Her Blue Sky very prominently features an old story about a frog in a well. What does it mean?
Her Blue Sky is a Japanese anime directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai. It is very emotional, which makes sense since it follows a high school student, Aioi, on a discovery of herself and her relationship with her sister, Akane. Be warned that there are spoilers here, because the story of the frog and the well is at the very heart of the movie.
Aioi and Akane were orphaned when Akane was barely out of school. She had to give up on her dreams of following her boyfriend Shinno to Tokyo so that she could raise her sister. Akane is a very jovial character, she seems to take everything in stride, and Aioi does not even remember her sister crying, ever. It looks like Akane has been doing a phenomenal job, even though Aioi does not seem to be happy.
To be fair, Aioi is a teen. She is clearly going through a difficult phase, and it is not surprising. She is an orphan, her sister is sacrificing her own life for Aioi, and Aioi sees it, but she cannot do anything about it.
To be fair, she plans to change things up once she leaves school. Aioi does not want to hold Akane back any more, so she rejects the idea of higher education and wants to go to work. She believes it would be easier for Akane that way. She has not asked Akane, though, and that is a major flaw in her plan seeing how her happiness is the main thing Akane seems to crave.
The sisters do not communicate very openly, but their love for each other is apparent. And while the story has much more – magical realism with Shinno from the past appearing all of a sudden, and Aioi falling in love with him, and Shinno from the current timeline arriving in town, clearly unhappy with how his own career is going… Still, at the end of the day, the sisters’ relationship is front and center of this movie, and that is what the tale of the frog in the well is about.
See, Akane has a favorite saying that goes, “The frog who sat in the well did not see the ocean, but it did see the sky.” The idiom is actually a modification of a Chinese story by Zhuāng Zǐ about the frog of the well. In it, a turtle comes to ask the frog of the well why it does not go and see the ocean some time. The frog responds that it is quite happy in the well and invites the turtle to share its joy. The turtle does not manage to get into the well, and the frog refuses to go and see the ocean. The moral here, is that little-minded, ignorant people do not see anything other than their own life and world and refuse to try something new.
In the initial story, the frog is the little-minded person who refuses to see beyond its world. The turtle tries to get into the well, and it simply cannot, but the frog does not even try.
Akane’s words change the story’s moral to point out that the frog does see the sky while in the well. The frog might not have seen everything there is to life, but the sky is a joy on its own, especially if the frog has a reason to stay.
Akane has probably been told over and over again that she had sacrificed her life for her sister. Her sister even believes it, despite knowing what Akane’s favorite saying is. But Akane probably does not agree.
She might not have seen Tokyo, true. But she saw some things that were much more important, like her sister growing up and learning to play the guitar, smiling, laughing and having a home. Aioi has been Akane’s blue sky, and it was more than enough.
While talking to the real-time Shinno (remember the whole doppelganger subplot?), Akane says that modern life is different. It is not that strange to search for yourself longer than people believe you should, and the same can be said about getting a family. Akane cries after this scene, which shows that she might not believe that. But she is not wrong.
People are generally expected to reach certain milestones by a certain age. Both Akane and Shinno failed to find a family by the age deemed appropriate, but those expectations do not have to tie people down. Those old turtles coming to Akane’s well and telling her that she was failing at life probably did not help her much. Akane and Shinno still have the time to find the regular happiness people usually believe is necessary, and the final moments of the anime suggest that they might rekindle their relationship.
But even if they do not, never forget that Akane has her blue sky, and the ocean can wait.
Her Blue Sky very prominently features an old story about a frog in a well. What does it mean?
Her Blue Sky is a Japanese anime directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai. It is very emotional, which makes sense since it follows a high school student, Aioi, on a discovery of herself and her relationship with her sister, Akane. Be warned that there are spoilers here, because the story of the frog and the well is at the very heart of the movie.
Aioi and Akane were orphaned when Akane was barely out of school. She had to give up on her dreams of following her boyfriend Shinno to Tokyo so that she could raise her sister. Akane is a very jovial character, she seems to take everything in stride, and Aioi does not even remember her sister crying, ever. It looks like Akane has been doing a phenomenal job, even though Aioi does not seem to be happy.
To be fair, Aioi is a teen. She is clearly going through a difficult phase, and it is not surprising. She is an orphan, her sister is sacrificing her own life for Aioi, and Aioi sees it, but she cannot do anything about it.
To be fair, she plans to change things up once she leaves school. Aioi does not want to hold Akane back any more, so she rejects the idea of higher education and wants to go to work. She believes it would be easier for Akane that way. She has not asked Akane, though, and that is a major flaw in her plan seeing how her happiness is the main thing Akane seems to crave.
The sisters do not communicate very openly, but their love for each other is apparent. And while the story has much more – magical realism with Shinno from the past appearing all of a sudden, and Aioi falling in love with him, and Shinno from the current timeline arriving in town, clearly unhappy with how his own career is going… Still, at the end of the day, the sisters’ relationship is front and center of this movie, and that is what the tale of the frog in the well is about.
See, Akane has a favorite saying that goes, “The frog who sat in the well did not see the ocean, but it did see the sky.” The idiom is actually a modification of a Chinese story by Zhuāng Zǐ about the frog of the well. In it, a turtle comes to ask the frog of the well why it does not go and see the ocean some time. The frog responds that it is quite happy in the well and invites the turtle to share its joy. The turtle does not manage to get into the well, and the frog refuses to go and see the ocean. The moral here, is that little-minded, ignorant people do not see anything other than their own life and world and refuse to try something new.
In the initial story, the frog is the little-minded person who refuses to see beyond its world. The turtle tries to get into the well, and it simply cannot, but the frog does not even try.
Akane’s words change the story’s moral to point out that the frog does see the sky while in the well. The frog might not have seen everything there is to life, but the sky is a joy on its own, especially if the frog has a reason to stay.
Akane has probably been told over and over again that she had sacrificed her life for her sister. Her sister even believes it, despite knowing what Akane’s favorite saying is. But Akane probably does not agree.
She might not have seen Tokyo, true. But she saw some things that were much more important, like her sister growing up and learning to play the guitar, smiling, laughing and having a home. Aioi has been Akane’s blue sky, and it was more than enough.
While talking to the real-time Shinno (remember the whole doppelganger subplot?), Akane says that modern life is different. It is not that strange to search for yourself longer than people believe you should, and the same can be said about getting a family. Akane cries after this scene, which shows that she might not believe that. But she is not wrong.
People are generally expected to reach certain milestones by a certain age. Both Akane and Shinno failed to find a family by the age deemed appropriate, but those expectations do not have to tie people down. Those old turtles coming to Akane’s well and telling her that she was failing at life probably did not help her much. Akane and Shinno still have the time to find the regular happiness people usually believe is necessary, and the final moments of the anime suggest that they might rekindle their relationship.
But even if they do not, never forget that Akane has her blue sky, and the ocean can wait.
