So I thought I would do a post detailing why episode 9 was a fantastic episode visually and I already have over 50 screenshots so this is going to turn into a long post. I decided on finishing it after reading that article
Jexhius linked. A big motif of the past two episodes has been communication through the eyes. The eyes are a window to the soul is a classic saying and the past two episodes have really enforced this. In conjunction with that has been a ton of great framing and camerawork to visually represent emotions and ideals.
So Onna gets flooded with the memories and places her hand over her heart. This visually demonstrates the intensity of the memories in a way that Decim never does. Decim doesn't react even when strong feelings are put forth but always carries his duties in a seemingly impassionate manner. By having Onna react in this case, the show highlights how different this arc is compared to the other ones. It's really necessary for Onna to understand the relationship between the two which leads into the ending.
The camera ascerts the power dynamics between the two by angling the camera upwards to Decim which can be take to represent how he's the more knowledgeable towards the two. Something the show touches upon at the end of the episode but has never really delved too much into is that Decim is arrogant to a degree. Decim mentions in the rant at the end that he understands human emotion but he really doesn't and views them in this condescending manner all the while patting himself on the back. In this scene he has back to her and the camera also focuses on the space between the two which can be taken as a viewpoint of their different stances and the distance emotionally between the two. This is something repeated throughout the episode with Decim almost always having his back to Onna until Onna goes on her rant and forces Decim to look at her. In a very obvious way, Onna represents the human side he's deliberately ignored in order to be his version of an ideal arbiter. This focus on spacing and angles are present in both Shimada and Tatsumi's flashbacks.
In the first flashback,Shimada is standing on the outside and in light but quickly lunges at the rapist and jumps into darkness literally. Even after he jumps into the apartment, the camera jumps back to the closing door. This locked down shot is done to show not only the speed of the attack in that it's all over before the door closes but also to say that a door has closed on Shimada's life and that he's now forever stuck in the darkness. There's also an establishing shot later of Shimada, dying after killing Tatsumi, which shows all three combatants lying in the dark parts of the room which is the director stating how they were all in the wrong.
This shot of the 2nd knife is pretty good in that it explains why Shimada missed the knife when he's attacking. It also works as a good establishing shot as it represents how messy the rapist's apartment is and works as a replacement for a fridge shot.
Inside the apartment, the camera doesn't directly follow Shimada and the rapist compared to outside. It instead focuses on the TV screen which reflects the struggle and uses a psuedo-handcamera effect. This frames the fight in a chaotic manner in that the audience doesn't really have a clear picture as to what's happening. The handcamera effect was for emphasizing Shimada's emotions, something that the show repeats multiple times later on such as when he rushes at Tatsumi. Tatsumi's shots through the episode though are all steady which conveys his control not only over his own emotions but also Shimada. The apartment scenes also use a lot of close up angles to show Shimada's emotions.
I liked this shot because it's not only misleading but quickly adds to Tatsumi's characterization. It's over Tatsumi's shoulder and so works as a POV shot for him. Here he has a murderer holding a murder weapon and confessing. What a normal detective would do at this point would be to arrest Shimada. Instead Shimada gets on his knees and is literally on the same level as Shimada. He's doing the opposite of what his implied background would dictate.
He puts his hand on Shimada and physically connects the two. The two are literally linked in their grief. The director also quickly switches camera angles behind each of them to show that Shimada and Tatsumi understand each other. This stands in contrast later when Tatsumi remembers his past and starts to drag Shimada down with him.
Here it's essentially the same scene but look at how the camera emphasizes Tatsumi digging into Shimada's shoulder. It shows Tatsumi's dominance over Shimada at this point. The director then has Tatsumi lean into the camera which not only adds to the ominous quality of the scene but again reinforces Tatsumi's control. This is also one of the many times in the episode where the eyes show what each character is thinking. Shimada is looking down and bending to Tatsumi's will. Tatsumi's flashbacks also are very well directed in regards to eye tracking.
What's interesting in Tatsumi's flashback to killing his wife's murderer, we're never shown the face of the killer. Instead it focuses on a taped picture on the wall. That's because who the killer is, is not important. What is important is Tatsumi's process and obsession, his own damaged viewpoint. The person doesn't matter but rather that Tatsumi feels justified in killing, as a way of feeding his own ego.
The rape as a whole was superbly handled. The director uses a warped camera lens to not only show how the sister's perception of the events was twisted but also how physically disoriented she is. She mistakenly thought Tatsumi was involved and hated him as well, leading to the series of events in the apartment. There's also good character facial work to detail the emotions in the scene even when the audience can't tell what's exactly happening. The third camera shot in particular is great because it not only visually shows the sister's emotional state, in that she's physically on the bottom, but also reminds the viewer of the danger she's in with the tip of the knife even if we can't see her being raped. Another note is that Shimada's sister is staring in the same direction that Tatsumi was, even when she's talking with Shimada. She's thinking back on the attack, in the hospital, and of Tatsumi. There's also the aspect that she's not facing Shimada and is ashamed/embarrassed as to what happened. She along with Tatsumi, both individuals who want vengeance, push Shimada literally into the abyss.
In addition the director obscures characters' eyes to withhold what that character is thinking. In the above scene, the audience is never shown Tatsumi's eyes until he faces Shimada. The audience doesn't know if Tatsumi is mad and what he might do. It's already clear to the audience that Shimada killed Tatsumi however Shimada doesn't know that and the camera work again represents Shimada's knowledge. Much of this episode is framed from Shimada's perspective, as made clear by the ED's focus on him, and his struggle and failure to ultimately move on.
Hiding the eyes is also done in Decim's case multiple times such as when Onna is telling Decim to stop. At first I thought this was showing Decim as coldhearted but rewatching the episode I think it's to hide Decim's insecurity about his job.
In Onna's rant, Decim's hands are shaking but you still don't see his eyes. In all the previous episodes, his eyes were always cold and impassionate however here now that he's starting to doubt himself, the show pointedly obscures his eyes in a number of shots. On a final note, I thought these two shots were truly exceptional:
The first one does a great job of not only conveying Shimada and Tatsumi's relationship but also Tatsumi shutting down his emotions and not caring. I also viewed it as showing how Tatsumi's true addiction wasn't smoking but rather killing. Then there's the shot with Shimada staring at the knife. It just so strongly shows Shimada's desire to kill Tatsumi again.
