(L) No. 6

[Triple_R]

Episode 8 was simply fantastic. My favorite episode yet.

Lots of great character and plot reveals. Lots of good use of supporting cast characters, and new characters. And yeah, the singing scene was epic, and major kudos to Nezumi's seiyu there.

I really love the world-building in this episode. It honestly makes me think of Orwell's 1984 as re-imagined by Hayao Miyazaki.

I say this due to the implicit environmentalist angle in this episode (as well as the well-done settings). Subtle, but strong.


It's also good to see that Sion and Nezumi are growing closer together, understanding each other better, and are working much more as a team now.

[dragon132004]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Episode 8 was simply fantastic. My favorite episode yet.

Lots of great character and plot reveals. Lots of good use of supporting cast characters, and new characters. And yeah, the singing scene was epic, and major kudos to Nezumi's seiyu there.

I really love the world-building in this episode. It honestly makes me think of Orwell's 1984 as re-imagined by Hayao Miyazaki.

I say this due to the implicit environmentalist angle in this episode (as well as the well-done settings). Subtle, but strong.


It's also good to see that Sion and Nezumi are growing closer together, understanding each other better, and are working much more as a team now.

I am afraid, I have to agree with you on that. though I hated episode 7 because hey switched from yaoi subtext to full fledge YAOI.. That kiss scene just gave me the creeps. lol
However, I really hate to admit it but it was quite good episode, from the start to the last moment when Sion's mother received his farewell words, it was brewing many feelings that it turned into a touching episode.

[wandering-dreamer]

It seems like they switched the order of events around here but this honestly made a lot more sense than the summaries I've read so yay for good changes! (although I was sad that they cut out the yandere Sion moment, I was kinda looking forward to that). And it was great to finally hear Nezumi sing and his VA really does have a nice voice, hope that's included on the OST.

[kuromitsu]

If the song (by Nezumi) will be included on the OST I'll just have to get it, even though I'm less than impressed with the score...

But in that case I hope it will be a proper recording. I wonder why didn't they do that in the first place... maybe they wanted it to sound more raw and natural? From what I can tell this song is not easy to sing just like that, and kudos to Hosoya for managing as well as he did (even so, he went flat a couple of times).

Btw as for the story, it's quite surprising that No.6 has been established so recently. I thought it was much older. You'd think you can't force a system like this on so many people in such a short period of time...

[klare]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Btw as for the story, it's quite surprising that No.6 has been established so recently. I thought it was much older. You'd think you can't force a system like this on so many people in such a short period of time...

this part i dont understand too, it seems No 6 was only built in 1 or 2 generations, which is a bit impossible for a city of such scale

anyway i am surprise Sion agreed with Rat's idea to destroy the facility from inside...

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by klare

this part i dont understand too, it seems No 6 was only built in 1 or 2 generations, which is a bit impossible for a city of such scale

That, too. It seems to be a pretty large town, a large part of it super is high-tech and all that, and if I remember correctly (I watched the ep after midnight so I might be mistaken) they pretty much built it from scratch... in ~30 years? I suppose it's not impossible but given the circumstances it's rather unbelievable. Ah well, don't think, feel!

[ookamigirl]

So I guess Sion's mom was involved with some kind of scientific stuff.
The song, the effects it has on humans , interesting. Some truth, finally. Guess utopia is not exactly what no. 6 turned out to be.

[Flower]

What's this?!

A plot! The plot returns and shoves itself back to the forefront of the series in Ep 8! I am so glad! Yatta!

Nezumi and Shion's interactions really hold little interest for me and I actually dislike their characters (Shion more than Nezumi), and I was getting mighty tired with a few eps focusing on their (what seemed to me) stereotyped and sometimes not very believable interactions.

For me the strongest part of No. 6 is the story and setting - its really good stuff, and I was delighted to see it "pop up" again!

8/10 vote on the ep from me.

Oh yes - I agree with the other's who thought Nezumi's VA sang very nicely in this chapter. It was not as moving or touching as, say, Yune's last song from Ikoku Meiro's ep 4.5 - I thought that was amazing - but it was still nonetheless very good. I would like to see more male VA getting the opportunity to sing in the future in other series if they can keep up this standard of quality.

