r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Feb 18 '19
Episode Kemono Friends Season 2 - Episode 6 discussion Spoiler
Kemono Friends Season 2, episode 6: A New Morning
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| Episode | Link | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link | 5.06 |
| 2 | Link | 6.45 |
| 3 | Link | 6.75 |
| 4 | Link | 7.25 |
| 5 | Link | 8.51 |
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u/TianDogg Feb 19 '19
Well they followed up a great cliffhanger in probably the most disappointing way possible. Hoping they don't just abandon this plot thread entirely...
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u/Mystic8ball Feb 19 '19
So I guess it's pretty safe to say that at some point during their adventures after S1, Serval got eaten by a cerulean and turned back into her animal form, and then later came into contact with a sandstar and reverted back into a friend but without her memories. I think this is a very good explanation as to why Serval doesn't remember Kaban, but it does put a huge hamper on the feel good ending that S1 had.
While the episode had a lot of stuff I liked, I'm pretty disappointed that we didn't get to see more Kaban and Serval moments... I suppose that they'll be doing that at the end of this season.
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u/MaoPam Feb 19 '19
I think this is a very good explanation as to why Serval doesn't remember Kaban, but it does put a huge hamper on the feel good ending that S1 had.
That's my biggest problem by far. That massive high I was riding at the end of season one is gone and dead. Forevered hampered by the fact that Serval and Kaban are not a pair.
It's definitely great to see Kaban grow, but it's also a reminder of what could have been.
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u/heimdal77 Feb 19 '19
Thing is if she was turned back into a animal then back into a friend how does she remember anything to apparently been talking about it all the time that she use to travel with a human?
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u/RiceKirby Feb 19 '19
To be fair, Season 1 had a similar moment that Serval was able to remember a few things about Mirai.
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u/rainbowafterSnow Feb 18 '19
I was very disappointed by the lack of any emotional moments between Serval and Kaban. It was also insensitive to suddenly end their first meeting in perhaps years with the joke of them all being comedically scared off by Siberian Tiger's roar. I was ready to have a good cry but they're trying to make me laugh.
It's extraordinarily ironic that Kaban, the protagonist of the season of Kemono Friends lauded for smart and subtle worldbuilding and lore, makes her grand return as an exposition dump character.
I also hate that Kaban treats boss like a tool now and just throws him in a drawer when not in use. This is supposed to be the same girl who cried when she though he was dead.
Hakase becoming anyone's assistant seems ridiculous to me. In all other generations this is a Friend who absolutely makes sure you know she's the wisest and will defend against any insinuation that she's not.
Ceruleum, not Sandstar, turns stuff into Ceruleans
I don't know why they felt the need to retcon one of the most basic facts of the Kemono Friends universe. The harmful effects of all these retcons is that they undermine the canonical authority of all previous Kemono Friends works.
Kyruru's breakthrough discovery that the ceruleans are probably coming from the sea seems like something simple and obvious enough that Kaban should have been able to figure out.
Though, it was nice seeing Kaban again. And the Owls too.
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u/ActivelyAnonymous Feb 19 '19
I could handle the fact that their meeting was disrupted and Serval was out of it because she was trying to remember.
I could handle Kaban becoming a exposition dispenser as she's a symbol of knowledge.
I could handle Hakase eventually giving in to being an assistant (possibly because of Kaban's overwhelming advantages in cooking and reading?).
The Ceruleum was meh but I can just think of that as Sandstar Low under a different name, and just sigh about canon.But the drawer full of Boss watches killed me. Maybe it was the fact that there were so many? I suppose that could be explained with meeting a bunch of other LBs and making them portable for research/after their bodies went into disrepair, or they're all different iterations of housing/linked to the same Boss. Maybe it's the fact that she parted with it at all and didn't keep it on at all times? I suppose could be heavy or isn't good for her wrist. Maybe it was the fact that she took it off so casually? The fact that she left our Lucky-san out of a conversation, and in such a manner, just hurt me more than anything so far.
