Forum - View topicTonari no Youkai-san (TV).
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Next |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24352 |
|
||
|
Did we know that Mu-chan had an older sister named Saki before this episode? In any case, I took Mu-chan's father's disappearance to be a commentary on Japan's work ethos where your job is more important than your family. The father didn't want to be away from his family but as he says, "now's the time to give it my all." Well, bye-bye then.
|
|||
|
|||
|
smurky turkey
Posts: 2835 |
|
||
|
I am not really sure there is a way to handle things with grace in this case. On one hand you have a newly reborn youkai who as of now does not seem likely to get his old memories back. On the other hand you have his when he was still a human family that wants him to remember who they are (which is very human, expecting them to abandon that hope is unrealistic). Given that the proces of being reborn might mean becoming a completely different being without a remnant of the old one it can only end messy. Hell, even if he does get his memories back you still have tons of issues.
The episode also once again makes clear that their world has plenty of wonder but also plenty of dangers. If you are unlucky you get drawn into the void or meet a wild youkai that might mess you up. |
|||
|
|||
|
Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24352 |
|
||
|
Meant to comment that the Dad was more stupid than unlucky. He'd been specifically warned that there were disappearances happening and to stay in well lit places. So what does he do the very first chance he gets? Wanders down a dark alley. Brilliant.
|
|||
|
|||
|
smurky turkey
Posts: 2835 |
|
||
|
I agree, yet I am unsure how common knowledge it is that getting voided is a thing that can happen or if it is considered purely a fable by most people. In general I think it would be real hard to distinguish fable from reality in a world like theirs. A rumor about some multi headed dragon appearing if you serve meatballs on a mountain sounds like bull, yet given everything else in their world it might actually turn out to be true.
|
|||
|
|||
Edjwald
 Posts: 1763 |
|
||
|
I agree that it's easy to be frustrated and harsh because we've been seeing the consequences since episode one, but I don't know that staying away from dark alleys requires that much common sense no matter what's going on in the rumor mill....
|
|||
|
|||
killjoy_the
 Posts: 2496 |
|
||
It does seem like there was quite a gap in time between those two things, though. Given that this is all scattered memories we can't tell for sure but it seems like the dude was spending at least months in that place, so the warning could've just been out of his head at that point |
|||
|
|||
|
smurky turkey
Posts: 2835 |
|
||
|
Episode 11 may be my favorite so far. Buchio and Takumi nerding out and having fun was great to see (plus Buchio standing up in that bag looked beyond cute). Getting to know more about the history of the town was interesting and seeing more of the Space-Time Lab is very welcome. Add to that some character growth plus that wild ending and you have a great start to the (supposedly) final arc.
As an aside, that big rift made me think of Bleach and the Espada arc. |
|||
|
|||
|
Harleyquin
Posts: 2992 |
|
||
|
#11
The adaptation sometimes changes tack when it introduces new story arcs, which has the effect of pushing existing story threads (Mutsumi's reincarnated father) into the background and then reintegrating them back into the story after some time has passed. As we are approaching the end of the adaptation, there's a big story arc to finish and it looks like that's going to occupy most of the airtime. A lot of airtime is devoted to Buchio the nekomata, so it's easy to forget he used to be a normal housecat who lived with a human family for over a decade. His former master and now friend Takumi is quite typical of his age: curious but also very self-centred and not really considerate of the circumstances of others. This isn't new, since the children portrayed in this adaptation are mostly like that as a way to distinguish them from the adults. That said, his jealousy of Buchio's current circumstances is perhaps a blessing, as he's too young to realise Buchio has to make his way in the world for decades if not centuries and will not get to "retire" the same way Takumi does when he reaches old age. He isn't aware that Buchio will most likely outlive him as well bar natural disasters like the end of episode event, and that realisation will hit him even harder if they don't make up from their fight. The world the residents live in is beset consistently by threats within and without. If it's not supernatural shadows threatening to consume unwary civilians, it's extra-terrestrial phenomena that could destroy their entire world. Despite their advanced scientific knowledge and capabilities (as well as how integrated it is into civilian lives), the residents of this franchise adopt a blase attitude towards life and death. For the vast majority, having fun every day and living life to the full is literally the only way they can cope with the inevitability of what's to come. The scientists investigating all kinds of phenomena do their best to keep their world safe from external threats, but it seems they are always playing catch-up (the Kisaragi train and Yuki's temporary stay in the parallel world being two examples). The episode end rift is another case for them to crack, albeit with larger stakes than anything that has come before in this adaptation. |
|||
|
|||
|
smurky turkey
Posts: 2835 |
|
||
|
Welp, shit really has hit the fan hard. The invasion of Oni already seemed bad enough (including some people getting ganked, I did not expect to see/hear that even if it was off- screened in this show) yet now things have become even worse with world invertion. I assume that things will have a happy ending somehow yet as of now I am not seeing how.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Harleyquin
Posts: 2992 |
|
||
|
#12
