Charlotte - Episode 8 "Encounter"

Key Discussion
#34

And what an appearance it was. That voice will haunt me.

They’ve been plotting this since the transfer of the music player!

Eh, I know music has helped some people out, but this feels like an extreme.
On one hand, the dude’s inspiration and dream was right there in front of him. On the other, he’d been blindly insane for years, and it was gone in seconds.

Interesting stuff happened in it. No matter how forced it was, at least we are getting something now. If this was like the earlier episodes, it’d have just been that first half of the episode.

What was with the audio levels? It was frustrating!

She has a concert there? It’s not that strange. They usually go sightseeing and stuff, checking out the local culture.

#35

Charlotte is a work of fiction, and thus, it doesn’t need to obey RL laws. Maybe music therapy in Charlotte works differently.

[quote=“Slowdive, post:30, topic:1817, full:true”] I have a feeling the writers know nothing about the music business though. You don’t just go from being a nobody to a major label star without working your ass off, and why the fuck would an indie post-rock band have a record exec suit of a producer come on tour with them??
[/quote]

Same thing here. In Charlotte’s universe, music business probably works differently.

#36

Maybe, but there’s no reason for it to. For me to enjoy a story, it still needs to told in a realistic fashion. There’s no reason for the world of Charlotte to have such a distinction, and there’s been no mention of such a distinction existing. Considering how Nao reacted, music in the Charlotte world is no different from ours.
If I threw this on a TVTropes page, it’d be this one. It’s annoying. Not because it’s not fitting with real life, but because it’s not good writing. It’s stupid. They need to be smarter if they want me to suspend my disbelief.
“It’s fiction” doesn’t excuse bad writing unfortunately… Unless you are Gurren Lagann.

6 Likes
#37

Okay this may just be me reading in to things way too much again… But… Is Nao… Telepathic or something?
In this scene, Yuu says in his mind “Is it alright at a time like this”

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And then Nao immediately says “Isn’t it good every so often? People do need breathers”

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Suspicious if you ask me >___>
<___<

Chances are she just read his emotion from the context of the conversation… But it’s Nao :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like
#38

This sort of thing has come up in recent episodes. Like when Yuu thinks of throwing Jojirou out the window, Nao does it instead.
This is very likely just a way of showing that they’re more in sync with eachother and their relationship is stronger than they think.
I’m quite fond of them doing stuff like this actually, it’s a pretty realistic depiction of friendships. I’ve had occasional moments of thinking the exact same things as friends or family like this.

6 Likes
#39

Hey! The beef tongue curry came back just after I made my own! I actually happened to be eating it for dinner when this scene came on.

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Setting aside my continuing obsession with beef-tongue. The episode was pretty good. Sala really fits the Blind Seer trope. I would also say she kind of reminds me of Tom Bombadil from the Lord of the Rings books, in that her powers (both of perception and the healing song) would kind of break the plot if she was a regular character. But as long as she’s just a one-off character I think it’s fine to have someone come in, do something important, and get the story moving.

I hope there’s a longer recovery process for Nao’s brother. Someone mentioned that he got better immediately, but I was under the impression that this was just a first step to recovery. I mean, saying a real word and recognizing the face of a loved one is a lot better than meaningless shouting, but it’s not the pinnacle of mental health yet.

2 Likes
#40

I was just about to say that. Sure he did make a huge step that probably isn’t possible in real life that quickly but as far as we know as that’s different is he stopped screaming and can recognize Nao. I doubt he can walk, probably can’t feed himself, didn’t seem like he could talk properly, etc. To me it looked as if he somehow remembered things most important to him and that’s it.

1 Like
#41

Almost every concert I’ve ever been to I’ve seen multiple musicians that take place in it on the streets before the event.

#42

Can someone please explain me why Sala said she went to a ‘dull band’, when ZHIEND is popular worldwide in Charlotte’s universe? She spoke as if she had lost her fame… I don’t get it…

#43

I finally caught up on all the Charlotte episodes I missed (6-8). This was an okay episode for me. I actually did not mind Yusa’s song aside from the terrible Engrish. Sala constantly reminded me of Iwasawa, which I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad thing.
I don’t usually analyze the episodes until I’ve seen everything. I feel like I need to see the next episode before judging this one.

#44

I agree. If there’s music attached to very deep emotions and experiences, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone reacted to it. On the contrary, I’d be more surprised if they didn’t. After all, if the problem is neurological, then treatment usually consists in trying to stimulate the neurons that aren’t firing; if certain songs have a deep connection to those lost memories and emotions, that implies a neurological connection, and thus a pathway.

1 Like
#45

Felt totally natural to me. It’s clear he was worried.

I felt the same with this one. Yuu is an open book when it comes to emotions. He used to laugh maniacally in class!