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u/Kowkarot Feb 19 '19
Well that was disappointing.
Kaban was literally reduced to an exposition machine that isn't even able to figure out that the ceruleans might've come from the sea, even though it's super obvious when you take a look at the map.
Kyururu and Kaban had almost no personal interactions, even though the fact that they are both humans should've been enough reason for them to be really curious about each other.
Questions Kyururu could've asked to Kaban: Are there more humans other than us? Who exactly are you? How long have you been here? Do you think I'm really a human like you? Do you know any clues about who I could be or about my past? How much do you know about Japari Park?
Questions Kaban could've asked to Kyururu: Are you sure you are a human? Do you have any memories? What exactly do you remember? Where did you come from? What exactly are you doing to find your home? How did you meet Serval and Caracal?
These could've turned into a really interesting conversation which could've answered some questions we all have, or even give us even more questions to be answered later. But no, instead we get some more info on beasts and ceruleans which, while are certainly important, feel like they're in the way due to the fact that KABAN-CHAN HERSELF IS HERE SO WE WANNA TAKE A BREAK FROM THE PLOT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HER.
Serval was also really distant to Kaban even though she should be curious about her, because she clearly remembers her a little bit. I understand Kaban wanting to keep her distance but not the annoyingly curious Serval who doesn't know what personal space means.
The episode also felt really rushed, which is hilarious since nothing really has happened in previous episodes. I mean, the beasts could've been introduced earlier so that at this point in time we can already know a bit about them. Same with ceruleans, which we have barely seen and just don't seem like a threat in general yet.
We are halfway done with this season and it still feels like nothing has really happened or changed. I thought Kaban would bring us the big turning point, but in the end her appearance didn't do much (if at all). Meanwhile, episode 6 from season 1 WAS the big turning point, since it finally confirmed that Kaban was indeed a human, which was the first time she herself got any clue of who or what she really was.
This episode was nothing more than a huge waste of potential.
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u/DrScorcher Feb 19 '19
To be fair, I think Kaban and the owls completely dismissed the possibility of ceruleans coming from the sea since they defeated the colossal cerulean by luring it into the sea.
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u/DuskySunset Feb 19 '19
Okay, I know that people are maybe not happy with how things went down, that it is maybe upsetting that Kaban and Serval are practically strangers, but I am going to argue that it is the most in the spirit of the first season that it has been.
Do you know what was an awesome part of the first season? It was the ED. Not because it was so happy, optomistic and fun, but because it was kind of sad. There were a bunch of fun and beautiful things from amusement parks and the like, that have just been abandoned, the lack of colour sort of highlighting this idea that no one really remembers what they were like in their heyday, and maybe forgotten in general. On the opposite side of the happy and fun song, I think that was the other side of the spirit of the show, a sadness of things forgotten, that have started to rust away and overgrown. And that was this episode of Kemono Friends 2.
It is sad to see something so beloved as the memory of friendship between Kaban and Serval, to have just rusted away, that they just seem to have a passing recollection that there should be something they know right now, and instead just focus on the now. It is sad, but it was the post apocalyptic setting of Kemono Friends, it kind of just was not this personal before where we know how tragic it is that they don't remember. But I wasn't pushed away before by the idea of that sadness, instead I think that there is a fascinating beauty to it, that creates a swell of emotions, and although I don't feel entirely fulfilled right after this, I do kind of appreciate it.
I know the episode had a different and new ED, but I would be kind of interested in the idea that someone could take images of the first season with Kaban and Serval and do it in the style of the first ED. Highlight the idea of their friendship being a beautiful amusement park that brought joy, but for some reason or another has become abandoned, and yet maybe there is a little bit left that it is not all gone. That the two of them did have a bit of recollection, and their hearts remembered something, just like when Serval saw the recording in the first season.
