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fict_ticious · 2012-03-15, 20:54

Ah, so we have two girls with two different realities.

Mato's reality is built on the notion that everyone inherently wants to do good and are kind at heart. Admirable, but at the same time denies pain and sorrow should she encounter it. To avoid it, she keeps to herself and puts on a happy face. The otherworldly beings spring from the negative emotions of others, so being the manifestations of the counter thesis to her reality so BRS is driven to find and kill them.

Yuu's reality has been nothing but pain and sorrow. She took comfort in the fact that her other self could take it for her but understood that if she were to vanish she'd have to face them herself somewhere down the line.

Two realities, but what they have in common is neither wish to bear with their own emotions.

That aside, Saya is facing some serious jail time if they discover her with Mato. But I'm guessing the conversation between officers and faculty were:
Faculty: "Hey, btw, one of our employees didn't show up today."
Officer: "We totally don't need to investigate that."
But seeing as this is the school that hired Saya in the first place, they probably would forget to mention this at all :V

Series is turning out as many have predicted but interestingly enough is still quite enjoyable. Plus THAT PREVIEW.

Quote:

The flashback this episode did make me wonder though, why are there no male other selves if the Otherworld affects everybody?

Little girls are special, apparently.

Quote:

We need some sausage in this clam bake.

Indeed. Also, totally looking forward to summer comiket.

Elestia · 2012-03-15, 21:19

Really solid fight scenes this episode. The battle between IBRS and Strength were just amazing to watch. When the really Yuu awakened things started to really get out of hand. Growing those extra pair of arms and and hammering IBRS like a jackhammer. It's that raw visceral no holds-barred slugfest that gives my eyes an orgasm.

Melodrama is still present, but it's more bearable now. Exposition got a little bit heavy near the end of the episode though.

Some things that annoyed and confused me about the episode:

-Real Yuu is surprisingly a lot more lively(AKA crazy) than I would have thought, compared to her past-self we saw with Saya. Dat scream was just lulz as well.
-So Strength's memories with Mato is fake? Implanted?
-Why Strength became friends with Mato?
-How does Mato's avoidance to grief and sorrow equate to BRS being stronger? Was there some major event that happened?
-Symbolism of that story book? Do not understand what it is it suppose to convey even now.

orion · 2012-03-15, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

The flashback this episode did make me wonder though, why are there no male other selves if the Otherworld affects everybody? We need some sausage in this clam bake.

Cuz guys would rather watch girls slug it out. Also a male not facing his problems would be categorized as a "Shinji" and would hit too close to home for some otaku. Don't want to piss off the customers.

Iby · 2012-03-15, 23:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

The flashback this episode did make me wonder though, why are there no male other selves if the Otherworld affects everybody?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fict_ticious

Little girls are special, apparently.

Yeah, remember Madoka

Sageblink · 2012-03-15, 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iby

Yeah, remember Madoka

I thought the exact same thing.

xizro345 · 2012-03-16, 00:42

Goodness, this was even worse than I imagined. While they tried to explain it all, most of it doesn't make sense. Especially Yomi's reactions dictated by The Power of Plot.

Myssa Rei · 2012-03-16, 00:55

xizro345: I thought it was pretty straightforward myself.

There's one thing that bugged me though... If Yuu and Saya were much older than Mato (who would have probably been in KINDERGARTEN), and BRS was supposed to be Mato's 'reflection'... then why was she even AROUND during Yuu and Saya's time?

Kazu-kun · 2012-03-16, 00:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by xizro345

Goodness, this was even worse than I imagined. While they tried to explain it all, most of it doesn't make sense.

I don't know. If the plot wasn't logical, most people wouldn't have predicted so accurately beforehand. The characterization is a bit of a mess, mostly due to pacing issues, but I think the plot is logically sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

There's one thing that bugged me though... If Yuu and Saya were much older than Mato (who would have probably been in KINDERGARTEN), and BRS was supposed to be Mato's 'reflection'... then why was she even AROUND during Yuu and Saya's time?

That's interesting. This might be the first real plot inconsistency of the show, or it could be related to a future revelation. The final episode will tell.

Asuras · 2012-03-16, 00:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by fict_ticious

Ah, so we have two girls with two different realities.

