I feel like this episode could have had a better effect being stretched across at least two. In the way that (Little Busters) Refrain leaves you unsure on what is truly going on for quite some time which is pretty cool.
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Yeah, the real difference between this and that is that (LB) Refrain actually made you feel something and care about whats going on, how painful everything is. In this its just like “Its fine, theyre all fine! No need to get emotional about anything; because of the time leap none of it actually happened anyway~”
Lets hope maybe it’ll make us want to care maybe with the resolution maybe? (Actually, was this even the climax? XP I feel like we’ve had several points that could have been the climax and werent so far…)
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Nahh, Im pretty shure this was not the climax. Climax is going to come in next episode with onichan’s story!
My reaction to this episode:
This episode was good, but I’m disappointed too they waited this long to have some good plot twists. I’m still looking forward to the next one though.
Is anyone else disappointed with ZHIEND? I thought they would be post-rock, but it just sounds like generic J-pop/anime music to me.
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Yuu listened to Nao’s favorite band even before meeting her, that’s predestination.
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Hipsters.
“I heard this song before it even debuted.”
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KanonDid Makoto come back? It’s been a while since I saw Kanon 2006 (never saw 2002) but I don’t think she did.
I liked the episode a lot but agree with most others in wishing this happened earlier and maybe had more focus on that “dream” (or even ended the episode with him waking up screaming not Kumagami taking him and Nao to onii-chan).
My biggest issue this episode was how the facility security was SO FUCKING DUMB like. C’mon Maeda, if you want to play with other genres at least learn the rules properly.
ZHIEND show was pretty subpar if you’re going into it with GirlDeMo standards. I mean, Sara looks great and the animation is fine, but switching between songs was pretty bad to be honest.
Another thing that bothers me is Yuu. That’s not even an issue with this episode specifically, but he just doesn’t feel… unique? anymore. As much as he’s supposed to be growing as a person, I still think Maeda downplayed his nasty side a bit too much.
Anyway, I’m complaining a lot but I really enjoyed this week. Next we’re probably getting the rest of the story with Shun and I’m less worried with the pacing now. I’m still waiting for an awe-inducing moment, though.
As for future speculations: considering is implied Shun is blind as Sara, my guess is that this is not the last we’re seeing of her.
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I like Scar on Face, and Clouded Sky is pretty nice too. Blood Color’s start is too much like Puzzle, but the overall song is good. Fallin’ is probably my least favorite of those 4.
That new one from this episode was bad though.
2002 yes. 2006 you can argue yes and no… In the VN, pretty much everything ever is down to interpretation.
“DID YOU JUST GET HANDED SOMETHING!?!?”
“Uh… looks away No…?”
“Oh, okay. Nevermind then.”
Clearly Maeda is getting into the Metal Gear spirit.
I think he’s actually lost character. It’s the same as the transition between episode 1 Yuu and episode 2 Yuu. He just became… Generic. If we only use this episode as an example, what are Yuu’s defining traits? He cares about his siblings, is bad at rebutting stupid comments, and has a large wardrobe. Oh, and he has the standard dense protag thoughts.
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If only Maeda had more courage to develop Yuu more like the terrible dude he was in the first episode.
Yeah he kind of just became nice all of a sudden, it’s like he was never an ass in the first place
Also [quote=“supercoobie, post:24, topic:1837”]
Is anyone else disappointed with ZHIEND? I thought they would be post-rock, but it just sounds like generic J-pop/anime music to me.
[/quote]
It agree… Like it has the atmosphere of some chill post rock but the melody and choruses are all very poppy, in general I’m not impressed with the Charlotte pains track other than some of the BGM
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Pretty great episode. Theories got confirmed and debunked left and right. I’m thinking that since Shunsuke and Sala are both blind that they might just have the same ability, which would explain Sala’s “cheating” and foreshadowing that Yuu “might go through the same thing someday”. Wonder if Yuu’s gonna end up blind as well if he plunders the ability and uses it.
One thing I’m very curious about is the imperfection of the powers. It almost feels like they forgot about that, but honestly I’d wager they’re just conveniently not talking about it right now to hit us over the head with it when it actually becomes an issue again.
I do find it somewhat (cautiously) interesting though that neither Nao nor Joujirou nor Yusa nor Misa have anything to do with this backstory so far.
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At least Nao is still allowed to be in the anime, not like the others it seems. I dont really see them appearing next week either if it will be about Shun’s story.
I’m viewing this episode as a two-parter really. So, I guess we’ll see what else is explained in episode 10. The Ayumi thing is really irritating. Better for the inevitable pacing boost to happen here than later. (At least there are four more episodes after all, which is approximately the length of a single movie.)
Apparently the gangs Yuu screwed with didn’t show up at the ZHIEND concert. So… that’s a relief! Something still happened though. Just not what I was expecting. We knew about the time leap thing from earlier so there’s not much of a surprise there. I was really worried they weren’t going to go with that when the scene suddenly shifted into the research facility. I was thinking “I hope they aren’t making it that Yuu’s hidden power is the ability to also completely replace reality with fantasy. I can do that with anime!” (Yay~)
Here are some more random thoughts:
Yuu’s real power is really cool. I should’ve figured something was up when Nao sent Joujiro flying to prevent Yuu from using his power on him. (Well, I did, but I ignored it. Dammit, me.)
RIP old researcher guy, the seven second bro~
Still have no idea why it’s called Charlotte yet.
Aside: Wtf was with the “ZH
I
END” phone case? That layout just seemed really really weird. (Maybe that was the point though?)
[quote=“KingPoro, post:34, topic:1837”]
Anyone else notice that this
[/quote]Yeah, I noticed that earlier. I’m not sure if there’s supposed to be any connection beyond a reference back to the artwork. (Isn’t that style of star photography fairly common?) Personally I liked that effect, regardless of whether there’s a deeper meaning.
[quote=“EndOfRefrain, post:35, topic:1837”]
At least Nao is still allowed to be in the anime
[/quote]Yes. Nao is best~
Well, I don’t have anything else at the moment. Will post again if I have any further thoughts on it.
EDIT - So wait. What powers did Yuu acquire up to this point? Skyhigh Saito’s and baseball guy’s and… ? (Damn my memory!) This is assuming he is automatically taking powers each time he takes over someone, of course.
Girl fell asleep after sending someone to sleep. Yuu got worn out passing through walls, almost stopping in the middle of one. We don’t know if that telepathy could be turned off.
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I did take note of some of those, but seeing the downfalls to Plunder and Time Leap is what I’m really interested in now ^^
Maybe time leap’s is blindness?
Isn’t she erasing their memories? The dude asks if she really needed to whip the guards memories and Shu mentions Yuu’s memory was coming back or something. She seemed weakened but I’d say another weakness to her power is it breaks after a while.
Time Leap could be blindess as @Glenn_Irish said or it could be something like he can only go 5 years in the past or something.
Plunder is a little hard but it was said to be the strongest power so maybe it has none (maybe it taking so long for Yuu to find out about it is considered the weakness).
Another weakness (depending on the person who has it of course) is it appears to take the power. I don’t think we ever saw a power user even attempt to use their power after Yuu possess them and we even see the guy who had the walking through walls not run away from the gunmen.
Something this made me think is if Yuu having mind pictures, levitation or flying will come into play at some point or if they won’t matter.