[TheGeekHuntress]

Originally Posted by Flower

What's this?!

A plot! The plot returns and shoves itself back to the forefront of the series in Ep 8! I am so glad! Yatta!

Nezumi and Shion's interactions really hold little interest for me and I actually dislike their characters (Shion more than Nezumi), and I was getting mighty tired with a few eps focusing on their (what seemed to me) stereotyped and sometimes not very believable interactions.

For me the strongest part of No. 6 is the story and setting - its really good stuff, and I was delighted to see it "pop up" again!

8/10 vote on the ep from me.

Oh yes - I agree with the other's who thought Nezumi's VA sang very nicely in this chapter. It was not as moving or touching as, say, Yune's last song from Ikoku Meiro's ep 4.5 - I thought that was amazing - but it was still nonetheless very good. I would like to see more male VA getting the opportunity to sing in the future in other series if they can keep up this standard of quality.

This.

Although, I must admit I did get kinda thrown off with the "forest folk" and was like was thinking is this turning into fantasy and less sci-fi? Will I be seeing elves and unicorns next? Is it a tree goddess singing? I initially thought the voice was going to be related to some type of brainwashing mechanism, something a little bit more scientific so a bit taken aback by that little bit.

[wandering-dreamer]

I have to admit I'm a little worried at this idea of a magical forest deity (mixing magic in a sci-fi setting rarely works, I still shudder to think of how Shangri-la did it) but fingers crossed that it's either later explained in a rational fashion or just works really well.

[dragon132004]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

It seems like they switched the order of events around here but this honestly made a lot more sense than the summaries I've read so yay for good changes! (although I was sad that they cut out the yandere Sion moment, I was kinda looking forward to that). And it was great to finally hear Nezumi sing and his VA really does have a nice voice, hope that's included on the OST.

I didn't know about such summaries.. Guess there are fans who reads the light novels. I did like Asano Atsuko other work too, the Telepathy Shoujo Ran, she is a good writer.

I felt the song was nice too, I like Hosoya Yoshimasa voice, he is doing a good job in acting Nezumi role. Guess I can enjoy watching his other works too now like Juuzawa Juu from Denpa Teki na Kanojo.

[CMGOR]

One of the main theme of this story is science vs nature. Why would it be weird if there are fantasy beings that live in the forest? In Japanese culture, it is a way to show their respect to the nature. Sci-fic does not have to follow the formula that it can only show the sci-fic stuff. Sometimes you need to think outside of the box to be creative. You can't use science to control nature; it is going to come back to bite you. In addition, the forest folks treat the being like god, so it represent religion as well. No.6 is all about science and I think religion would not be encouraged.

[Dante of the Inferno]

Originally Posted by CMGOR

One of the main theme of this story is science vs nature. Why would it be weird if there are fantasy beings that live in the forest? In Japanese culture, it is a way to show their respect to the nature. Sci-fic does not have to follow the formula that it can only show the sci-fic stuff. Sometimes you need to think outside of the box to be creative. You can't use science to control nature; it is going to come back to bite you. In addition, the forest folks treat the being like god, so it represent religion as well. No.6 is all about science and I think religion would not be encouraged.

I'm going to have to strongly disagree. First, the story has been well established that there were ONLY SIX habitable environments. Where did all these "Forest Folk" come from? No. 6 was already established before the anything about Forest Folk came up. Second, the way the old man tells the story, the bees were around even before the Forest Folk got annihilated. Third, No. 6 can't possibly be ALL technological science. Look at the place. There's ecological work everywhere in the city. Sion was even studying to be an ecologist, you know, a scientist of nature. It would be a completely different story if No. 6 was directly responsible for the deterioration of the surrounding landscapes, but it was built as a result of said uninhabitable landscapes. Sure, No. 6 sounds like it's runs by total jerks, but stuff really doesn't add up here, and it feels a lot like the author's fault. The author already made it very clear that No. 6's authorities are in the wrong, but we don't need far left-field wierdness like the killing of Forest Folk and gaining a earth-goddess' power.