Mato's reality is built on the notion that everyone inherently wants to do good and are kind at heart. Admirable, but at the same time denies pain and sorrow should she encounter it. To avoid it, she keeps to herself and puts on a happy face. The otherworldly beings spring from the negative emotions of others, so being the manifestations of the counter thesis to her reality so BRS is driven to find and kill them.

Yuu's reality has been nothing but pain and sorrow. She took comfort in the fact that her other self could take it for her but understood that if she were to vanish she'd have to face them herself somewhere down the line.

Two realities, but what they have in common is neither wish to bear with their own emotions.

Omg. This explains a lot for me. Thanks.

I'm still quite confused nevertheless.

I hope someone makes a final summary of what exactly is going on.

Elestia · 2012-03-16, 03:13

They explain that Mato denies her pain, but I think her actions don't really match up well to how the story paints her flaw. We know that the show is setting up Mato as the super-positive girl who doesn't let anything bother her, but this frankly isn't true. We see numerous times where she is constantly being depressed or requires cheering up from Strength and, believe it or not, Saya during those visits to her office. We see that she worries and struggles with her problems and doesn't "whitewash" everything as the exposition tells us. Although, there was that time she wrote in her favorite book, trying to rewrite the sad ending into something more befitting. But honestly, that book does have a disturbingly sad ending even though it's supposedly a children's book. Right now, she does not give me an impression that her tragic flaw of "denying pain or grief" is a severe problem, instead, is more of a minor personality issue.

If you wanted the poster-girl for positive thinking it might have been better to take a leaf out of SZS's Kafuka Fuura.

I was more surprised that the Real Yuu turned out to be so .....yeah. When they showed us the flashbacks of the Yuu, everything all pointed that she killed off her emotions in order to endure her cruel life. Another characterization problem, I guess. I just wish they would have kept the crazies locked up in the real world. The otherworld is a place where fighting is the only thing that matters, not words.

Instead we get this kind of scenes to prove without a shadow of a doubt the Real Yuu is just as unhinged.

dan-heron · 2012-03-16, 04:36

Yuu didn't really have a problem of characterization. She was shown to be pretty cruel in the previous episode, and it was very heavily hinted what makes part of her real personality during the fire part, when she talks to Saya before being taken to the ambulance.

The way she just took over Strength is similar to how she dealt with Saya in the past. Yuu from the beginning never gave a crap about STR, and then lumped Saya in the same category than everybody else after the fire. They were just there to take the hurt from her once she found a way.

Remember why she traded places with Strength. If Strength dies, she takes Yuu's pain with her, but Yuu still remains in the real world where nothing has changed and she'll get hurt all over again while STR is free from her burden. That's why she doesn't let her die and then switches places and get Saya to protect her.

Yuu only snapped during the fight because Mato and Strength were trying to end things peacefully, while Yuu is all for Otherworld's rule of battle. Remember it's not about winning or being destroyed, it's just about fighting for the sake of fighting. That's what Yuu wants, something where there are no delusions or lies, just sheer honesty of brutality.

"You don't need to think, just fight. Pain is easier to understand than anything."

After being 10 years in Otherworld it's obvious she would raise her voice against somebody trying to change things from how she likes them. She's selfish like that

As for Yomi suddenly getting her memories, Kagari still remembered bits of her past, it makes sense that the same would happen to Yomi. Only, you know, the power of YURI friendship was stronger and had a greater effect on her. Well, Kagari seems to be recovering her memories too if her comment that "Something hurts" is any indication.

silvercover · 2012-03-16, 06:06

surprisingly good episode. not as much inconsistency as the previous episodes and likely the best so far.
yuu is awesome! I like BGS but for the anime series im picking up yuu/STR as my fave now. much more badass than BRS. pretty much better since you can just turn off your brain and enjoy the intense fights.

like Divine from RC said, the series seems to awaken your inner sadist.

Elestia · 2012-03-16, 06:08

The problem with Yuu is that we had very little clues to go on to hint on what her real personality was. Given her setting, she was forced to play the emotional-numb character. We don't know anything else about her besides that. So it's a stretch to say Yuu's personality was defined by her "cruel words" to Saya, seeing as her entire house just went up in smoke. To show such a dramatic change from being the silent-type to laughing maniacally in a sea of fire is a characterization problem. It does not help the fact that she now seems to take sadistic and masochistic pleasure in fighting in the otherworld.

