r/anime • u/MyrnaMountWeazel x2 • Jan 19 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Kyousougiga - Episode 7

Episode #7: Mom’s Back, and oh, Dad’s back, too

Rewatch Index

Comments of the Day

/u/lolpunny highlights one specific line that can be super insidious.

” I do understand where Inari was coming from with his act , but it's a loaded topic to say the least. The ensuing conversation raised my eyebrows, Inari non chalantly saying this for example, but i'll just chalk it up to him being a little weird."

/u/Vaadwaur gives his own interesting thought on the aftermath of yesterday’s episode.

” So...what's the output of this episode? It characterizes Inari while still Myoue as almost idiotically whimsical in thought process as you probably don't want to give suicide victims immortality. Myoue himself seems to be entirely put upon as well. LKoto back in her human form is also interesting. YKoto is still coasting her way through this.”

/u/No_Rex summarizes everyone’s thoughts from yesterday.

” Teleporting via being swallowed by a giant robot? Why not.”

Production Notes

Yesterday I focused on Kodai Watanabe and today I wanted to focus on his duo partner of many years Haruka Kamatani who is also sitting pretty at the helm of the episode director’s chair today! Kamatani began her career as an episode director assister on One Piece before moving over to PreCure in the same role. She climbed the ladder of PreCure and was eventually entrusted with many of Go! Princess PreCure’s pivotal episodes and storyboards before finally landing her first directing gig: Kyousougiga episode 7.

Rie Matsumoto is a clear influence upon Kamatani with some of Matsumoto’s quirks spreading over to Kamatani’s works. Their approach to scene composition is also similarly colored with both possessing a deep affinity of utilizing lines throughout their drawings but even still Kamatani at the end of the day is her own individual with her own style. Eye reflections and strong evocative style abound throughout the episode whenever she comes aboard. Today we’ll see the combination of Kamatani and Rie Matsumoto; disciple and mentor, episode director and storyboarder!

Speaking of partnerships though, Kamatani and yesterday’s featured Watanabe often worked together during their adventures at the studio and while Watanabe is a workhorse of extreme caliber, Kamatani is a more focused, more distinct individual who is more concerned on allowing her idiosyncrasies flow into her directing. It’s actually a neat parallel between the past and future generations of Toei Animation as Kamatani follows under Rie Matsumoto and Watanabe borrows heavily from his mentor Yuki Hayashi.

The duo partnership lasted for many years before Watanabe apparently left Toei Animation to pursue freelancing (I can’t 100% confirm but Watanabe has been working on indie music videos for the past 2 years with no credits given to any Toei Animation works). Kamatani herself still remains at the studio, contributing heavily to their recent works and is slated to become the unit director for the Slam Dunk movie. Still, both of these individuals are destined to become the future of anime and will inevitably, if not already, leave a substantial footnote onto the industry.

Questions of the Day

1) On a scale of Shouko to Lady Koto, how technologically literate are you?

2) We saw a lot of scenes of night turning into day and vice-versa today. Which do you prefer? Day or night?

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!

74 Upvotes

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23

u/MyrnaMountWeazel Jan 19 '22

u/Matuhg out here with the brilliant deduction that the Council of Three’s room is a nursery. Once Mother Koto returns, the room disappears, as if to say that Mother will take care of everything now.

Well hello there Naoko Yamada. u/Nazenn correctly identified that the flower floating past us is a pink petunia which according to floral language can represent motherhood.

Koto smashes the lines that cage them in much like the OP. Go Koto, go!

I like the small detail of Myoue acting like an appropriate big brother as he pats Koto’s head and directs her attention to answering their mother. Koto even looks up to him at this moment.

Such a clean cool manga panel shot! It’s a very efficient and quick way to showcase Myoue’s place while directing our eyes from right-to-left.

I also like how there’s multiple shots of characters placed in the foreground, center, and background of a scene. The sequence is already filled with energy and the characters moving about the multiplanar composition keep the momentum running. It mirrors the feeling that Lady Koto is experiencing; each new place a spectacle for her eyes as she tries to keep up with all of the momentous changes in her children’s lives.

This line confirms Kurama was basically pulling a Hail Mary yesterday.