[kuromitsu]

Yeah, that's my problem as well - not the science vs nature angle, but that when one stops to think about it, it doesn't quite make sense, at least the way it's presented here. I can accept the existence of the forest people, "why" and "how" aside, but magic and some godlike being? I see what they're trying to do here, but it's just awkward. And that aside, where did these forest people come from and why were they so different from everyone else? (Of course we may learn about this later.)

There's also the fact that, as Dante mentioned, No.6 doesn't seem particularly anti-nature so far. It's not like in Juuousei (*is shot* but it also has a pretty strong science vs nature element) where people live in completely steril and unnatural environments developed by advanced technology, simply because there's no "nature" available and it has a profound effect on humanity in general. In No.6 there are parks and stuff, there are the outskirts where Karan & Yoming live which has a regular small town feel, Shion was studying to be an ecologist which points toward at least some interaction with nature, etc. And the city was established in the first place because there was nowhere else to live. Again, we may learn the answers as the story goes on (maybe "ecologist" means "scientist who conducts experiments(?) like the one Safu is undergoing right now")

Plus the incredibly short time under which No.6 had been developed pretty much from scratch is baffling. Karan looks like she's about 20 on that photo, now let's say she's ~45 (she's probably younger). That means an incredible amount of change in less than 30 years. How come nobody seems to care and people like Yoming (who is the same age as Karan) need to snoop around for basic information? (I won't even ask how they managed to build a city like that in the middle of an apocalypse aftermath.)

[CMGOR]

That's what happen when then squeeze and novel into 11 episodes. They need to change things and mix things and cut things out. You will find plot holes here and there.

[ars89]

Did Shion discover that the dog keeper was a girl? That's a dangerous plan by Nezumi. Like how Shion saved the baby. So Safu is awake and killed those 2 guys? Wonder if she's being used by Elyurias.

[kuromitsu]

Ooh, Nezumi sang again, thank you creators. *focusing on the important parts* And apparently Hosoya got some proper recording attention this time, or at least they had more than one take to record the whole song. If only the music was better... :/ If I had to point out my biggest problem with No.6 it's the score. Really, if they knew that singing would be important why didn't they hire a better composer? At least for the songs...

Also, I wonder what's up with Inukashi's gender. *even more focus on important things* So Rikiga says s/he's a boy, but then s/he keeps that rag wrapped around her (let's just go with this) chest. She's also smaller and more delicate-looking than the boys - and Shion is not exactly macho and buff either. Checking Wiki, it says Inukashi's gender "is not made explicit, but there's a mention of lumps on [her] chest"... so she's a girl. But then why did Rikiga say she was a boy? (Maybe Rikiga doesn't know either.) More importantly, why does one of the official sites call her a boy?? Is s/he a boy with a hormone problem?

Anyway, reading back I see some people worrying that Bones would shy away from the bloody stuff... Apparently they won't, but I wonder why anyone thought they would. Bones had done some pretty heavy stuff in other shows (FMA, for instance).

And ouch, Rikiga sucks at this whole secret plotting thing. ^^;;

[Dralha]

Spoiler for Episode 9:

The dark underbelly of No. 6 is finally coming to light. Seems as though there's going to be a convergence of events to trigger its fall: Nezumi & Sion infiltration, Safu turning into something nasty, some rebel group outside wreaking havoc.

Nice cliffhanger at the end. What are they being dumped into? And why did it seem as though it was far outside of No. 6?

[Triple_R]

The BGM for Episode 9 really added a lot to it.

I truly loved the militaristic score that was playing during the massacre and round-up section. This anime uses BGM, and music in general, very nicely.

The sheer, unadulterated, dehumanizing brutality of No. 6 has been displayed very well. It treats human beings like cattle... arguably worse than cattle, in fact.

At this juncture, Nezumi's goals are perfectly understandable. The people running No. 6 really have to go.


All-in-all, great episode.

[Guardian Enzo]

Straight up Nazi symbolism there, no doubt about it. Storming the ghetto, rounding up the survivors as slaves, the trucks, euthanizing the old and useless. It was, as is so often the case with this series, subtle as a stick in the eye - but it was effective.