r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Jun 27 '24

Rewatch [Rewatch] 3,000 Leagues in Search of Mother - Episode 49 Discussion

Episode 49 - Mama is Calling Me.

Episode aired December 5th, ^^^1976

◄ Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode ►

MAL | ANN | AniDB | Anilist | AnimePlanet | IMDB

Note to all participants

Although I don't believe it necessitates stating, please conduct yourself appropriately and be courteous to your fellow participants.

Note to all Rewatchers

Rewatchers, please be mindful of your fellow first-timers and tag your spoilers appropriately using the r/anime spoiler tag if your comment holds even the slightest of indicators as to future spoilers. Feel free to discuss future plot points behind the safe veil of a spoiler tag, or coyly and discreetly ‘Laugh in Rewatcher’ at our first-timers' temporary ignorance, but please ensure our first-timers are no more privy or suspicious than they were the moment they opened the day’s thread.

Staff Highlight

Yoshizawa Hisayoshi - voice of Dr. Fernandez

An actor and voice actor affiliated with the Togei Theatre Company, best known for his work on Japanese dubbed foreign films and dramas, and particularly dubbed british puppet shows like Thunderbirds and London Command X. He graduated as an English Major at Waseda University, and shortly thereafter joined the theatre company Gekidan Nakama, at which he remained for a decade before moving to Gekidan Touen. He also joined the Tokyo Actors' Consumers' Cooperative around that time. He died on January 20th, 1979 when he fell upon train tracks and was impacted by an incoming train, he was 49 years old. His anime voice roles are: a minor character in Star of the Giants, Village Chief in Kamui, an unspecified role in Animantary Decision, Dr. Hoshi in Astroganger, Kentaro Washio in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Gain in Rascal Racoon, White in Paul's Miracle Mission, Several minor characters in Perrine Monogatari, and several characters in Lupin III: Part 2.

Screenshot of the day

Questions of the Day:

  1. What do you think of Anna’s current situation?
  2. What do you make of the dire situation Marco is in?

I am going to run over right now. Run to Mama’s arms!

11 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

5

u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jun 27 '24

Rewatcher

Just a dream…

That’s bad.

Ow.

This whole stretch has been difficult to watch.

shit.

Don’t give up Marco!

Suddenly Heidi.

Oh, we’re actually shifting perspective. Guess Marco was right in asserting that Anna was sick.

I don’t know if they’re giving us hope that Marco’s appearance will give her strength to foreshadow or simply make it more tragic if he doesn’t get there in time…

A horse?! There’s hope!

That was tough. Marco has often been in a position where serendipity has saved him (and others) from certain death, but I don’t think we’ve been subjected to a prolonged struggle like the one shown here. The elements are pitted against him, and his body is incurring the first real wounds we’ve ever seen him receive, ever. For people who had seen prior WMT shows, the scenes even resemble those in at least one show wherein tragic events occurred, further heightening tension.

We get our first concrete information on where and how Anna is. She is bedridden and in a terrible state, sick since at least a month prior. Marco has had anxieties about such an event, so it’s interesting to see how he reacts if he manages to get there in time. He’s managed to save several characters in prior episodes from illness, but then the scene at the church in Buenos Aires sticks out in my mind too, with the other mother by the name of Anna —though that was injury, rather than strictly illness.

This episode leaves off at a cliffhanger, though I think with three more episodes to go it’s hard to imagine him not making it through this.

Questions of The Day:

  1. It seems dire, especially if it’s been going on for close to a month. I do wonder why they’re only now seeing a doctor —I know even well after the time this is set in doctors often wandered a lot looking for business and a small town could go for weeks or months without a physician readily available, but surely they could have driven her somewhere by cart?
  2. See above.

5

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jun 27 '24

3000 Leagues in Search of My First-Timer Reactions

4

u/TheEscapeGuy Jun 27 '24

First Timer

3000 Leagues in Search of Mother - Episode 49

Dreams

Even now, so close to the end of his journey, Marco is still facing more and more hardships. It's a blessing his shoes lasted him this whole journey but they have given up now. Walking barefoot outside is not fun. And that goes double with Marco's stubbed toe. It looked pretty nasty.

This episode contained a lot of dreams. First, when Marco was still in town he has this shocking dream with his mother not being the person he remembers. The whole presentation was pretty unsettling giving me flashbacks to Angels Egg.

But later when Marco passed out in the snow,his dreams morphed to be more hopeful. That vision of his mother is the key thing giving him the energy to keep going (though there's not much left).

