Chu-Bra!!: Fight Like a Kaleido Star

Reiko Yoshida is in charge of Chu-Bra!!’s series composition. Among other things, Yoshida was in charge of the series composition of Kaleido Star, a show that I really enjoyed overall. I feel a lot of similarities between Chu-Bra!! and Kaleido Star, which is natural given they share the same series composer. Both shows belong to the heart-warming fight for your dreams school of anime. The similarity I see is more about the series tone and drive, excepting Chu-Bra!!’s fanservice, instead of pointing to any of the other elements that they share.

A lot of the things told to young people for encouragement are usually auto-pilot sentiments. Find your passion. Pursue your dreams. Work hard. Stay true to yourself. Don’t let other people crush you. I’ve got your back. What I find interesting about Chu-Bra!! is the absurdity of Nayu’s passion kind of tests those sentiments. Do you really believe in those words or is it just bullshit? One scene in episode three brings this point home, during a discussion among three teachers after the main character, Nayu, tells them she wants to start an underwear club in the school. Two of the teachers have the practical, and I would say realistically normal, reaction. The third teacher, Mizuno, the junior of the three, comes to a different realization. Do I actually believe what I think I believe about helping my students find their niche in life?

We see these fight for it messages all the time in stories, but Chu-Bra!! with Nayu’s absurd fascination with underpants reframes the message for clarity. With a story less absurd, I think the stand up and fight would go unnoticed, or worse, something you put up with as part of the standard school anime narrative. The “people will laugh at you” part rings pretty hollow in some stories, but considering Nayu’s age and obsession with underwear, people really would think she’s some sort of freak. Even the most open-minded people would pause. Short of a character from Higurashi, Nayu is about as strange as they get as far as odd personality quirks and obsessions go. I smiled when Yako and Haruka stood by Nayu. The absurdity of Nayu wanting to start an underwear club helped put into context how much of a risk it was to stand up for their friend, not to mention the stepping into acceptance of that friend.

Chu-Bra!! is a strange hybrid of fetish fanservice comedies and family friendly shows like Kaleido Star, not exactly as ideal as a chocolate and peanut butter mix. As odd as it is, Chu-Bra!! is, so far, better than I expected because I found the absurdity of Nayu’s underwear passion spins the common assertions found in these shows, whether this is on purpose or a side-effect doesn’t matter to me. Underneath the panties is the message that you need to fight for what you are passionate about. Other people might laugh at you and think you’re messed in the head, but it’s your happiness and you have to fight for it, Nayu.