(L) Yosuga no Sora

[karinvampire]

Very good episode.

Akira arc>Kazuha arc.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep6:

Hmm...
*makes an X with arms*

No good. It ended being pretty empty... Not so much disappointing, since I didn't expect that much, but it was pretty bad either way.
For one thing, the protagonist... It felt that in the end, all he really did was make a mess of the problem by going around without thinking. Akira said it wasn't his fault, but I say it is indeed. In the end, the one that really solved anything was Kazuha's mother.
Another was the end... Ugh... To be honest, it was the "best part" because it was so hilarious hearing Akira talk about doing it everyday and on the phone and all, but on the other hand, any atmosphere was completely shattered. More than last time, just... *bam* It felt so forced. Oh so forced... It tries to be serious and it tries really hard to add in a sex scene, but due to stuff like a limit of episodes and probably the staff insistently adding in a sex scene, it just gets so...
But hey, sex sells, so it can't be helped, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha----------------------------------!

Anyways, Akira was cute.
Sora is as cute as always.
That's probably what this arc equaled out to.

Anyways, next time is the Megane who seemingly tried to rape Haru and was seen by Sora.
Can't wait for the sex scene at the end again *rolls eyes*

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Spoiler for ep6:

Akira's combination of strength and moe is amazing. And so is Haru-chan's masculine willingness to force the issue, in a good way.

Spoiler for episode 6:

This is one thing i will be strongly disagreeing with (Haruka's part, that is) - i felt like stepping in there, smacking him upside his head and asking if he realizes what he is actually doing. This is one feeling that i remember quite clearly from the VN as well - my dislike of Haruka's actions in this arc. He was being meddlesome and obnoxious in his quest for truth for the sake of truth, without stopping to think of the potential consequences. The only reason it ends fine is because the suspicions turned out unfounded - had it been confirmed that Akira was the actual daughter though, it would have triggered a pit of misery and confusion all around.

What he sought was truth for the sake of truth, but this particular truth couldn't have made anyone happy, only the opposite. It would have made Akira miserable as she would have felt she has turned Kazuha's life upside down. Kazuha would have felt twice as miserable with her already existing guilt issues concerning Akira, thinking she has 'stolen' the life Akira was supposed to live. Who knows how the mother would react. How would the townsfolk react. What would have actually been gained outside of "truth" ? Is truth worth everyone's misery ? Is truth that can only bring unhappiness worth seeking out ? I can not agree to that, and i can not agree to Haru's actions here. He was sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, acting on impulse, and cooking up a recipe for disaster. Luckily it all ended well, but that isn't thanks to anything he did, just by luck being on their side. If he had turned out right, all he would have to show for it would have been the collective misery that would emerge.

Overall ... not sure what to say of the episode, aside of the fact my heart weeps at how much of Akira's arc was sacrificed to the time constraints. Nothing to be done there though, such is the nature of the show. Pretty much everything was heavily altered compared to how things went in the VN, so i would have a hard time knowing where to start with a "episode 6 comparison to corresponding game events". Guess i will do that tomorrow with a clearer head. Meh, say no to time constraints!

[Shinji103]

And so ends another great arc. I half-expected them to

Spoiler:

not show much of the sex-scene though, considering how they didn't show them going all the way last episode whent hey clearly did. Of course, since they did "show" (not fully) them going all the way this episode, it makes me wonder why they didn't show as much last episode.

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Another was the end... Ugh... To be honest, it was the "best part" because it was so hilarious hearing Akira talk about doing it everyday and on the phone and all

Originally Posted by Francismeunier

Really every day and on the phone? Wow so active sexually! I am completely dumbfounded that the devils claws made her lustful. A pity for a Miko TBH.

It appears some people here have gotten the wrong idea. What Akira was talking about doing once a day on the phone was the "MUGYUUU," aka hug, not the sex.....well if you want to get technical based on the exact kind of hug Akira gave Haruka, at the extreme it could be a breast hug, but "MUGYUUU" =/= sex. "MUGYUU" is a Japanese "spoken" sound effect (like "Bam" of "Biff" from the old Batman) for hugging.

[Midonin]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

considering how they didn't show them going all the way last episode when they clearly did. Of course, since they did "show" (not fully) them going all the way this episode, it makes me wonder why they didn't show as much last episode.

I'd like to bring up a counterpoint. Perhaps it wasn't shown because there was nothing to show. Akira said that they passed out in the bath, and while I'll admit that statement is purposely ambiguous, being overheated (presuming it happened before anything did) doesn't really amp up one's sex drive.

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by Midonin

I'd like to bring up a counterpoint. Perhaps it wasn't shown because there was nothing to show. Akira said that they passed out in the bath, and while I'll admit that statement is purposely ambiguous, being overheated (presuming it happened before anything did) doesn't really amp up one's sex drive.

