Charlotte - Episode 7 "The End of the Exodus"

[Aegair]

I see nothing wrong with it.

You see nothing wrong with an entire ‘character’ being there simply to be a tool for melancholy. Okay. Sure. That’s fine. But that’s not a fucking ‘good’ depiction of mental illness in the slightest. There’s nothing good about an entire character just being an illness for melancholy that’s garbage depiction of mental illness.

I don’t think something is self destructive if you can do it over and over with no destruction ever befalling yourself

Then you’re wrong. Simple as. Suicide attempts aren’t self destructive if they fail with no harm coming to the person attempting them. Your reasoning here is god awful. Plot armour in this context doesn’t make his actions not destructive.

[Yerian]

I dunno what you consider good light but Charlotte’s treatment of mental illness is god awful.

Yeah, no. Like going around picking fights with people is like… literally the example of self destructive actions.

Self destructive acts are self destructive! Good job recognising that!

Then you’re wrong. Simple as. Suicide attempts aren’t self destructive if they fail with no harm coming to the person attempting them. Your reasoning here is god awful. Plot armour in this context doesn’t make his actions not destructive.

Ok, thats enough. You’re 100% allowed to express that you didnt like this episode and why, but you havent made a single post in this topic that wasnt sarcastic and rude. You have an unpopular opinion: don’t deal with it by being condescending to everyone else.

Also you havent backed up a single statement on mental illness, despite parading around as if you’re some expert. All you keep saying is that “Charlotte’s depiction of mental illness is terrible.” Not once have you explained why, or given an example of what would be a good depiction.

[Naoki_Saten]

What. I was gonna overlook this but… what? They showed Nao’s brother as a huge burden on Nao and essentially dead inside. I dunno what you consider good light but Charlotte’s treatment of mental illness is god awful.

He’d be a “huge burden” if Nao had to foot his medical bills and work her ass off for them while living in poverty. He’d be a “huge burden” if she started crying every time she saw him, then she’d try to appeal to him and wish for his sanity to come back, which would be answered by him going nuts right in front of her, maybe attacking her, making her cry even harder.
Charlotte’s treatment of mental illness would be god awful if Nao broke down, telling her brother stuff like “I wish you were dead” and trying to unplug his life support system.

But none of that’s happening. Nao can pursue her own goals and fight for her own justice while her brother is properly taken care of. And she can visit him anytime. Nao loves her brother and he is described as a good person. Charlotte never once gave us a negative image of him.

The show was fine having Yuu go round looking to be killed / threatening people’s lives without Nao interrupting. “but Yuu was in a very dangerous place so drugs would be bad for him” yadda yadda yadda… All his behaviours up to that point were everything from just as harmful to even more harmful.

Violence is bad. Drugs are worse. Is that so hard to get behind? And it’s not like he was going to cease all violent behavior and switch over to just taking drugs and nothing else. He’d do both and completely lose control from that point on.

[Takafumi]

You see nothing wrong with an entire ‘character’ being there simply to be a tool for melancholy.

If that’s what they need for story purposes, then sure. If it’s what kickstarts the story, or what gives motives, or what notifies viewers of a harsh reality, then that’s okay. Characters can be plot devices. Ayumi was.
If anything, Maeda has a prejudice against siblings.

Nao can pursue her own goals and fight for her own justice while her brother is properly taken care of. And she can visit him anytime. Nao loves her brother and he is described as a good person. Charlotte never once gave us a negative image of him.

The guy is the whole reason we have these characters to like. Imagine if this guy wasn’t there. Would Nao have a goal beyond studying? Would she be saving people? Would Yuu be willing to join her? Would there be any foreseeable threat? Would we have Zhiend?
He was a kind older brother whose dreams were unfairly stolen. That’s who I saw in that episode.

[Pepe]

Too flashy. Scientists gonna show up soon if he keeps this up.

I was honestly thinking exactly the same thing; I was expecting it to happen waaay more than seeing Nao appear at the end. It would have also pushed the story in a more predictable direction, but that isn’t always a good thing.

Yuu was cured too fast. But I guess it’s ok this time.

I was trying to estimate the amount of time that encompassed this entire episode and, to me, it felt like an entire month, maybe even two. I’d say that’s fast enough.
Maybe not in the viewer’s eyes, but that’s fast enough for him as a person.

If they did extend this, then that would kind of force the “getting over ayumi” to become a main plot point in the future… I guess that isn’t where Jun Maeda wants to bring the story.

I was referring to the process of recovery. Yuu did nothing to adress the issue.

I think there’s some truth and some falsity to this. Yuu shielding himself from everyone else was his means of “healing” as he went through it. It’s a horrible way of healing, but sometimes, people just need to release their own steam before being able to think seriously about other things.

---

This is what I’ve always been waiting to see: the Yuu from the first episode who’s crafty and sneering

I don’t really like seeing this Yuu because, honestly, I despise his guts.
But it does really well for storytelling, I’ve got to admit.

