Charlotte - Episode 8 "Encounter"

[ZakM]

I watched Sala’s back-story, and losing eyesight “explanation” part three times now… And this vagueness is hurting my head…

So. she “cheated” and became successful somehow.
And because of that, the money that reeled in made her family a target. As a result her brother got kidnapped for the purpose demanding ransom from her family.
She repents, and decides she doesn’t want to be a successful artist any more and decided to be a front-man for dull boring music band that won’t be of interest to masses of people.
And then “I bartered my eyesight away, and gave it to God, the end”

"

There is some hidden meaning here I know it… But this vagueness is killing me.

[Takafumi]

There is some hidden meaning here I know it… But this vagueness is killing me.

Those are the steps you take to become a Hipster.

[Bizkitdoh]

This was pretty fucking great. Second half was Episode 2 tier. One of my favorites.
The music video, minus being great for Nao- Why the fuck. Really silly.

Something I forgot to write! I also don’t think Sala is the Tomari’s benefactor anymore.

While the subs have been terrible and it could be a NaoNao being sneaky or she doesn’t really know- She said ‘he’ in reference to the benefactor. Pretty sure it’s a dude, and the best idea is it’s the missing onii-chan.

In contrast to @Kanon, I actually thought this episode had some clever directing… It wasn’t perfect for some bits by any means, but I liked some stuff. Not a train wreck. More like a traffic accident.

[Doublethree1]

While the subs have been terrible and it could be a NaoNao being sneaky or she doesn’t really know- She said ‘he’ in reference to the benefactor. Pretty sure it’s a dude, and the best idea is it’s the missing onii-chan.

When was this? I just watched the part in episode 2 and she says “I have met the one person I can put my trust in, and that’s how I’m here now” Yuu says “That person is–” Nao says “We’re getting off at the next stop.” Unless I’m forgetting a future time the person was brought up no gender was assigned to them. I do agree now it’s probably missing onii-chan as he’s really the only one left.

[Kanon]

Ok you know what, this episode had some good things.

Yu still clinging to Ayumi, good, that’s what we needed.

I already formed a solid dislike of it by the time the ED started playing so I didn’t really think ‘hey, this post ED scene is really good’, mostly because GOOD VOICE ACTING. NaoNao had ever so slight a quiver in her voice for one line, it’s emotion! She has real emotion! She isn’t an unbreakable wall of strength!
Seeing such a strong character crack is very good!

Salad and Yu’s insanely quick ascension to besties was just unbelievable, forced as all hell and I was completely unable to enjoy it. Yu deciding ‘Yo maybe we can cure insanity in 5 seconds’ and the fact it worked is idiotic. Random ass music video did the episode no favors. (NaoNao’s calling Yusa a shit was good)

Still worse than the Baseball episode.

[Bizkitdoh]

GOOD VOICE ACTING. NaoNao had ever so slight a quiver in her voice for one line, it’s emotion! She has real emotion! She isn’t an unbreakable wall of strength!Seeing such a strong character crack is very good!

This was my favorite part. Also note that they never show her face in the scenes- This was really really good. While their relationship has been… Weird. There was a nice contrast still, especially in her reaction to Sala being at Yuu’s house. And like before, I don’t really get too bothered by Yuu’s monologue stuff because I just think of any other VN protag. THAT SAID their development is still weird and forceful, but it’s still development and not a sudden affirmation of something. They still feel like slightly better friends and now Yuu is thinking more critically of what it is he’s doing.

This is a very good discussion point for the podcast. :kgoha:

The music video was fucking terrible and it alone can make the episode worse than the baseball episode. That’s fair. But I’ll stand by everything post Sala being brilliant.

[Naoki_Saten]

Another amazing episode!

Yuu is changing. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time we’ve seen Yuu doing something good out of his own free will. It’s a great change. It is implied that Nao is the one who’s changing him (well, we did see him mimic Nao when he was ‘dealing’ with all those delinquents last episode). But needless to say, Ayumi’s death probably played an even greater role in this. When I thought about it, a certain quote came to mind. "The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do.’’

We have been shown an unexpected(?) swap in positions. Yuu actually accomplished something Nao could not. Nao had already lost all hope. Would this be considered a sort of weakness? She gave up on finding a cure for her brother. In return, her heart became less vulnerable. But Yuu kept hoping and it did pay off in the end. Good job, Yuu.

Nonetheless… Key is still looking down on traumata…

About Sara… well, she does have a unique personality. Just going off to accompany a sad guy and help him out. I think that part of her is related to why she’s capable of touching people’s hearts with her music.

They’re still giving roles to key-related VA. Sawashiro Miyuki (Iwasawa) as Sara Shane was pretty big. And they let Sugita (Yuuichi) make an appearance, too, as the guy in okonomiyaki shop! It kinda feels good to see the VAs getting this kind of appreciation! Please keep doing that!