Considering that they were already at the point of sitting lap-in-lap, groping, and kissing naked in the tub, I'd say their sex drive was already amped up enough.

Besides, having sex in the tub/shower is a bit of a theme in Japan.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

...Anyways, next time is the Megane who seemingly tried to rape Haru and was seen by Sora.

Spoiler for ep6:

Can't wait for the sex scene at the end again *rolls eyes*.

Spoiler for episode list with routes, indicating which episodes will have sex scenes:

A poster on 2channel on Nov 4 believes that the sex scenes will start in the first ep of Nao's arc and appear in every episode but one the rest of the way:
ep1 --all characters
ep2 -- Kazuha/Akira
ep3 -- Kazuha route
ep4 -- Kazuha route (sex)
ep5 -- Akira route (sex)
ep6 -- Akira route (sex)
ep7 -- Nao route (sex)
ep8 -- Nao/Sora
ep9 -- Nao route (sex)
ep10 -- Sora route (sex)
ep11 -- Sora route (sex)
ep12 -- Sora route (sex)
For me, the sex scenes are a good thing, but must not be the whole point, or just added as fanservice. They have to enrich our perceptions of people's feelings, not substitute for them.

[Hypernova]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Spoiler for episode 6:

This is one thing i will be strongly disagreeing with (Haruka's part, that is) - i felt like stepping in there, smacking him upside his head and asking if he realizes what he is actually doing. This is one feeling that i remember quite clearly from the VN as well - my dislike of Haruka's actions in this arc. He was being meddlesome and obnoxious in his quest for truth for the sake of truth, without stopping to think of the potential consequences. The only reason it ends fine is because the suspicions turned out unfounded - had it been confirmed that Akira was the actual daughter though, it would have triggered a pit of misery and confusion all around.

What he sought was truth for the sake of truth, but this particular truth couldn't have made anyone happy, only the opposite. It would have made Akira miserable as she would have felt she has turned Kazuha's life upside down. Kazuha would have felt twice as miserable with her already existing guilt issues concerning Akira, thinking she has 'stolen' the life Akira was supposed to live. Who knows how the mother would react. How would the townsfolk react. What would have actually been gained outside of "truth" ? Is truth worth everyone's misery ? Is truth that can only bring unhappiness worth seeking out ? I can not agree to that, and i can not agree to Haru's actions here. He was sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, acting on impulse, and cooking up a recipe for disaster. Luckily it all ended well, but that isn't thanks to anything he did, just by luck being on their side. If he had turned out right, all he would have to show for it would have been the collective misery that would emerge.

They are already miserable, having everything blown wide open would actually provide a reason for everyone sit down think about it. As in this ep it actually got Kazuha's mother to actually talk with Akira and allowed her to vent. If Haru didn't force it and let all the stuff bottle up eventually some or all three of them are going to snap.

[Kameruka]

It looks like this show is more Michael Bay than School Days. Predictable ending but rather satisfying. Yes, I am a Michael Bay fan.

[Mazryonh]

Despite the problems with how short the arcs are, I'm liking this setup. We get to see how each heroine develops a relationship (or has one in waiting blossom) with Haruka, and I think so far it's sweet and well-written, with good performances from the seiyuus. I definitely would have liked to have seen this kind of format (along with the less-censored-than-usual "happy endings) for Utawarerumono or Shuffle!. For Amagami it's a little disappointing how in some cases the heroines seem to "just stay friends" with Junichi in some endings.

Oh, and I'm glad that with the omnibus format the comparisons to School Days are gone. The only connection the VN and anime have with School Days is that two of the seiyuus in Yosuga No Sora worked on School Days.

[Kagatob]

You know, I had a few points to make about the episode but after reading the posts thus far on it, I completely forgot what I was going to say simply because of the fact that I'm dumbfounded by the number of people that are complaining about the sex scenes in this show that you all knew were going to happen.

It's been established well over a month ago that this isn't a kids show, and is most certainly not targeting that age group. Every other post thus far has been "OMG Teh seks! Boo! *hiss*"

I'm guessing you children were also too traumatized by Haru having sex with his steady girlfriend to notice how cute Sora was in the omake wearing the nurse outfit. Best part of the episode IMO.

I for one can't wait for episode 7, I'm hoping we get to see a lot of Sora taking initiative and letting her dark side out against her 'opponent'.

[HandofFate]

hm, I find myself actually liking Kazuha's route over Akira's.

Spoiler for Episode 6 Akira Ender:

hmm...despite liking Akira's personality more, I liked the conclusion and story of Kazuha's route better.

I thought it was a silly thing to do to push the whole issue with mistaken identity and putting pressure on Akira. I guess it did work out for the better, and the relationship with Akira and Kazu's mom got better.

