Asatte no Houkou Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[xris]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Asatte no Houkou, Episode 9!

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Spoiler Tag Usage

Using Spoiler Tags is easy. Using this...

[spoiler=title]Don't forget to use the spoiler title[/spoiler]

....will get you this...

Spoiler for title:

Don't forget to use the spoiler title

[Kaoru Chujo]

This episode just goes to show that the previews don't tell the whole story. There's story development here all round, and character development for almost everyone. Perhaps the Dickensian coincidence strains credulity, but who cares. Great work from Itou Shizuka (Shouko). And Koshimizu Ami (Kotomi) keeps showing what an incredibly lively and varied voice she has. Only three more episodes to go. What an excellent show.

[kari-no-sugata]

What Kaoru said.

Another gently sparkling episode.

I can't help but smile when Shouko starts berating people. She also said something very interesting when she stormed out - I miss her.

[itzfurrball]

Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata

What Kaoru said.

Another gently sparkling episode.

I can't help but smile when Shouko starts berating people. She also said something very interesting when she stormed out - I miss her.

yes, very small phrase but very important. in her new form Shouko has few people to rely on now, and Karada has been very kind to her (for instance, she was the first to invite her over when Shouko was ready to leave the festival alone. and everything that came after).

every new episode ends with a cliffhanger, eh? this series keeps me in suspense whole week through. and this time the preview really doesn't tell much. but things will keep on being interesting and intense, that's for certain.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Total agreement on Shouko's comment about Karada. I keep looking for ways that Shouko and Hiro can come back together emotionally, and their shared love for Karada looks like it. That scene in the restaurant was so well done. I liked the leavening comedy around the cigarettes, too, and the slight tension added by Touko there watching, baffled.

[Srin Tuar]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

That scene in the restaurant was so well done. I liked the leavening comedy around the cigarettes, too, and the slight tension added by Touko there watching, baffled.

That was my favorite part of this ep. I kept wondering what Touko made of their exchange- she must have certainly heard it all.

I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Hiro to call her "shouko" but he didnt do it :P

I still don't understand why Karada refuses to give Hiro a chance to talk to her, either on the phone or in person. What is she afraid he's going to do ? I also don't understand why Hiro isn't going berserk searching for her. I'd be doing everything in my power to track her down myself.

The way karada's situation turned out is far prettier than the gritty realistic scene I had imagined. Rather than ending up as street-meat, she found a nice couple running a "pension" (a private home serving as a hostel) who would let her stay there.

When tetsumasa happens to stumble upon her new hideaway, I had a feeling that it was a bit much deus ex machina. The odds of that are scatteringly low. Its much more likely that Hiro could have tracked her down with hunter's intent than for ditzy Tetsumasa to chance upon a person he doesnt even know the appearance of by dumb luck and serendipity.

Lol, I consider this ep less "realistic" than the magical transformation of episode 1. But its still a good show, so I'll keep watching.

[DoReMiFaSo]

I love the scene between Hiro and Shouko too.
But it really was too much of a conincidence for Tetsu to bump into Karada like that.

Based on next episode's title, looks like Karada is going to tell Tetsu what really happened.

[Deathkillz]

and so the heart pain begins again >.<

Spoiler:

the ep starts off with hiro having a flashback to what had happened and depressed he puts his coat on and walks out of the door...where he meets tetsu comming up on the steps...*que beautiful OP song*

another flashback from tetsu reveals that he found out that the postcard karada "sent" him is fake and the reply he gets from hiro is that even he doesnt know where she is...
his sister is pissed at him for having such an attitude and tosses him out of her flat and gives him a telling off...harsh but he deserved that
while walking home images of karada keeps popping up on tetsu's head and he is seen running off (to find her i presume)...he returns home, gets a pic of karada and hops onto a train...

haha! Kotomi's reaction when she finds out who tetsu is in love with is priceless! she must think that hes a lolipedo
well she still agrees to help him ^_^ but using the most embarrassing method lol...

moving onto karada it seems that she is living with a family...i can just see where this has gone...she is kinda staying at their place while workings to pay for her accomidation...
she has adopted a fake name (i think) but isnt satou a boys name? O.o

she calls home to shouko telling her to take care of hiro...and she meets him at the cafe...she tells him about the phone call and hiro starts to smoke...forgetting where she was shouko takes on out as well only to be snatched away by hiro...but looks on his scared face but its certain that toko has caught on...cover blown
more in just a sec...

the end...omg omg omg omg! well isnt this just a small world O.o

well another perfect ep...i must say this is one of the best series emotionally wise i love it soo much!

i feel like breaking down into tears it soo great...the emotional convo between hiro and shouko is just breath taking...honestly im speechless

and the twist at the end pwns any drama ive seen...its dramatic seeing things unfold and the heart stopping cliffhanger grr! >.<

it seems that karada is going to reveal the truth...climax! im seriously gona miss this series

[Cal-Reflector]

Before I seriously review this episode; here's a scenario to What Could Have Been, and you may guess which famous anime I'm parodying.

