Charlotte - Episode 7 "The End of the Exodus"

Key Discussion
#124

The following isn’t explicitly about episode 7 in particular, but more so about everything that has happened up to this point in the series.

Basically me and some of my friends were doing some theory-crafting earlier and we came up with an interesting theory that might be worth noting.
The basis of this theory is trying to explain 2 things.

  • What’s the big deal with Nao and her camcorder?
  • Who is the person Nao trusts the most, that we learned about in Episode 2?
    We have info now that could POSSIBLY explain these things.

If you watch through the episodes we’ve seen thus far, Nao has only ever used her camcorder to record Power-wielders, and the location they use it. We came up with the idea that Nao records for the sake of tracking and knowing the appearance of the user, location, and the actual power itself.

We also thought that she tells the person she trusts the most, which we’re assuming to be the Orange Haired Girl from Episode 6 (based on her suspicious line implying that she knew the Collapse would take place) who may have the ability to “Timeleap” as we have clearly seen pop out in the OP
sequence in the strange subliminal images of which Collapse (Ayumi’s power) also showed up.

Perhaps they have an agreement with each other provided that she can Timeleap, BUT can only Timeleap to the Past and has a significant cooldown period [the limitation to the power, evidence further ahead*].
Perhaps she speaks to Nao and watches the footage she collects so she knows what to expect and knows exactly what went wrong and where to go so she can Timeleap back to prevent anything terrible from happening IF something goes wrong.

This would explain why Nao only ever records power users on her camcorder, and does it for the sake of specifically recording them USING their power as
well as the location it happens in. Think of it as a fail-safe. Nao has a deep resolve to stop people from being captured and there is no guarantee that her efforts will be successful EVERY time despite having strong assistance from Takajou, Yuu, and Misa/Yusa. Meddling with powers is dangerous after all. So she sends the person she trusts so much in to the past to fix anything that she failed to do.
(Eg; if they didn’t win the Baseball match, or the old pitfall trap didn’t work on the levitation guy)

If this theory holds any credibility then it could explain the limitation of the Timeleap power* if it happens to be so, because the person Nao trusts so much wasn’t able to save Ayumi. The reason being Nao doesn’t know precisely where Ayumi was in the school, and was not able to record the moment of her using Collapse, or even know where precisely Ayumi’s body fell. Therefore she wouldn’t be able to give the Timerleaper any valuable infomation to change history because Nao didn’t make it time despite knowing something was afoot
(Explains why she wanted to take a “shortcut” to get there quicker).

AAAAND That brings us to the current situation in episode 7. Ayumi dead, with no way to change the past. Thus Yuu’s highly dramatic and extremely saddening breakdown, and Nao feeling responsible thus follows him around abandoning her position at Hoshinoumi specifically to help him back up.

Some interesting thoughts:

  • Takajou has warned Yuu just how calculated Nao is, and the camcorder and this Timeleap idea would fit in to why she is this way.

  • Perhaps there have been multiple timeleaps and the current timeline is where everything goes right… Up until the Ayumi situation? (Might have Lost the baseball match, not being able to trap the Levitation guy multiple times already)

  • It’s implied that the person Nao trusts is the one that established Hoshinoumi, so that could explain their partnership in trusting Nao as student council president?

4 Likes
#125

Hello ZakM!

Yes, that’s my guessing too, 95% of it.
But, just like Maeda said, not all the cards are on the table yet. There are things that may not be predicted because we may lack of essential information.
A single chapter may change a lot of things, we know Maeda/Key.

Time travel, or something along those lines, is probable (it is just a gut feeling I have because of those -maybe misleading- subliminal hints and other things similar to the ones you’ve posted).

Also, “time” can be easily related to “Fate”. And this is a story about changing Fate among other things, according to the anime trailers.

But, what about the comet? We have no clue yet, it may be related with the time-lapse.
BTW, something that caught my eye from the beginning is the fact that they don’t use the words “time-travel”, they use “time-lapse” instead.
The comet will return, always.

I’ve got another gut feeling that the comet may be related to her little sister. But I doubt it.

Also, did you noticed how her hair shines when Ayumi uses her power? Seems similar to the person standing on the surface of the water in the OP.

“I will return”…

All of this is pure speculation, although many of this is quite plausible. It is a good cliffhanger to keep watching and enjoying until the very last episode. :slight_smile:

#126

That’s a pretty interesting theory. If ever, I would think that it isn’t just the orange-haired girl that Nao is assisting, rather, the entire “brotherhood”…

Which would imply that the Otosaka brother might actually be the person that Nao trusts :stuck_out_tongue:

I personally have my own theory about it, and I think that she will use the camcorder and her footage to do as she said in Episode 5 and make a ZHIEND PV; but with the hidden agenda of revealing the existence of ability holders to the world and starting up propaganda that will work against the goals of the scientists. Ergo, pit the appeal towards the masses to stop scientific experimentation once and for all.

1 Like
#127

I’m pretty sure the comet has to do with Ayumi and the development of her power at this point but I could be wrong.

Out of curiosity where does the “I will return line” show up?

#128

Sorry, I’ve misspelled it.
I’ve barely remembered a phrase like that while I was writing and trying to make connections.
That phrase/idea was at the back of my head while writing, but couldn’t remember the exact one.

So, the accurate one is (or seems to be): "The promise, is to come back home"
Those are the actual words, translated by our fellow Kazamatsurians.

Captura de pantalla 2015-08-19 11.32.40.png1366×768 205 KB

I’m trying to make some connections between the PV, the comet, and Ayumi.

#129

Which PV is this line from? xD

#130

[quote=“ZakM, post:129, topic:1787”]
Which PV is this line from?
[/quote]Its from the second one, might have even been in the original teaser too, I dont remember.