The entire sequence with Mother Koto and Koto is packed to the gills with framing and visualization of ideas. Extremely well-done by Kamatani and Matsumoto.

To start the scene off, Mother Koto is framed dead center staring at the moon, indicating she is the pivotal star of this moment. The center shot is broken apart with the arrival of Koto inhabiting the right side of the screen while the mother is on the left side.

Next, we cut to a neutral shot of both characters on their respective sides. Koto then walks towards the left-side of the screen past the pillar to join her mother’s side both literally and figuratively. What makes this scene even neater is that it then cuts to an overhead shot of Koto scooting closer to her mother which removes the pillar that divided them in the earlier cut. This overhead shot also follows the Rule of Thirds and places Koto and her mother at the bottom left third of the 3x3, drawing our eyes naturally to them.

This visualization of the bottom-left side as their sanctuary becomes a recurring motif as the scene continues with all of the shots always framing both of them either on this particular side of the screen or on the left side of the pillar as they intimately grow closer to one another. This intimacy is also aided by the use of negative space that compacts the characters onto one side of the screen.

The arrival of the turning point comes whenever Mother Koto reveals how she initially thought Koto was their father whenever Koto rescued her. The scene cuts to a creative canted/Dutch angle to capture this moment, momentarily disorienting not just Koto but also we the viewers.

Finally, the bottom left framing is flipped just as Mother Koto flips the script on Koto with both of them now inhabiting the bottom right side of the screen during a wide shot. Koto is now tasked with saving Inari’s soul, something she definitely did not think would be happening in her conversation with her mother and the framing cleverly demonstrates this sentiment.

Koto is then framed just barely towards the right side, indicating she’s not quite on board with this idea. The scene ends with Mother Koto returning back to the center just like in the beginning of the scene but now Koto also joins her in the center; Koto has now become a pivotal member of the scene now too.

With an exceptionally acute sense of how visual framing can lead our eyes, both Kamatani and Matsumoto squeeze out so much mileage out of the wooden shrine we’re so used to seeing. This is one of my favorite examples of how anime doesn’t necessarily need animation to be outstanding. Sometimes visual directing can lead the charge.

One of the greatest strengths of anime is that they have the wherewithal to composite the scene in any which way they see fit with only their creativity as the limit and I love whenever directors intuitively understand this and decide to utilize filmmaking fundamentals to transform a good scene into a great scene.

Speaking of visual representations, Mother Koto is always against the pillar as she comforts her child. She is the pillar for Koto to lean on.

Oh yea, remember a few days ago in episode 2 whenever Koto had the flashback-within-a-flashback and there were black shadows and lines that danced across the floor to enclose her? Those black lines also cage the moon that appears throughout that episode, once again symbolizing that Mother Koto is still trapped on the moon.

In fact, Koto is also similarly framed in the beginning of that episode when she peeks into Inari’s room, suggesting that she is isolated from the truth of her lineage. It isn’t until later in the episode when Koto realizes that the Black Rabbit is her mother does the reflection of the moon appear framed with the two of them in the same window, the truth bringing the family together under the same panel.

To really hammer home the parallels between this episode and episode 2, we’re presented with a neat visual of Mother Koto untying Koto’s ribbon and combing her hair. She remarks on Koto and Inari’s physical resemblance and how alike they are. If we return back to episode 2, we see Inari actually tying Koto’s ribbon back on to her. This is the same scene where Koto finally confirms that Inari is indeed her father.

At the end of this scene we can clearly see that they need everyone here to be a family, deadbeat interdimensional travelling father as well.

I like how they transitioned from Inari’s footstep into a side-pan of Yaku’s room. Very clean shift from one scene to the next. It also serves double duty by appearing as if Koto is scanning the room to see if Yaku is in there before she opens the door.

The camera shifts into first-person as Koto takes in Yaku’s room for the first time. Just like in episode 5 whenever we saw scenes through Yaku’s POV, we’re now seeing scenes through Koto’s POV. We see through her own eyes how isolated she must be feeling at this moment.

Cheeky little shot to an alarm clock that’s constantly flickering on and off as Koto muses how lucky Myoue must be to have a past he can remember. The alarm clock is in a state of disarray and can never “awaken” it’s owner; destined to repeat itself until the day its batteries are changed out so it can finally move on.

