Seriously, ignore the huge holes that will be left in the plot next week, and this was another amazing penultimate episode. Heck, even though it in no way closes off the series, this looks to be an amazing climax. This episode was chock full of strong emotions and bold revelations.
The best of which was the thing that Nezumi warned about, at the end of the previous episode. I mean, we knew by now that Number Six had to be kidnap a huge amount of people: you have doubts and are of a lower class, then you’re out. That had to happen often. Instead of taking the time of burning these dead bodies, they just dump everyone on one huge pile and stop worrying about them. It was disturbing to see to say the least, but what really made that scene was that it indeed changed Shion’s character significantly. It was really well portrayed, and happened before he knew it.
This lead to a really emotional climax at the end when Shion actually kills another human, while Nezumi stands by with shock of how he lost his innocence. Oh, and some excellent animation also helped here. And that wasn’t even the only character development in this episode. Inukashi also got quite an interesting role when that baby suddenly got dumped on her. I think the reason why nobody doubted her gender had a lot to do with that flashback they showed of Nezumi when his tribe got murdered: there he also looked like a girl and nobody found it strange.It probably has a lot to do with cultural values and how women usually dress in these slums.
As for the next episode, I wonder how big of a disaster it’ll be. Knowing Seishi Minakami, it’ll probably just end. We get a nice climax between Safu and learn how overly powerful she has become, combined with a huge hook to a second season that will never arrive. This unfortunately had it coming ever since this show got announced.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
I do really love how the characters, specifically Shion and Nezumi, were handled this episode (Shion going slightly Yandere for Nezumi was wonderful~). The role reversal that occurred here was really nice, as was the use of flashbacks. Really, this episode just made my fangirl heart happy in that sense.
But I do have a lot of issues with this series overall, which mostly stem from the fact that the source material is so much (from what I have gathered) and the episode count for the anime adaptation is so little.
The events progressed way too quickly and easily and the character dynamics shifting (while an enjoyable aspect this episode, and in certain parts an understandable aspect) happened just a bit too quickly as well. But, once again, this is most likely because of the episode count, sadly.
Still, the use of flashbacks was used well to tie Shion from the start of the series to Shion now, at the end, and to show how is both very different from then, but yet still very much so the same.
Plus, the love and affection that is shared between these two (whether romantic or not) is really very touching.
Still, my biggest issue with No. 6 is the writing. Some parts of it are okay, but most of it is on level with fanfiction writing (especially in the dialogue department and the use of inserting singing, it isn’t so much that the singing has happened (in previous episodes), but how those scenes were executed and inserted into the overall story that bugs me a bit). The writing definitely isn’t the best.
Regardless of all that though, I still enjoy watching No. 6, if only for the dynamic between Shion and Nezumi.
The anime also made me want to read the manga and hunt down the novels, since I see the potential that the plot has, but that was never able to properly flourish (in anime format) because of a lack of time and episodes.
I also think Shion’s character change was too sudden. It could have been handled better. I thought for a good part of the episode that he was being mind controlled by whatever Safu is now.
@Puran: I also got that sense, especially in the part when Shion’s eyes were glazed over, though that could have been for other reasons too. I’m waiting to see if next week will clarify this a bit more. If it does, it might make this week’s episode handling of Shion’s character seem better in hindsight.
I understand how shion looses his mind and killed a guy, remember from previous episode, shion almost killed rikiga when he insults nezumi. i guess shion has a weak spot when nezumi is involved
Wait. Isn’t Inukashi a guy?
i fail to see why they captured the ppl alive just to dump them down there
@yajyaj For the same reason that the military junta of Argentina “disappeared” people, to make sure their bodies would never be found, especially by anyone living in No. 6
@Puran Actually, I think a sudden character change is appropriate in a situation like this. After seeing the horror that was that facility and his best friend being shot, he just snapped. Sometimes I think we confuse realism with slow character development. Sometimes that’s not the case in the real world; sometimes one terrible event can quickly change someone’s character.
Furthermore, I would argue that though Shion’s innocence has been lost, by the end of the episode, he’s still Shion. Perhaps he character hasn’t changed too much…
Not sure if anybody else noticed this but when Sion was falling down the corpse mountain he grabs what looks exactly like Safu’s Grandmothers knitting needle to stop his fall. And they had said in a previous episode that the Twilight House was for exterminating the elderly.
I would have to agree with Taara535 here in that I didn’t find Shion’s change jarring. If I had to escape a place by climbing a pile of corpses, I’m sure I would reach the top a changed person as well.
All that said this has been a wonderful series to watch and I am very sad to see it end so soon. I can only hope the powers that be decide to give it a second season (although I’m not holding my breath).
I definitely found Shion’s change jarring but I did like Nezumi’s reaction to it so I can’t complain too much.
But I did read that in the novels they hint more at Shion having that in him and I think that would have worked better here.
@Kim
The Correction Facility was definitely the final straw for Shion snapping, but the novels make it very clear that Shion isn’t normal. From what I gather this doesn’t really have plot reasons and is more Shion being a rather strange person. Remember back in episode one when Nezumi broke into his home, threatened him, and played out killing him with a spoon? The boy acted the weirdest combination of happy and curious. Shion has had some yandere parts to his personality from the very beginning but their burried so deep that he doesn’t even see it himself. It took the Correctional Facility for Shion to understand he was a little offbase, but in the novels Nezumi has been noticing and responding to Shion’s unusual behavior from much earlier on.
Agree with P-chan – Shion isn’t your average kid. Maybe we had a glimpse of his ability to snap during an earlier episode when the old man had offered to pimp Nezumi and Shion snapped and beat him up – his eyes had the same glazed over look. I am sure the novels will go into more detail that Shion isn’t your average happy go lucky naive kid that the anime paints; and that his dark nature surfaces a lot more often. This series definitely deserve the mere 12 episodes it gets.
This has 12 episodes? I thought it has 11…
About Safu… I just read one of the later chapters of the novel, and if BONES does it right… you will not be disappointed.