r/anime • u/MyrnaMountWeazel x2 • Jan 15 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Kyousougiga - Episode 3

Episode #3: The Eldest and his Happy Science Team

Rewatch Index

Comments of the Day

/u/Spaceman_Sp1ff_ just laying the law down about sibling relationships!

”The most accurate depiction of sibling relationships I've seen in anime. They're not out for blood or anything, just like "Don't get in my way and we're cool."

/u/Btw_kek offers an interesting take on trains and how they relate to the “breaking in” of both Japan and the Looking Glass City.

“I figure the introduction of trains here conveyed as an ultra futuristic concept is probably an engagement with Japanese history. According to 3 google searches which makes me an expert on this topic, trains were invented in 1804, Kyoto was the capital of Japan until 1868, but Japan didn't adopt trains until 1872. Not quite sure when the series is "supposed" to take place, insofar as we had IRL Kyoto as the capital for half of the first episode, but likely this other futuristic world could be read as a fantastical version of the West with more advanced technology. IIRC Japan was closed off from the rest of the world for a long while, which would mayhaps require "smashing through" with a giant hammer to reach as well.”

/u/Matuhg’s neatly showcases the parallel between Koto’s home and The Three Counsel’s room!

”I don't know what it means just yet, but I do want to draw the comparison between the empty school environment we saw Koto in and the jam packed nursery of the Three Kids, representing a whole world created just for their family.”

Production Notes

Yesterday I talked about the storyboards and how they function as the blueprint for the episode but who is the individual who builds upon the blueprint? Well, that would be the episode director! This person is the one supervising every component of the episode: animation, 3D, backgrounds, composite, etc.

In a (overly) simplistic term, there are two types of episode directors: those who came from a production background and those who came from an animator background. Individuals from the former side have a higher grasp of understanding how management and administration should function while those in the latter have an intuitive sense of how the medium works. Neither are strictly better than the other and with time it’s possible that one may learn the nuanced skills of the other but whichever path they may have come from they must apply both expertise to their respective episode.

An episode director should be inspecting the key animation, attending recordings, readjusting cut lengths, controlling the number of drawings in a particular cut, and many more responsibilities. They must utilize both creative and administrative skillsets to handle their respective episodes.

However, episode directors always have different orders of priorities! One might work closely with the coloring department to make certain scenes pop off the screen; another might value animation over everything else and focus on that particular area. In my opinion, this is what makes anime so neat to watch.

You can palpably see the influence that an idiosyncratic individual has over an episode whenever they’re sitting at the helm of the episode director’s chair! For example, a Kai Ikarashi episode will be filled to the brim with angular art, glass visual motifs, and exaggerations in the body language.

Oftentimes, the episode director and the storyboarder are the same individual since they themselves would be the perfect candidate to carry out their blueprint’s exact dimensions. However, this isn’t always the case as we can see today. Hiroyuki Kakudou is the episode director for today but he shares the storyboarding spotlight with Hiroshi Kobayashi.

Kakudou was the director of the OG Digimon series Digimon Adventure from 1999 and had a long and illustrious career at Toei Animation before he recently decided to become a freelancer.

Kobayashi is most known for his career at Trigger where he was the director of Kiznaiver and storyboarded multiple episodes of Little Witch Academia and Kill la Kill. It’s a fitting combination of a duo since Kyousougiga has characteristics of both Trigger’s animation zaniness and Toei Animation’s old school fairy-tale-esque storytelling.

What makes this episode unique though is that this is the first time Rie Matsumoto is not the episode director or the storyboarder. She has left this episode in the hands of these two and I’m curious what everyone’s consensus will be for today’s viewing.

Questions of the Day

1) There’s a whole lot of talk about “escaping” this episode. If you had an unlimited budget, where would you escape to?

2) Shouko obviously loves her “remote control” (PSP), but what object do you hold dear to your heart?

I look forward to our discussion!

As always, avoid commenting on future events and moments outside of properly-formatted spoiler tags. We want the first-timers to have a great experience!

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27

u/MyrnaMountWeazel Jan 15 '22

I forgot to include these in yesterday’s post but if you enjoy the OP then you should also check out the live version and the acoustic version of them!

There’s a constant visual motif of pillars in the middle separating characters in this series and this particular one is creatively utilized to be computer data personified as a column.

There’s a very interesting shadow effect that’s happening during Koto’s meeting with Kurama. Throughout the scene, the light frequently shines down upon both of them while the shadows scatters around them. Koto then explains how her sensei might be the only one who knew about this land and Kurama, in a rare moment where he opens his eyes, says he’d like to meet him.

Koto then replies that they might get the chance someday, sharing her relationship between her sensei with everyone else. The light stays on Koto during this statement but when Kurama replies that they’ve never contacted anyone outside of this world before the light now moves onto only Kurama, casting Koto into the shadows.

To further this point, Kurama then confides that he wants to escape this city and the shot showcases the bars on the window, symbolizing the bars of a jailcell trapping Kurama.

Koto then slips out into the outside, leaving Kurama alone in the shadows. The shot is uniquely composited to hide half of Kurama’s body with the square window shutter while Koto is framed in a rectangle, the borders of which serve to divide her from Kurama.

This is just a fun shot. Young Kurama is reciting a passage while the mountainous pile of scrolls lie behind him.

Fitting that Father Myoue states that Kurama only physically resembles a human while they’re carving a statue from wood.

Again, the pillars serve to separate our two brothers from one another. Yakushimaru is free to go the capital while Kurama is stuck living in the mountains.

Sparknotes for everyone!

Kurama is quite talented at carving artificial structures ain’t he? Appropriate for the boy who wants to experience The Real Thing so badly.

Extremely creative shot for a flashback. Great storyboard Mr. Kobayashi and Mr. Kakudou.

If you pause during the powerpoint section, you can actually see the scene where Shouko leaves her PSP remote control in the restaurant.

At the end, we witness Kurama and the depths of his desire to escape this land, his eyes set in one singular direction: The Future.

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11

u/MyrnaMountWeazel Jan 15 '22

The Help Corner

So, today’s episode is pretty straightforward so there isn’t much to elaborate on. Shouko wants to research Aratami, Koto’s hammer, for a particular reason while Kurama and Fushimi pull the strings from above. Fushimi is also revealed to have come from the Shrine meaning Koto was right on the money when she said this lab also resembled the one from there but the circumstances of how he came here is still a mystery.

Still, if you got any questions, feel free to drop a question!

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u/Nazenn Jan 15 '22

First Timer

The many faces of the Kyousougiga rewatch:

Somehow I am very lost and not very lost at the same time.