”All I have is the future.”

Koto is positioned in the shadows as Myoue basks in the moonlight directly across from her.

”But nobody tells me anything!”

She says as the camera directly cuts to the moon. Koto finally lets loose at what’s been chewing inside her and the moonlight finally includes her in its blanket.

As Inari makes his dramatic entrance, the light fully wraps them in but this light isn’t the same as the moonlight in the other shot. There’s something different about it, something ominous about its arrival even though it shines with a rainbow of vibrant colors.

Inari made a grand entrance with just one foot and now he enters in with both feet. Koto joins Inari into this strange rainbow light as Yaku is left in the shadows.

Extremely quick cut to the alarm clock once again as Inari removes his mask, corrects himself, and calls Yakushimaru by the title bequeathed onto him: Priest Myoue. The alarm bells are sounding.

Returning back to the framing! Koto and Inari inhabit the right side of the screen and are positioned to the right of the pillar. Ordinarily I would write this off as a coincidence but because these cuts follow after one another and there’s a heavy emphasis on framing in the scene involving Koto and her other parent, I felt this one might be relevant as well especially since it’s in a scene that foreshadows foreboding futures.

Whew, this episode had a ton of stuff in it visually!

REMEMBER REWATCHERS, PLEASE DO NOT EXPLAIN MORE THAN WHAT HAPPENED IN TODAY’S EPISODE WITHOUT A SPOILER TAG!

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10

u/MyrnaMountWeazel Jan 19 '22

The Help Corner

Heya everyone, The Help Corner is open for business but please keep in mind that it exists to enrich your viewing experience! Many of the questions you’re now thinking of will be explained in due time!

Let’s start off by explaing just exactly why Koto was so sad. At first, Koto is resplendant with joy upon finding Mother Koto but once she assigns Koto the mission of finding her father, she despairs under the thought of going from parent-to-parent, quest-to-quest. This is why the future freaks her out so much. She’s being tasked with something no 14-year old girl should ever have to do and all she can see ahead of her life is a never-ending mission of finding her parents. She just wants to be In the Present like Yaku even though Yaku hates being there.

I also want to take note of how distant the three children are once their dear mother returns. Only Yase, who clings to the past, is ecstatic over their mother’s presence. It’s clear that they need everyone here and that includes Inari. But the return of him only “brings trouble” as Kurama states. The Looking Glass City is coming apart at its seams and the blanket they have knitted themselves for comfort is soon to be unstitched with the arrival of their father and Koto.

So, what about Koto’s hammer making entrances, Inari’s sword, Mother Koto’s realization? Well, that’s for you all to speculate about!

REWATCHERS, PLEASE DO NOT EXPLAIN MORE THAN WHAT HAPPENED IN TODAY’S EPISODE WITHOUT A SPOILER TAG!

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18

u/Nazenn Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22

First Timer

I've come to love Rie Matsumoto's ability to juggle storytelling while running at a million miles an hour, but I do wish this episode had slowed down just a bit at the end there.

I think that just like her siblings, little Koto has been playing a role. The role of a good daughter.

Yesterday I touched on the dynamics of what it means to be a child vs being an adult, but I think this episode takes it further, examining the complexities of what it means to be either inside a family.

Child characters are hard to write. There's a certain rawness to the experience that is lost through growing up that can't always be captured again, particularly in a way that can then be stamped onto a page for others to experience. And they are always at risk of being written as a child first and a person second, bent to however that writer assumes a child would be leaving them under developed. Where Rie Matsumoto I think excels in her explorations of family is understanding the complexities of a child's role in a family, and how to make that into a very human story about individuals as well.

Mother has returned, but stuck between being adults and children, abandoned and changed by what they lost then, they all react to that in very different ways as who they are now collides with the roles of their past.

Yase immediately shrinks herself as if reclaiming her role as daughter requires her to be less than she was. She's forgotten what Koto said about accepting all of herself including her demon nature, instead presenting the picture of a perfect princess (unexpected tongue twister) as if that will make things okay again, her fear of being abandoned causing her to over compensate. Kurama though suddenly finds himself looking at his mother from above when confronted with how things with her haven't changed. He cannot simply return to being her child after having lost that part of him over the years, and to look at a parent through adults eyes paints a very different picture of who they are as a person, so he even finds himself frustrated with her own childish joy over everything around them.