It kinda bugs me that yuu’s development would occur in the expense of Ayumi.

See, that’s the thing. For starters, I don’t know if you can call this development, because he simply regressed into an asshole, then returned to his “normal” self afterwards. Secondly, we don’t know quite yet the extent of Ayumi’s accident. There’s still the “brotherhood” that have yet to show themselves formally…

---

Re: Misa thing; I did find it suspicious at first, but I also thought that, in a way, Misa did lose Yusa, because she can no longer interact with Yusa. Even if she was the one who died, that doesn’t mean the emotions she feels (while dead) would be any different. Assuming dead “spirits” can feel emotions.

---

Also, am I the only one who thought that Joujirou’s family house being in the same area where Yuu randomly traveled to was just way too convenient? Not that it makes a difference, but eh

---

What the fuck are those priorities?

The show was fine having Yuu go round looking to be killed / threatening people’s lives without Nao interrupting.

Except Nao has no problems with kicking Joujirou from a large height. Suuuuure he’ll be okay because he’s wearing armor and everything… But the point is it might also be a character thing. Nao herself doesn’t seem to have any qualms at all with the use of violence, thus, she would not care about Yuu using it. In a way, he was using it for self-defense, as all those gangs who he attacked were the ones who started the attacking.

I think, in this case, Nao didn’t see the violence as a big deal whereas we viewers might have, because we, as people, all have different ways of looking at things. You seem to be thinking that what Nao did represents what everyone else thinks is the breaking point for Yuu, but that’s not true. It is simply what Nao herself thought was the breaking point

[Kaze]

okay let’s try drugs again.

The idea here is that stabbing, mutilating, and just beating up dozens and dozens of people probably scarring them for life is perfectly fine. The tiniest amount of an illegal drug IS THE VERY WORST AND A LINE THAT MUST NOT BE CROSSED.

No one said the former is “perfectly fine.” There is a clear progression of Yuu getting worse and worse with each scene. But yes, the tiniest amount of an illegal drug is considered a line which shouldn’t be crossed. If you grew up in Japan, you would agree with this line of thought, and thus, the main audience is going to agree.

The demonisation of drugs compared to the brutality of the violence Yuu did this ep is really really really weird in that regard.

It’s only weird in the sense that this is 100% accurate of Japan’s view on drugs. You can call Japan weird if you want but Charlotte itself is not being weird in the context of it being made by Japanese people for Japanese viewers.

Drug abuse to deal with life, yeah sure, that’s hella common but demonising /that/ as the step too far is utter bollocks.

but it’s not common in Japan. At all. Especially for teenagers.

Do we know what the Japanese was? CR subs are pretty awful, so I don’t know if it’s a good tl.

IIRC the line was 人間やめますか which literally would be “Are you going to stop being human?” I’d have to go back and double check to be sure though.

Anyway, people are trying to argue this from their own views and experiences with drugs. But who’s the main audience? Japan. While I think many arguments have been fair, I also think they are reading too much into it from the wrong angle. An average Japanese person who sees the street fights would think “oh he’s being violent and stabbing people. That’s bad, but it does happen often.” Up to this point, I imagine most people’s reactions are roughly similar enough. When you get to drugs, the reaction of Japanese audience would be “holy shit now he’s going to take drugs? That’s the end of the line for him.” This is completely lost on Westerners. Even I, who understand the context, will not react properly because it’s something I only understand logically; it’s not a reaction embedded in my cultural upbringing.

Yes, you can find drugs in Japan, but drug users are far rarer and treated far worse than teenagers getting into big fights (big enough to send people to the hospital but not big enough to cause life threatening situations). It’s not just that the media censors drugs like they do alcohol or smoking, which are very accepted in adult society. Drugs are heavily looked down on more than anything else regardless of circumstances. For example, if you admit you use drugs, companies have the right to and will highly likely fire you on the spot.

You don’t take drugs in Japan. If you do, while addiction and related problems are certainly an issue, there is also the problem of you can no longer be a member of society because society unilaterally rejects all drug users. Getting into fights? Yeah we’ll give you some standard punishment or whatever, we get that fights happen. Use drugs? Never come back because we don’t want you anymore and want nothing to do with drugs. That’s how the culture works. Think it’s weird? Sure, but that’s not Charlotte’s issue.

[chesca]

If they did extend this, then that would kind of force the “getting over ayumi” to become a main plot point in the future… I guess that isn’t where Jun Maeda wants to bring the story.

For starters, I don’t know if you can call this development, because he simply regressed into an asshole, then returned to his “normal” self afterwards.

I think this episode could be likened to Nao and his brother. Ayumi’s death could be Yuu’s motivation in saving people like her, just as Nao is eager to save people because of what happened to her brother. This episode didn’t just showed Yuu’s foulest, but opened up development in his part. If the anime does it right, i think Yuu could be a more active protagonist who actually cares for people than the usual Yuu who’s there just because he has to be there.