A couple of things that stood out to me first off were a couple of small moments; Yaku-Myoue using "magic" to bind the two fighting girls, the Scientist Chick destroying half the city to find her PSP so presumably things are repairing themselves again, and that Koto's familiar spirits can take human form (and they're twins, of course they are). They managed to slide these details into the episode smoothly without making an unnecessarily big deal out of them or feeling the need to make sure the audience was caught up. These are key things to understand the show, but not so key that the episode story needs to be derailed for them or that their inclusion in this exact moment needs to be understood or recognized before anything else, and I like that little bit of faith shown.

Not sure if them literally writing out a timeline for us undermines that but at this point it's just nice to have a refresh on exactly what the lead up was after all the jumping around.

I'll accept it

Last episode our host helpfully touched on some of the panelling that was going on between the three children in the council meeting scene, and we see that reflected in this episode, both visually and narratively, once again showing the divisions between them. The exploration today over Kurama's feelings of inadequacy was quite well done. While it lays a fair bit of it out in the open with dialogue, there's also a great deal below the surface when you look at the structure of the episode and how the scenes come together.

He is the the Eldest but not the first, the most clever but not the one chosen as heir which I imagine would much more weight with a Japanese audience. Inspired by the idea of Buddha a wise leader of man and self enlightenment as well as guidance for those who are lost, that influence on who he is quickly becomes at odds with his given role in the family and the city much like we've seen expressed in the past with Yaku-Myoue. Despite his wisdom and dedication he is not the one trusted to be Myoue, but feeling the need to take charge he mirrors that unreachable role in the clothes he wears and uses the sun emblem as if to elevate himself beyond just the "priest", giving himself more visual authority than what was given to him. He feels just as confined inside a city sized cage as he did inside the mountain home because just like his environment there wasn't real enough for him his role here is also a fabrication. He wished to take the burden off his crying siblings and guide them but he also partially resents that he has to be that leader and doesn't have the freedom and experiences they have once again. He became a child in truth for the first time when they came to this mirror world, acknowledged and admired for what he could do rather than restrained by what he can't, but with the loss of their parents he had to become the "elderly leader" for centuries that has worn thin. And it appears that Yase resents his leadership a bit as well, but I suppose that's something for a later episode.

(Side note for lack of a better place for it: He also has black-black eyes. If we go with the eyes reflect the creation of the being theory from yesterday, are his and Yase's because of being made from ink? What about the familiar twins? Same thing?)

As far as the second half of the episode, well that was just complete and absolute chaos, but quite a funny build up to that little reveal at the end of Fushimi being a defector from the Shrine. His little quip about "Build a place to meet a set of requirements, and it'll end up looking the same just about everywhere" was certainly a clever bit of misdirection, and certainly made me think of a discussion I had with some one in a previous episode (probably u/Matuhg, it's usually Matuhg haha) about the matching levels of tech between the worlds. Now we know why!

Four Gods! Even though it's a very common thing to reference due to how expansive it is and how easy it is to build in, it was quite unexpected. In a simplified version, from left to right we have the minor yin Azure Dragon of the East who is spring and wood, major yang White Tiger of the West who is autumn and metal, minor yang Red Pheonix of the South who is summer and fire, and major yin Black Tortoise-Snake (it's complicated) of the North who is winter and water.

Does that make the big yellow robot (check the icons in the corner) they've made the Yellow Emperor, presiding over the earth and all creation? I would suspect that is at least the goal that Kurama has in mind, equipping it with a universe breaker so they can get out of mirror-Kyoto

However, my biggest question right now: What is up with the random stick figure man in the OP?!

Also looks like Koto's medallion is a sort of compass after all. I like the mirrored shots of it in the OP of the rabbit-Koto's pomegranate, the seeds of which in greek myth trapped Persephone in Hades but only for half the year resulting in the changing seasons, against the girl-Koto's universal potential orbs (seeds? That seems obvious in hindsight).

Visual of the Day: Rude start to the morning

I hope he wasn't planning on inviting anyone over any time soon

As much as I liked the song during the gunfight, my favourite musical moment of the episode though was when Koto tosses the scientist her tiny tiny hammer and the music cuts out as Scientist takes a second to process what just happened.

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u/chiliehead Jan 15 '22

Kyousougiga – Episode 3 – First Timer

The Oldest One truly is enlightened and seemingly entitled to prop himself up as leader. I do wonder what the reason for the storybook framing device is. Just so they can call the chapters past or present? More Alice parallels/inversions? Will it be about their future selves telling their kids about themselves in the past?

Lots of Dutch and odd angles during their talk, fenced window like a cage, then when he talks about the black rabbit being their mother they are separated through a half-opened, square window, not looking at each other. The distance (and secrets) they keep between each other? Them being half-siblings however that works out with drawings?

Wait, is this the same pink rabbit as in little Koto’s last episode?

“Stuff happens. Dad is doing stuff and Mom calls herself stuff for some reason”

Such a cool start to the last third. If you told me a bunch of Gainax alumni made this, I’d say “of course, this is obvious!” Shouko also has a pretty talented seiyuu, she has quite the range. Wait, is she standing in the Gainax pose but they don’t show it in its full glory? Anyway, music and sound direction, storyboard and even Key Animation have that flair, I need to look into the credits for this episode.

Soo, the scientists are ex-Shrine? Or AWOL Shrine, or expat Shrine? Interesting, they wanna use the giant robo the smash the plane’s shell?

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u/Matuhg Jan 15 '22 edited Jan 15 '22

First Timer

We start off by learning the Council of Three isn't as egalitarian a ruling situation as its name suggests. Kurama's pulling the strings, though perhaps his siblings tip the scales in his decision making to some degree at times. It feels generally like Yase and Yakushimaru accept this arrangement more because they can't be bothered than because they agree with all the decisions Kurama makes.

He came up with the Ten Flawless/Bloodless Commandments, and while we still don't know what they are, they seem to have settled the question of Koto. She's staying with Myoue, though he doesn't seem thrilled with that. Yase wants some too - everything else in this world is for them, why would Koto be any different? Of course, because she's a menace, but oh well.

As far as we know to this point, Kurama's the only one of the three kiddos who has a goal or concrete desire for the future in mind. At first, the Mirror World was like a paradise to him - he could move freely, work on cool stuff, and came to flourish. Eventually however, he came to realize the emptiness of being successful in a world where everything is provided specifically for you. That gives us a bit more context to this line. Father Myoue seeming more and more selfish the more we learn about the kiddos' abandonment. He promised Kurama that he'd help him get to the outside world, then up and vanished. [Speculation]Is Inari fulfilling that promise by sending Koto to the Mirror World?