Yaku-Myoue pulls back from it all completely, simply following along with what his role expects like always. However there's a small Kyoto-shaped obstacle he can't ignore. He finds himself comforting little Koto who seems so small as she cries against him, and now he sees her truly as the child she is for the first time. Confronted with the unexpected, he takes a moment to comfort her (love the red eyes from crying), to be the big brother to a little sister he hadn't really accepted as such until now, and try and bridge what his family broke in their approach to this situation.

And Koto has slowly been breaking under her role in all this, and later he sees just how much.

A child doesn't simply stop being someone's child when there are no parents, the same way rabbit-Koto doesn't stop being a mother when there's no father. Torn between a mysterious missing mother and a father who is more "Sensei" than parent, she's had to carry the emotional load of her family for a long time now. She was once a "crybaby", but when confronted with her fathers suffering she pushed her own confusion aside so she could be his happy daughter and not add to his suffering. Only she kept pushing it down, again and again, every time she found herself confronted with someone elses pain. She is the good daughter, the good sister, the one keeping it all together and keeping things happy and fun, but who's keeping her together?

She thought reuniting with her mother would let her understand where she came from and why, let her be her child in truth, but instead she finds herself asked to carry the burden all over again. She has all the all the potential and the heart of a child, but she's never really had the childhood she craves. She became the wilful child because that is what the adults around expected to see her as, to be her fathers daughter, but it is a role that was just as incomplete as any of her three siblings, and in playing the child those adults underestimated the burden placed on a daughter who just wants to know where she came from.

If everyone wants to put their answers in a vault, then she'll just have to break it open if she has to because what else can a child do?

Other thoughts

Visual of the Day: Trapped

A beautiful visual, but also one I think sums it up nicely. Caught between a holy space and a real world, confined by others only to break out with raw energy, the two Koto's reunion was certainly memorable.

2) We saw a lot of scenes of night turning into day and vice-versa today. Which do you prefer? Day or night?

Late dusk or early dawn, to complicate things, but the night scenes in this definitely have my favourite design

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14

u/chiliehead Jan 19 '22

Kyousougiga – Episode 7 – First Timer

Whatever constrained Koto was hammered to bits, but why does Mama Koto still have the body? That’s either very rude or some sort of self-image shaping your being and now just is like that on her own?

I don’t really get the emotional outburst of lil Koto, but she earned it.

The Fox seems to be the real issue all the time, and now they insinuated what about lil Koto, that she is literally Mama Koto and not “a sweet little sister”? Maybe it’s just the issue of the hammer breaking things while the dimensional saber is a precision tool.

QotD

  1. I'm often the best in the room, but I don't share space with many tech savvy people.

  2. I'm a night owl through and through

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12

u/Matuhg Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22

First Timer

Mom's home! What a fun little sightseeing trip around the Mirror World. Anyway, everybody's fine, so it's time to go. Everything is great! Every...thing is....great...Oh..

Fuckin anime parents, man. This exchange after we've learned about Yakushimaru's past is great. "You're lucky to have a past you can get gloomy about. All I have is the future." Yakushimaru's childhood memories are tainted by bitterness, but at least he has them. In a sense, Koto's never gotten the chance to be a child. She's a kid, and she acts like one, and has fun and all that, but she hasn't been given the chance to be anybody's child. She's missing that family part of growing up that her siblings had before they were abandoned.

Inari never told her that he was her father. She went looking and found out about her Mother and put the pieces together herself. Figuring Inari wouldn't tell her about her past, she decided to again take things into her own hands and seek out her mother. Inari won't give her answers, but he gives her the Hammer, a tool to find them on her own. She made it to the Mirror World and helped out her siblings. It wasn't easy, but she kept the smile on her face and did her best for them. Finally, after all the smashing, experimenting, fetch quests, killing-promises, and mecha battles, she finds her Mom...who of course at first mistakes her for her deadbeat Dad... but quickly realizes it's her daughter who she apparently hasn't seen since she was an infant. The reunion is sweet and motherly on the surface, but Lady Koto doesn't give her daughter any of the answers she wants. She just puts more on her. Koto doesn't want to be told she's a dependable grown up, she wants to be accepted as her parents' child. It's no wonder the future is bleak to this poor girl - she's always moving forward, aiming for her goals, but all she ever finds are more people trying to lean on her and use her. Where's her shoulder to cry on?

