sola - Episode 8 Discussion / Poll

[Icerack]

You're starting to confuse between knowing Matsuri as a person, and knowing Matsuri as a Yaka.

It is entirely possible for Mayuko to know Matsuri, but NOT know that she is a Yaka (just like how Mana knows about the existence of Yakas, but not know that Aono is one). This ties in handily with Takeshi withholding information from her, because he will not want to traumatise her, if this is the case.

In this ep, Mayuko confirms with Matsuri that Matsuri is a Yaka. So Mayuko does know. Whether she knew Matsuri as a person before is unclear to me. It may be the case that Matsuri revived Mayuko, but they could've never met in person. Maybe Takeshi knows the whole truth.

[orion]

Well since Matsuri revives someone by holding them in her arms and sucking their blood possibly, when Mayuko awoke she should have seen her.

Reviving a complete stranger seems out of character to me but that's what ep 9-15 are for imo, to fill in those plotholes.

[New/Old]

Such fire and heat even before the subs are out. I wonder the extent of the lifespan of such a heat, but I suppose it cannot be helped. Or can it...

They say a writer's job is to manipulate the feelings of the audience any which way he/she desires. To lead the audience by the nose down the path of truth or falsity. Such cruel things writers can do, but a good writer leads somewhere. Until one reaches that somewhere, bumps, bruises, turnarounds, and dead-ends will be met.

I believe the writer is doing well.

[kct]

Actually, we do somehow see this coming, but never expected it to be this way.

[New/Old]

Which means the writer is still doing quite a nice job.

[stonedzombie]

awesome ep, just like all the others. The only thing I felt was pretty lame was

Spoiler:

that Matsuri just happened to run into Mayuko right before she burned to death. Its gotta be like the biggest coincidence ever and just a bit too unbelievable

other than that, very cool. Sad to know that theres only 5 eps left....

[DragoonKain3]

As much as I love psycho-Aono (every episode I'm expecting her to break out in Higurashi laugh XD), Mana was the highlight of this episode for me. Out of all people, she's the only one who wants to make Yorito happy. Aono is her selfishly bitchy self while Matsuri is keeping the past baggage get in the way. Mana on the other hand even goes as far as sneaking into the house just to give the news to Yorito.

[kct]

Remember, she is still doing all she can to match up Yorito with Matsuri over here D: .

[aeriolewinters]

Originally Posted by kct

Remember, she is still doing all she can to match up Yorito with Matsuri over here D: .

Quoted for Truth

After this episode, I firmly commend Mana for being such a good friend. Who cares if she thinks she's not romantically attached to Yorito. I would like any girl like her over any over-protective person who'd deprive you of your dreams.

And Aono, oh well... She better start stating why she's depriving Yorito of life outside herself. I mean how could she not give Yorito his own life? Her actions might be too drastic for her and Yorito. And it's taking its toll on Yorito both Physically and Mentally.

[Kyuusai]

I could have SCREAMED when Yorito "woke up" at the beginning of the episode.

The way it played out, though, along with Mayuko's later comment about healing the wound, confirmed two things I was hoping for:
- Aono wasn't trying to kill Matsuri or even harm her severely, just take the two apart.
- Matsuri knows quite well that it wasn't Yorito, but Aono, who did it.

I enjoyed this episode, though not in the "soothing, feel-good" way of previous episodes. However, almost everything we saw here is just going back over what we saw before. Granted, we do need to see the characters react and process everything, but considering how we've been cliff-hangered to death over the past couple of weeks, it feels a bit hollow.

Deductions:
- Matsuri didn't tell Mayuko that she was also a yaka. Mayuko figured out that that Matsuri was a yaka, and wonders why Matsuri didn't tell her. Apparently Matsuri does have a history with Mayuko, but not something Mayuko witnessed directly. Mayuko has apparently figured out that Matsuri is "that" yaka, but isn't saying anything about it. She already knew that the situation was probably more complex than she'd been told before, yet asks no questions, so it looks like she shares Matsuri's sentiments on "secrets".
- Aono's problem with Matsuri goes beyond jealousy, unless Aono is just sicker than we think. I'd assumed before that past-Yorito's solution for Matsuri being able to "see the sky" resulted in his death, and that Aono wanted to avoid that. No, he died when his house collapsed. Entirely coincidental. Unless Aono's hate really is just lunatic jealously, it seems that something else happened later, after Aono's "first attempt" at bringing Yorito back. After all, something had to happen for that promise to have been made.