It has also been translated as “Promise that you’ll come back home.” and “I promise to return home.”

1 Like
#131

This screencap is from the first animated PV (2nd PV in general), and it was translated by Kazamatsuri members. You watch it here, on Facebook

And this is the link to the Kazamaturi article about it

I think I’m going to ask a native speaker.
Anyway, since this is Japanse we can expect ambiguity in some translations.

@Yerian By the way, remember we were talking about electricity in a PV? I really wonder if this is just a simple FX, or has to do with some major power. Time will tell…

#132

I have a question, about episode 7. Near the end, there was this dude, who was trying to drag himself and grab something, which appears to be a black box, or something like that. Yu takes it first, then the next scene, it’s night time, and he’s rolling something up. Was it an alcohol or something ?

#133

I’m guessing cocaine or some other drug you snort. When Nao kicks him you see white powder not liquid. The paper would be the thing he’s using to snort it with.

#134

That was not alcohol it was a drug of some kind. @Doublethree1 Yeah crack cocaine seems like the most likely drug

#135

You can judge a show at any episode. I try to reserve judgement until the mid-point… Unless it’s really bad… Which Charlotte was.
It’s not a final judgement though. People can have evolving opinions.

The interactions between the characters are boring. It’s Yuu being no one, glasses guy being stupid, and the idol being clueless. Yuu is a bad protagonist… He’s hardly a protagonist! He got to be a person for half of the first episode, and for the seventh episode. For the rest of the show, he’s been more of a side character than the power-of-the-week kids.
The soundtrack may be great, but it’s use isn’t. Tracks have been shoved in messily, with little regard to what the scene revolves around. It’s worse than the Litbus anime on that front.
It has been getting better and better, but it’s still not a good show. It has no potential to be a masterpiece with a start that bad. It’ll probably be a good and notable show, but I don’t see it making up for it’s flaws enough in future.

3 Likes
#136

NO! I remember people here saying the whole ‘earphone’ scene between Haruka and Riki in LB! was romantic, but compare it for example with its correspondent in Charlotte. They dig into the song and the feelings it evoked, but it was also a ‘treasured’ song for Nao, because of her brother. I find it much more romantic than a scene of just two people inside a bedroom (even the setting is ugh) listening to an iPod.

It is also interesting to see Yusa and Joujirou trying to help Yuu. It was also interesting to see how Yuu got affected by what Nao told him in episode 2. It was fun to see they all working together to win the baseball match. It was interesting to see Yusa and Nao paying a visit to Ayumi, and how happy she got… Etc.

[quote=“Takafumi, post:135, topic:1787, full:true”] Yuu is a bad protagonist… He’s hardly a protagonist! He got to be a person for half of the first episode, and for the seventh episode. For the rest of the show, he’s been more of a side character than the power-of-the-week kids.
[/quote]

Just because there wasn’t much insight into him in earlier episodes doesn’t mean he isn’t a person. Just look at Riki. He wasn’t really an outstanding character on the common routes and all the other routes. But look at Refrain…

… There are people who didn’t like AB!'s character arcs, but still loved the show because of the end of it.

#137

[quote=“sillylittlemelody, post:136, topic:1787”]
I find it much more romantic than a scene of just two people inside a bedroom
[/quote]1) It was an empty classroom, not a bedroom. 2) So far there has been absolutely zero romance in Charlotte lol

No, I agree, those were all boring.

[quote=“sillylittlemelody, post:136, topic:1787”]
Just because there wasn’t much insight into him in earlier episodes doesn’t mean he isn’t a person. Just look at Riki. He wasn’t really an outstanding character on the common routes and all the other routes. But look at Refrain…
[/quote]Nope, Riki was at least 5 times more interesting than Yuu and actually interacted with everyone, not just sitting off to the side.

[quote=“sillylittlemelody, post:136, topic:1787”]
There are people who didn’t like AB!'s character arcs, but still loved the show because of the end of it.
[/quote]The AB anime had character arcs…?

1 Like
#138

I dunno what you think intimacy is but that’s… a hella intimate scene for teenagers. Hell, even peeps in their twenties will be rocking that shizz.

But here’s the thing you’re mixing up. We’re criticizing this thing now. If it changes our viewpoints in the future that does not invalidate how we feel now. If you disagree, cool! But you don’t need to keep stressing our views will change, it’s entirely okay for our views to change. That’s life, media, and criticism.

And there are people with the exact opposite viewpoint <3

#139

Those two scenes were looking to show completely different things.
The Charlotte scene brought up Nao’s motivations, and showed that Yuu is capable of understanding. Look at the build-up to the Litbus scene and you get something completely different. It’s a rare moment of normalcy that the two of them share. It’s… a show of trust in a way. It can be likened to Kud’s weird ritual thingy scene.

They ruined the flow of an episode once. Omega Good Job!

Riki had motivations, and aspirations, and a desire to grow, and an active role in the story. He’s the complete opposite to Yuu really. Riki was forced to act, whereas Yuu is left to just watch stuff happen and sometimes get involved once every couple of weeks.

The final few episodes were the bad parts imo.

#140

Is there really a need for turning every episode discussion topic into a “Why is it fine to not appreciate Charlotte” talk?

3 Likes
#141

I think we’d all appreciate it, but there are some pretty big and iffy differences in philosophies here so it can’t be helped to a certain extent.

#142

Uh… This is probably a cultural difference, then. But I’ve shared earphones with lots of girls and boys, and there wasn’t any intimacy or romantic feelings involved. It’s just something ordinary.

Except the latter was 100 times better. The thing is, Yuu and Nao clearly have a romantic chemistry, and that moment, by showing how Yuu could understand her, stresses that.

#143

Same, but I’ve also had it be very intimate.

1 Like