Ruri Rocks

Episode 6

As the Mythbusters once said: "Remember kids, the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down." This is the lesson Ruri learns in this episode of her Rocks, courtesy of her own adorable sapphire research notebook. It's a cute, characteristic detail, and it comes alongside a host of other lessons about geology and broader scientific processes this week. That's good! Ruri Rocks is an edutainment series, and it continues to make being informative alongside being adorably entertaining look easy.

One thing that's been alluded to in this series just a few times is the connection between the human and geological sides of history. That comes to the forefront in this episode, with the crew taking a field trip to Ryuketsu City in their search for sapphires. In true geological fashion, the connection isn't immediately visible until they dig under the surface, but the crash course on the region's history makes clear to the audience that this historical context is a surprise tool that will help them later. As well, Ruri herself is enthralled by the legend of the dragon, which helps inform where her attention will lead her and the others before this venture is over.

Even before the full details are clear, though, Ruri Rocks makes apparent how important knowledge of past context is. The origins of these rocks they're studying, going all the way back to their beginning, matter. This applies to the mudstones that Nagi helpfully confirms don't contain the sapphires they're searching for, as well as the robust cliffsides that end up blocking their path. Like the sapphire deposit the team is looking for, these elements embody the importance of boots-on-the-ground research in zooming in on parts that might not show up on a map—big enough to be notable but small enough to miss.

It's detail-oriented enough that it actually encourages Ruri of all people to go back to studying sand samples! This makes clear how effectively she's cottoning to the importance of her research—but that research comes with added stress. Nagi, being Nagi, has been praising Ruri's research, as she's been around enough to recognize the value in what she's bringing (to say nothing of having a high-schooler to work as a free research assistant). But that praise also increases the pressure on Ruri to measure up. It's intimidating to be told that your silly little scampering around for sapphires actually has valuable standards to measure up to. While this articulates Ruri's understandable consternation, it ultimately leads to sedimentary layers of lessons for her approach.

It's something pretty much everyone has encountered at some point: realizing you screwed up at work and weighing how best to own up to it. To Ruri's credit, it's a sign of growth in the story so far that she only mulls over her mistake for a bit before coming clean. And to the show's credit, it gets behind the lesson at heart here to show how her admitting her mistake ultimately has its own value. As Nagi articulates, through her own aforementioned wealth of experiences, taking notes so you can catch and fix your mistakes is another key, valuable part of research. Hence the layered importance of Ruri's aforementioned adorable notebook.

It also shows how having cause to go back through those notes can yield more detailed discoveries. Assessing further notes does ultimately lead Ruri and the team to the sapphire deposit, after all. Ruri Rocks is espousing the importance of the imperfect human factor in all of this. It's not just in Ruri's mistakes-turned-discoveries, but in the uncovering of how the location of the deposits intersects with earlier human misunderstandings and superstitions. It loops back to that point about geological and human history crossing, and how the sapphires wouldn't wind up here, nor would Ruri have fallen in a pit and found them, were it not for the unknowing happenstance of that intersection. They don't just find geological treasure, but important historical treasure as well.

A bit of a twee "friends we made along the way" sort of lesson, but in-line for Ruri Rocks and its gentle edutainment ambitions nonetheless. It helps that this episode is its own understated treasure. The contrast between the open areas of the city and the shrouded canopy of the forest sells the difference between the human-populated area and the natural treasures it unknowingly relocated. And I love the artistic contrast as the animation this episode squashes the characters into scrungly stylized versions of themselves set against photo-quality backgrounds. It makes for a crisp cartoon of a presentation filled with love for the material alongside its earnest Schoolhouse Rock recitation of mineralogy. I say that as Nagi's exaggerated torso is filling the screen in several instances and Imari's chest gives a little bounce as she bumps up into frame. Something here to keep budding scientists of all ages engaged, anyway.

I like that this episode represents the end of a "story arc" in the search for sapphire, while taking that opportunity to note that things are never really over in the realm of scientific research. There's always another notebook to fill with findings, and as Imari notes, assuming you're done can end up scaring you more than discovering you've made a mistake. It's the lesson Ruri learns as the page turns at the end of this episode, and it sets the stage with her being fully turned on to learning and discovering more.

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.

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