I was kind of peeved that it just took that photo for Yorito to snap out of it. I'd much have preferred that he was in better shape before he saw the photo and leapt into action.

I also wish that Aono had tried a bit of further diplomacy. Considering that Matsuri was obviously running away last time, it was clear she wasn't trying to cause a problem or go behind Aono's back. That means I have to see Aono's present actions in a far more negative light.

So, my former issue of now having trouble liking Aono comes back around to where it was last time. The best I come away with is "well, it's likely she has a better reason than I'd previously thought".

I'm curious as to whether they'll spend the lot of the rest of their time on flashbacks or on new development. If the flashback scenes are kept short, there's room for some other big plot point being revealed aside from just tidying up the present conflict. As it is, even if they reveal the motivations, the whole thing would seem a bit hollow and the ending wouldn't be apparent.

I'm guessing that they'll work their way through the Matsuri/Aono/Mayuko dramatics as the final major point is tackled: Yorito's solution, whatever it may be.

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Me too. I'm amazed by how people try to judge a character based on his/her moral standings and in direct comparison with reality, when we're talking about a fictional story...

Character development, even more in anime, is not about moral standings. It's about development, people.

For me the matter isn't judging the character, it's that I really want to like the character, so I take any less-than-uprightness personally.

[stonedzombie]

Originally Posted by Kyuusai

I could have SCREAMED when Yorito "woke up" at the beginning of the episode.

The way it played out, though, along with Mayuko's later comment about healing the wound, confirmed two things I was hoping for:
- Aono wasn't trying to kill Matsuri or even harm her severely, just take the two apart.

how do you know this for sure? She could have easily been trying to kill her. Especially judging by the way the ep. ended when Aono said, "you can't be here! you're not allowed here." Those sound like words said before you try to kill someone. To me, I really think at this point Aono wants Matsui dead.

- Matsuri knows quite well that it wasn't Yorito, but Aono, who did it.

again, do you know this to be a fact? From what we've seen, there have been no indications at all that lead us to believe that she knew Yorito was being controlled. For all we know, she could think it WAS Yorito who did it. But we'll probably find out for sure in the next ep

[Icerack]

- Matsuri knows quite well that it wasn't Yorito, but Aono, who did it.

again, do you know this to be a fact? From what we've seen, there have been no indications at all that lead us to believe that she knew Yorito was being controlled. For all we know, she could think it WAS Yorito who did it. But we'll probably find out for sure in the next ep

Matsuri said she deserved getting stabbed because she broke a promise--most likely the one to Aono about not showing up again--so this would strongly suggest that she knows that Aono did it.

[stonedzombie]

Originally Posted by Icerack

Matsuri said she deserved getting stabbed because she broke a promise--most likely the one to Aono about not showing up again--so this would strongly suggest that she knows that Aono did it.

hmmm, good point....totally forgot about that part. Buuuuuut, we'll find out for sure next ep. At least this ep's cliffhanger isnt as harsh as ep 7. I seriously was counting down until ep 8 after I saw ep 7.

[Kyuusai]

Originally Posted by stonedzombie

how do you know this for sure? She could have easily been trying to kill her. Especially judging by the way the ep. ended when Aono said, "you can't be here! you're not allowed here." Those sound like words said before you try to kill someone. To me, I really think at this point Aono wants Matsui dead.

Sure, now, but I meant that Aono wasn't trying to kill her when she was stabbed.

Now, though, it's a whole different ball game...

You know, it just occurred to me... Matsuri's "classic" outfit is ruined now!

[FreedomMS]

well.. Aono power is still very myserious.. it was clearly shown that she gave a drop of blood to give a Origami that she fold to life... So was i thinking..it may be a double edge sword since she have to use her own blood. and this episode shown so many aeroplane that is alive..does she fold that herself? or when she give a drop of blood to the paper, the paper turn to aeroplan itself.Or maybe Aono did not need any blood.She just use her drop of blood to test if her power has return..If yaka has their own unique ability i asumme that Matsuri ability is turn decompose thing just like what she did during fight with takeshi and his arm..And during the flashback.. it was shown Aono to be taller than Yorito.. what could this mean? That flashback could mean a lot of thing..Aono could be older than yorito at that time.. maybe they r just childhood friend. maybe Aono is yorito older sister

[stonedzombie]

Originally Posted by Kyuusai

Sure, now, but I meant that Aono wasn't trying to kill her when she was stabbed.

Now, though, it's a whole different ball game...

You know, it just occurred to me... Matsuri's "classic" outfit is ruined now!

nahhhh, she proably has clothing regeneration powers too....

