Ah, this episode was exactly what this series needed. This was an episode to look back. It took a break from the different battles, and instead gave two characters the chance to play as the narrator, in order to tell a bit more about themselves. In case of Mikuni, it’s about his past, and in case of Mashu it’s about her feelings. It’s a good chance to take a bit of a step back and focus on these characters in order to solidify the finale of this series, and this episode did that wonderfully. Oh, and it was also a really nice touch to suddenly revisit a past character who seemed like nothing but cannon fodder t the time.
I only have a few minor complaints about this episode. The animation for example wasn’t really up to par, even for this series’ standards. I really wonder what this series would have looked like if the earthquake hadn’t happened, and because of that I do have to admit that despite the creative images, Mononoke, Trapeze and Bake Neko have this one trumped in terms of visuals.
As for the individual stories, the thing with C is that none of its episodes so far have been as bad as the worst episodes of Trapeze, nor have they been as good as the best episodes of Trapeze. In terms of the overall story and characters though, C has definitely been better. Of course, Trapeze did tie itself up really nicely in its final episode, but at this pacing, this series can be able to do the same, only with a much better storyline and characters. At the same time though, the direction will never be as good as it was in Mononoke or Bake Neko. It just lacks the energy, force and timing to really draw you in with its pacing.
Bake Neko was pretty much the perfect short story, and ever since I never saw something of Kenji Nakamura that was good as that one. But his shows have always been very interesting to watch.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Yeah, I also expect Nakamura to reach the same heights as Bake Neko/Mononoke but he fails every time.
His series are good though and I’m enjoying C.
Really? I hated this episode. The first half was completely uninteresting, predictable, and dryly presented. The second half was inane and contributed nothing. It consisted of unnecesary flashbacks (is this a recap episode? in an 11-episode series?) and posed questions that we’ve been asking since episode 1. Kimimaro still remains a shell of a character. The series is 2/3 over and the protagonist is still boring.
I have to say this series has been a disappointment.
Did anyone else think Mikuni’s sister had a strong resemblance to his asset? Maybe it has something to do with his possible future with her?
I thought this episode was more about the nature of assets too. It addressed some of the questions I had about what they might be as well as dropped hints as to how the final conflict between Mikuni and Yago might come about, as well as the stakes involved.
The flash Mikuni had where the large indicator of how much Midas money was in circulation in reality suddenly dropped to zero – I’d love to know what was going through Mikuni’s mind when he saw it.
Yago also hinted that the assets might in fact be trapping the entrepreneurs’ futures in the financial district’s reality. While winning means the assets remain, losing means the assets disappear. In Yoga’s case though, it’s a future he hasn’t even realized. I’m pretty sure his asset isn’t that girl he likes in his school but someone he hasn’t even met. Destroying the district might free up his opportunity to meet her in real life.
In Mikuni’s case, he’s fighting to keep her sister alive, even though she’s in a coma. If the district is destroyed, his sister may finally die but stuck in a coma, she’s in a stalemate situation anyway. I wonder if Mikuni will wind up fighting against Togo to protect his sister’s life or realize the damage the district is doing to reality and work with Togo, accepting his sister’s death in the process. I don’t see how the district could be destroyed though, even with Togo and Mikuni working together…
I’m curious what startled Togo at the final scene of this episode. I don’t know which episode to use as a reference to see what changes he saw in reality.
I think “C” is a great series but… somehow very badly paced. I just don’t see how all these layers of meaning in this story can be brought together in a meaningful way until the finale. This series still is expanding and deepening in meaning, context and characters… and yet it’s supposed to have only eleven episodes. If it’d have 30 or so episodes, I can imagine, it’d really great but the way it is right now… As far as I’m concerned the finale can be nothing but an disappointment. But well, miracles do happen from time to time. So I hope one does happen in this case because that’s what it needs right now, I guess, otherwise this’ll be the most disappointing series from Nakamura up to now…
@rudolph:
The fact that our main character is acknowledging these overarching questions in the context of his current situation is pretty neat, really. These aren’t “recaps” at all either — it was a dual-narrator exposition, and a pretty well-done one, at that. The characters really developed here (one in the past, granted), and motivations were more concretely articulated.
It’s these “step back” episodes that are really quite nice, and make this show a wee bit better than merely a “battle + talk + repeat” formula. To be honest, if you were expecting (and/or enjoying) that formula so far, I see where you’re coming from; after all, this sort of broke it.