When Saya grabbed Yuu's hand at the riverbank, Yuu stated that she wouldn't do anything weird because she doesn't like pain. But now we find her actively taking pleasure in the pain, which again highlights a contradiction to her character. The reason she wanted to go to the otherworld was to avoid the pain, but she is going to a world where combatants fight to the death. We see BRS go through horrible injuries in the course of her fights, so its a little strange to say she wants to avoid the pain by escaping to that world.

So when she says "You don't need to think, just fight. Pain is easier to understand than anything", but at the same time says "I don't like pain. But I was wondering, whether or not to make her take all the pain." When the Real Yuu is showing us these kind of scenes it creates a characterization problem.

dan-heron · 2012-03-16, 06:54

dunno what to tell you. For me it really wasn't a shock when Yuu started talking, it seemed right

and it wasn't "cruel words", it was the actions she took. The way she acted in the past was what hinted to me that she truly was, how she puts both Strength and Saya in the situation in the first place.

It's like how it wasn't a surprise that "Yuu" was Strength all along after seeing the hints that were there in the first place. They weren't subtle at all. As people have mentioned before, the series has been pretty consistent and that's why so many of the predictions have come true, like Yuu's true character, and they have been subtle like a sledge hammer for the rest of things

xizro345 · 2012-03-16, 06:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

xizro345: I thought it was pretty straightforward myself.

It doesn't really explain anything about BRS, or why IBRS would "destroy that world". Also STR and Yuu switched places but it just happened, and I have to believe it because the Plot Says So.
There's also unintentional comedy again when STR contacts Mato and manages to screw up th whole situation again.
Then the whole situation with Yomi, that it just...happens because of power of Plot/Friendship/Yuri (tick what you prefer).

CalicoCat · 2012-03-16, 07:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elestia

So when she says "You don't need to think, just fight. Pain is easier to understand than anything", but at the same time says "I don't like pain. But I was wondering, whether or not to make her take all the pain." When the Real Yuu is showing us these kind of scenes it creates a characterization problem.

I'd draw a distinction between physical pain and psychological pain (note: my Japanese isn't good enough to have caught whether different words were used in the original dialogue - maybe someone can comment?). In the real world, the psychological damage Yuu received at the hands of others goes unpunished, whereas the only response available to her - physical violence - would have been ineffectual or quickly curtailed. In the Otherworld, the freedom to act without thinking, to inflict suffering on others, even if physical pain were possible or even certain, would be incredibly cathartic for someone with Yuu's background. Ep.7 suggests, for me, the reason for Yuu's smile after the fire in Ep.6; it was a smile of "You know, don't you? This is what I wanted to do. I'm stoic on the outside, but inside there's a terrible fury waiting to escape."

Kanon · 2012-03-16, 07:41

Real Yuu is so crazy

It had been a while since I last laughed so much to an episode of this show.

Aside from that, it was a pretty good episode. The characterization is still iffy at best but at least the plot makes sense as long as you don't think too much about it. They're clearly not aiming for realistic drama. It's all pure melodrama. That kind of approach doesn't work too well on me but it works on others.

If there's one thing we can all agree on (maybe?), however, it's that the action is mind-blowing. They've far exceeded all my expectations (which to be fair weren't very high before the show started

). I have nothing but praise for Sanzigen, they're showing everybody how you do 3D animation properly.

darkworld · 2012-03-16, 07:53

Best anime so far in winter. remind me Mahou shojo Madoka. So sad is only 8 episode. Soooooooooooooo sad.

ninryu · 2012-03-16, 08:04

Wow, this episode isn't that bad. The background to the Other World isn't half bad, and it actually make sense.

Another girl fell into insanity - this time it's Yuu. She kinda freaked me out. I love STR even more after this episode.

Apparently the dead Others can come back to life, which means - moar Dead Master!♡
Can't wait to see the closure and find out if the ending will be cool or pure crap.