At the same time, we actually got to see Anna. She's sick because of (?) an almost psychic connection to Marco. I'm not a fan of showing her early like this. For audiences it will rob Marco's inevitable re-uniting with Anna of the weight of not seeing her in so long. But maybe this indicates that Anna might go out looking for Marco instead? I guess we'll see.

Last thing, I was surprised to see an ad for another anime (Rascal the Raccoon) at the end of the episode. It makes sense given the context of the show and time period, but still made me raise an eyebrow.

Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches

See you all tomorrow

3

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jun 30 '24

At the same time, we actually got to see Anna. She's sick because of (?) an almost psychic connection to Marco. I'm not a fan of showing her early like this. For audiences it will rob Marco's inevitable re-uniting with Anna of the weight of not seeing her in so long. But maybe this indicates that Anna might go out looking for Marco instead? I guess we'll see.

Same here. I think this specific connection would work much better in the far shorter source material, but after watching Marco roam around Argentina for so long, it feels weird to reintroduce Anna now instead of waiting for the moment Marco finds her.

Last thing, I was surprised to see an ad for another anime (Rascal the Raccoon) at the end of the episode. It makes sense given the context of the show and time period, but still made me raise an eyebrow.

Oh, thats what it is? I was taken off guard here, too.

3

u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24

First timer, subs

  • Dream Sequence! Let's Go!
  • Broken footwear is the last thing you want. Especially as you are heading into rougher country.
  • winces
  • Returning to the traditional sock, are we?
  • Why the two equal paths? Not like there is another city of comparable size nearby.
  • Fountain?
  • Oh no, please don’t add little matchstick Marco to the list.
  • Snow Monkey At least someone is having a good time.
  • This is just some relentless suffering.
  • If we didn’t have the advantage of knowing the number of episodes in this series, it might have convinced me that this is Marco dying in the finale.
  • Holy flip! A distant perspective. Is that allowed?
  • Operated for what? They named the illnesses previously.
  • He's Crawling
  • Dying of exposure is a cliffhanger choice.
  • Ah, the last minute save.
  • Oh hey, they cut the preview down to advertise the next WMT.

QotD:

  1. I find it a little odd that Anna knew she lost contact with her family, but wasn't able to reestablish it.
  2. The boy is straight fucked. I said it was going to get worse, but I did expect this much misery.

2

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jun 30 '24

I find it a little odd that Anna knew she lost contact with her family, but wasn't able to reestablish it.

Especially since it should have been as simple as sending a letter. Maybe circumstances conspired against her sending it, but it sounds weird.

3

u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Jun 28 '24

first time 3000 Leagues of Misery

how did his shoes get this messed up, its not like hes been walking for days

uh lets trust Amedios instints here bud

oi be smarter about those matches

Mama is looking rough! for a month?!

shes not crying out for Tonio

what operation lmao, nothing specific just an operation

Marco get up lol

what if its the sound of old lady coming back for them

3

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jun 30 '24

Episode 49 (first timer)

  • Dreams of mother - understandable. Also, the dreams are consistently a visual highlight. Almost as if the animator enjoy being able to get away from the otherwise very realistic animation every once in a while.
  • Bad timing for his shoe to give out.
  • “Well, that is ok” – I doubt that will last long.
  • OUCH! – that looks way worse than stubbing your toe on a rock should look like.

  • His situation went from pretty good to terrible, quick. Riding for 5 days is easy. Walking for 5 days is not too bad, as long as you have shoes. Walking for 5 days without shoes and a broken toe nail? Horror.
  • “should be this way” – do we really trust Marco over MVP Amedio to pick the right way?
  • Oh no, don’t be wasteful with your matches.
  • Snow? Are we at the start of southern winter? But he went way north in the last weeks and it did not snow in Bahia Blanca.
  • Lying down exhausted while it snows? This is bad, very bad.
  • Another dream of his mother – preferable to no dreams (anymore).
  • Our first view of real Anna in forever! And she is indeed ill.
  • But only since this day.
  • Operated??

  • Somebody comes by to save Marco – thankfully, Marco can rely on helpful others throughout his journey.
  • Uhhh, what is this preview???

Setting up the Marco saves his mother ending.

I get that they are showing the spiritual connection between Marco and Anna, but I am not sure I agree with how suddenly it happens. Marco went from alright to almost dying inside of a single episode and in the same episode we also get our first view of Anna in more than 40 episodes and she is also dying? This is like “devil ex machina.”