sola - Episode 7 Discussion / Poll

[Darklightz]

This episode was very sad,seeing Aono vainly trying to fill the void in Yorito's heart that was occupied by Matsuri.What's even sadder is that once Yorito realizes that Aono manipulated his memories from the start,he'll have nothing but hate for her.

It's amusing to see how even with all her powers,Aono can't hold Yurito as much as Matsuri does just with love.

[Mueti]

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

These characters desperately need the following three things: background, background and background. And maybe a bit of background to go with that.

Anyway, I still argue that the characterization in this series is weak, and until the situation with total lack of background is changed, that's how I'll continue to call it (but, given the fact that background will almost certainly be instrumental to the plot, they'd be totally retarded not to deal with it). Nonetheless, this was an interesting, if highly melodramatic episode. As people have mentioned, Aono's case of the stabs is immediately reminiscent of Shuffle's Kaede, with the exception that she actually got background before she went off her case. Aono just happened suddenly, out of the blue, seemingly for almost no reason (past mad jealousy, which I don't buy... there has to be something more to this).

I tend to agree but it's nothing negative for me yet since I expect the background and motivations to be provided within the 6 episodes to follow. If there actually would be plot- or characterholes left that would indeed be a disappointment.

Originally Posted by Cats

But lets presume she did loose it. Can you blame her?

What would keep you from blaming her? With the information provided the only motive I see the hints amount to is jealousy, which wouldn't in the least qualify as a justification for her action.
Well, we can't be sure about her motives yet but whatever they are, yes, I can blame her, I do, and I believe (and hope) she will do so herself.

[felix]

I meant it as in she's the lonlies character in the entire show.
Matsuri may not exactly be any diffrent but she doesn't really seem to care for anything. Whatever happens it just seems to pass her by.

[Anacone]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Crazy thought: Since we are speculating that Aono created Yorito 3 months ago, how about this: She "created" Mana as well, as a person who would look after Yorito while she was in hospital
.

Good call . *Fantasies some hard threesome......sigh*

How about Koyouri then...Is is possible to Aono create such cute thing ...

[aorta]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Crazy thought: Since we are speculating that Aono created Yorito 3 months ago, how about this: She "created" Mana as well, as a person who would look after Yorito while she was in hospital

Well that would explain why Koyori has trouble calling her sister.

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Cats

I meant it as in she's the lonlies character in the entire show.
Matsuri may not exactly be any diffrent but she doesn't really seem to care for anything. Whatever happens it just seems to pass her by.

She obviously does care. In ep1 after meeting Yorito she sheds a tear after he tells her about the sky. She is on the verge of shedding tears once Yorito promised her to show the sky again on the school roof. Does she look like she doesn't care at the end of ep7 ?

She obviously does care, but unlike Aono (who has become nothing short of an angstball) she tries to tackle the life with a smile on her face.

[Areguzanda]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

She obviously does care. In ep1 after meeting Yorito she sheds a tear after he tells her about the sky. She is on the verge of shedding tears once Yorito promised her to show the sky again on the school roof. Does she look like she doesn't care at the end of ep7 ?

She obviously does care, but unlike Aono (who has become nothing short of an angstball) she tries to tackle the life with a smile on her face.

I agree with Skyfall.

[felix]

Well I won't say your totally of with the angst ball thing, but I don't think you got it right either. We can't expect every character when happy to be a mini Matsuri, she has that mood mostly because that's how her character seems to be sketched. Even if she was totally happy I don't think she would be more Matsuriish.

If she's a demon and has some great hate for Matsuri then why did she contact her instead of ploting to get rid of her. It doesn't seem to be that hard to kill a yaka, and most certainly a chance would have presented itself. I know your going to say it's all Aono's fault, and that she's a cold heated killer now, but to me Matsuri didn't seem that noble when she went berserk and almost ripped cloak 'n' galases -chan's hand off.

[Icerack]

Well that would explain why Koyori has trouble calling her sister.

Good theory. But if I were Aono, I think I would've created a dude for Yorito.

[felix]

He's got a point there. *lol*

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Cats

Well I won't say your totally of with the angst ball thing, but I don't think you got it right either. We can't expect every character when happy to be a mini Matsuri, she has that mood mostly because that's how her character seems to be sketched. Even if she was totally happy I don't think she would be more Matsuriish.