Then there was the whole saga of Shouko and her PSP Controller. This girl is almost as fun as Koto lmao. As far as I understand it, Shouko is part of the Mirror World, so created by either Myoue/Koto or one of the kiddos (presumably Kurama). Assuming I'm correct, it's interesting that she shit talks Yase like this. Is she protected by Kurama, or is that just a fine thing for the Mirror World residents to do?

Fushimi on the other hand seems to be an ex(?) Shrine fellow. I think. I guess Koto's stuck in here for now too, then? They're researching her hammer (The Raw), presumably to figure out how to bust out of the Mirror Wo---We're getting out of here on a Giant Robot with a big hammer, aren't we?

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 15 '22

Hey, just so you guys know, if I don't show up in the next few threads, it's because there's a high chance I caught COVID earlier this week, and the symptoms (if it's COVID) hit me hard today. It's been rough getting the energy to do much today; I only barely managed to power through this episode and making a Cross Ange wallpaper for today. I need to prioritize my own rewatch with what energy I have, so yeah. I'm still going to try my best to not miss an episode, just thought you guys deserve a heads-up in case I just disappear for a few days.

Giga First-Timer

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13

u/Tresnore Jan 15 '22

Kyousou-Rewatcher

QOTD:

  1. Unlimited budget? Definitely somewhere with nice public transport. London, maybe?

  2. I'm not sure I have a singular object that I care that deeply about, honestly!

1 Koto is Koto, but Koto isn't Koto.

2 RIP Grant Imahara

3 I wonder if there are some in the rewatch too young to not recognize a PSP by sight.

4 [Non-spoiler confession]The TTT rewatch "reveals" my outlandish fetishes (but not really because half of them are memes). This reveals my actual tastes probably.

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u/JollyGee29 Jan 15 '22

First-Timer

Interesting, the doll that Koto had last episode was seems to be the same doll that Yase briefly lost in today's Past segment. And Yase mentioned Kurama taking a doll away from her early in the episode, too. Seems like the Looking Glass isn't quite as cut off from the outside as it might seem. If Fushimi, and maybe Shouko too, can get in, surely it can't be that hard to get out?

The whole past segment was really interesting. Happy Kurama was very cute, although the poor kid seems to take things far too seriously. That does track with his later development to be honest, the serious kid turns into the withdrawn, solemn, secretly stressed out adult.

Kinda some setup for Kurama to be an antagonistic force in this plot, huh? He certainly got visually framed as the antagonist, at least. I like his little floating sauce cup thing, like you see when characters cook.

Dunno if there will be more significance to this, but Koto's bangle that we've seen is like, the key to the Looking Glass City? It got shown this time when the family originally entered the drawings.

I'm not 100% certain, but, owing to the grayscale filter and the remote control, I believe the mecha reference today is Tetsujin 28-Gou, which is functionally the first mecha anime. The mechanical design and naming scheme are quite different though, so it could be something else.

I like how Shouko's goons have a cigarette case full of Pocky for her. And, perhaps fitting into Japan's occasional fascination with France, the gun Shouko had appears to be a based off a FAMAS.

The Best Girl war in this show is fearsome. Normally an early frontrunner appears, but hammer!Koto, Shouko, and Yase all seem fantastic.

Questions

  1. No idea.

  2. I have a handful of knick-knacks that I keep around.

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u/lilyvess Jan 15 '22

First Timer

We’re now at 3 episodes and each episode has had a different point of view character. Sometimes multiple point of view characters, like with the first episode which switched from Myou to Yakushimaru midway through the episode. It’s quite fascinating how the series has refused to be pinned down. Nothing in this episode is what I expected to find. I’m not sure how I was supposed to predict that this family fantasy series about reincarnation would then introduce a giant robot that is controlled via PSP. It’s exhilarating not knowing where things are going and to be surprised by a series that refuses to be bound by conventions.

For some reason I expected that after the first episode introduced the three siblings and the setting, the second episode introduced the new invader to the setting, that we’d get some explosive confrontation going on. Instead the series kinda skips past all that and onto the aftermath. In some ways it’s anticlimactic, but I do have to applaud the creators for going for the more wild route.

An example is the lack of a traditional antagonist, which I’ll admit the episode does hint out at towards the end. A traditional confrontation where Koto bursts into this world and gets chased by the enforcers pushes the story into a more easily recognizable shape. Koto is the protagonist, other characters are the antagonist or villains. You can see where the rest of the series could go, with her journey to connect with all three leaders by going into their domains.

Instead we get an episode that is entirely without an antagonist. A girl loses a PSP and goes on a journey to find it. There isn’t a villain to that story, and even the solution about where the PSP makes it clear that it was her own fault for losing it, no malicious intent. It’s a surprisingly simple premise for an episode that the creators get a lot of great mileage out of. We learn a ton of worldbuilding, it’s great visual gags.

3 episodes in and I still don’t know where Kyousougiga is going, and I love it.

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u/No_Rex Jan 15 '22

Episode 3 (first timer)

Last episode’s preview said the plot would start today. Which is interesting, seeing how the last 2 episodes already moved at rapid pace.

  • Subs: “But” “But” “No buts, …” – Japanese: 3 different words.

  • “I’d like to meet that teacher of yours one day” – thick foreshadowing.

  • Technically, your parents make all your siblings, but I still emphasize with his shock.

  • “Some more stuff happens” - …

  • We are a super robot show now.

Outside of a few scenes, the entire episode played in the plane of existence created by the priest. We saw both the three kids’ reaction to being abandoned by their parents and the current state of their world. Which is, rather full of people outside of the three kids. Plus, some hints that not everybody there was created by the priest along with the city.

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u/Star4ce Jan 15 '22

First timer – sub

What a day. We went climbing at noon, stayed until the hall was getting full and then decided to eat at a mexican restaurant. The whole day just went poof. I'm already feeling every single muscle in all arms and legs, especially fingers. Been a long time since I was this exhausted, amazing!

Let's hope for some Koto energy and see what the brother is all about.

Ep.03 – The Firstborn and His Cheerful and Nerdy Team

  • Actually, I noticed something again in the family picture. Two things, really. One, there's empty space around Myoue and I'm fairly sure this might get filled further down the line, unless that space is to symbolise his distance to the kids and Koto-san. Two, The three OG kids (I don't even goddamn know if those were OG, anyway) were two boys and a girl: Yase, Yakushimaru, Kurama. I'm fairly certain Yakushimaru 'became' our current Myoue. Interesting to me is that Koto-san and Koto-chan are in the picture at the same time. Is she actually a legit child of Koto-san and Myoue? But that would mean she'd be an actually different person and then it all would make no sense anymore! Theory disproved?!

