Clearly not true, considering, well, their entire educational system.
e:
Actually, didn't they give
Shun some poison pills that didn't work?
If I'm remembering that correctly, they can think about killing others all they want, but they can't think of violently doing it or doing it with their cantus.
metabolized them unconsciously to render them harmless. Considering the other examples Tomioka gives, poison seems to be the preferred option for dealing with karma demons. I guess it being considered suicide helps.
I can see why they need the mind control if every person could potentially poison the entire town if they didn't have passiveness selectively bred into them (and then hypnotized into them).
I know that feeling. It's gotten to the point where I don't even bother to schedule time for studying around when episodes come out because I know it's not going to happen.
I finally convinced my girlfriend, who watches no anime whatsoever, to start on this.
I hate getting into shows because I binge like crazy. I can't believe I started episode 1 last night around 11 and got to 21 today while still going my classes and stuff today.
It's not that they can't think about it - it's just physically painful to do so. Death feedback works as a gradual process (as we know from Shisei in episode 4) - as soon as the thought is formulated, they unconsciously use their psychokinesis to impair their kidney and thyroid functions. This is when the sweating and palpitations start. If they continue to think about it, then eventually the impaired thyroid functions causes a flood of potassium into their bloodstream and eventual choking/cardiac arrest.
I should imagine that in the society they live in it's incredibly difficult to commit manslaughter (I think that's second degree murder in the States) i.e. kill without premeditation. They're kept so passive and unargumentative through their sexual activity and social structure that moments of passionate anger must be very rare. But I would think that it would be possible for someone to kill by accident - even if the knock-on effect would be to kill yourself.
1. The Fiend isn't a Fiend. It cannot kill Bakenezumi. That's how Kiroumaru slipped past.
2. Kiroumaru will be the one that deals death to the Fiend. Either with the Psychobuster or through some other means.
3. Holy shit we heard Shun's voice in the episode preview. Maybe Saki gets her damn memories back finally.
Also I guess the show ran out of budget and/or they just don't care anymore due to poor sales, but I get a feeling these last couple episodes are going to be pretty awful. Not 5-7 awful, but pretty close.
1. The Fiend isn't a Fiend. It cannot kill Bakenezumi. That's how Kiroumaru slipped past.
2. Kiroumaru will be the one that deals death to the Fiend. Either with the Psychobuster or through some other means.
3. Holy shit we heard Shun's voice in the episode preview. Maybe Saki gets her damn memories back finally.
Also I guess the show ran out of budget and/or they just don't care anymore due to poor sales, but I get a feeling these last couple episodes are going to be pretty awful. Not 5-7 awful, but pretty close.
Why would the Fiend even bother disarming the Bakenezumi? It disarmed them so that Yakomaru's troops could defeat their now weaponless foes. The Fiend could have simply killed them all without bothering disarming them, if it could kill Bakenezumi. I don't believe it is ever stated that the Fiend did the direct killing. Only the disarming.
Why would the Fiend even bother disarming the Bakenezumi? It disarmed them so that Yakomaru's troops could defeat their now weaponless foes. The Fiend could have simply killed them all without bothering disarming them, if it could kill Bakenezumi. I don't believe it is ever stated that the Fiend did the direct killing. Only the disarming.
a retreat if all his troops were disarmed? It seems like that would trigger feedback in the Fiend anyway, since he'd have to know that it led directly to them being killed. Were there any dead troops from Squealer's side? Even disarmed, it would still have been a bloodbath as the entire army bumrushed Squealer's forces unarmed (they outnumbered them still, didn't they?)
They really haven't made the rules clear enough, if that makes any sense.
Eh, I didn't have the same problems with this episode as other people did. I was expecting something much worse from the discussion. It's competently storyboarded and directed, and it's obviously a setup episode for the finale.
a retreat if all his troops were disarmed? It seems like that would trigger feedback in the Fiend anyway, since he'd have to know that it led directly to them being killed. Were there any dead troops from Squealer's side? Even disarmed, it would still have been a bloodbath as the entire army bumrushed Squealer's forces unarmed (they outnumbered them still, didn't they?)
They really haven't made the rules clear enough, if that makes any sense.
I don't think Death Feedback would work for something that isn't direct.
And
Kiroumaru makes it clear that a retreat wasn't really possible. He states himself that he pretty much only managed to escape by his elite troops sacrificing themselves.
I don't think Death Feedback would work for something that isn't direct.
And
Kiroumaru makes it clear that a retreat wasn't really possible. He states himself that he pretty much only managed to escape by his elite troops sacrificing themselves.
