Crit!

The abstraction of everything made it about thematics to the detriment of the characters that were supposed to be experiencing it and for us to sympathize with what they're going through.

I think that's a fair assessment. Although what I find interesting is that the story and its characters can still stand on their own. You can view this show as a wacky, bizarre thriller about a girl and a bear, or you can dive deeper into what it is trying to say and place the story and characters as another set of symbols for the themes.

But really, anything can be seen as a symbol even when the artists/author didn't intend it.

Yep, and that's something that becomes interesting as you go through something like this. I was experiencing it at times; am I just trying to find connections, and this is all super-coincidence, or did Ikuahara really intend for me to discover what I did? It's still difficult for me to say. For while there are upcoming sections where I think people will go, "Oh that has to be it," there are those other sections where people might go "That seems like a bit of a stretch there."

Fuck it, bring in the flashbacks. ALL THE FLASHBACKS!

Ha, well, I don't really want to go into too much depth here -- I have a section about this later -- but I not only found the flashbacks to be interesting but also to be both purposeful and symbolic. :3

It made Lulu from the deviant bear to the most compelling character who took the caretaker wing girl role.

Man, Lulu is one of my favorite characters from anime now. YKA Big Spoilers

Thanks for stopping by, Crit. I hope to see you in the upcoming parts! :)