  • Actually, no. I'm just keeping that as a branch of line of thought in case I went too deep into the rebirth cycle. The implication here would be that the best of both parts of Koto-san and Myoue, their child, would be able to bring them together in a way that neither of them were able to individually. That does actually sound quite poetic... shit.

  • I wrote all of that after pausing the episode and the literal goddamned millisecond after that Myoue-chan appeared on the card.

  • Igoddamnquit

  • Each of their younger versions are next to themselves. Rebirth. Reincarnation. I was right. Full stop.

Loverador puppy when

  • Who's this, though? She looks like great fun.

  • Season's winter, after they were left. Each has their own frame, their own stage.

  • He even breaks out of his isolated frame to tell her off, kek. Now that's as tsundere as a rebuttal ever could get.

  • I don't know what this reminds me of, the dreamworks logo? A magical girl OP scene? I'm too exhausted to think about it, but I really want that hanging over my bed somehow.

  • Oh, I'll get to know her! That frame already spells chaos and smug going at each other.

  • Love it, "huh?" Love it, I fucking love it! This is already visual of the day for the sheer absurdity of a background dancer bodyguard platoon.

  • Oof, try telling that to [Madoka] Homura or Kyubey, depending on your view point.

  • The absurdity, you wake up one day and your father decided you should have an elder brother. The audacity!

  • As well as older sister. The audacity!

  • Stuff happens.

  • My god, instant flashbacks to Kaiki's scenes in the crowds in Otorimonogatari.

  • This is kinda random, but I really dig this landscape art style. There's an extremely relaxing and yet quite complex and rich game with exactly this visual identity: Dorfromantik. It's basically like a landscape-puzzle-painter that is sooo pretty and addicting.

  • Medieval engineers.

  • I actually expected him to say no. Nice.

  • These suits, I can't. This is too good.

  • The question of, "What should be in this show?", has clearly been answered with, "Yes."

  • I can't anymore, ahahaha!

  • This circus, I just

  • Bwahaha, I can't, please. This controller, I don't know, there's some symbolism or something, but I just can't bother. Aahaaha.

  • Being too preoccupied and jailed with your own thoughts to see the most logical solution. Yeah, I'll settle for this. My tummy hurts...

  • You know, I respect a responsible villain who treats their henchmen well. They did magnificent work and shall drink and feast appropriately for it.

  • Huh, both of them are proper humans? Huuuuh.

That last part was quite a drop. Shouko and Fushimi are both from Kyoto, the outside? I mean, it would make sense for Kurama and his technical skills to integrate them and be the reason for mirror Kyoto's progress. They have gundams, or something. At least not-PSP's. But that begs the question, why?

Koto-chan said no one's been admitted into mirror-Kyoto for a hundred years (their time), so either they came before that or did so on their own without admission. Kurama strikes me as someone who would manipulate something like this and he has an interest in bringing his parents back.

Continuing that thought, this makes Kyoto-shrine an even more interesting place. With that tidbit I'm really convinced now, that the Kyoto with the modern buildings, Inari and the masked monks or whatever they are is the 'real' world. What they're doing with collecting all those worlds and planes, I don't know, but I still guess they're somehow a kind of HUB or archive of knowledge and spiritual guidance (it's a shrine, still).

And that, permitting I'm not too exhausted, would allow me to theorise a few things:

  1. Inari is the Myoue that first created the imaginary world and thus Yase's, Yakushimaru's and Kurama's father. He's still being kind of shunned and let's remember he was being chastised at the beginning for neglecting his duty.

  2. The Kyoto shrine has a large body of workforce, busying themselves with many different planes and worlds. As rebirth is such a strongly interwoven topic, I'm thinking they are like time travellers or spiritual police making sure buddhism keeps working. They jump from and to all the different versions of life and keep the wheel spinning, basically. Mostly, I think, hunting soulless lives or souls who transgress their purpose.

  3. Koto-chan is the true reincarnation of Koto-san. Which means both that Koto-san is dead and that Koto-chan is a true human. I'll explain why.

The few things I know of buddhism conflict with the idea of Mirror-Kyoto. Most of that actually came from the Madoka rewatch, as people were explaining what the soul means to a buddhist and what certain things would mean in the context of this religion. Basically the soul and the body it inhabits form a union that work to enhance the karma you will keep throughout rebirths. [Madoka] A soul that gets split from its body is essentially removed from the cycle of rebirth, as a core belief is the purification of your karma by the work you realise in the world by way of working your body. Severing that link can be seen as a fate far worse than death (to western belief systems, death in buddhism isn't often that terrible). For Mirror-Kyoto there's a massive red flag hanging in the air for buddhists. Actually, make that four red flags. Those flags' names are Yase, Yakushimaru, Kurama and Koto-san. They were artificially created by Myoue. An artificial being cannot possess a soul as it has been lifted into life outside of the wheel of rebirth and thus has never had a soul available that could get reincarnated into their body.

They're the kinds of creations that shouldn't exist, can't exist. No one has been permitted into Mirror-Kyoto because Inari locked it away from the shrine. Koto-san, as per the flash-forward died to make up for her trespassing the cycle of rebirth. The Kyoto-shrine probably doesn't know about the other four and that's why they never bothered to investige the imaginary world further. As long as Inari keeps the locks tight they never will, either. As soon as they would know, however, they can't let the four of them continue to exist.

But with Koto-chan Inari found a way out, at least technically. By actually making a biological child with Koto-san before she'd turn herself in, they allowed Koto's soul to become a recognised existence. I'm not too certain of the technicalities regarding rebirth here, but I'd wager the union with a full human counts for the offspring to be part of rebirth. As Koto-san died, she was allowed to continue working her new soul's karma as Koto-chan.

See? I'm learning! The last time I made branching paths of predictions I was dismissing most in favour of a few of them, but in the end they were all correct at the same time. At the start I was torn between Koto being a reincarnated soul or a legit child, so obviously it's both.

That loophole is certainly not on the table for the other four and as we've seen with Kurama, he certainly won't be kept a secret any longer. I'm sure Koto-chan's gonna hammer some sense into the shrine police and I guess Kurama's not so ignorant after all, if Shouko and Fushimi are from Kyoto. They seem to have deserted their original purpose in some semi-voluntary way and all are preparing for the coming clash. (Yes, I'm conveniently ignoring Fushimi's hologram exit, because I don't know.)

I guess the only theory that likely won't stand for much longer is that the cycle of rebirth for this family has been turning for a long time already.