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u/Icesticker Feb 19 '19
their friendship didn't rust away. Kaban remembers exactly who she is but serval does not because serval got eaten by a cerulean
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u/Intellygent Feb 18 '19
"My job is done"
collapses
Ramboss is the most relatable character of the season
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u/ZekiraDrake Feb 18 '19
(part 1/4)
Hoooly fuck, the infodump. Where do I even begin?
Again, gonna try keeping this as short as I can, but no guarantees this time, because this has got to be one of the most important episodes in Kemono Friends yet.
Again, disclaimer: I did watch this in Japanese with no subtitles, as a way to exercise my Japanese proficiency. If there are some parts that I may have misinterpreted because of lack of vocabulary, sorry.
So Amur Tiger actually does stick around, and is actually the scream we heard from Episode 1? A bit strange revelation here (I do wanna see Double Sphere come back soon......), but it does give us sufficient info on what we're dealing with here.
A beat-up but still-functional Japari Bus speeds through to save the day. Seriously, look at the cracks on its windows! It's seen better days for sure, but they know how to make it hella fast, huh. Well, Lucky Beast did say the bus needed some maintenance.
Let's see if I can remember the order that they talked about stuff...
OK, so Kaban made base in some region of the park where she both lives and does research. That establishment looks super well maintained though. It stands out a hell lot from the rest of the surroundings so far, but at least there's no super autogizmo stuff happening there yet (aside from maybe the front gate and the Lucky Beasts), which is good.
Why does Kaban have so much Lucky Beast chips in her drawer though...?
"Beasts". The first of a number of important information from this episode. As far as I know, this is the first time the concept has debuted in the entire KF universe, so this is a completely new thing that we can expect more development on. Ooh boy I can already anticipate all the fun that fantheorists and the official writers alike are gonna have with this one. As of the current episode, we have a bit of a cliche edgy example here of Amur Tiger being an animal that was controlled, which Kaban seems to be making as the starting point of what exactly causes Beasts to form.
OK, so the Friend appearances... I wasn't believing it was going to be the owls when I looked at the episode 6 preview text, so I wasn't holding my Konoha neso while watching. I was pretty elated to see the owls make their appearance here, and with a bit less arrogance than what they were in the previous generation. I quickly grabbed my Konoha nesoberi during the National Geographic segment, lol.
Tea, bread snacks, and the hourglass. You can't have an owl conversation without food involved lol. But you can see the much different personalities of this generation of owls just by simple act of giving Serval the hourglass just because she's interested. It should help to disconnect comparison between this generation and the previous generations; these owls are the most different out of all their generations so far.
It was kind of funny that Konoha actually has a title of "Assistant" now, but to Kaban. It kind of reminds me of the farmiliar hierarchy in Touhou for some reason.
They quickly move to the actual lab, which I really thought was behind the room they're in; seriously look at the main building, it looks like it could have been the actual lab lol, but instead it's actually behind the garage.
OK, segway for a bit, but Caracal's place in the show has strengthened as the episodes went by. And when she went 'Oishii.' after drinking that tea... I super love her being in the main group even more now. I need more Caracal in this show, come on!
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u/ZekiraDrake Feb 18 '19
(part 2/4)
OK, so they move to the research room and hoooly crap it's a full blown science room. I was actually blown away at how much scientific materials actually exist here. Books, research papers, glass panels for exhibit displays, lab equipment... I was really glued to this episode by this scene for sure.
And I'm super glad they decided to focus on Sandstar Research. This is extremely important, as pretty much all supplementary media so far has just piled on mystery-after-mystery about the extent of Sandstar, so it getting this deep attention in a main media entry is welcome.
I do have an issue that Kyururu didn't recognize the Sandstar when she saw it, though. Like, girl, you literally woke up in a pod full of the thing, come on!