Spoiler for Shouko's Connections... beware of the glasses woman!:

A few days prior to Karada's phone call.

Shouko, over the phone in some conspirational tone: "... There's a strong possibility that Karada will use some sort of communications method."

A bushy-bearded man at a secretive, undisclosed location: "I see where you're going with this. What say we ask the American Empir... I mean, USA's National Reconnissance Office for a favor?"

Shouko: "The global satellite intercept net, you mean?"

An authoratative old-guy with radical white hair: "I'll get the Foreign Affairs Ministry to issue approval ex-post-facto. The CIA owes us at least that much."

Bushy-beard: "Roger. Time for BIg Brother to do his thing. This will let us tap all communications in Japan real time!"

*Small army of humanoid robots enter control room and man their stations*

*Karada's Phone call arrives a few days later*

Bushy-beard: "Got it! Big Brother is Good!"

*Screen flashes to AI robots: Voice Print Search, Now matching voiceprint of caller against that of Iiyokawa Karada. Commencing search of location of terminal used by caller. Terminal location pinpointed! Running trace route on transmission...*

*Screen flashes to big screen in secretive control room's big screen, digital satellite images zoom in until a local security camera captures a blurry image of Karada's face. Face-contour matching program starts running, tense dramatic BGM by Yoko Kanno comes in.*

Bushy Beard: "Her location is at the Pension Isoka, we spotted her at a public phone booth two minutes ago about 800 meters north...

Muscle guy with white artificial eyes: "Old Man! I can get there faster than the Majo... I mean, Amino and Co if I take the chopper!"

"All right, secure her before anyone else does!"

*And Karada learned never to run away from home again, because with Section-XX ready to go after her, it was futile.*

Okay, those above have stated it pretty well; this episode's emotional intensity doesn't measure up to last episode, with its flashback and Karada's situation far from putting we the audience's heart at ease. Nevertheless it was nice, Shouko's expression of the love she's come to develop for Karada being particularly gratifying.

And I apologize if I broke some brains with that awful parody. Here's a sequel.

Spoiler for And the first to find Karada is...:

*Karada is wiping the floor of an upstairs bedroom when she hears a loud whirring noise; seconds later Batou crashes through the window guns a blazing.*

Karada, falls backwards, shocked: "Wha... wha... wha..."

Batou: "Iiyokawa Karada, right? I'm with Section 9. Your friends who are coming to look for you will be here soon, we're getting out of here!"

Karada, obviously freakd out: "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

Before I seriously review this episode; here's a scenario to What Could Have Been, and you may guess which famous anime I'm parodying.

nope...probably because i havent seen it...title?
but man i thought that you must be on crack or somming to be able to imagine this up...turning the place into a war zone in most unexpected

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

nope...probably because i havent seen it...title?
but man i thought that you must be on crack or somming to be able to imagine this up...turning the place into a war zone in most unexpected

Of the people whove commented in this tread already I see three who ought to know it.

Spoiler for The Answer is:

Ghost in the Shell Stand ALone Complex, episoide 21.

[Guido]

The animation felt of dry texture, and the coloring had a white hue of lighting.

The pacing was slow but not dragged or outstretched.

I can divide the plot into three segments.

1. Tetsumasa starts his search for Iokawa and meets Kotomi on the same train ride. Tetsu has no much of clues to start and is kicked out of his sister's place for wallowing in pity for poor Karada. He then wakes up and with Kotomi's help, Tetsu raises his resolve to find Karada.

2. I do not know exactly which is the geographic place in Japan where Karada ended up with. What's known she's staying at a pension owned by a couple, the Isokas, and in spite of her fears and, what she views as, her sense of guilt she made clear to Shouko on the phone not to worry about her; she's not going to return.