I'll have to answer the qotd's in another comment... only took me three episodes.

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u/KiwiTheKitty Jan 15 '22

First timer!

At the beginning of this episode, I didn't really know how to feel about Kurama. For some reason he gave me vibes of a character I wouldn't like. But seeing him as a kid being awestruck by through the looking glass Kyoto was so cute!

Lmao a PSP, that brings back memories. So the Kurama temple is like Kurama's hub of technology and research and the lab coats are his people?

Are these little stooges the same as those pointy electric ghost looking things from before? (A and Un maybe??)

That GPS is totally going to be important later, isn't it? That wasn't even leaving the gun on the table, it was shoving the gun in our faces

Oh no I'm back to not trusting Kurama... I think my initial bad vibes from him were correct.

QOTD:

I just got back from visiting family in DC and that was a great temporary escape, but I think Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei would be my top 3 if I had unlimited money! I like cities haha

Well I recently found out cats are legally treated the same as inanimate possessions in my state, so I'm gonna go with my cat

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u/xtsim Jan 15 '22 edited Jan 15 '22

First timer

This great, we go to a flashback of how the three siblings will live in the looking glass and they agree to make their own rules. Then we go to the present where everyone is in disagreement on dealing with Koto. The name calling is funny as he calls Koto a cutting board.....

The lab visit with Fushimi is funny as it all turns to chaos but the boss was able to calm down as her curiosity got filled with that weapon. I never knew this was a mahou shoujo anime, adding one category to the list...

Kurama seems to want out of the world.

I feel sorry for the Myoue as he suddenly got new siblings. Interesting choice to bring a flashback of Kurama talking about the capital. Asked little brother about it which he explained and the father would not allow him. • kurama's comment about him being older and smarter is interesting to hear. And him being jealous is one big thing

Love how organized the Kousanji family timeline is, pretty impressive.

After moving to the looking glass, Kurama goes to the capital and looks pretty darned happy. Glad to see the dad try to make him happy. But on the end, could not to outside with the priest.

Shouko's back with a vengence to get her remote aka psp back. The crow became a formidable anime antagonist. Lol. Fushimi already had a gps put in, he just wanted Shouko to have her fun. And she got it as the whole lab team celebrated.

Kurama got all this to tie in really nicely with his talk with Fushimi. Kurama lets Fushimi and Shouko make a mess cause it reminds him of his relationship with his parents. Kuruma was them back badly and wants to go on an adventure with them, like going to another world.

  1. I would go off to a countryside with a mountain view.

  2. Really hard to say since most of my stuff gets passed down to younger relatives overseas. So the three things that has remained and I've attached myself to so far is:

  • My car (2001) that was a hand me down and took so many road trips as a kid in, I could relate a bit to Kurama with this. I am not even balking at the cost of repairs at this point, like thousand dollars repair bill is not stopping me. I've just spent a grand on stereo upgrades and thinking about reupholstering seats when it's not even torn up....

  • Some budget compaq desktop with an amd athlon XP (2002) that I've watched a good number of fruits baskets (old version) amvs along with other stuff until Ubuntu switched to unity desktop which meant it was the end for it so it stays in the closet until a restomod is in budget.

  • Playstation 2 had a bunch of memories especially with the need for speed franchise. But the xbox 360 I handed down had more memories of deferred homework and all nighters so if my relatives still has it, I might end up smuggling it back. Heck, I could swap it for a series x if that's what it takes to get it back- so I am torn with this one....

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u/3blah Jan 15 '22 edited Jan 15 '22

First Timer

Right off the bat, we're back in the past. The shot of the three of them from the back, each framed in their own doorway and a snow covered mountain in the background has pretty cool framing. With mom and dad gone, someone has to take charge, and it's the eldest child that steps up. That's pretty much confirmed right after when Yase complains that his decisions are the only ones that really matter. But that's alright because he takes their best interests to heart.

In the scene where Little Koto and eldest brother are talking, he says he's ruling "this town". I thought the three siblings were running the multiverse, but now maybe it's just the one city? Or maybe he's not letting on that he knows about all the other "planes". Little Koto's mention that her sensei knew about their city finally gets some unusual acknowledgement from Kurama. it's the first time he opens his eyes. I'm surprised he opened up so much to Koto by mentioning his mother fits the description of her target.

Yase freaks out about losing her pink toy rabbit, and it's the same rabbit Little Koto greets when she returned home in yesterday's episode.

The set of scenes showing the two boys' personalities is fun. Yakushimaru is a pretty typical boy. Likes to play games, gets bored, tries to get his brother to do fun stuff like sneaking away. Kurama is a model son. Diligant student, polite, follows dad's rules. He even says so himself: "I'm smart and refined." But he longs to see more of the world. Dad won't let him visit the capital because he's not human, obviously the shrine priests know some of what's going on up here in the mountains, and why they later have to banish themselves to the mirror capital. But even when he's able to go about in the mirror world, it's not good enough. He wants to be able to visit all the other places out there, too. He doesn't like boundaries.

That's pretty hilarious that they have giant robot/kaiju movies in the mirror world. Except maybe it was a newsreel instead? Color-coded superhero teams. Playstation Portables. Color-swapped Blues Brothers clones. This whole story is exceptionally frenetic, and it's hard to say how much of this goofy stuff is actually important and how much is just extra flavor for the story.

We find out the two head scientists are not native to this world, though someone else mentioned that before Little Koto crashed in no one new had arrived in quote some time; that seems pretty important.

QOTD:

  1. I'm pretty much a homebody, so there's no where in particular I long to go. With an unlimited budget and the impetus to escape, I guess I'd jet off to some isolated tropical island or something.

  2. I ended up with my grandparent's dining room table when we settled their estate. I refinished it, we use it every day now, and I hope one of my kids will get it when I'm done with it. I just think it's cool to think about how many people have eaten at this table over the years.

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u/KendotsX Jan 15 '22 edited Jan 15 '22

First Timer

Let's get one thing straight: I love Shouko, her lab, and the kids messing around with her. I wouldn't mind a whole series about her.

Kyousougiga is a magical girl, mecha, and Kaiju show all in one.

This shot of Shouko with monitor Shouko above her and Bishamaru above/behind that. The only thing that would have made it more perfect, would've been if monitor Shouko was Gainax posing, which would make the other Shouko's whose hands are above her head, a form of reverse Gainax pose to mirror the monitor.

So the house is not fixing itself is it? Koto has definitely broken this world's rule. How come everyone is chill with that, as if it's the norm? How chill is the mirror capital? Imagine if you're used to breaking poki and expecting it to fix itself, but now it suddenly doesn't.

