Yes, with this episode I’m sure of my Top 3 of the autumn season: 1) Aoi Bungaku, 2) Armed Librarians and 3) Darker than Black. Kuchuu Buranko is indeed awesome, but it’s only awesome for its style, not its substance. Aoi Bunagku is awesome for both its style AND substance. This episode really was the best I have seen during this season so far.
The previous episode was meant to be confusing, it seems. This seems to be a pretty big story in this series, and this episode really started to explore his youth. My assumption is that the childhood friend of his later grew up to be that cartoonist, with whom he remained friends. We still don’t know exactly what drove him to commit suicide in the first place, though. That’s probably going to be saved for the next episode. All we just know is that he was bullied a lot during his youth, and something has been bugging him, ever since he survived that suicide attempt.
With a title as “no longer human”, I thought that this was going to be a supernatural horror story. Instead, it seems to be a story about a man losing his humanity. The way in which he survived the suicide attempt seems to have just been the final straw. After that, he starts to have visions of some sort of drawing he made when he was a kid (that was that strange black figure that showed up in the previous episode, signifying that it’s been there, even before the suicide attempt).
This episode introduces a woman who I think works at the local newspaper, however the way she collects bread crusts for her only daughter (her husband seems to have died) seems to show that she’s not paid well. On top of that, what was she thinking, trying to commit suicide? In the next episode, we’ll probably see how she’s going to fit inside the story. That cliff-hanger didn’t promise anything good: the lead character has accepted his hallucinations for what they are, and stopped paying attention to them, and yet he walked towards this woman in the end.
I also love the use of background music in this episode. It’s really simple, but compared with the awesome visuals it really manages to create one of the best atmospheres this season.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I told you so. The only the show I voted for ended up being the best of the season. Can’t wait for the subs…
Indeed there’s the possibility Trapeze will be yet another bakemonogatari, and I agree with your top 3 until now 😀 I still have some expectations for Winter Sonata and Romance of the 3 kingdoms.
WE HAVE THE SAME TOP TWO!!! xD *can’t decide on the third yet*
Ah . . . so the shadow figure was his drawing. Spooky~
Ah, so she works for the newspaper. I though she was a cop, because he was interrogated ^^; Ahaha . . .
what’s with the part when he was in high school I think. He was wearing a cap and talking to some kid. I didn’t get it x_x Or was it really him? *pointing at upper left screenshot*
Oh goddamn, what is the point of fansubbing at all if this show doesn’t get subbed?
I watch raw, so i barely understand what happening. it still good watch though.
those black figure coming out of the painting look scary. awesomely done
About the parts in high school:
As far as I understood (there’s still stuff unexplained) he felt isolated his whole life, because of the things that happened to him, but there was this boy in school who was different and never laughed at him like the others, so somehow he took an interest in the boy.
When he took him home the boy said he resembles a Bakemono (not-human supernatural creatures of any kind, like ghosts, monsters, goblins, etc.), which amused and frightened him at the same time…which was when he had another vision of his ‘not-human self’…even though I wasn’t sure how much of the whole past-sequence really happend and how much was put together in delusion after the suicide attempt.
Why wonder about the cap though? It was a typical part of school uniforms back then.
1st episode sub came out today, and it is indeed awesome… I immediately thought “Kurozuka” as well, the style is so similar… Which is great because I loved kurozuka, and its good to see at least one mature anime
Hope the subs dont take ages like with Mouryou though
Hmm. Those two are definitely my tops for shows that are more experimental, but I can’t really find the characters to be too likable yet. Well, typical of these kinds of show that builds up to the end really.
I honestly don’t have too much negative to say about the romance/comedy and other moe-centric shows like some people though. I guess I sometimes prefer the likability of the characters even if the story can be generic-ish. That said, this show DEFINITELY needs to be subbed. Needs more attention definitely.
Actually, subs appeared rather fast (for such series). And, I think, no need to say once more how good first ep. was.Looked similar to Ayakashi for me, for some reason. And I like this time setting so much. No less than Sengoku or Bakumatsu – all times of crisis are interesting. Sorry for being inhuman. I just hope, creators won’t ruin it in other novels.
@chounokoe
Thanks for the explanations on that part!
I don’t often see series of high school students during that time, so I didn’t know about the cap. Ehehe.
I LOVE this series – it’s just my kind of show, grown up, serious, deep, and interesting. It leaves me thinking about it long after I’ve finished watching. And there’s no annoying high pitched girls with giant boobs or glittering pretty boys cheapening things up. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we all need those kinds of shows… But it’s this kind that I live to watch.
I really hope it continues to be subbed. I speak Japanese but I sometimes have a hard time with anime if it’s a period piece or has a lot of it’s own fantasy terms and whatnot.
And I like the cap as part of the uniform… That should be mandatory today… Ah I do love a man in uniform!