(L+CR) Houkago No Pleiades

[Jimmy C]

"Wishing for something to never end is a curse upon yourself."

I think that's something both storytellers and their audience should ponder.

[Akito Kinomoto]

Spoiler for Episode 10:

If I have all of this down correctly, Sick!Minato was visited by Alien Ninja and had a spell cast on him to have an OBE. When Subaru showed up, she was visiting Astral!Minato, but both Sick!Minato and Astral!Minato shared that memory. Garden!Minato is Sick!Minato, while Horned Cape is Astral!Minato, while School!Minato seems to be Garden!Minato and Astral!Minato combined, because his personality is more rounded compared to Garden!Minato and Astral!Minato. Further evidence to this is when Astral!Minato and Garden!Minato meet, the latter says he needs to 'go,' so he infused himself into the former.

In short, there are three Minatos. The one that Alien Ninja split off, the one who's still in the hospital bed or possibly dead, and the one who seems to be a combination of the two.

Things are also weird with Subaru and Aoi's backstory. In Subaru's memory, Aoi left her. In Aoi's memory, Subaru left her. This seems too deliberate to be a mistake, so I'm guessing Alternate Universe shenanigans are transpiring. In the series proper, the Aoi that Subaru is friends with is not the Aoi who left her, while the Subaru that Aoi is friends with is not the Subaru who left her. Something had to have happened to merge their realities together.

I suppose the question now is...which Subaru did Minato meet? Maybe it's the Subaru of the series proper, but then again, maybe both Subarus share the same memory. I...really wouldn't put anything past this show at this point. It's basically surpassed Ergo Proxy levels of mindblow.

[Mangaka-chan]

Originally Posted by Akuma Kinomoto

Spoiler for Episode 10:

If I have all of this down correctly, Sick!Minato was visited by Alien Ninja and had a spell cast on him to have an OBE. When Subaru showed up, she was visiting Astral!Minato, but both Sick!Minato and Astral!Minato shared that memory. Garden!Minato is Sick!Minato, while Horned Cape is Astral!Minato, while School!Minato seems to be Garden!Minato and Astral!Minato combined, because his personality is more rounded compared to Garden!Minato and Astral!Minato. Further evidence to this is when Astral!Minato and Garden!Minato meet, the latter says he needs to 'go,' so he infused himself into the former.

In short, there are three Minatos. The one that Alien Ninja split off, the one who's still in the hospital bed or possibly dead, and the one who seems to be a combination of the two.

I suppose the question now is...which Subaru did Minato meet? Maybe it's the Subaru of the series proper, but then again, maybe both Subarus share the same memory. I...really wouldn't put anything past this show at this point. It's basically surpassed Ergo Proxy levels of mindblow.

Regarding Minato,

Spoiler for Minato and Subaru:

I'm not sure if the comatose Minato we see in the hospital bed is in fact the one Subaru meets in the greenhouse. When we see how green house!Minato came into being, he was shown curled up, asleep on the floor of the hospital room, the Crystallized Potentials at his feet turning into plants. However, comatose!Minato was shown in the hospital bed, hooked up to life support. Unless someone moved him, he couldn't have gotten from the bed down to the floor. So I think there were two Minato in the hospital room: the one who was comatose and may have already died, and the one who fell asleep and became green house!Minato.

What I don't get is how did Minato seemingly split himself into two, one going off to chase after the engine fragment and becoming Dark Star, and the other falling asleep next to the Crystallized Potentials. With the way the scene played out it seemed like Minato just took off after the engine fragment with Elnath chasing after him, but we weren't shown how the other Minato came into being and fell asleep.

As for which Subaru Minato met as a child...that's harder to say. In Subaru's recollection she met Minato while he was playing with a planetarium projector (she also wasn't wearing a cloak), but in Minato's recollection he met her while he was playing with the Crystallized Potential and she wore a cloak. It's possible that Subaru remembered their encounter incorrectly and vice versa, but I think it's more likely that the Subaru Minato met as a child is not the same Subaru we see now, but the same person from a different universe. I have a feeling this show might do something similar to Tsubasa Chronicle, where one soul will appear in different circumstances in different parallel universes. Despite that, if two people are destined to meet, then no matter which universe they're in, the two of them will for sure meet one another.

[Ernietheracefan]

Damn.., that escalated quickly..

[MisaoFan]

Spoiler for Episode 10:

This episode was pretty sad in a way. There are parallel worlds as Gainax loves to throw unexpected elements in our face out of nowhere, and then we found about Minato's triple split personality. I'm also assuming the alien ninja Minato used to get along with is very likely the Pleiadian president we got to know. The cliffhanger gives me slight feels, I just thought myself I wanted to go back and enjoy more of Subaru/Minato interactions. Being a magician in this series doesn't always amount to happiness though and neither does the amount of potential an average person might get. Now about to wait more secrets unraveling soon.

[novalysis]

Young Magical Boy Minato... eerily resembles Subaru. Could it be ... that Minato is the opposite sex parallel world clone of Subaru - basically, Subaru in alternate timeline where Subaru was born male?
If that is so, then all those Subaru/Minato interactions are that of two people so perfectly compatibly because they are the same person.....

[Patriot's Blade]

wait, the jell-o President was once a cute shota in aviator outfit who can speak fluent Japanese? uh why can't he return into that form?

does each of Minato's horns slowly got broken off in each scene meant to symbolize something?