3. Shouko's conversation with Hiro. Looks like Hiro feels totally overwhelmed for not having stopped Karada from leaving in time and wallows on self-pity much to Shouko's disgust. She's upset at Hiro because he's now not doing anything for Karada, although his thoughts and face give away his anxiety and yet not even takes the bother to notice Shouko.

When Kotomi offered Tetsu her sensei's place to stay the night, then I immediately deduced where they'll be ending taking homestay, and I was right.

The Isoka pension where Karada is staying.

[adamatari]

I would say that definitely having Karada and Tetsu end up in the same place was a stretch... But I'll forgive it. Also, it seems to be the same beach as they usually go to so it's not a *tremendously* huge stretch that she would end up going to the beach near her hometown and that someone else she knows would end up staying there.

I like Shouko more every episode. She's certainly gotten a lot more interesting since the beginning. Her blow up this episode was pretty much right on target I think. I knew that she'd become friends with Karada but it seems that she's come to like Karada a lot more than just casually.

I kinda feel like Hiro is the weakest character in the main cast - he seems a very passive person. He's certainly dense and he seems to run from difficult issues or take the easy way out. Rather than dealing with things he would rather just not talk about it. Overally I think he's also not terribly well fleshed out.

I'm rooting for Tetsu. He's pretty dorky but it seems that he's trying pretty hard. Even if he needed someone to kick his butt he does have the guts to follow through once his butt is kicked. I'm looking forward to more of him in the next episode.

[Guardian Enzo]

Agreed - the bit with Tetsu just happening to wind up at the pensione was a huge stretch of credulity. But in the context that this is a fantasy, I can forgive it - especially since I loved the rest of the episode. There's a wonderful juxtaposition of sadness and innocent joy in this series, especially as reflected in Karada and Tetsu. Great stuff.

"Incidentally", the incidental music is spectacularly good - not only does it set the mood and fit the tone of the series perfectly, but it's catchy too.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by adamatari

I kinda feel like Hiro is the weakest character in the main cast - he seems a very passive person. He's certainly dense and he seems to run from difficult issues or take the easy way out. Rather than dealing with things he would rather just not talk about it. Overally I think he's also not terribly well fleshed out.

He's still my fav'. ;_;

He's always ran away from all kinds of problems, & with this being the biggest of them all - he needs to do much more about it then just thinking about the matter. I believe by the end of the series, we'll have a different Hiro~

[Matrim]

Asatte no Houkou manages to surprise me so often, I love that aspect of the show. Just when I was cursing the scriptwriters for keeping us in the dark about Karada's fate and there she was, right before the commercial break. And I so did not expect the teacher visited by Tetsu and Kotomi to be the one Karada was staying with. Of course, it was a very convenient coincidence but a coincidence was inevitable - it's not as if they could have ever found Karada with that photo of her as a kid. I expected some boring episode about Tetsu and got a lot more.
Of course, Shouko rocked once again, if Hiro does not snap out of his "hibernation" and show some development, I am actually going to be annoyed if she ends up with him. But Hiro certainly needs someone to make him actually do something from time to time, he needs to try everything to get that relationship back on track, provided Shouko gets back to normal, of course.

[aliensporebomb]

Great episode. I echo the comments made here by others - the deux ex machina
was a little obvious but the rest was so good I can let it be.

Interestingly, we don't have too many episodes left for this to be wrapped up.

This easily could have been a 24 episode series with the concepts alone - it
still has a relaxed feel but I wonder how they're going to conclude it?

[redphoenix]

Downloading now. Less than 20 minutes now WOO!
This show is GREAT!

Edit> Aww, that was so evil! Why did they have to end the episode there?

[Sinestra]

I find it hard to believe that everyone ended up at where Karada is currently working. However its looks Karada is finally going to tell her real name to her little friend. I think the best part of this episode was emotional out cry Shouko. The fact that she could finally admit that she lonely is a big step for her. Shes finally shown us the side of her that truly cares for Karada. Im looking forward to the conclusion of this series i honestly dont know which way its going to go but its going to be fun to watch.

[kingdom_elladrel]

I've been watching this series the last few days and FINALLY caught up I'm rating this episode pretty high. Anyways, this whole series is already rated pretty high for me. Shouko-san character is developing very deeply and that little outburst at the cafe or restaurant place proves that she's gotten quite attached to Karada-chan. And as for Karada-chan staying and working at that seaside place and Tetsu showing up like that, that'll be something to look forward to.