Secondly, we don’t know quite yet the extent of Ayumi’s accident. There’s still the “brotherhood” that have yet to show themselves formally…

I don’t think she’s dead. So much built-up over her power and Maeda has to raise her from the dead at some point.

Also, am I the only one who thought that Joujirou’s family house being in the same area where Yuu randomly traveled to was just way too convenient? Not that it makes a difference, but eh

I was like, ‘where did that house came from??’

[Kaze]

I completely forgot about something I wanted to bring up. At the end of last episode, there was a distinct ringing sound when Yuu is searching through the rubble. This ringing was repeated during one of the scenes where Yuu is beating up the randoms. Double checking both scenes, it appears to simply be part of the BGM but still, I find it odd to having that kind of ringing as part of a song. It’s the type of ringing that normally signifies something is about to happen. Even if it is actually part of the song, I wonder if there is a specific purpose for it, such as hinting that something may be triggered when Yuu is emotionally unstable. I might be reading waaaay too much into it, but anyone else have some thoughts?

[Glenn_Irish]

Yeah I’d say it’s just part of the song playing in the background. They are both tense moments so it makes sense that the same song would play during with scenes. The ringing in the song is probably meant to make you feel uncomfortable, as do the scenes.

[Pepe]

At the end of last episode, there was a distinct ringing sound when Yuu is searching through the rubble.

Funny story, when I first watched episode 6, I thought that was the doorbell of my house ringing But yeah, it is definitely part of the BGM, but it seems to be used in a very creative way. Says a lot about how much thought they put into the BGM usage!

[thonglinh90]

The best BGM is at the end. Yuu cry, the song is be on to comfort his hurt heart.

[Naoki_Saten]

up. At the end of last episode, there was a distinct ringing sound when Yuu is searching through the rubble. This ringing was repeated during one of the scenes where Yuu is beating up the randoms. Double checking both scenes, it appears to simply be part of the BGM but still, I find it odd to having that kind of ringing as part of a song. It’s the type of ringing that normally signifies something is about to happen. Even if it is actually part of the song, I wonder if there is a specific purpose for it,

It’s not the first time the Charlotte soundtrack included foreign sounds into a BGM. In episode 1, when Nao and Joujirou come to visit Yuu in his new apartment, there’s a BGM playing that has a beep sound in it, similar to what you hear on the phone when it’s trying to connect (or failed to do so).

[NotKyon]

My initial impression of this episode: “Well… That was necessary, I guess.” I liked the episode, but it felt lacking somehow. That aside though, if it weren’t here that’d be weird. (Just like Misa’s episode.)

The Nao thing was very predictable. When I didn’t see Nao show up with the other two power rangers members, I figured she was hiding from his view or might already be there. The train scene was also a giveaway, considering how off-center Yuu looked given the range of the shot. (I didn’t connect Nao with the salad thing though… Nice catch @Kanon! I really should’ve noticed this.)

Random girl from the first episode… I don’t remember her name. Her being there seemed out of place. I didn’t analyze it too much, but when the two suits showed up later it made sense. (And then there was Yuu’s comment on it.) She probably did want to help a little bit as well. Considering Yuu’s state though…

I’m not sure what’s going to happen with those gangs Yuu beat up though. I feel like one of the people Yuu messed with is going to get revenge later on in the series, and that’s going to be really irritating. Like, “Yay! Everything’s going swimmingly. We just escaped and now we’re happy and free and… OH NOES! That person was just stabbed by one of the people I shouldn’t have messed with, who showed up randomly during this – the last episode!” (Ahem. Anyway…)

Angel Beats! references obliterated any chance of the two being connected, unfortunately. (@zetaFairlight also pointed this out in an earlier post.) I’m ashamed to admit that I only noticed when AB! was playing on TV, and completely missed the other references! Damn my lack of observation skills.

The Myusa (not a typo) thing happened. I’d like the theories on it to be true, but I’m not ascribing any significance to her wording right now. However, why wasn’t she surprised by her food falling? I suppose that might be further evidence for such a theory.

If Ayumi comes back I’ll be annoyed. I like imoutos I mean lolis I mean Ayumi as much as anyone else, but I didn’t see any hints that her survival was likely/plausible. This was the episode they would’ve needed to add such hints into for it to not come off as completely random. The only opening I see is in Yuu having been unconscious for (what seemed to be) several days. I didn’t see anything that indicated whether her body was or was not found either. (Since he was unconscious there’s possibility that he may not have been properly informed, or just “couldn’t” hear the explanation.) It would be odd for there to have been no mention of that anywhere though, or a hint for the viewers. (Sure, it could be explained away with “we planned it like this all along because reasons!” or “We already told you! You weren’t listening!” But that would be irritating.)

At this point I don’t have any predictions for what will happen next. But it sure will! (Whatever it is.)

TL;DR: Words! Was an okay, but necessary episode.

[ZakM]

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?

[zetaFairlight]

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.

[Pepe]

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

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.

[ZakM]

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?

[zetaFairlight]

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.

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

---

[ZakM]

Which PV is this line from? xD

[Yerian]

[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.”