CalicoCat · 2012-03-16, 08:04

BTW - nice summary of the different levels of the Otherworld (if somewhat speculative), here:

http://izuritaka.tumblr.com/post/19373289909

2012-03-15, 21:19	Link #1042
Elestia Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: California	Really solid fight scenes this episode. The battle between IBRS and Strength were just amazing to watch. When the really Yuu awakened things started to really get out of hand. Growing those extra pair of arms and and hammering IBRS like a jackhammer. It's that raw visceral no holds-barred slugfest that gives my eyes an orgasm. Melodrama is still present, but it's more bearable now. Exposition got a little bit heavy near the end of the episode though. Some things that annoyed and confused me about the episode: -Real Yuu is surprisingly a lot more lively(AKA crazy) than I would have thought, compared to her past-self we saw with Saya. Dat scream was just lulz as well. -So Strength's memories with Mato is fake? Implanted? -Why Strength became friends with Mato? -How does Mato's avoidance to grief and sorrow equate to BRS being stronger? Was there some major event that happened? -Symbolism of that story book? Do not understand what it is it suppose to convey even now. __________________

2012-03-16, 00:55	Link #1047
Myssa Rei Moderate Haruhiist Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Metro Manila, Philippines Age: 42	xizro345: I thought it was pretty straightforward myself. There's one thing that bugged me though... If Yuu and Saya were much older than Mato (who would have probably been in KINDERGARTEN), and BRS was supposed to be Mato's 'reflection'... then why was she even AROUND during Yuu and Saya's time? __________________

2012-03-16, 03:13	Link #1050
Elestia Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: California	They explain that Mato denies her pain, but I think her actions don't really match up well to how the story paints her flaw. We know that the show is setting up Mato as the super-positive girl who doesn't let anything bother her, but this frankly isn't true. We see numerous times where she is constantly being depressed or requires cheering up from Strength and, believe it or not, Saya during those visits to her office. We see that she worries and struggles with her problems and doesn't "whitewash" everything as the exposition tells us. Although, there was that time she wrote in her favorite book, trying to rewrite the sad ending into something more befitting. But honestly, that book does have a disturbingly sad ending even though it's supposedly a children's book. Right now, she does not give me an impression that her tragic flaw of "denying pain or grief" is a severe problem, instead, is more of a minor personality issue. If you wanted the poster-girl for positive thinking it might have been better to take a leaf out of SZS's Kafuka Fuura. I was more surprised that the Real Yuu turned out to be so .....yeah. When they showed us the flashbacks of the Yuu, everything all pointed that she killed off her emotions in order to endure her cruel life. Another characterization problem, I guess. I just wish they would have kept the crazies locked up in the real world. The otherworld is a place where fighting is the only thing that matters, not words. Instead we get this kind of scenes to prove without a shadow of a doubt the Real Yuu is just as unhinged. __________________ Last edited by Elestia; 2012-03-16 at 03:47.

2012-03-16, 06:08	Link #1053
Elestia Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: California	The problem with Yuu is that we had very little clues to go on to hint on what her real personality was. Given her setting, she was forced to play the emotional-numb character. We don't know anything else about her besides that. So it's a stretch to say Yuu's personality was defined by her "cruel words" to Saya, seeing as her entire house just went up in smoke. To show such a dramatic change from being the silent-type to laughing maniacally in a sea of fire is a characterization problem. It does not help the fact that she now seems to take sadistic and masochistic pleasure in fighting in the otherworld. When Saya grabbed Yuu's hand at the riverbank, Yuu stated that she wouldn't do anything weird because she doesn't like pain. But now we find her actively taking pleasure in the pain, which again highlights a contradiction to her character. The reason she wanted to go to the otherworld was to avoid the pain, but she is going to a world where combatants fight to the death. We see BRS go through horrible injuries in the course of her fights, so its a little strange to say she wants to avoid the pain by escaping to that world. So when she says "You don't need to think, just fight. Pain is easier to understand than anything", but at the same time says "I don't like pain. But I was wondering, whether or not to make her take all the pain." When the Real Yuu is showing us these kind of scenes it creates a characterization problem. __________________

