Ruri Rocks

Episode 13

Like a proven hypothesis, the ultimate lesson at the end of this Ruri Rocks finale isn't surprising to any viewers who have been paying attention and taking notes. Ruri comes to understand that the act of pursuing science, the curiosity of following the next thread of knowledge from one's last finding, is the ultimate enjoyable act of science itself. She doesn't know everything about pretty rocks now, but she knows a heck of a lot more than she did, and she's realized how fun it was accumulating that knowledge. She started out searching for treasures, but maybe the real treasure was so on and so forth. The season can wrap with her and Shoko continuing their tutored journey in mineralogy, it's confirmed that they fully bring Aoi in on the action, and there's even a very brief post-credits shot showing that Ruri will end up filling Nagi's filled-out jeans. It is, as a show about sediments could only be described, dirt-simple.

But as the lesson of Ruri Rocks has imparted all the way up to this finale, it's the finer details of that dirt and the process of discovering them that are the important part. And in that respect, this ending for the anime does feel special in its own way. Of course, part of that is going to be the specialties that the show has always encompassed. Naturally, Imari's precipitated raffle win results in a hot springs excursion wherein Studio Bind shows off their fanservice chops compared to how the show has honestly pulled back the last couple of weeks. Even after everything this anime had gotten up to, I honestly never thought I'd have to call out the ol' glowing-light censorship (to be repealed for the Blu-rays?) on the earnest little edutainment show, but here we are.

It is mildly distracting, but it's also a sign of how Ruri Rocks works the way it folds that fanservice function into its usual scientific sensibilities. Before the characters even disrobe and dip into the bath, Nagi and Imari have toured the grounds and come away with an interesting mineralogical formation. As with the past couple of episodes, it's a sign of how far Ruri and Shoko have come that they take the riddle of finding the source of this strange little structure in stride and track it down without much trouble. In the spirit of one discovery leading to another, this takes the characters into the bath itself to discuss how hot springs, as structures, tie into the geological history of the world that has been so instrumental in the science they're practicing. Learning is fundamental, and the fundamentals in anime are fan service.

Science and sauciness aside, this sequence does embody other fundamentals of anime and storytelling in general. Baring all their feelings while baring it in the bath is a classic use of this sort of setting, and here Ruri finally gets the raw, in-the-buff information on how her mineralogy mentors engage with their discipline-slash-hobby. It's a little humbling to hear how even anime grad students like Nagi and Imari, who idealize the pursuits of a hobby/interest anime like this, are still beholden to the unpromising realities of the modern job market. In that respect, Nagi turning down the offer of being a museum curator for the mere possibility of prospects more in tune with her desires feels as idealized as the characters stumbling across a massive, glittering deposit every other week. But it is in line with Ruri Rocks and its espousal of following whatever's beyond the next horizon.

That said, the manner in which that detail about Nagi turning down the curator position is delivered only comes a little out of nowhere, and like those aforementioned deposit discoveries, can feel a little contrived for the point Ruri Rocks is trying to make in the moment. Similarly, the culminating, cosmic lesson that Nagi leads the youngsters on feels a little grandiose. That said, I'd be lying if the mere possibility of finding a microscopic meteorite by sifting through sand didn't make me at least a little curious to try it, and sparking that curiosity is the point of an anime like this. And I can also appreciate how this last tiny yet incredible discovery is effectively the opposite of those aforementioned awe-inspiring huge finds.

Her couple-episode absence and nonchalant delivery of her own personal plot points basically confirm that Nagi was mostly serving as a tour guide for Cool Rock Facts™ for the younger characters throughout this journey. However, I can respect how she uses the hunt for the meteorites to lead Ruri to the last major understanding she needs for this season. It becomes clear soon that it really doesn't matter if Ruri actually finds a space-rock in this batch; the important, tangible point is that she'll know what she's looking for when she finds it. It's a plain lesson in the activity, and one that viewers have pretty much already figured out is what Ruri has learned through this season, but the way it's made clear in the activity of scientific pursuits itself is as beautiful in its simplicity as the act of simply sorting through stones on slides. Also, Nagi does this while knocking back multiple drinks, which is honestly as endearing a trait I could have asked for. Never mind my earlier asserted hang-ups about her shallowness; she really is perfect as-is.

It is, as I described at the outset, the platonic ideal of where Ruri Rocks could have wound up. Its ambitions have grown only in terms of showing how the characters' spheres of interest have ballooned. It's hoped that the audience's curiosity has come along somewhat. Whether that happened because they wholly became curious about why pretty rocks are so pretty, or simply because the curvy anime grad student told them to, that's arguably a net good for science overall. It's an anime that stayed grounded in its goals, elevating its achievement of them through often-glittering presentation.

Rating:

Ruri Rocks is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris doesn't know much about cool rocks, but he could talk your ear off about cool anime and cool Transformers. Catch him doing so over on his BlueSky, or see previous posts over on his blog.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.