neko's thinkbox

Want a spoiler?

“Courage” is lost.

Actually, this series wasn’t really high on my Catching up to clearing list. But due to unforeseen circumstances – read: hints and spoilers on twitter – my utmost curiosity was awakened, thinking to myself, “that is impossible“. And now I’m here. But before joining the new conjecture bandwagon fad, I’ll first drop a few comments about the series so far.

So. It’s been quite a while since I gave my impressions on the first two episodes, so I had almost forgot how much this anime strived for an accurate sense of realism. So it was all the more impressive to see a bridge collapse upon hundreds of people, or another bridge fall into the sea, causing a large wave which capsized a rescue boat filled with people. Seeing people die on a large scale is not a rare occurrence in apocalyptic sci-fi, but it kind of struck me here, and I can’t really explain why. Probably because there are no special effects? Because it feels so real? If so, Bones sure achieved their goal.

The characters are equally fascinating. I don’t know if the extent of the “realism” goes as far as to affect the characters’ personalities, but they’re (light) years away from usual stereotypical anime characters and the overhyperactive trains of thought thereof. Actually, they feel overly natural to me. Well… almost. Mirai could’ve passed with a tad less immaturity, because there are simply moments in life (read: during natural catastrophes, where your life is at stake) where you can’t just pout in your corner and blame adults for your misery. Her constant rejecting of Yuuki and Mari’s attempts to comfort her were a little too much, and yet it was clear as day that she was just screaming for a comforting word, a hug. But this said, how could I know the workings of the mind of a selfish, troubled female middle schooler… Well, episode 5 seems to have fixed her bad traits for the time being.
I also appreciated the fact that Yuuki didn’t know better but to keep pestering his sister, because he was too young, to inexperienced to find the right words, the right course of action.
As for Mari, at first I thought her motherly instincts would have taken over her feelings for these kids so much that she would start identifying them to her own daughter, and while this may be partly true, there is also an other side which is linked to her late husband saying “I can’t leave you behind” on a bike trip in the past.

Mirai's expression after being shown the keitai toire (portable toilet) is simply priceless.

Mirai’s expression after being shown the keitai toire (portable toilet) is simply priceless.

Another nice aspect of this anime so far is the music. Well, at times it does sound a little too dramatic during aftershocks and building collapses, but it is pretty seldom; however, I do appreciate the more prominent subtlety of it, especially during emotional moments. In episode 5, I was late to realize that I was entirely moved to tears after the revelation that the elderly couple’s grandchildren had passed away during the quake, and the regrets of the old man that he should have died instead. And yet he did what he could to help other people. This was a lesson to both Mirai and the viewer, me, and we shared the same grief. It really felt like a humane emotion, a lot more effective than what is usually provoked in other generic series by cliché melodramatic tearjerkers. But even in those, it’s usually the music that does the trick. And it worked perfectly here. Probably also linked to the fact that it caused a drastic change of heart within Mirai, but that’s moving away from the point…

Speaking of tearjerkers and other emotional stuff, the recent OMG controversy that is creeping over the twittersphere (and I’m fairly sure across the entire blogosphere as well^[1] ) should in fact also be one, but for the time being, it is just an entire mystery. And I am already biased because I was already partly spoiled (more on that at the bottom), so I went into this episode with one thing in mind – unraveling the mystery.

Now, I’m sure you’ve all already spotted the folded futon/sleeping bag next to Mirai’s in the camp, the fact that Mari had filled in legal paperwork, that she hasn’t called out for Yuuki even once after he had been taken into hospital, the fact that Mirai doesn’t give the bag to Yuuki, the fact that Mari cried…
I’m also sure that most of you already have your own thoughts about it, and I probably am sharing the same ones. Of course, Mari could have cried because of the fire in her town, and the uncertainty about the safety of her daughter, but that may not be the whole truth. In fact, yes, everything seems to point towards the fact that Yuuki is dead.

At least he's still alive and crapping in this picture.

At least he’s still alive and crapping in this picture.

Yes, Yuuki is moving, he is talking; but it may very well be that the Yuuki we are watching and hearing is only the fruit of Mirai’s imagination, a posttraumatic stress disorder caused by the loss of her brother. She keeps talking to him, and he seemingly replies to her, but he hasn’t addressed Mari once, nor vice-versa, and that in itself is very odd. Of course, this episode ends on a cliffhanger because there is no tangible certainty that this Yuuki is not a living, physical person anymore, but it all seems so plausible! Mari crying over a delusional Mirai, whose mind keeps trying to keep Yuuki alive. A young big sister who has rarely been kind to her little brother. Those never ending regrets. That ever broken conscience. It is sad.

Conjecture, but it’s almost solid. It would take a miracle, aka the end of this cruel dream for Yuuki to be alive. But then again, remember what they say in the first ten seconds of every episode. Realism. Yes, apparently people do die IRL, like it or not.
Although I do wonder how or why he died. It simple seemed like a bad, unhealthy combo of cold/fever/stress on a young boy, but perhaps it is linked to the mice that were roaming around in episode 7? Illnesses tend to proliferate rather fast in catastrophic disaster areas due to poor/inexistent hygienic conditions and stuff… so mayhaps, you know. Rat flu? H1N1 redux? Keke.

So, would I have reached the same higly epiphanic conclusions and written the same post, had I not seen the few nice tweets on TM 8.0 yesterday afternoon? I will never know. I can’t say I am glad I knew beforehand what would be happening in this episode, either. Sure, this is all within the grand scope of the “I CALLED IT FIRST” sensation, and it is pretty inevitable if you are following seven dozens of animebloggers, but… why is it inevitable? Because twitter has no spoiler function. And especially I have the outstanding luck to always check the spoilerific tweets by my unscrupulous peers. I won’t introduce you to Spoiler Theory 101, but it sucks major donkey balls.

Protip: Have a heart, spare yourself a couple of flames, use melative.

1. Let me check the antenna – hmm… OH! not that many yet, actually. Or perhaps I’m already like, one day late? [↩]