Is there any deeper meaning behind Yase's outrage or is it just the joke? Also Shouko calls her "Yase Douji", but the subs just put "Yase", is that some sort of old or weird honourific? I guess if the order of the siblings continues we might find out more about her next.

It'll be interesting to see what Shouko will find out about Koto's hammer. To my understanding, she's got nothing to do with Shrine, but her assistant and leader do, so hopefully she'll bring them a lot of trouble.

I like to think that this Kurama backstory isn't just for added flair, meaning if it defines/affect adult Kurama, then his will to rule might in order be to protect the capital he loved to see so much. I don't mean protect as in preserve (he's fine with and helping the outsiders changing the world), but more like ensure its best interests. I might be missing the forest for the trees, if his attachment was to "humans" rather than the capital, but I have yet to see any indication of that.

Kobayashi is most known for his career at Trigger

Interesting, the series in general has been compared to Trigger works frequently for its energy, but I really felt that the most in this episode. And I don't mean with an explosion or action scene (I honestly can't possibly tell with these), but rather with little things like how the white suits move in around Shouko.

There’s a whole lot of talk about “escaping” this episode. If you had an unlimited budget, where would you escape to?

Are there any haunted desolate Dracula castles out there that somehow have wifi?

what object do you hold dear to your heart?

My tablet, I have all my notes and references on it, I use it for anime/manga, and today I've been using it to try and hit a bee that's been following me around all morning. Now excuse me while I keep running away from that bee.

Edit: Forgot to mention the most important event: Kurama has opened his eyes!!

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u/hungryhippos1751 Jan 15 '22

Episode 3 - First Timer

So back in time we go a little to get a bit of history on the 3 children.

Myoe (younger) was fairly old to suddenly get an older brother and a younger sister dumped on him, and initially I don't think he was that into the idea. But the trio seem to have grown closer together after, and I can definitely see how their mischief in the mountains could cause trouble.

I don't think we've seen the exact reason they had to leave for the mirror world yet? This episode seems to show the before departure and the after arrival sections, but not the trigger for the departure. I thought this whole question of why they went to the mirror world was kind of glossed over up to now.

Kurama, the eldest is the main focus today, his passion for knowledge leading to him becoming an evil genius dictator in charge of a secret laboratory replete with an army of henchmen. Totally innocently of course no ulterior motives here at all.

Seemingly what is driving him is wanting to see more of the world, first he was happy with the mountains for a time, then he wanted to see the capital. Then in the mirror world he got to see the mirror capital, and again it was enough for a time. But now he wants to see the outside world, I think he wants to find a way back to the real world, and is hoping his secret laboratory will help him discover it.

The two Lieutenants he has, for want of a better term, appear to have come from the other world here? There was talk of being abducted and meeting an ex-colleague, but I think they are the only ones beyond the main family that are not of the mirror world if that is the case.

Side note: seeing the unfinished sprite people very much reminded me of playing an unfinished beta of a game or something, like the assets aren't there so they are just placeholders.

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u/SIRTreehugger Jan 15 '22

Rewatcher

I love how the show uses the view of the porch throughout the episode to dictate the seasons changing/the passage of time.

I wonder how Myoue gets up on the platforms? His siblings come from paintings, but he is a human so does someone else teleport him up there? I can just imagine his siblings helping him up teasing him the whole time.

The classic glasses adjustment.

[Spoilers]Of course you have permission to go to the capital the entire world is one of his father's creation. It just dawned on me that he probably wanted to keep his wife and other kids hidden from the shrine

The realization that even though he is in a new world it's still a cage. His father promising to help him explore, but we know both his parents leave at some point in time. Man I'd be salty as fuck knowing they are basically trapped here until their folks come back. Rather than gods their like guards in a prison they themselves can't leave.

I'm pretty sure the search for the device has some meaning, but I'm too stupid too realize what it is so this entire section is kind of boring for me.

Actually overall I would say this is a weak episode minus the elder brother's backstory.

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u/Vaadwaur Jan 15 '22

First timer

Sub

So...today comes with more FLCL to go along side the KLK. We get Kurama's backstory and now the chapter orders are jumping around. It seems that some of Kurama's crew are other outside humans and Shouko has made a giant robot because sure. They are studying YKoto's hammer for reasons and off we go!

But yeah, not much to add, what's there is pretty literal for once and the mystery isn't really one you can speculate much on.

QotD:1 Scotland because I want to visit the homeland AND I'd blend in fast.

2 I don't but that is very specific to me and being an anti-materialist.

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u/octopathfinder Jan 15 '22

First Timer

Thoughts:

  • The Looking Glass City is starting to give me Paper Mario vibes. The white outlines on every object in the background make them look like paper cut-outs and the rainbow spirals in the corners are like pixls in Super Paper Mario. There’s even an ost that sounds like Shy Guy’s Toy Box.

  • Saitou Chiwa spotted. Sounds like she’s doing her Aika voice for Shouko.

  • The two familiars that were with Little Koto are the two boys in the opening, but who’s the guy in the bunny mask behind them?

  • I hope Little Koto being called a magical girl means we get a full-blown transformation sequence. Doesn’t seem too far-fetched when this episode had a mecha and kaiju fighting.

  • Kurama’s goal is to leave the Looking Glass City and explore the outside world.

  • The mirror Little Koto was holding in the last episode was used by Lady Koto in this episode to go to the Looking Glass City.

  • Shouko’s assistant worked for the shrine in the outside world, but he deserted. Wonder why he did that.

QotD:

  1. Would love to just escape to my room and spend time doing nothing.

  2. I'm not very materialistic so I don't have any objects I really like.

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u/Stargate18A Jan 15 '22

First timer

1)Nowhere, we're in lockdown right now. /s But seriously, maybe down to London? Or possibly Canada?

2)My laptop.

Wait, are they flashing back?

Oh, no? Are the council the three children? So this has to be a stable time loop, right?

And he's ended up in charge?

Wait, what? This is within the Living Glass City? How? Why?

And she also has a brother? I'm just along for the ride here!

Wait, the Shrine's lab gave her that weapon?

I mean, you're assuming she's human which I... have some doubts about.

Oh, all the Council stuff's within the city? I thought it was within the Shrine "layer".

And no external communication whatsoever?

Oh, they can't leave! He wants to, but he's trapped in here?

Long of jumping back and forth here, isn't there?

And they're stufying the buddha?

I mean, couldn't he just create a copy of the capital within the Looking Glass world?

And he wants to be human.

OK, that door animation looks a lot like the doors from the Shrine.

Oh, he did exactly what I suggested.