If she's a demon and has some great hate for Matsuri then why did she contact her instead of ploting to get rid of her. It doesn't seem to be that hard to kill a yaka, and most certainly a chance would have presented itself. I know your going to say it's all Aono's fault, and that she's a cold heated killer now, but to me Matsuri didn't seem that noble when she went berserk and almost ripped cloak 'n' galases -chan's hand off.

I simply replied to the statement that Matsuri doesn't seem to care I am not expecting Aono to be like Matsuri - i wouldn't be able to hate her in that case

When Matsuri went "psycho" it was out of self-defense when her life was about to be ended. When Aono went "psycho", it was an attempted murder in a jealous fit by using Yorito. How do you think: which one i view in a better light ?

[felix]

I figured you'd say something like that.
So Matsuri can destroy the town and there would be an excuse but if Aono killed a fly she would automatically be a murderer.

Do you remember when Matsuri went psycho, after she came back it seemed like the past moments she hadn't been herself, like this psycho-mode is some consequence for being a yaka. Why are you so quick to pass judgement on Aono and so quick to overlook Matsuri's actions, for all we know Matsuri is in one way or another responsible for Yurito's death, though I believe it goes even deeper then that.

[Boukenxha]

Ah yes yes, the discussion so far seems to point me there too.

Remember Matsuri said that Yakas are the embodiment of human's agony and uncertainty which they cast off during the night? And looking at the scene where Matsuri saw the sky ceiling and it starts to blur and berserk Matsuri decompassing Takashi's arms and looking a bit shock when she suddenly snaps out of it.

Now would it be possible that when Yakas goes berserk, they are taken over by the mass of negative human emotions in them and they start to do thinks unconsciously? In Matsuri's case, she went from the defending to attack because the sky ceiling evoke in her again her desire to see the sun, but make it so strong that she would harm a human to have her way. In Aono's case, her thought of losing Yorito again drives her berserk and she unconsciously wish for Matsuri's blood?

[NaweG]

So, anyone else wonder if Yorito isn't one of those dolls from the doll shop that Aono brought to life by spilling her blood? of course, that would imply she had to time things right to make sure there was someone there to get her to the hospital...

Speaking of which, Aono is in the hospital for several months and none of the various tests that were run indicated anything out of the unusual? That's a lot of mind wiping for one young/old lady if you ask me...

Curiously yours,
NaweG

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Cats

I figured you'd say something like that.
So Matsuri can destroy the town and there would be an excuse but if Aono killed a fly she would automatically be a murderer.

Don't underestimate my ability to cook up excuses

Do you remember when Matsuri went psycho, after she came back it seemed like the past moments she hadn't been herself, like this psycho-mode is some consequence for being a yaka. Why are you so quick to pass judgement on Aono and so quick to overlook Matsuri's actions, for all we know Matsuri is in one way or another responsible for Yurito's death, though I believe it goes even deeper then that.

Yep, i remember. Point still stands - Matsuri's seed mode was triggered by self defense/survival instincts, Aono's because of jealousy (and has yet to be confirmed as unintentional). As for what i do believe to be the cause of Yorito's death: probably something to do with the cure he was seeking for Matsuri. Not something i can exactly fault Matsuri for.

So far, Matsuri doesn't even have any actions i would need to overlook (Using Deadly force is a viable form of self defense if you are placed under extreme danger ... and i suspect that a guy with a sword coming for your head qualifies as one... yet she didn't even kill him, while technically she had the rights to).

[Mischala]

wtf

Spoiler for ep 7:

i knew it shes evil... evil and selfish

[Kyuusai]

I watch this show to make me feel better. This episode succeeded in doing that, despite Matsuri being absent for most of it.

And then... Well, I'm trying to decide if it's more like being punched in the stomach or kicked in the face.

The show has spent all this time encouraging us to love Aono, and sympathize with her as tragic character, and now they have her do this... What's worse, have her do this as a cliffhanger, so that if we have any reason to not hate her after this, we won't know for a week.