.
Yeah that was funny. I wonder if it is a cultural thing.
pull their weapons away, and their arms get ripped off because they didn't let go? The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me unless the fiend was actively able to kill bakenezumi. Maybe the clans are genetically different enough that it's not a problem? Or maybe there is no feedback at all, and the fiend just kills whatever Squealer tells him to.
I guess it doesn't really matter unless Kiromaru
is going to be the one to deliver the powder. I guess we'll find out what the fiend is capable of doing.
Eh, I didn't have the same problems with this episode as other people did. I was expecting something much worse from the discussion. It's competently storyboarded and directed, and it's obviously a setup episode for the finale.
So.....much.......slow.......setup. Seriously, this is another one of those SSY episodes that fails because it's almost entirely exposition and setup for what's to come. It makes it feel like there's nothing happening even if it's clearly the beginning of some insane stuff. This episode also is continuing the trend of giving you the bare minimum of information necessary. They're still trying to keep the show's mystery going. That's partly OK, but they need to start doling out info soon or they're going to either leave a lot unexplained or will have to resort to a giant infodump right at the end.
Onto the good, we finally have a clear endgame. There's now a good sense of what everyone's strategies to end the rebellion are, but it seems like they aren't well thought out. Out of desperation, the humans are going to use a method they don't truly understand. I get they have few options, but this seems super dangerous. Using a contagious disease to take out the fiend will inevitably backfire. They clearly have no way of controlling it's spread. I don't doubt this is going to end with the death of many of the remaining humans from this illness as well. While I'm not a huge fan of this direction, there are plenty of worse ways they could wrap things up and clearly there's g
Shisei is a trained killer basically. The fiend is
a kid, that we can assume wasn't trained by anyone that had ever used cantus before. It's a miracle that his first cantus usage wasn't accidentally ripping Squealer into a hundred pieces. That's what I meant by the rules not being clear enough; If the kid knows what he's doing would lead to the death of the bakenezumi he's using his cantus on, I would assume that death feedback would kick in if it had been conditioned into him.
We'll know soon enough. There's only three more episodes.
Shisei is a trained killer basically. The fiend is
a kid, that we can assume wasn't trained by anyone that had ever used cantus before. It's a miracle that his first cantus usage wasn't accidentally ripping Squealer into a hundred pieces. That's what I meant by the rules not being clear enough; If the kid knows what he's doing would lead to the death of the bakenezumi he's using his cantus on, I would assume that death feedback would kick in if it had been conditioned into him.
We'll know soon enough. There's only three more episodes.
that humans have in the past, ordered Bakenezumi or sent Tainted Cats after human children. They knew these actions would lead to the child's death. Yet they did not die. Unless you directly kill someone or harm someone you won't face death feedback. Hell if you didn't get that from before, you'd get it in this episode when Saki's mother basically tells you outright that the anthrax shit won't cause death feedback because it is such an indirect killing method. Disarming a foe shouldn't trigger death feedback. It isn't direct physical harm.
The risks of going through the cave had to be higher than just out sprinting (or flying with cantus, or whatever) the enemy party, considering that their goal was to get the weapon and then use it. What better time to use it than when the supposed fiend is coming to you? It would be the perfect chance. If Squealer (if he's there at all...I didn't see any birds overhead or any sign of them..though that could just be the animators doing) knows they've reached the weapon, he could retreat and they'd lose their chance.
Point taken though. I wonder how long till Saki realizes that
if the kid isn't a fiend, then all the stolen children are potential weapons. So far, I don't think that realization has hit at all.
Tokyo being an epicenter of sorts for the negativity and the fear it incites (thus twisting it even further) is really neat; as is usual for the show, themes explored early on are continually expanded, and it even ties into the very existence of the monster rats, they in turn a simulacra of what humans were rather than is, something of a subliminal reflection of underlying wants and fears. It's a nice set-up for what looks to be happening next episode.
Some powerful and effective sequences this episode,
especially that end.
Going into the finale, I can only hope that it'll live up to the promise set by the rest of the show, as inconsistent as it has been.
though I think all of the deaths so far had next to no emotional impact, except Shun's maybe. in this last arc every named known character died pretty much, only the three remain, after that many deaths it comes off as 'normal' and Inui's death was super expected with all the talking before.
I think it might be intentional and one of themes of the series overall, that humans die really really easily despite their superpowers, they are no 'gods' in this world. I think that was the theme of this last arc so far.
I think they're clearly rushing to fit in the rest of the story, with the room they have. It could just be poor planning or direction as has been the case before, too, but with this episode I didn't mind as much after ending on such a nice note.