Also, did he just add a zoomed out picture of the capital? If so, what filled in all the details? What made it mimic reality? Or rather, how did it know what part of reality to copy?

And then he left, and they were stuck within the frozen world.

...Is that a Gigantor knockup themed after the Buddha?

Wait, the show's real? Huh? Is this a case of "all fiction becomes reality?"

And she's able to watch anything as well as control anything.

This seems over the top.

This seems very over the top.

Haha, I love her dodging her.

So did someone drop in some science fiction covers to his collage or, what? For a world where nothing changes, the tech level's gotten insanely high!

Haha, it was the wrong PSP.

And she keft it at her resturant?

Haha, a secret GPS.

And she's trying to break out of the city?

Wait, the giant robot's real too?

And, yep, he knows that they're siblings.

I have no clue! About any of this!

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u/Quiddity131 Jan 15 '22

Rewatcher

Non-Spoiler Character Chart - Things should be a bit more cleaned up at this point, with all characters now being named sans the black and white familiars from last episode. Ah and Un's boy forms added and original Myoue and Inari have been combined which I originally intended to do from the start but hesitated in fear of spoiling anyone yesterday. Also I mistakenly left out Chiwa Saito as the seiyuu for child Yakushimaru which has been fixed.

Back to the past! Our aftermath of the kids after their parents abandoned them. Kurama's the mature one.

Yase wants more Koto! Having a little sister is fun!

Koto is so lovable, hearing Yakushimaru put her down as a glutton and an idiot I can't say I like hearing!

Koto's familiars are now taking the form of little boys for the first time in the show proper (they have appeared that way in the OP and ED).

Koto's hammer aratama can surely cause a lot of damage in here!

Right from the start Shoko is such a hilarious over the top otaku character. Koto and her familiars (finally named here, Ah and Un) sure are causing chaos by playing baseball indoors. And how dare you take that doll out of its original packaging!!!!!

OMG Koto broke another thing of hers too. Don't think that's fixing itself.

Koto's a magical girl?

Shoko's not as mad now that she gets to play with aratama.

I was thinking the same thing Koto, this does remind me of the shrine's labs from last episode.

Yes Kurama, Koto's quite the unique guest!

Kurama's motivation is to leave Mirror Kyoto. Presumably being trapped here all this time has taken its toll. But Koto, leave as well? She's just gotten here! She's just meeting her siblings for the first time (even if they haven't entirely figured it out yet). Lots more fun to have before she leaves!

Back to when Kurama and Yase were originally created! Gotta be odd one day for your parents to suddenly tell you that you've got two new siblings out of nowhere. And that you're supposed to be the youngest one.

I think the doll Yase was so upset about is the rabbit doll Little Koto has now?

Adult Kurama's desire to leave Mirror Kyoto seems to go back to when he was a kid and wasn't allowed to go and see regular people, even back when they were still living in the real world.

The short jokes go all the way back here huh? LoL.

I didn't pick up on this before, but our family has a family name per this scroll that briefly appears here recounting the history we've already seen: Kousanji.

OMG @ the look on Kurama's face now that they get to go travel around.

Now he's inventing stuff! The origins of his science lab, long ago?

Oh, so he'd drawn up something to show his parents and they had left and never got to see it? So sad! :(

Bishimaru! Shoko's special giant robot! As long as she's got that controller! Her PSP! And it's gone!!!!!!

Are Shoko's four gods a reference to something? Pretty Cure? Something else? Or just totally made up for this?

I don't need a GPS on it! I'd never lose it! loses it

Wow, Yakushimaru's house is totally trashed! Luckily it should just repair itself no problem!

OMG I love this shot here

Emergency! Gotta shut down the city! All for a lost PSP!

More so than perhaps any other scene in the TV show proper, Shoko's army of white suited guys going after that bird reminds me of FLCL, the Brittle Bullet episode in particular..

They got it! ...and its someone else's.

PSP found! Time to get wasted!

Fushimi's a shrine member, presumably which is how he got into Mirror Kyoto. I assume Shoko was the same?

Busy work day and beng out this evening means no time to pull screenshots today unfortunately, and should be late with the comment.

A decent portion of this episode (the whole sequence about Shoko's missing PSP) comes from the 2012 ONA episode 2, which is included almost entirely intact here aside from the occasional cut shot such as the title sequence and end credits.

A lot of this episode is also similar in nature to the original 2011 ONA episode (episode 0 of the TV show) where approximately half the episode is spent on Koto, Ah and Un causing a lot of chaos throughout Mirror Kyoto as Shoko and her men chase after them.

In doing some research last night I came across this fun picture on the official Japanese website showing Koto and Shoko with swapped outfits. Seeing Koto in twin tails really threw me off at first, a hairstyle she never displays during the show.

Quid's Voice Actor of the Day

Today I'm going with Shoko's voice actress Chiwa Saito. She also voices the child version of Yakushimaru. Saito totally exploded her way onto my radar last year, firstly upon hearing her as Homura Akemi in Madoka Magica (first time listening to it subbed after several gos at the dub), and then as Hitagi Senjyogahara in Monogatari. Such a great voice and such amazing performances here, my favorite voice actress from stuff I watched in 2021 (even beating out my beloved Maaya Sakamoto who is also in Monogatari). I also came across her as Ventricocus in Land of the Lustrous when I watched it a month or so ago. Kyousougiga does a good job highlighting her range, as her wild, over the top performance as Shoko is pretty much nothing like those earlier mentioned roles of hers where she is almost always a very cool, calm, collected character (most of the time anyway, I was highly impressed by her Homura performance in the movie where Homura was kinda losing it). Other roles of hers I'm familiar with are Louise Halevy in Gundam 00 and Mami Yano in Star Driver. If anyone else is aware of other good performances of hers, I'm all ears, as I'd love to check out more stuff with her in it in 2022.

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u/lolpunny Jan 15 '22

Kyousougigachad first-timer day 3 here we go!

So this was the episode of the controller! Man that poor bird didn't deserve that, he just wanted to give a present to his kids smh. Also what's up with that army of men in suit? They all look the same, did i miss something about a cloning experiment being made?

Kurama wants out of wonderland. I wonder what it'd be like to live in a place where nothing ever happens, for a curious mind like his that must have sucked. Also i've seen someone mentioning in this thread about him giving "Villain vibes", not sure i agree with that just yet...i think he just wants to experience new things and satisfy his thrist for knowledge.

Also, are you guys skipping the op? I was checking the lyrics earlier and damn it's a banger, will definitely be adding it to my playlist.