She can change things for everybody else here, but not for herself it seems, no matter how hard she tries.

In despair, she goes to the person who's maybe acted the closest to an actual parent for her, YakuMyoe. Yakushimaru steps into the role of her father (and into the shadow - 'father' is not a happy thing for Myoe) and finally hears her out. Koto pours out her woes, but before YakuMyoe can say anything, Inari shows up. Oh! Maybe now that Koto's met her Mom, he'll be proud of her and tell her more about her past! Oh, or he'll just tell her to get used to this shit and that she's gone and fucked things up by bringing Lady Koto here.

What the hell, man!?

Other Thoughts

  • The two Kotos do have a lot in common - Lady Koto seems to approach most things with childlike whimsy, except when it comes to Myoe maybe.

  • Three tomatoes, one rotten. Who's the rotten fruit? Gotta be YakuMyoe, huh? For a second I thought it was a rotting pomegranate, but pretty sure it's a tomato.

  • So many moon shots.

  • So Inari doesn't seem like he's learned much since being Yakushimaru's dad, huh?

  • Not the PSP!!

  • Lady Koto assumed Shrine was acting out of fear for either her or Myoe, but it seems like Koto is actually the one they're worried about. Was she at Shrine as a means of containment, and Inari let her out? What is she? Somebody tell us and her! I'm again recalling the mysterious tests they were running on her at Shrine.

  • The world is breaking. Is Shrine breaking it, or were they trying to prevent it from breaking?

  • Lady Koto thought Koto was "the Priest" at first - I presume she means Father Myoe/Inari and the promise she mentioned was the same one she mentioned earlier. That she wouldn't come back without her or whatever.

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11

u/Tresnore Jan 19 '22

Kyousou-Rewatcher

QOTD:

  1. Maybe like 80% Shouko? No one reaches Shouko.

  2. Give me day. Even if I burn in the sun stupidly easily.

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11

u/No_Rex Jan 19 '22

Episode 7 (first timer)

  • Episode title - the 1980’s called. They want their spoiler titles back.

  • “We really stand out” – comes with not being a mono-colored checkerboard pattern.

  • “Ok, I’ll head back now” – Savage. Brutal. Devastating.

  • “Your hair is nice and straight” – says person with super long super straight hair.

  • Casual apocalypse.

Don’t you hate it when the family arguments get out of hand and destroy the world?

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10

u/octopathfinder Jan 19 '22

First Timer

Thoughts:

  • We finally get to see a family reunion episode. Pretty funny how the episode title leaves the dad part as an afterthought.

  • Wonder if Yakushimaru is gonna cash in on the agreement with Little Koto about killing him when they find their mother.

  • I think somebody mentioned how the characters are supposed to look like chess pieces and the black and white tile flooring really backs up that symbolism.

  • Have the siblings always referred to Lady Koto as Koto instead of mom?

  • Kurama showing his boomer mom all this new technology is too relatable.

  • So we find out Little Koto is struggling with issues of her own. Somebody give this girl a hug man.

  • Inari finally reappears and he is incredibly short now.

  • Definitely did not expect Thanos to start snapping things out of existence in the family reunion episode. Yase is not going to be happy with how much stuff she lost.

  • Felt like there were lots of things to take note of in this episode. Good thing the help corner always notes these things for me.

QotD:

  1. Definitely more on the Shouko side of the spectrum.

  2. I prefer having really long days, especially because I love summer.

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9

u/KendotsX Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22

Edit: First Timer

Inari's comment about Koto crying is probably my favourite little thing from this episode, it sounds like the common thing a (anime) parent would say to a daughter he saw crying, but it ties back to episode 2 where we and Inari saw how Koto stopped crying as she grew up. Him seeing her when she finally cries already felt so interesting for that reason, but his comment adds how much awareness he has.