Just that the whole highlight of when the girl gets her epiphany wasn't as strong on Akira, where for Kazuha, finding out how her father actually cared equally for her and Akira blew her mind.

Where Akira is just like "oh okay, its nice I finally got closure, now lets do it"

The sex talk between Akira and Haru was sooo bad and hilarious. Akira definitely has the better looking body than Kazuha.

rofl @ the SSJ Mahjong thing Omake at the end

[dark998]

Spoiler for Episode 6:

Nice conclusion. So the twist was that Kazuha's mother became close to Akira before knowing she was the result of her husband's infidelity. And she recovered the pendant and gave it to her again to close the circle.

Sex scene was ok. Less movement this time, but to compensate, Akira was fully naked . Blu ray upgrade where?

Next week is Nao's route. I thought episode 7 was the branching point of both her and Sora but according to Kaoru Chujo spoiler, it is actually episode 8.

[Zexas]

EP 6

Pretty good. I especially like the scene with her grandpa


At first I kind of worried on how they will represent the climax of akira arc (given the limited time that they got) But they manage to make it passable enough by using Kazuha mother in more active role


Anyway kind of dissapointed that they didn't explain the reason why Kazuha father won't adopt Akira.

Spoiler for Reason:

Well Kazuha mother asked him no to do it and threatening to leave since both of them are from high social standing....

That's why Akira were entrusted to the shinto priest (note: not his real grandpa). Still Akira find happiness in that until the real son and daugher of the shinto priest asked him to leave with them (it seems that they want to sell the temple land) with pretext that they missed their father and their kids also love him. However He stood still and refuse them (yes there are several abuse word toward akira like in the anime). Again Akira find happiness but not for long as he passed away and his relatives tried to tossed resposibilities toward each other on who will take care of her - This is where Yahiro step in -

PS:
Next would be Nao - Well as a character some people might hate her but if you're looking for more drama then Nao arc would be really enjoyable

[HandofFate]

Nao had very little screentime in my memory, so to me, she's gonna be a total fresh stale for me.

Where at least back in episode 1, Akira and Kazuha had decent setup screentime.
I know Nao appeared, but she left very weak impressions.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by dark998

Next week is Nao's route. I thought episode 7 was the branching point of both her and Sora but according to Kaoru Chujo spoiler, it is actually episode 8.

I think the reason for the speculation is that the title of episode 7 is ツミナオトメラ, which doesn't contain "Sora" in it. We know based on the Blu-Ray solicitations that at least one of the episodes in the Nao/Sora storylines must be shared (since there are 12 episodes in all, and Nao will have 4 and Sora 5).

Spoiler for Expansion on the 2ch speculation, and my own speculation:

If true, what they're suggesting is that Episode 7 will be "N2", and that the third episode of the Nao/Sora arcs will be shared "NS3". There are then two choices -- they could either go:

Episode 7: N2
Episode 8: NS3
Episode 9: N4
Episode 10: S2
Episode 11 & 12: S4 & S5

OR (I think more likely)

Episode 7: N2
Episode 8: S2
Episode 9: NS3
Episode 10: N4
Episode 11 & 12: S4 & S5

I personally think the latter is more likely, because if they're going to make episode 3 the common episode, you have to show both alternate perspectives first to understand how they come together in episode 3. Then you show both possible denouements.

Nobody expected this to start with because it's a bit mind-bending, but I think it has the potential to work for story reasons that cannot be divulged here.

(And I have to say on a personal note that if they take this approach and pull it off, I will be all the more impressed with the planning abilities of this writer. Very rarely does someone go through this much effort to cover this much material in 12 episodes and still have it somehow make sense.)

[ID555]

Yeah, Akira's ending definitely wasn't as strong as Kazuha's, the thing with Kazuha's mother felt more like a side issue than anything, and whether it turned out good or bad, it wouldn't have made Akira happy. Also, the sex scene came off as a bit comical to me.

Still, beautifully done as always, and the damn soundtrack is starting to automatically trigger crying for me...

[ZeKeR]

well at least this was over with a fight... next is probably a two episode shot... i think...

[Freya]

Originally Posted by ID555

Yeah, Akira's ending definitely wasn't as strong as Kazuha's, the thing with Kazuha's mother felt more like a side issue than anything, and whether it turned out good or bad, it wouldn't have made Akira happy. Also, the sex scene came off as a bit comical to me.

Still, beautifully done as always, and the damn soundtrack is starting to automatically trigger crying for me...

Yeah dude completely agree with you. Even if you wanted to compare sex scenes....Kazuha had it better.