[Mangaka-chan]

Originally Posted by DRAGUN H.E.X.

wait, the jell-o President was once a cute shota in aviator outfit who can speak fluent Japanese? uh why can't he return into that form?

does each of Minato's horns slowly got broken off in each scene meant to symbolize something?

I'm guessing whatever energy blast Minato hit him destablized his form and he changed into a rock. When Nanako found him he, just like with Minato, asked her what he looked like to her, and then took the form of her little brother's drawing of an alien to match her imagination. What I find interesting is that Elnath/the President was shapeless when he first appeared to Nanako, but when Minato first sees him he's already in the form of a boy. It makes me wonder if there's a reason for this, or if it's just a plot hole.

As for Minato's horns, I'm guessing they're suppose to represent the horns of the constellation Taurus. Given how Taurus is right next to the Pleiades, and how kid!Minato named the alien Elnath, after the second brightest star in that constellation, I think Dark Star!Minato represents Taurus, much like how the girls represent the Pleiades. As for the significance of his horn being broken, short of a Saint Seiya reference, I think it's just a physical sign that he'd been injured.

[DeathAngelBR]

Call me paranoid, but this isn't going to end well, is it?

Spoiler for OH NO THEY DIDN'T:

[Patriot's Blade]

Originally Posted by DeathAngelBR

Call me paranoid, but this isn't going to end well, is it?

Spoiler for OH NO THEY DIDN'T:

i am not sure Gainax is still able to pull off, uh, one of their own brands their Gainax Ending, like the old days, considering how lighthearted the tone of this series is, it may not be possible, but that moment when SHAFT is slowly becoming Gainax themselves with the right writers & all.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by DeathAngelBR

Call me paranoid, but this isn't going to end well, is it?

Spoiler for OH NO THEY DIDN'T:

There's some character design/personality similarities between the two shows (especially for "pink" and "blue") but those two group shots are honestly pretty different overall.

Houkago may well have a less-than-happy ending, but I honestly think that's more of a risk due to Gainax's own tradition than anything taken from SHAFT.

That being said, I really doubt that any major protagonist dies in the end. I could see sad goodbyes happening for other reasons, though...

[Mangaka-chan]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

There's some character design/personality similarities between the two shows (especially for "pink" and "blue") but those two group shots are honestly pretty different overall.

Houkago may well have a less-than-happy ending, but I honestly think that's more of a risk due to Gainax's own tradition than anything taken from SHAFT.

That being said, I really doubt that any major protagonist dies in the end. I could see sad goodbyes happening for other reasons, though...

I also don't know if a tragic or sad ending would happen, given this show is done in collaboration with Subaru. Generally brands try to give themselves a positive and/or happy image, and if people start to associate a product with negative or sad emotions it may harm the sales of said product.

[chaos_animagic]

nooo, don't turn my light-heart into a emo-drama... I don't like tis....

other notes... LOL @ jelly-alien... why couldn't he change shape again to humanoid or something? why remain as a jelly that no one but one girl can understand... you crazy jelly, you crazy.

And LOL @ Aoi knitting, longest handknitted scarf ever made in under 1 min? (more than 2 stories high)
(and not that stupid Guinness Scarf made up of stitched together scarfs and in pieces that isn't connected)
Aoi's scarf had patterns and it's only one long knit.


Other thing... Subaru slowly stripping... *whistles*

So... is Minato "really" gone this time? or is he gonna pop up again like he always do...

[Akito Kinomoto]

Episode 11

So they stop being Magical Girls once their wish actually comes true? Is that why Subaru's ascension is a black outfit instead of a white one?

Dat eyecatch tho. I like the part where Nanako.

[Mangaka-chan]

Just watched episode 11 on Crunchyroll but somehow I ended up with Spanish subtitles. >_>

Spoiler for episode 11:

But Minato is alive and is now a mahou shounen again! But how come Subaru ended up in a black outfit? Are all six of them going after the final fragment now? I'm not sure what's going on. XD;;

[Stark700]

"I am me, You are you"

My favorite quote from episode 11.

[FlareKnight]

As always I love how I have so little clue what is going on at times in this show .

Subaru gets her magic back, but goes into black mode. Does that mean she is literally in cursed mode like Minato was? Or is this something completely different from even that? Seemed like it was powered by the crystallized potential that Minato gave to Subaru a long time ago, but not sure what it actually did.

Minato is alright and certainly is in mahou shounen mode, but still seems to have his original plan for the fragments. So seems like they'll still need to oppose him to find the right solution.

A good episode. The tone was pretty sombre with Subaru losing her magic "having become something" and thus losing her magical potential. Then you had the main group running through the universe to try and get that last fragment. Probably were being held back by the wish for this not to end and to stay together.

I couldn't help a smile when everyone just popped in at the same time . You know that group didn't want to finish this without Subaru.

[Master_Yoma]

Subaru really out did her self this time and everyone else had a great space adventure

[Ernietheracefan]

I thought Subaru's driveshaft would changes into BRZ..

[Mangaka-chan]

Finally got to watch episode 11 with English subs. I like Minato's new outfit, but Subatu's...not so much (her tiara/bow combo looks so weird ). I have a feeling we'll see all 6 magic users, Minato included, working together to capture that last fragment in the finale and they'll form the Subaru car company logo at some point.