[Forever]

Hmm makes me wonder why the house collaspe. Maybe Yorito was modifying the house to reflect light from the outside to the inside so as to recreate the sky by making holes in the house and placing mirrors all around. As yorito most probably wasnt the best architect, the house collasped as he was modifying it.

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by FreedomMS

And during the flashback.. it was shown Aono to be taller than Yorito.. what could this mean? That flashback could mean a lot of thing..Aono could be older than yorito at that time.. maybe they r just childhood friend. maybe Aono is yorito older sister

you know...its most likely that its a sibling relationship in the past considering that aono decided to make yorito her younger brother at present...you wouldnt normally do stuff like this if your past relationship wasnt an influential factor as aono could have just saved herself the trouble and modified yorito's thoughts for him to be her boyfriend in that case :3

Originally Posted by Forever

Hmm makes me wonder why the house collaspe. Maybe Yorito was modifying the house to reflect light from the outside to the inside so as to recreate the sky by making holes in the house and placing mirrors all around. As yorito most probably wasnt the best architect, the house collasped as he was modifying it.

thats some imagination you have ...and it fits! it connects matsuri into the case as it is her indirect cause of yorito's death and fuels aono's rage...

[Sorrow-K]

Textbook melodrama. Still trying to figure out exactly why I should care about these characters. This director is doing a terrible job as well. He's failing at setting an absorbing atmosphere and the everything about the execution of this series seems somewhat off kilter, from the timing of dialogue and rhythm of the succession of events to even the use of music and animation (yes, not his responsibility, but the director is always the easiest person to blame, IMO).

My complaints from the last episode still haven't gone away, and the longer important things like character background go untended, the more my opinion of this show slips.

Originally Posted by Telliamed

Unfortunately, nothing much happened after that until the last five minutes. Just a lot of emo while the plot took a smoke-break. The only revelations were...

Spoiler:

How Matsuri met Mayuko. Yorito originally died in a house collapse (nominations for lamest way to die and stupidest reason to commit suicide). And Matsuri feels guilty for leaving Yorito. All the rest we've already been able to guess. It was no mystery that Mayuko was a yaka, or that Aono was manipulating Yorito's memory. And then they end with another cliffhanger. Bad move.

I'm also frustrated that we still know very little about Takeshi and Mayuko. And I felt they didn't do enough with Mana's reaction to Aono.

Yes, bravo. Couldn't have said it better myself. All we learnt from this episode were things most of us suspected anyway, and the plot totally stagnated for much of it while they tried to sell Yorito screaming and knocking some books and Aono around as "drama". We need to learn about these characters before we can start calling any of it "drama"... all this is is just melodrama surrounding unsympathetic flat characters.

Originally Posted by Pellissier

Spoiler for general impressions after episode 8:

After 8 episodes out of 13, I have to charge this as a blame to the anime. We still know too little. Each episode keeps providing past and present events with a 2%-98% ratio. If only the balancement were a bit adjusted, I think it would be much much better for the general result. Perhaps they could have used half of episode 4 for that purpose.

It's arguable and almost certain that they will provide the said background in the future, but I'm starting to fear it might be a bit too late if they don't hurry. The key for appreciate, judge, criticize, hate or eventually love characters, is to fully understand them and their actions.
With not enough background the alchemy bringing to understanding doesn't work, and not even if the background is given too late.

Absolutely totally agree. Sympathetic characters that the audience can understand and then have a possibility of relating to and caring about are the key ingredient to a good story that really enthralls the audience and drama that can move its viewers. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks that there's an optimal time-frame for character development, and this show is well and truly in high risk of missing it.

Originally Posted by Skane

It is going to be a hoot if Matsuri turns out to be the true villain here, and Takeshi and Aono are the wretched innocents. The way things are going, and the way this series has been, anything can happen at this point.

The thought of this makes me lol. I could see a certain recently-crowned mod and overly-enthusiastic Matsuri fan eating serious humble pie if this turned out to happen. And it's certainly not completely outside the realm of possibility.

I really think this show is making some really basic errors and in the hands of a better director, it could be a lot better. That's my evaluation of things so far. But this show does still have five or so eps to turn things around. I just think the deadline for it to act and give us the necessary things we need to appreciate its attempts at drama such as character background is very quickly approaching.

[Barbka]

I am really affraid...the tittle for the next episode doesn't make me feel to relax and I am wishing that nothing bad happend to my Matsuri... The title is: at the end of a promise
I really hope that crazy Aono wont to anything and that Yorito sees what kind of a person Aono is.