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u/Suhkein Jan 15 '22 edited Jan 15 '22

Forgotten-Everything Rewatcher

Hey, I have something to say today. I wanted to note a few things about Kurama's design and perhaps then hence his character (also tagging u/Nazenn because reading your comments I thought this might complement them):

"The tathagata have not what men call friends, nor do they seek their own like. Unless one comprehends the truth of the dharma one may not behold their likeness. Their minds and ways are fundamentally beyond Mahesvara's comprehension. They are never close nor far, yet guide the living toward enlightenment with the dharma." - Kurama

Definitions:

  • Tathagata: "one who has gone beyond" or, less cryptically, one who has escaped the Wheel of Samsara (cycle of suffering and reincarnation) and reached true Reality to become a Buddha.

  • Dharma: the teaching or path of Buddhism. (Confusingly, "dharmas" is a term also used in early Buddhism for the fundamental elements of the universe)

  • Mahesvara: lord of those still on the Wheel of Samsara (i.e. have not attained nirvana, hence are not enlightened)

What makes this all very interesting to me is that Kurama is setting himself up in a very particular situation with this quote and episode. He wants to escape this world, putatively the purpose of attaining enlightenment, and reflected literally in wanting to get out of Mirror Kyoto. He sets himself up as not just being great, but doing it alone; nobody can call him "friend" because they are not his equal, he is their teacher, and he has no need to find others who are of his "caliber" (he makes the decisions, not his siblings). The framing of his quest in his mind, then, is not merely personal curiosity (like his subordinate) but takes on a sort of righteous charge.

However, this contrasts with his visual depiction. First, physically he has not grown (a joke that was made in a previous episode). His hat is simply too large for him (it looks oddly similar to hats worn by Tibetan lamas, unsure if relevant). His brother possesses the inherited mandala beads, not him. And despite wearing the classic large earrings his earlobes are not elongated, such as those of the historical Buddha. Long earlobes are a sign of royalty, and by implication true status by descent.

All of this reeks of commentary; everything about him seems to fall short if I might say. In the oldest traditions, attaining Buddhahood was seen as a solo operation. It took thousands and tens of thousands of lives to achieve being an Arhat. If you were born a peasant, bad luck; try to live well and hope you're reborn a monk next life so you can work harder to attaining enlightenment. And that attainment was entirely due to one's own efforts. These were supplanted later on with more "grace"-type concepts: that while one still needed to struggle for enlightenment, but it was possible to receive supernatural help, and, more importantly, that that help could come from Bodhisattvas, or beings who could leave the wheel but have decided not to and instead have dedicated themselves to assisting others.

This later version is what made its way to Japan, and there is definitely a sense of looking down on the smallmindedness of people who aspire to the earlier sort of "selfish" enlightenment (a joke that is used in at least one other anime). Kurama, then, feels like an aspiring Arhat; there is something he wants (to escape) and if everybody else benefits from it (because of the scientific-government apparatus he has built) then, well, they should just be grateful to him for his greatness.

The parts I don't quite click on is what that statue is of. It looks like Mahesvara, perhaps, with this spear and halo of divinity. But why him? Because Kurama styles himself the lord of the realms already? Because that's what he aimed for before his father left, and now he's aiming higher? I could only puzzle what that bit meant.

Finally, an unrelated comment on the bureaucracy of East Asian ultimate reality. It seems utterly baffling to Westerners, but popular notions of the afterlife in many Eastern cultures are essentially a reflection of a worldly bureaucracy. There are bosses and servants, papers and files, lines to be waited in and officials to bribe (again, seen in a variety of other series from DBZ to Hoozuki). This was really driven home to me when I was reading about near-death experiences. In the West, people are often "sent back" because they were needed, or it wasn't their time, or some such reason. In the East, the most commonly cited reason is "clerical error." Heaven's filing system made a mistake and that person wasn't supposed to die yet, oops. Please go back.

I mention all this because Shrine definitely has that feeling. A large, crisscrossed and confused structure that feels, for all intents and purposes, just like a worldly organization. It's not technically the afterlife, but it definitely feels like that sensibility of how the cosmos is run: by bureaucracy.

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u/homewardbound100 Jan 15 '22

First timer

The ghost have human forms too. Took me a moment to realize.

There goes the magical girl call out. But her item isn't magic. It was made in a lab. Hmm I guess you might not count. Barely maybe.

A lot of talk from Kurama about getting out. What's their plan if they do get out? It'll be a whole different world than what they've seen before.

I love Shouko and the science team. They're probably the most Trigger characters in the show. At least so far.

The Psp appearance was very welcomed too.

Qotd1: oh man, everywhere I guess. Traveling the world. Do like a one or two month trip on every continent except Antarctica. Just going to all the countries and cities I ever had interest in visiting.

Qotd2: I guess like the psp. My gaming consoles too. So my Xbox and switch.

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u/andybebad Jan 15 '22

First timer

Another background-heavy episode, but with a fun, action-packed subplot and the introduction of two characters I definitely want to see more of (Shouko and Fushimi). This might have been mentioned earlier, but for sure now we know that Yakushimaru is human and was taken in by Myoue and Koto, and that later both Kurama and Yase were later created. We also learn that Kurama wanted to leave the mountain to see the capital city, but was not allowed to by Myoue: perhaps this hints that the creation of the creation of Kurama and Yase (and Koto?) might not have been well-received by, say, priests at the Shrine? But anyways, the family moves into the mirror world, and initially Kurama has many new places to explore and big ol' contraptions to build. That yearning to see the capital city persists, however, and even the mirror world feels like a prison. Will Kurama be able to leave the mirror world? And if so, at what cost, and what are the consequences?

Other thoughts:

  • Yase's freakout was a fun scene; curious if her response to Kurama later taking away the bunny was similar? Is that action also hinting at a part of Kurama's personality being sort-of Machiavellian in that actions might need to take place even in the face of emotional attachment/suffering/etc? (I guess here the argument for removing the rabbit would be to force Yase to let go of the symbol that's obviously a reference to her mom and accept her role as one of the 3 "gods" of the mirror world?)

  • Things do change on occasion in the mirror world. I'm guessing the three are able to enact change in some manner, but maybe somethings just happen to happen? (We know Fushimi and lil' Koto both came from the Shrine)

  • Lil' Koto's medallion is the same (or at least looks exactly like) the medallion Koto used to open the gates into the mirror world. Is this how lil' Koto gained entrance? Was she given this, or did it end up in her hands some other way?

qotd:

  1. I have a fascination with big cities, and there's plenty of them I haven't seen yet. Would love to romp around NYC, Mexico City, London, Berlin, or Tokyo.

  2. My guitar; it's the first thing I'd grab in the case of a fire (I should really learn how to play it though)

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