But, there is this ominous sense welling up in me that something bad is going to happen at this ZHIEND concert. It’s the event we’re building up to, so something has to happen…

I got the same feeling when Yuu mentioned the gig again at the end of the episode. Something bad is going to happen during the concert. Maybe it’ll happen before that and we won’t even get to see the concert.

[DaBackpack]

Sorry but I thought it was pretty terrible. Talk about mood whiplash.

Good parts were Yuu slowly being nice to people and the phone conversations with Tomori.

Bad part was curing insanity with music.
Pointless music video.
Totally random forced encounter with Sala.

Maybe my opinion will change with later eps but I was pretty angry while watching until the very end.

Edit: I think the comedy is the really bad part honestly. It keeps leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I think the bad school sequences tainted how I saw the rest of the episode. It’s just over-the-top trying-too-hard humor.

[sillylittlemelody]

Loved the episode! And yes, something is definitely going to happen at the concert. But I’m still confused with Sala’s backstory…

[Slowdive]

Favorite episode so far. Music is the most important thing in my life, so the whole concept of this one is pretty cool. 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?? Also, everyone who’s calling bullshit on the healing power of music needs to take a step back. Music can affect the mind and body in crazy ways, and I feel bad for anyone who’s never been emotionally moved by it before.

Bonus points to this ep for featuring me irl:

[DaBackpack]

Music therapy exists, but music therapy is not listening to one 30 second song and getting better (regarding literal mental illness)

It makes sense that this is a big step for him, and I’m hoping he doesn’t just “get better”

[Bizkitdoh]

I can’t be the only person who thinks his breakthrough from something that was his lifeblood isn’t far-fetched, right? If anything is far-fetched it’s the events that lead up to that event- But even that isn’t that out there. Still nestled nicely in believable…ness. Despite it being convenient. What with character design and all, as well as some other things…

[Hirato]

Ugh, I don’t know why people really like this episode, while for me this one is a terrible one. But sure, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I shouldn’t judge.

This episode felt pretty bland to me.
I’m glad to see that Otosaka is being transformed to a nice guy, from the bottom of his heart. He even truly cared for Tomori’s brother. That’s good, that’s nice. Tomori’s also shown a great gratefulness by her voice alone. Yeah, the VA did a very good job. Like it.

But I don’t really like the placement of Yusa’s song. It’s totally unrelated, as if the producers were like “Hey we gotta insert some music video here, so let’s make the characters watch them or whatever random as long as it works.” Plus the song was terrible with incomprehensible Engrish. And Tomori, please. That music video was effing terrible, how could you rate it so good! I thought you want to be videographer! At least you should have a better taste ding dong!
And Sala. Don’t know why she just suddenly randomly appeared around the school where Otosaka can find her. Weird. Or is there something else? But anyway, while we don’t know how they could just somehow had a fated meeting, Otosaka and Sala meeting just felt weird to me. Also felt pretty forced. (But again we don’t exactly know why Sala’s loitering around the school without anyone accompanying her. She’s blind and she’s a rising star, how could her manager let her? That’s effing dangerous.)
And listening Sala singing for only few seconds made a great recovery, despite the patient already being kept so long inside professional medical institution. Wow. Talk about convenience. Why there’s no psychiatrists in Key? Because they all went effing bankrupt 'coz a short song can make people immediately sane. (Or maybe her song contains some kind of power. Dunno.)

And anyway we’re back to square one. We still have no idea about Wet Guy or whoever that orange-haired girl and the other characters we have yet to meet. It’s already 8 episodes, there’s only 5 more and so far we’re not really heading anywhere beside the point that “being a super-powered teenager will bring doom to your sibling”.

[Takafumi]

And they let Sugita (Yuuichi) make an appearance, too, as the guy in okonomiyaki shop!

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

I got the same feeling when Yuu mentioned the gig again at the end of the episode. Something bad is going to happen during the concert.

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

Also, everyone who’s calling bullshit on the healing power of music needs to take a step back. Music can affect the mind and body in crazy ways, and I feel bad for anyone who’s never been emotionally moved by it before.

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.

Ugh, I don’t know why people really like this episode, while for me this one is a terrible one.

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.

Plus the song was terrible with incomprehensible Engrish.

What was with the audio levels? It was frustrating!

And Sala. Don’t know why she just suddenly randomly appeared around the school where Otosaka can find her. Weird. Or is there something else?

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

[sillylittlemelody]

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.

Music therapy exists, but music therapy is not listening to one 30 second song and getting better (regarding literal mental illness)

It makes sense that this is a big step for him, and I’m hoping he doesn’t just “get better”

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.

[Takafumi]

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

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.

[ZakM]

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”

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

Suspicious if you ask me >___>
<___<

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

[Bonecuss]

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.

[therationalpi]

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.

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.

[Doublethree1]

Someone mentioned that he got better immediately, but I was under the impression that this was just a first step to recovery.

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.