2012-03-16, 07:41	Link #1057
Kanon Kana Hanazawa ♥ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: France Age: 37	Real Yuu is so crazy It had been a while since I last laughed so much to an episode of this show. Aside from that, it was a pretty good episode. The characterization is still iffy at best but at least the plot makes sense as long as you don't think too much about it. They're clearly not aiming for realistic drama. It's all pure melodrama. That kind of approach doesn't work too well on me but it works on others. If there's one thing we can all agree on (maybe?), however, it's that the action is mind-blowing. They've far exceeded all my expectations (which to be fair weren't very high before the show started ). I have nothing but praise for Sanzigen, they're showing everybody how you do 3D animation properly. __________________

2012-03-16, 00:42	Link #1046
xizro345 King's Justice Join Date: Apr 2004	Goodness, this was even worse than I imagined. While they tried to explain it all, most of it doesn't make sense. Especially Yomi's reactions dictated by The Power of Plot.

2012-03-16, 04:36	Link #1051
dan-heron Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012	Yuu didn't really have a problem of characterization. She was shown to be pretty cruel in the previous episode, and it was very heavily hinted what makes part of her real personality during the fire part, when she talks to Saya before being taken to the ambulance. The way she just took over Strength is similar to how she dealt with Saya in the past. Yuu from the beginning never gave a crap about STR, and then lumped Saya in the same category than everybody else after the fire. They were just there to take the hurt from her once she found a way. Remember why she traded places with Strength. If Strength dies, she takes Yuu's pain with her, but Yuu still remains in the real world where nothing has changed and she'll get hurt all over again while STR is free from her burden. That's why she doesn't let her die and then switches places and get Saya to protect her. Yuu only snapped during the fight because Mato and Strength were trying to end things peacefully, while Yuu is all for Otherworld's rule of battle. Remember it's not about winning or being destroyed, it's just about fighting for the sake of fighting. That's what Yuu wants, something where there are no delusions or lies, just sheer honesty of brutality. "You don't need to think, just fight. Pain is easier to understand than anything." After being 10 years in Otherworld it's obvious she would raise her voice against somebody trying to change things from how she likes them. She's selfish like that As for Yomi suddenly getting her memories, Kagari still remembered bits of her past, it makes sense that the same would happen to Yomi. Only, you know, the power of YURI friendship was stronger and had a greater effect on her. Well, Kagari seems to be recovering her memories too if her comment that "Something hurts" is any indication.

2012-03-16, 06:06	Link #1052
silvercover Romance Expert Join Date: Feb 2012	surprisingly good episode. not as much inconsistency as the previous episodes and likely the best so far. yuu is awesome! I like BGS but for the anime series im picking up yuu/STR as my fave now. much more badass than BRS. pretty much better since you can just turn off your brain and enjoy the intense fights. like Divine from RC said, the series seems to awaken your inner sadist.

2012-03-16, 06:54	Link #1054
dan-heron Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012	dunno what to tell you. For me it really wasn't a shock when Yuu started talking, it seemed right and it wasn't "cruel words", it was the actions she took. The way she acted in the past was what hinted to me that she truly was, how she puts both Strength and Saya in the situation in the first place. It's like how it wasn't a surprise that "Yuu" was Strength all along after seeing the hints that were there in the first place. They weren't subtle at all. As people have mentioned before, the series has been pretty consistent and that's why so many of the predictions have come true, like Yuu's true character, and they have been subtle like a sledge hammer for the rest of things

2012-03-16, 07:53	Link #1058
darkworld Member Join Date: Dec 2011	Best anime so far in winter. remind me Mahou shojo Madoka. So sad is only 8 episode. Soooooooooooooo sad.

2012-03-16, 08:04	Link #1059
ninryu It's yuri, bitches Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Israel Age: 28	Wow, this episode isn't that bad. The background to the Other World isn't half bad, and it actually make sense. Another girl fell into insanity - this time it's Yuu. She kinda freaked me out. I love STR even more after this episode. Apparently the dead Others can come back to life, which means - moar Dead Master!♡ Can't wait to see the closure and find out if the ending will be cool or pure crap.

2012-03-16, 08:04	Link #1060
CalicoCat Scribe Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Calico Towers, San Serriffe	BTW - nice summary of the different levels of the Otherworld (if somewhat speculative), here: http://izuritaka.tumblr.com/post/19373289909 __________________ Do not throw souls!