Quote:
Originally Posted by Klashikari
I can't help but second people's "not so positive" response to this episode.
On its own, the episode isn't that bad of a recap, considering how it wasn't a complete mess of consecutive old sequences stitched together. However, I see little need for such things, especially how JC staff went to "great details" in recycling S1 scenes this way.
Whilst Yuuji's reminiscence was needed, I can't help but think they used that as a cheap trick to fill 10 minutes of this episode, especially considering we are still left in the dark regarding his motivations. On the whole picture (as part of the franchise and THIRD season), it is just underwhelming, especially it doesn't really expand Yuuji that much.
Honestly, Recap shouldn't even be considered, since nothing stop people to refresh their memories themselves with the said past seasons and/or summaries, regardless how many years it has passed.
But the main problem is how this episode contributes way too little despite how long it was, and could potentially be more compact in fact. Which leaves the whole twist of Episode 1 being unresolved for 3 episodes, which is far too long.
Of course, the audience shouldn't be spoonfed all the time, but when you start a season with a retcon (christmas event) and then beating around the bush instead of going to the core of the issue, something is really wrong in the writing. This is why I think many people "didn't get what happened" since instead of using a smooth transition, we have a dumped retcon, then situation moving on without letting the audience computing what's going on.
I don't expect Yuji to say "I do this because..." 1 liner at the very beginning of the first episode whatsoever. But dragging the plot this way is just questionable at best, and nostalgia effect won't make the scripters earn any point for this.
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After watching the episode at last, in no way I felt bothered at all with Yuujis' reminiscence flashbacks from the day he met Shana until the current turn of events. However,
KlashiKari, I do agree with you on the following:
- When Yuuji's flashback reminiscenced again about the Christmas Incident, all the confused and disjointed feelings I got at the start of this serie's first episode were triggered; the pain of a thorn stuck on my spine that I did not want to recall.
It felt gorgeous watching Yuuji climbing the ladder on the bridge, and once climbed on the top facing Shana, standing on the opposite bridge. The ending music starting to play in the background heightened the atmosphere around the cliffhanger for the end of the episode. A note to tell the audience that things have changed, hence, Yuuji and Shana can no longer go back to those days.
It feels good watching time to time those kinds of setups, but the relief is only temporary because as an audience member I'm left inside the box trying to figure out what made Yuuji to realize to explain his recent course of actions, and speaking for all the frustrated fans out there I would want some answers soon and not midway.