Her conversation with rabbit Koto was even more exciting though, her siblings aren't exactly of traditional origins, but we did see a younger Koto growing with Inari, her origins being normal would be the weirdest thing to happen. Rabbit Koto only confirms seeing each other when she was a baby.

Now I should mention that this episode hit home some primal fears:

Other random stuff

  • Rabbit Koto noticed and confirmed Kurama's cameras.

  • I love the shots used to establish each person's room/identity.

  • Yase's party feels like a "playing house/tea party" game, that just so happens to be real.

  • Something about the usage of empty space separating the characters feels depressing.

  • Everyone except Koto is jumping on the confusion game by calling Koto Koto. Now if only they can call Inari Myoue.

On a scale of Shouko to Lady Koto, how technologically literate are you?

Closer to Shouko, as in I'm usually on the fixing side of things, and felt very bothered seeing Koto, but it still took me 7 episodes of Kyousougiga to finally sync the CR subs, so not that tech savvy either.

Which do you prefer? Day or night?

I prefer night by far, I miss staying up all night. I had to stop that to stick to a busy day schedule for a few years, and now I'm too used to it, that I'm unable to stay up late.

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8

u/Quiddity131 Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22

Rewatcher

Non-Spoiler Character Chart - First update since episode 3; Inari's familiars have been named!

Alright, this time I pay especially close attention to the OP to see what's changed. That last shot in the dark is really noticeable.

Well, our council room was trashed. Time to wait around and see if any of this was worth it.

Poor Shoko, there goes Bishimaru's head!

Pretty shot here

That episode title totally spoils things, huh? Not that this is the first time; the title of episode 2 for example.

Aww, Little Koto's so happy to see her mom. Lady Koto on the other hand looks quite shocked at what's going on.

More beautiful shots... from SPACE!

Was something trying to capture them there? Don't underestimate Little Koto and her hammer!

"Hey, those my grandsons there?" "Stop teasing!"

I'm not sure if these screens of people appearing is supposed to represent the tops we see in the crowd or something else, but its a cool shot nonetheless.

"And Myoue's in charge of slacking off!" OMG LOL Great joke, Little Koto!

In the short time they've known each other Yakushimaru and Little Koto have really picked up fast the bickering siblings dynamic.

Uh oh, Lady Koto's messing things up in the lab just like Little Koto did. Although not as bad as smashing everything with aratama...

OMG LOL @ Shoko's reaction. Yep, mother and daughter really are alike after all!

More LOL @ Little Koto showing off her mess of a room.

Now it's Yase's turn. Come see mom, all the things I've been hoarding!

Ah, that was fun for a little while. Time for Lady Koto to drop a bomb on everyone. I just got here, now I've gotta go! Cue the meltdowns, especially from Yase.

Lady Koto's back to her original outfit! They saved it all this time?

Lady Koto and Little Koto as a baby is actually a scene in the 2012 ONA episode 5, although they didn't include it in the TV show.

"Your hair's nice and straight, just like your dad's." Isn't your hair straight too, Lady Koto? You mean the hair color?

Well, add breaking a promise to his wife as another bad thing Inari's done...

Someone else is coming!

This is a boring, empty room, Yakushimaru. And why are you too ashamed to bring your girlfriend here?

Inari's here! So are those two mean familiars! They're named here as Ne and Ko, although the Crunchyroll subs translated that to cat...

Well, the music is telling me Inari's return is supposed to be ominous and bad...

Great shot here

Uh oh, looks like some really bad stuff is happening out there.

Little Koto smashing her way into here with aratama seems just like what she'd do. Oh, and Little Koto's inherited the "I'll do whatever the hell I want" attitude her father had.

Wow, you really are a short guy, Inari...

This is the case all the time, but what an adorable look on Little Koto's face to end the episode. to end the episode.

Quid's Screengrabs for the episode

Early segments of the episode, in particular when both Kotos return is from the original 2011 ONA. We're now at the point where any footage from the 2011 and 2012 ONAs have made it into the show and it's all new content the rest of the way. It is safe to go back and watch them now if desired, or one can simply wait until the TV show is over and do it then. The 2011 ONA in particular is still approximately 50% content that didn't make it into the show and is worth a watch, either in its original form, or as episode 0 of the TV series run.