Urban legends like the Kisaragi station focus on individual horror, but the fear of the unknown extends further than that. If the parallel world one ends up in isn't as friendly as this franchise's residents and extends to a War of the Worlds homage, then fear is a very natural response when faced with hostile entities. Worse still, these entities are barely sentient and only carry fragmented echoes of past memories. No wonder those who can fight back don't think about the memories in each oni vessel, only that the vessels are instinctively lethal to their fellow residents and have to be put down. Despite the sense of general panic happening throughout the episode, the last open threads of the series are being resolved. The void which claims so many unwary souls is like a spiritual prison, but one with very thin walls. Occasionally those who are trapped inside find their way out thanks to the convictions and desires of the captive human, but not all of the pieces find their way out together. Ma-san instinctively realised the missing part of himself had also made its way back to the original world and tried to reunite with it, only to almost invite disaster on the host family. Fortunately for them, Jirou is on hand to salvage the situation. However, if Sanmoto is correct then the very basis of existence for the supernatural entities in this world is being erased and there may be no return to what was the status quo. That would mean every non-human in the world is either eradicated or converted to what our world would call myths and urban legends. It will be hard for the survivors, as many of them have developed personal relationships with the non-humans. That's the worst-case scenario, but there's hope that the ending won't be so bleak. After all, the cheery OP and ED animations would be completely out of line with such a conclusion. Perhaps something half-way, since tragedy remains a constant thread of this adaptation despite its breezy exterior. If there's one point the show has made consistently on various occasions, it's that children are impulsive and have to be watched at all times to prevent disasters. Mutsumi is one example, as is Takumi this week. The implication is without adult supervision the children are liable to get themselves injured or worse because of their impulsive natures. There's a degree of truth behind this, but it's exacerbated because of how inherently dangerous the franchise world is. Even if the residents treat extradimensional breaches in the same way modern Japan deals with natural disaster evacuations, there's only so much mental capacity to give before the stress of keeping watch on impulsive minors takes its toll on the adults. Whatever happens, it's been an entertaining show with aspects which I did not anticipate initially. Not bad for a "kids show" which airs at late night time slots; the comparison with the Natsume series applies at first glance but this show deals with some themes which Natsume does not touch (and vice versa). Viewers who saw this through to the end wouldn't be disappointed; I certainly am not but won't claim to generalise the experience for everyone else. |
|||
|
|||
|
Edjwald
Posts: 1763 |
|
||
|
Dammit, after the gut punch that was episode 10, I intentionally delayed watching episode 11 figuring that it would end on some emotionally wrenching cliffhanger. The plan was to watch it and episode 12 together. Y’know, because I had it in my head that 12 would be the last episode….
Anyway, one of the many things I like about this show is that I have a really hard time predicting which way it’s going to swerve. That doesn't mean the show is shy about pounding in its themes, to the point where I always half expect an ending segment where the characters appear and talk about the day's episode. TAKUMI “So what did we learn on today’s episode Buchio?” BUCHIO: “Well, Takumi-san…I think…perhaps…we learned that it is the possibility of loss that makes even an ordinary life intense…” But I wouldn’t have guessed the anime was going to tie all of its threads together in an apocalyptic crisis. And the anime did a really good job using that crisis to force the characters to respond in a way that manifested them coming to grips with their individual emotional struggles. I did kind of snicker when Wagon-san got stalled. “Oh, no, my secret kryptonite! Traffic jams!” And from there on in, I kept picturing a scene where people tried to jolt him back to life using jumper cables like cardiac paddles... But I enjoyed it. From episode 1, there's been this odd, disconcerting tension that comes from watching a show that looks like a kid show with a lot of characters who wouldn't be terribly out of place on Little Bear get the horror treatment. That approach is balls out now. |
|||
|
|||
|
smurky turkey
Posts: 2835 |
|
||
|
Well, it was easy to think of the show as one directed towards kids from how the promo videos and first few episodes looked. As the show went on it tackled more and more heavy subjects, some of which had no good answer to them. We then had an apocalyptic like event that while resolved did not magically fix everything. Yes, thanks to the power of Kotodama the Yokai came back but there was a lot of damage, wounded and deaths. In a kid's show everything would have been fixed like magic. That goes for the whole show, it looks bright but there is plenty of darkness hidden beneath it, heck, be unlucky and you might get ganked by the void or a wild Yokai.
Seeing how the Yokai came back did look like magic, that whole segment was amazing after the first few minutes being that tragic. The event pushing people to make the most of their life and do the things they were unsure/afraid of before is a positive development. Anyway, that was such a great show and surprise. With the final episode Tonari no Youkai-san is close to the top for me as the season goes. |
|||
|
|||
|
Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11642 |
|
||
|
I'm not sure I understood the bit about the baby having the serpent goddess's hairpin.
Also a bit sketchy on how the world got healed. The power of 3 kids' love and imagination? Anyway, I'm glad they mentioned the model of Buchio I kept wondering about in the end credits. The only big thread left hanging is whatever happened to that poor woman who found herself at Kisaragi Station and ran off into the night? I've been worrying about her ever since. |
|||
|
|||
Beltane70
 Posts: 3990 |
|
||
I believe that its meant to indicate that the baby is the serpent goddess reborn as a human. |
|||
|
|||
|
smurky turkey
Posts: 2835 |
|
||
Yeah, like Beltane said, it is probably to indicate that she has reincarnated. As for your question, yes, their imagination/Kotodama is the thing that brought the Yokai back. The series has shown that thinking or speaking about something has power and can make said thing true, so them remembering what was before gave it power and thus the option to come back as real. As for the woman from Kisaragi Station, I assume she was captured/calmed down and the research lab send her back. Last edited by smurky turkey on Sun Jun 30, 2024 10:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group