Discussion Characters / ValkyrieDriveMermaid

Hair Decorations is no longer a trope, but perchance someone else knows a better one?

• Hair Decorations: Mamori Tokonome has a cat decoration she wears on her bangs that she apparently received as a gift from her parents to commemorate a favorite cartoon show she used to watch when she was small.
  Mamori: You just thought "I'm still small" didn't you?

Does Akira Hiiragi really have a girlfriend?

When watching the anime, I do not get the impression that Akira is longing for a "girlfriend she left behind after being sent to Mermaid".

Episode 7 focusses on her and the fact that she is really a woman in disguise. When we see flashbacks to her past, they focus on her relationship with her mother and there is no mention about a lover.

The Western translation of Special Episode 4 in which she is shown powdering her breasts does suggest that she longs for her girlfriend. But her opening thoughts are more about being a woman again, and in the closing scene the figure in the window with her long red hair looks more like herself as a woman in episode 7.

I am told that the Japanese language is very fluid and can be subject to different interpretations when translated in Western languages such as English, French or German.

I think that the translators got it wrong. Akira actually longs to be able to be a woman again, to wear a dress, let her hair grow long and enjoy other feminine props and activities. In episode 7, she is shown enjoying mixing and playing with the other girls. However, she has to maintain the illusion of being a man in order to remain the Governor, the centre of attention and power and keep up the hope among "his" citizens that they will be able to one day leave the island.