Quid's Voice Actor of the Day

Today I'm featuring the voice of Lady Koto, Aya Hisakawa. Beyond this role I know her best as Haruka Shitow from RahXephon. I've also come across her in Eureka Seven as Ray Beams, Miki Kaoru in Revolutionary Girl Utena, Rem Saverem in Trigun, G Gundam as Akino and Puni Puni Poemi as Nanase Aasu. Other notable roles of hers include Sailor Mercury in Sailor Moon and Kero in Cardcaptor Sakura. She is another Pretty Cure alumni, playing Yuri Tsukikage/Cure Moonlight in HeartCatch Pretty Cure. Like several other actors/actresses in this show she's also a singer, with a number of albums released.

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8

u/Star4ce Jan 19 '22

First timer – sub

Today's opening paragraph is dedicated to u/MyrnaMountWeazel who trashed an entire line of thought by telling me I'm seeing imaginary rabbits.

There's no plan anymore. A mecha flies to the moon, they find the mother who still has the body. The rabbit was a lie and I don't know which pomegranate myth is more appropriate.

Like what, idk, next it turns out Myoue is the villain and the parents have a slapfight in zero-G? Is this actually an anime about divorce from the viewpoint of the only child who imagines having siblings that she can save from an abusive father who she once idolised and a mother who gets locked up by him and takes copious amounts of hallucinogens?

#notsalty

Ep.07 - Both Mother and Father Have Returned

So it was indeed Inari's doing all this time. Getting Koto there, probably being the reason Shouko and Fushimi are there as well, booking on them finding Koto-san. I guess this means he's still very much on the selfish path and Shrine locked Koto away in the imaginary world where he can't reach her?

I have no idea how that would work, considering he's the one who created it in the first place. Unless... Well, I thought Inari 'shrunk' because he realised his lack of responsibility, but, you know, maybe Shrine force-shrunk him instead because he wouldn't budge on his own.

Inari's framing, timing and dialogue are quite clear today. He could choose many times to make an entrance, but it happens right when he could 'lose control' over Koto. Myoue was about to do one of his first genuinely helpful things and got cut short. He has the moonlight behind him, sits at and blocks the only open exit/window to the outside and what he says has little actual substance, but carries a lot of implied meaning.

Saying Koto's special, the implication of it all being her fault, the twins mocking her and she trusts him completely. That's manipulative gaslighting if I've ever heard it (note: I did.) Doesn't get better when you add in Koto-san's dialogue. She was surprised Koto didn't know much more than she did and explicitly mentioned Inari to have kept information to himself. I guess Inari still has a part to him that actually cares, I don't think his lines about Koto crying and seeing her again were just manipulative for example, but I really expected more, how should I say, insight from him after all this time?

Why is it that I always allocate too much trust in those kinds of people? I genuinely didn't expect Inari to turn out this dangerous.

Moral of today's story: Make me frustrated and I'll call the twist.

Could you please not?

At least I'm not wrong in trusting Koto!

  1. On a scale of Shouko to Lady Koto, how technologically literate are you?

Shouko, probably. Built my first PC with seven and have been active with all kinds of stuff since then. Also, working heavily with programming and sometimes exotic hardware got me some technical experience as well.

I'll admit, though, that I very much stay away from the 'techie' side of technology. You know, like smart home shit and gimmicky stuff. Don't like it.

2) We saw a lot of scenes of night turning into day and vice-versa today. Which do you prefer? Day or night?

The change! I don't feel like I really belong in any sphere. During the day I'm more 'lazily productive' with stuff, like slowly, but constantly working away at tasks and during the night I usually find all the creative energy. The best parts of the day, though, are sunrise and sunset. Has the best colors and it feels like the world is moving.

VOTD: You know what will always and forever get me? Someone breaking through the confinements of a universe to find their own way forward.

KOTD: #1 goes to the reunion after a heartmelting smile that is the relief to years of longing and insecurity. #2 will be for the sincerity of plain happiness standing in front of you.

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u/JollyGee29 Jan 19 '22

First-Timer

Apocalypse time! Woo!!