Some stuff seemed a bit forced though.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Spoiler for episode 6:

This is one thing i will be strongly disagreeing with (Haruka's part, that is) - i felt like stepping in there, smacking him upside his head and asking if he realizes what he is actually doing. This is one feeling that i remember quite clearly from the VN as well - my dislike of Haruka's actions in this arc. He was being meddlesome and obnoxious in his quest for truth for the sake of truth, without stopping to think of the potential consequences. The only reason it ends fine is because the suspicions turned out unfounded - had it been confirmed that Akira was the actual daughter though, it would have triggered a pit of misery and confusion all around.

What he sought was truth for the sake of truth, but this particular truth couldn't have made anyone happy, only the opposite. It would have made Akira miserable as she would have felt she has turned Kazuha's life upside down. Kazuha would have felt twice as miserable with her already existing guilt issues concerning Akira, thinking she has 'stolen' the life Akira was supposed to live. Who knows how the mother would react. How would the townsfolk react. What would have actually been gained outside of "truth" ? Is truth worth everyone's misery ? Is truth that can only bring unhappiness worth seeking out ? I can not agree to that, and i can not agree to Haru's actions here. He was sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, acting on impulse, and cooking up a recipe for disaster. Luckily it all ended well, but that isn't thanks to anything he did, just by luck being on their side. If he had turned out right, all he would have to show for it would have been the collective misery that would emerge.

Wanted to respond to this with a bit of a different perspective.

Spoiler for Episode 6:

The issue they present here is a bit twisted, but it's not so dissimilar to the struggle that most of those who were adopted face. My own mother was adopted, and waffled at a few points over whether to look for her birth parents. In the end she decided it wasn't worth prying into, but at various points some others in my family (my father, one of my sisters, etc.) sort of pressured her to look into it for their own reasons. So although it is definitely prying, it can be a bit of a complicated situation that's a bit hard both for the adopted person and those close to them to deal with.

Haruka is unquestionably correct in that the situation as it was made Akira sad at times, but you're right that he didn't fully consider the possibility that knowing could make things worse (especially since, in her case, she already knows the father and is friends with his daughter, so knowing the truth could really mess things up). Certainly, he and Kazuha were both naive in thinking that knowing the truth, were things reversed, Akira would magically be able to have a relationship with her mother on that basis alone. Simply being related by blood doesn't make you a family. (I feel like that sentence is somehow a key point.)

I think one of the things that plays into Haruka's actions is the fact that he recently lost both of his parents, so the idea of having parents out there but not being able to be close to them was probably hard to accept at some level. That never really comes out that much in this path on its own, but in the context of the overall theme of the work and back story I think it makes sense.

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Overall ... not sure what to say of the episode, aside of the fact my heart weeps at how much of Akira's arc was sacrificed to the time constraints. Nothing to be done there though, such is the nature of the show. Pretty much everything was heavily altered compared to how things went in the VN, so i would have a hard time knowing where to start with a "episode 6 comparison to corresponding game events". Guess i will do that tomorrow with a clearer head. Meh, say no to time constraints!

I agree with you that the anime ended up taking a rather different path to deliver largely the same effect, but the one thing I think was interesting about the approach here was that they were able to cover completely different territory despite the overlap. In Kazuha's story, she was looking most for approval/affirmation, hence the emphasis on her father. In Akira's story, she was looking most for love/affection, hence the emphasis on Kazuha mother. This is a pretty good contrast for us as viewers, and really plays well from a "both sides of the story" perspective. It's also interesting to note that, in both stories, Haruka's "approach" of the heroines fit into this need perfectly, so there was very good parallelism at work here.

I will agree that this episode in particular felt super-compressed though, and I honestly felt that it suffered a bit for it. It felt like they could have at least used even an extra minute or two to expand on a few scenes. For example, I thought the train scene needed just a few shots of them in the train travelling around to help deliver the point that they went out and came back. It was conveyed clearly through dialog, but a visual would have helped a bit. Little things like that here and there probably would have given the episode the needed "space".

That said, one thing that struck me about this episode is that the theme of "In solitude, where we are least alone" is actually starting to come through for me, and in a way that's maybe a bit stronger than in the game. Particularly powerful here was Akira's illustration of how everyone she's ever loved went away; the anime accented this beautifully with the visual of Sora and her doll. Reaching out to someone and making yourself vulnerable leads to deeper wounds, so without that you actually risk less. Hence Akira's argument that by not falling in love, she actually ends up being less alone ("in solitude, where we are least alone"). But Haruka's counterargument (and the counterargument of the whole show by proxy) is that "the fact that two were once in love lasts forever". This is interesting because of Kazuha's mother's story to Akira and her basis for starting over: "It's true that I once held you and found you unbearably cute" -- that past feeling can be rekindled because "love is an eternal truth". It's also interesting as a message for this anime where we are in fact constantly going through different arcs and witnessing various realities where love does and doesn't come into fruition -- is "the fact that the two were once in love" the important take away? It also supports Akira's argument that "all love disappears"; we as viewers move into the next episode, and it's gone.