We've also spent all this time wallowing in the Matsuri/Yorito sadness, so the event was like being kicked when we're down. Not only is the event horrible in itself, but having no answers about the potential results (clearly Matsuri won't die, but what about her trust in Yorito? And can Aono be redeemed?) Again, even worse is that it's a cliffhanger.

This was just absolutely disrespectful of the audience. We just had a tragic cliffhanger without clear hope LAST week. The appropriate time for the event was a couple of minutes BEFORE the end of the episode--or maybe the beginning of the next. Doing it this way was just wrong.

So did they just see no alternative to using this as the end of the episode, or was this intentionally exploiting the audience without respect? (Exploiting the audience WITH respect includes the original Matsuri disappearance fake-out, the previous painful-but-necessary Matsuri disappearance cliffhanger that we were lead to not expect by the first fake-out disappearance, and this episode's blushing-Aono fashion-show sequence--which I would have gladly seen cut a bit short for an expanded end sequence).

Trivial comments:
- Did Aono have anything to do with the drink machine disappearing?
- What happened to the church? It's not clear if it was planned demolition or if something else happened.
- Do Aono's very specific demands for food ingredients have anything to do with her secrets, or is it just genuinely going the extra mile for Yorito's preference? He didn't seem that picky. Heck, he never seemed that aware of anything if it wasn't floating in the sky.
- Koyori getting whacked is so adorable, but gosh those sound effects make it sound painful.

The good:
- It was really good to see more of Sae. I want to hate her voice, but it's just so mesmerizing.
- I think we can all agree that Aono's dress-up sequence was marvelous non-ecchi fanservice done RIGHT. Granted, I think that some of the clothing designs could have been more attractive (I know they were supposed to look slightly awkward, but come on).
- The finding-Matsuri sequence was wonderful. I predicted that she'd be found buying that danged juice, but it was done so well I didn't care if it was predictable.

BUT NONE OF IT MATTERS WHEN YOU HAVE AONO DO THAT. ESPECIALLY AS A CLIFFHANGER.

If they don't fix all of this in the next episode, then I am going to combine the power of my UTTER OUTRAGE with Kaioshin's, and together we will destroy Japan like a freaking giant sentai villian.

I'm angry because I love the series and its characters so much. Also, because I have to wait a week for the next episode.

If they're going to do all this to us now, it had better have a happy ending, otherwise I really will be seriously hacked off.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Ascaloth

I wouldn't think too much about the extra 2 episodes; decency demands that they take no more importance in the overall storyline than the AIR in Summer OVAs for AIR (TV). By which I mean that if the real endings are in these two episodes, someone is going to go .

Hey, who said that they were decent....

Originally Posted by Anime News Service

5-7-07 (1:44AM EDT)---- Sola TV Episode Schedule
The official Sola Project Blog has mentioned the TV series will run 15 episodes total. 13 will be broadcast and 2 will become DVD exclusive to appear on the 4th and 5th volumes. Additionally a secret extra episode will appear on the 5th DVD.

4th DVD would place it around ep.10-12. sola is releasing with 3 episodes/DVD. 5th DVD would place it around the end of the series. If they were really evil, that "secret" episode could be the "true" ending.

Ep. 6 is the last ep. of DVD 2. You have 1 month wait to see how that resolved if you buy the DVDs.

@Kyuusai: Yes we're being exploited. This cliffhanger ep generated 100 replies before the subs and is close to 200 replies. We should congradulate the creators for great audience manipulation in story-telling. I haven't had this much fun since Higurashi.

[dojikyo]

8.

I'm interested in seeing how they are going to make Aono a tragic heroine in light of her actions, if they are her actions. Most likely,

Spoiler:

Aono didn't plan on killing Matsuri, she just wanted Matsuri hurt and Yorito got overwhelmed by it

. After all, there hasn't been any indication that Aono can see through Yorito's eyes. Not to mention, Aono has to suspect that Matsuri is pretty resilient. Granted, it seems Aono has more abilities than Matsuri does or at the very least doesn't mind using them.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Well since episode 1 I hated Aono's character. This just makes it all the more easy on me to keep doing so without feeling the writer's made a mistake with her character. Somehow I think they wanted people to hate Aono all along. There was always something about her that didn't feel quite right no matter how Yorito's apparent sympathy for her made it look, it didn't feel natural.