This episode had some really nice scenes, regardless of the pacing. It seems like
the fiend is actually just a reprogrammed human. Kind of shows how flawed their death feedback is when it can so easily be turned against them.
I liked how
Tokyo is hell on Earth because that's what humans imagine it to be. This, along with the revelation that Shun has etched part of his "soul" into Saki
, seems a very natural extension of the series' Buddhist overtones.
I'm curious as to how the
Psycho Buster
is supposed to work, it looks like it's just a
vial of anthrax. Kiroumaru possibly betraying them is not too surprising, I was wondering why he would have ever gone to Tokyo. I'd guess that he has tyrannical ambitions of his own.
The last scene really was one of those moments where it all comes together. I really like the third version of the main theme.
I had no idea where the heck anyone was supposed to be at any given moment. The fiend was one way, then the fiend was another way but Yakomaru was also that way, then...I don't even know.
I guess Saki's realized that
the fiend isn't going to attack a bakenezumi
at this point, unless I completely misunderstood. We'll see what implications that might have. I'm not sure if I'd
trust Kiroumaru, considering that he's got to realize Squealer's plan is likely to be the best ever chance for bakenezumi freedom. Maybe he's only loyal to his colony and not his species in general, but it's kind of suspicious.
So, was just creating wind (like at least two other characters have done in this series) to blow the stuff away from Satoru and onto the kid just too difficult, or...
So, was just creating wind (like at least two other characters have done in this series) to blow the stuff away from Satoru and onto the kid just too difficult, or...
I stopped trying to apply logic to most of what was happening after the last episode.
Edit: I honestly thought that was going to be
the plan; They'd get the fiend half way down a hallway, then break the vile and blow invisible spores towards the fiend and Yakomaru. Done and done. But noooopeeeeeeeee
Yeah, that final arc just isn't good. What a shame, it was so good until a couple of weeks ago and went to shit... Well maybe not shit, but it's super disappointing. Hoping for a good finale :/
the plan; They'd get the fiend half way down a hallway, then break the vile and blow invisible spores towards the fiend and Yakomaru. Done and done. But noooopeeeeeeeee
Yeah, that final arc just isn't good. What a shame, it was so good until a couple of weeks ago and went to shit... Well maybe not shit, but it's super disappointing. Hoping for a good finale :/
Well that was not the best use of 24 minutes. The editing choices made in this episode were really bizarre and poorly-thought-out. They robbed several scenes of tension for no real reason. I also don't understand why Saki couldn't just
make a wall of fire between Satoru and the "fiend" instead of just wasting the whole thing.
It was nice to hear
Squealer's voice again. Hopefully he makes a triumphant reappearance in the final episode.
Overall, the best part of the episode was
Kiroumaru just casually admitting he had planned to attack humanity if it had been feasible.
Team Squealer for life that was a good speech.
Kiroumaru was a boss too :\
conclusion -> rats>>>>>>>>>>>>>humans
despite all of its problems I'm glad I watched the series, it was a good and unique sci-fi series, enjoyed following it all, pretty decent series, more so because of its plot and all the themes presented and not the execution, I rarely ever bother to think and speculate about some anime plot, this is one of them.
Ending was much better than I expected. Putting all that stuff at the start and then just revealing everything, flashbacks, and insights into the world at hand, history and science, really did well to close much of the stuff out for me.
Didnt think we needed to go all the way with the romance bit why couldnt they both still love Shun, and for Shun, why couldnt he come back to society and stuff, would have been best ending moment ever
I guess the writer did succeed into providing new insights into how to treat each other and the concept of human rights as a whole.
Didnt like how on trial the people were all happy and joyous, as it felt odd, or were quick to even dismiss him as human, though it seemed hinted at for awhile that the bakanezumi were close to being humanoids
Favorite part of the series was definitely the two time periods, everything was funner and more suspenseful then, and a larger cast led to funner events things and personality insights. Current arc was alright. Satoru highlight of the whole anime just kept getting better and better and started out pretty well too, skilled, and I liked Shun too. Honorable mention to Inui and Kaburagi.
8 / 10. Guess Ill pick it up whenever Sentai releases it, wonder if it will get a durb.
Anyway that ending was a lot better than I was expecting. I want to see more though, what changes did they try to make in the society? How can they handle the (awful) truth.
I thought the only thing there was, was that he was speaking through Saki in the current time still, to give her hints and such for the whole arc. The episode in the past just had him away from society forcing her away as his cantus was still subconsciously leaking. I dont think he took pills or anything to kill himself back then as well.