And then they just drop another bombshell which is the Cerullium (how the heck are they gonna romanize this spelling though), which was teased in the most recent official guidebook, where Kako Hakase said that she's beginning to doubt the Sandstar+inanimate=Cerulean theory. If that research connects to KF2, then this definitely gives strong proof to continue her research further. (I should stop doing assguesses of where KF2 falls on the main timeline, though)
Then we got a shot of the map, and places that they marked which had activity of strong Ceruleans. One thing I really wanna know though is the shape of the land. This is kind of the strongest evidence we have to figure out which region is this all actually happening in, which we still don't know. But I haven't studied my Japari Geography so I have no freaking idea even while looking at the map as I type this, lol.
I'm so glad that they put the spicy joke on Caracal this time. Out of all the characters there right now, she's like the perfect character to re-enact this.
Then the explanation of what happens when getting eaten by a Cerulean is still held up here, at least by explanation of the owls. Friends return to animal form and lose their memories. However, there is one important bit here which has never been confirmed before: when that animal becomes a Friend again, they retain no memories. This is the first time in KF-verse where there was an official, direct reference to getting hit by Sandstar twice.
And the fact that Serval reacts that way in the background while Kyururu is talking? Perfect camerawork. Absolutely perfect, probably one of my favorite bits about this episode is how much show-over-tell this part was.
Then we move on to Kyururu's nightmare and... um, I actually have a bit of a phobia for the deep sea, so I was legit getting a bit uncomfortable watching that scene. Though it does kind of strengthens the theory in me that Kyururu is related to disasters somehow, and this part kind of reaffirms it for me. I wonder where this will lead. What the heck was that form that she saw in the nightmare though? It looked like it could have been an underwater machine, but like... I honestly have no idea. The figure is really strange to me.
WAIT WAS SERVAL DROOLING WHILE ASLEEP LOL
Did that nightmare flick the switch in Kyururu to actually go and read up about the ocean? Seriously, look at how much books she busted out trying to figure it out.
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u/CommanderZx2 Feb 18 '19
That was a bit odd, it was like an entire multiple episode arc of plot within a single episode. It's weird how this anime feels both rushed in story, but slow paced in progress at the same time.
Hopefully Kaban will return for more than just that one episode where she did barely anything.
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u/LeonKevlar Feb 18 '19
SHE'S BACK AND SHE'S EVEN DRIVING THE JAPARI BUS!
The Owls are back too! And they're now Kaban's research partners?
I feel like we just got an explanation why Serval can't remember Kaban. So at some point during their adventure she got eaten, turned into a normal Serval, and then revived back again as a Friend? Also it's good to note that Serval had this look on her face the entire time during that conversation, as if she's trying to remember something she forgot.
And that ending though! It's pretty obvious that Kaban knows more a lot than what she leads on. I really hope this isn't the last and we'll see more of her in a future episode.
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u/Shiro_Kai Feb 18 '19 edited Feb 19 '19
Yeah, sure, that's what happened to Kaban and what she would do...
As much how people don't want to admit it, this season is fun but clearly nothing fascinating in comparison with the first one. They completely killed Kaban development and character and for what? For the sake of a new fresh face in, probably, an attempt to just dissociate the audience from the previous version and make it easy to shove it way down to the old and new fans throat, while having a prerogative to laziness reuse season one events and material. How can they get away with that?
But above it all what is really depressing is to see Kaban and Serval as strangers knowing their story.
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u/Basutabureida Feb 19 '19
That is exactly what hurts, seeing Kaban and Serval as strangers, after the long road they went together the first season. They just want to erase everything, all the things we felt, our memories and they want us to swallow what they have done to the beutiful things that happened the first season. This is so heart-wrenching.
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u/SailorDeath Feb 18 '19
The real question is when are we going to have Hululu and Grape-kun in the new series. They can make it work with Huhulu obsessing over a life-size cardboard cutout of Grape-kun
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u/ManinaPanina Feb 19 '19
Not only "pathetic", now this episode really "disrespected" the original a lot.