While Ruri Rocks Episode 7 deviated from the show’s mineralogy plot, it still managed to sparkle as brightly as any of the gems it has so far covered.
There are very few beliefs that I wholeheartedly stand by. I’ve changed my stance on several key issues throughout my life. But I’ll always believe that if your response to someone’s passion is to dismiss it or call it weird, you’ve fundamentally failed them. That holds doubly true if you’re close to that person. I’ve often wondered how many people gave up something that truly made them happy because others convinced them it was weird.
Ruri Rocks Episode 7 — Seaside Recycling Studio (A Skippable Synopsis)
Ladies, gentlemen, and all my non-binary friends, I’m thrilled to announce that THE Ruri no Hoseki beach has finally arrived! Or so I’d like to say. Instead, I have to lament the fact that Studio Bind decided we weren’t worthy of seeing Imari and Nagi in a bikini. I hope Studio Bind realizes that their decision has made them the Vatican Archives of anime studios. They purposefully hid something that could have bettered the world. I was so disheartened that I wrote a haiku. Someone please show it to them.
Studio Bind fails
Nagi, in a swimsuit, missed
Dreams left unfulfilled.
That rant aside, Ruri Rocks Episode 7 gave us a magnificent character introduction.
In anime, if you’re at the beach and a girl named Shoko talks to you, change is imminent. Sakuta has long accepted that concept, but with this episode, Ruri understood it too.
With exams over, Ruri and her friends headed to the beach to celebrate the end of the worst part of the school year. While that may seem like an inconspicuous decision, Ruri’s beach visit is why Shoko Seto (VA Saki Hayashi) finally joined the show.
It may have been a brief encounter, a small conversation with Ruri about sea glass. But for Shoko, that moment drastically changed the course of her life. That moment led her to join Ruri and the gang when they beachcombed for sea glass. And from there, when she realized who she was with, she finally voiced her desire to become a mineralogist.
How to Garner Sympathy
Introducing a character after the midway point of a series is usually a lackluster event. But the way Studio Bind and director Shingo Fujii introduced Shoko eloquently stoked the audience’s love for her was perfection. In a few minutes, this anime did what others take multiple episodes to do—it gave us a reason to empathize and sympathize with a new character. By the time the show’s opening sequence started, I was already cheering for Shoko. Judging by all the comments I’ve seen on anime groups and Reddit, I’m not alone in that excitement.
One thing I dislike about anime is its tendency to try to evoke sympathy/empathy in an overly aggressive manner. It loves to rely on sob stories. While this trope might have been effective in the past, today, indifference has become the default.
Studio Bind didn’t follow that trend, they took a novel approach at making. The episode never placed Shoko’s backstory at the forefront. Instead, they devoted the opening and ending of the episode to show us how a vibrant person changes when they’re deprived of something they love. Ruri Rocks Episode 7 used its visuals, skippable edges and the scenery to give us an insight into Shoko’s backstory.
For example, when she overhears her parents talking about not wanting her to pursue a career in mineralogy, the scene depicts her mental state. The shiny rock that represents her happy, bright future is now just beyond her reach as darkness englufs her. Later on when Shoko realizes that Imari and the gang can help reach her dream, the sunset in the background mirrors the change that her life is about to experience.
When the anime shows how she and Ruri become friends, it’s not a part of the main episode, it’s a time skip in the credits. That’s directorial genius. Pain and growth aren’t always something that people display. For many, it’s something they always keep in the background. Studio Bind’s depiction of Shoko and her past eloquently expressed that.
Ruri Rocks, episode 7 — The Mineral Corner
Beachcombing is a bigger hobby than mineralogy. Even I occasionally try to find old bottles so I can turn them into terrariums if they’re still clear enough. But since the topography of the beaches where I live isn’t conducive to the formation of sea glass, I have limited experience in this field.
But I can tell that Ruri Rocks Episode 7 is truthful when it mentions that the quantity of sea glass is declining. While we can still enjoy hunting for opaque, man-made treasures, younger beachcombers are destined to only find plastic and ghost fishing gear. But hey, if it makes you feel better, you beat the newer generation to the prize—you’ve got microplastics in your body. Moving on…
You can make sea glass and beach glass using a rock tumbler. A decent rock tumbler is moderately inexpensive (for someone with disposable income). If you buy one secondhand, like I did, you can find a decent model for around $50. An affordable starter kit like the ones National Geographic sells retails for about $40. Just keep in mind that older or cheaper rock tumblers can be unbearably loud. Since rock tumbling—and glass tumbling—can take days, it’s important to consider noise levels. Until next week, ja ne!
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©Keiichiro Shibuya/KADOKAWA/”Ruri’s Jewels” Production Committee
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