip is one of those anime that doesn't hand you the answers. It's not meant to be watched purely for the entertainment value, because honestly, it really doesn't have a lot of entertainment value unless you can figuring out what's going on. It could have, but the creators decided to go the ambiguously complex route, and made it much more complicated than it actually is. And that's where it went horribly wrong.

Not that ambiguously complex is necessarily a bad thing, if you do it right. But that's just the problem. The whole show is a big mishmash of symbolism that never quite gives you enough to really be sure what it's aiming for. Add in some annoyingly dense characters who don't know how to communicate, way too many still shots, and a few loose ends, and you have Glasslip. I'm not going to go into a full synopsis here, but I am going to give my opinion on some of the symbolism I caught.

Touko's parents. Ever notice how everything Touko's parents went through mirrored what Touko and Kakeru were going through? The chickens, the meteor shower, and I know there was at least one more. In the end, Touko's parents ended up together and happy. All those random stories their parents were telling could be foreshadowing Touka and Kakeru's future. Even the part where Touko's mom told her about her own experience with the “fragments” is another clue that Touko is going to follow in her parent's footsteps.

Fragments of the future. I originally thought this was a pretty cool idea. Then it got tedious. There were multiple explanations for it, and every one seemed to debunk the last. On top of that, the thing that originally got Touko and Kakeru together was tearing them apart. But they're also what helped Touko understand how Kakeru felt. Like Touko's mom said, the fragments were never about the future. I think they're more or less symbolism that was taken too far. There are these two kids who need each other, and they both just happen to find each other because of these fragments. In the last episode Kakeru even said she found him because she wanted to. Because she needed something to make her feel secure with all of the changes going on, and he needed a place to belong.

Snow. A lot of Touko's fragments had snow in them, in fact it was snowing the entire episode that takes place in one of the fragments. Snow could represent isolation, which Kakeru is painfully familiar with, and Touko has just recently started to discover for herself. When Touko sees the world in her fragments, it's snowing, and she gets to feel a bit of that loneliness that Kakeru always feels. Snow can also represent new beginnings, which just happens to be another theme that as pretty common throughout the series. All of Touko's friends are pairing up whereas they weren't supposed to date before, Kakeru moved to town, and they're all growing up and getting prepared to start lives of their own.

Multiple Kakerus. I'm not too sure about this one. It could be that he actually does have a mental disorder, which would go a long way to explain why he seems so strange to people. It could also be the “problem” that he always involves people in. But I personally think it's yet another example of horribly executed symbolism. His “sudden expected loneliness” was brought up quite a few times throughout the series, but not until around the time he started randomly talking to himself. I think that these apparitions are simply a representation of that loneliness. He feels he has no one to help him through the tough transition from child to adult, so he goes inward for his answers.

The birds. Birds, especially chickens, are a pretty common theme in the series. From the crazy vision of the attacking crows, to the random seagulls that are flying in just about every shot of the town, to that painting in the tower everyone is so fond of, birds are everywhere in this show. In the first episode, Kakeru made it pretty clear that he didn't like the idea of free range chickens, that the only reason they wouldn't want to be in a cage is because they didn't have enough options. I think the birds are a representation of Kakeru himself. Kakeru has been free to go as he pleases, but he would rather be in a cage, unlike the birds. Birds are free, they aren't tethered to one place. Even the chickens at the school are free to do as they please. Kakeru is a lot like the birds, as he's never been in one steady place, moving all the time. He is particularly like Johnathon, who came from somewhere else and tends to wander around rather than stick to the group like the other chickens. At one point Touko even asks Johnathon if he is Kakeru. Also, Yuki mentioned that Johnathon was a wanderer, whereas the others were philosophers. The other chickens could very well represent the rest of the group, who have only known that one town, and help Kakeru find a place to belong.

The tent. There are a lot of people who think that the shot of Kakeru's empty yard is proof that he left with his mother, which would make the entirety of Touko and Kakeru's story pretty much pointless. Back in the beginning of the series, Kakeru's dad asks him if he wants to move into his room, and he declines. His dad doesn't seem to be concerned about it. It probably wasn't just a spur of the moment decision on Kakeru's part. He has probably decided to live in the tent before his move there. I think that, because he has nowhere steady to call home, he uses that tent as his constant. It's something he can take with him and call home wherever he goes. It's his “cage”. Whenever he realizes that he belongs with Touko, he doesn't need the tent anymore.

While there wasn't a clear ending, I think everything ended okay. Yanagi is the only character that I'm not sure about. In the last episode she is running with Yuki, so it seems like they're okay, but then she's on the train while Yuki should be on his way to school. Sachi and Hiro are most likely a couple now. Yuki doesn't seem nearly awkward around Touka as he did in the beginning of the series, which tells me that he's probably gotten over his crush, or has at least learned to accept that Touko rejected him and has resolved himself to keep being her friend. I think Touko and Kakeru's ending was purposely ambiguous. In the end it shows that his tent isn't in the yard anymore. This could mean that he went with his mother on tour, or it could mean that he doesn't feel like he needs the tent anymore because he found a place he belongs. With all of the clues, I'd say he probably decided to stay.

#anime #theories #analyzeeverything #glasslip