FlipFlappiversary Week 9: Being Yayaka is Suffering

We haven’t spoken much about Yayaka during the FlipFlappiversary. Not because she’s a bad character, but so much of the first half of the series is focused on Cocona’s self-discovery, that Yayaka mostly exists in the background. However, starting in episode 8, and continuing into episode 9, Pure Mute, that changes a lot.

Yayaka’s life kinda blows.

Yayaka’s main interaction with Cocona and Papika after her reveal in episode 3 tended to show her as antagonistic towards their goals in general, but sympathetic to Cocona in particular. This makes sense, the two of them having been (best?) friends before Cocona fell into this mess. However its not until episode 9 that we learn just why Yayaka acts like this.

Yayaka, of course, loves Cocona. She loves Cocona just as much as Papika does, and she’s loved her perhaps almost since they day they met. This is a major problem for Yayaka. Not only are they both girls, but Yayaka’s actually supposed to be spying on Cocona for Aesclepias, and this is in fact the only reason they ever met.

So Yayaka has carried this weight for years. Being in love with another girl, who is also her best friend, whom she’s spying on for a secret organization trying to dominate the world. And then suddenly Cocona is hanging out with some weirdo who seems to know all about the organization you work for, and now you have to fight them in a dream world for magic glowing rocks!

So you can forgive Yayaka for being a little testy. Unfortunately for Yayaka, she soon learns that fighting the person you love is harder than it looks, particularly when your two partners may not actually have your back. Now a new girl has shown up, and you have one last chance to get the fragment from Cocona.

For Yayaka, it turns out that love is thicker than loyalty, and she can’t do it. She can’t bring herself to truly, irrevocably hurt Cocona. She tries. She tries so hard, but she can’t do it. And in a final, humiliating indignity, she’s saved by the girl who took Cocona from her. Even after she said horrible, terrible things to her.

Isn’t it sad, Yayaka.

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