Yup. They generally just look around, try out the food, or window-shop, or talk to fans who recognize them. I’ve said hello to a few in London.

Copy paste previous hipster joke here
She chose a band that wouldn’t be interesting to the masses. People loved it. With Zhiend, she became popular through her own work and passion. Maybe it’s because of what she went through pre-Zhiend, but her music clearly resonated with people in the same way Sad Machine’s did. Her music was understanding. It is, as I said in the reveal post of Scar on Face, escapism in audio form.
It’s not mainstream, but it’s popular with the people who Sala speaks to… And there are a lot of those people.

Whoever gave you that title deserves praise
I was okay with the Engrish, but the actual singing seemed like it was either too low quality, or mixed terribly. Maybe they were trying to get a specific effect, but I didn’t like it.

I think she’s cruder than Iwasawa. The age difference shows.

I understand why people have an issue with it. It felt off to me too… but it’s not unreasonable enough to be anything more than mildly annoying.

#46

Who does give the titles? I was confused when I first saw I had one.
Anyway, the song did seem of poor quality, but I thought it was catchy for a song sung by an idol.
As for Sala, I also think she is cruder. It’s mostly the voice, hair, and musical affiliation that bear semblence.

#47

I really liked the episode, but I do not know what to think of the way they woke up Nao’s brother. I understand why it woke him up, but didn’t it feel a bit rushed? . I feel like there is something missing. After she’s done singing and he calms down, Yuu is asking him: do you remember Nao, and her brother just repeat Nao’s name and boom they instantly know he’s cured and leave him alone? It kinda felt weird to me, but I really liked the episode as a whole.

Also, I think the way Sala lost her eyesight might be related to how they eventually lose their powers. I think maybe she had powers too as a teen, but that when you come of age you can decide either to give up your powers or in her case her eyesight, and she gave it away to keep being able to sign. At least it is my theory.

2 Likes
#48

Do you mean Yuu and Sala left him or the writers left him? Nao mentions the nurses called her so I’m guessing Yuu told them (or they were in like right after as Nao sounds like she was there pretty much right after Yuu left). If you mean the writers it’s probably because it’s the end of the episode, I don’t think we need to really see more of him though. Sure he’s not fully healed but I’d be fine if that was it with seeing him (I would like to see more of his healing but I doubt the episode count will allow that).

#49

I meant Yuu and Sala. I mean, if I magically cured my friend’s brother from insanity, I would not just leave, I would stay with him until his sister got there. Maybe he does not know me, but as his sister friend I could help him calm down by talking about her and by explaining to him what happened or something like that.

#50

The episode felt a bit too convenient and Yusa music video was suuuuuuper self-indulgent, but at this point the main characters just bounce each other really well and I really like Sala. I’m 99% sure she’s hiding something.

As for Nao’s brother recovery, I saw it as a significative but still small step? Not really the best portrayal of mental illness recovery, but they didn’t go overboard with it.
Also, once again is worth considering Sala is not all she seems to be.

1 Like
#51

And then she says " well, I’m sure u dont quite understan it right now, but If such a day ever comes for you… make sure to handle it well"

I think that’s the biggest feels flag we’ve seen so far!!! . yuu already cheated, so I think that day may be coming!!!

1 Like
#52

I’m pretty neutral about this episode (which is why I rated it a 3). It was alright, but I guess I just didn’t like the direction it was going.

The first half felt like a filler episode more than anything, and the only thing of value I got from it was being able to see Yuu more happy and encouraged to work with the student council; you saw how he wolfed down that curry! And he is actually smiling now instead of being indifferent! So yeah, this shows that Yuu is now in a good place in regards to character development.

The PV in the middle was eh. It was too long, pretty meaningless, and the song wasn’t even that good :frowning: This is, IMO, the worst HLH song so far. But hey, I guess Yusa’s outfit was cute.

The second half was a lot better, and Sala was a really fun character! Like I said on her topic, I’ve gotten too interested in her backstory, and I hope that it has something to do with the main plot as we go on.

I guess the part about Nao and her brother was expected. Nao only liked ZHIEND because of how the music affects her; naturally, she wouldn’t care much about the singer, especially given her personality. I was also expecting them to go visit the brother eventually. I was disappointed by how well the singing actually worked. Nao even foreshadowed the possibility of it not working, and yet it worked! What I’m afraid of is that it might even push the story into one that would add more attention to the brother, which is frustrating considering how little info we’ve been given on him.

I guess I’m just a tad bitter that my prediction from episode 2 didn’t come true :stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes
#53

I don’t really know about Nao’s brother being “sane” again.
It was never really mentioned.
I mean sure, he had a moment of clarity after Sala’s singing, but that doesn’t have to mean that he’s cured now.
Maybe he’s a little bit more sane, or it was only a temporary effect, but I seriously doubt that he’s really all that better now.