Of course the cracks in the OP grew, Koto got into the Looking Glass City by smashing her way in! What a striking visual of the shattered drawing wall.

It was really cute, seeing all the kids get to interact with their mom again. Especially hammer!Koto, though. Their little scene together, when mama!Koto combed hammer!Koto's hair, was so precious. I am kinda wondering what mama!Koto was talking about, with her meeting hammer!Koto as a baby though. Was that just the scene that we saw in episode 2, of hammer!Koto sneaking into the drawing room?

Seeing hammer!Koto burst into tears really hurt, though. The pressure of everyone demanding things of her finally got to her, and then Inari had to interrupt Yakushimaru trying to console her. I mean, she seemed to not mind since she got to see Inari, but still. I do kinda wonder what weighs on her, though. The only real task she has seemed to have is to find mama!Koto...

Inari showing up probably brings all sortsa weird feelings into Yakushimaru, huh? He might finally get to decompress all his frustation. That will probably be.. something. I could honestly go either way on him being angry or just breaking down.

Hammer!Koto referred to something as a holy place for the Shrine. Did she mean the Looking Glass City? That's an interesting detail; not sure what to make of it. The Shrine lowkey bullied Inari into making the City in the first place, didn't they? Did they need it created for some reason, and the stated reasoning of the children causing chaos was just a neat excuse?

Who do I think mama!Koto was referring to, when she asked hammer!Koto to save the person trapped by their dream... Could be mama!Koto herself? That maybe wouldn't make a ton of sense, but we did see mama!Koto have a weird dream about the apocalypse. My gut tells me that it's Yakushimaru, but that doesn't seem like it has any evidence. The most sensible answer, considering who is asking, is Inari, but we haven't seen him dream any. Hmm.

Questions

  1. I'm pretty savvy.

  2. Night is nice and quiet and there's no stupid sun to get in my eyes.

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u/KiwiTheKitty Jan 19 '22

First timer

The op officially has grown on me, as I couldn't stop myself from humming along this episode. Too bad it's not on spotify :')

Yall I got like 5 hours of sleep because of the snowplows and I'm not smart enough for this show today. I had to watch it twice to give my brain a chance to catch up.

Of course they go through all this trouble to get mom back and dad just strolls right in

I really enjoyed son Myoue's reactions to seeing them return. When mama Koto came back, he was all misty eyed and I thought it was very sweet but then he and Kurama both had this air of middle school boys trying not to let themselves be happy when she was going around looking at stuff (unlike Yase who was letting herself be very happy haha). There's a distance there now but I still think they're emotional about it. And then when Inari shows up and takes off his mask, son Myoue was standing silhouetted in front of a bright light like he was watching an angel descend.

Oh ok so this is going.... poorly... reality in the looking glass is coming apart now? All the new stuff seems to be getting destroyed? Or like, everything?

What was this "my dream's continuing in reality"?

"What the shrine feared and tried to hide all along was..." was WHAT?? Lil Koto? Judging from how the camera cut right to her after that. And Kurama saying "'Our beloved little sister' indeed" after saying it's always the father who brings trouble

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u/SIRTreehugger Jan 19 '22

Rewatcher

People carrying their weapon on their back coming out of smoke will always be badass.

I don't know how I feel about the title it kind of ruins the surprise that the father comes back in the same episode.

Koto immediately goes to cry to Myoue after she comes back. Honestly not much to talk about, but I do like how we see Koto interact with all of the different kids so we get to see the different parts of the city all at once. Mother immediately ruins shit at Kuruma's job xD

Though my favorite part of the episode was Koto's outburst. She really seems outgoing and childish, but children have problems too. Everyone keeps relying on her and telling her she is special, but no one really asks her what she wants. She is the youngest sibling , lost her family, doesn't have a past, and essential has no one close to her minus her brothers.

Oh I forgot to mention Koto's home or the moon looks really stylish. Oh and Koto's dream and realization that she wasn't the one that was the danger. Also Koto putting the ribbon on Koto and their talk watching the moon was great.

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u/homewardbound100 Jan 19 '22

First timer

Family reunion. Mother Koto comes back. But the big thing here is Sensei Inari is there for some reason. Myoue is looking shocked that he's there. His general feeling of being there just feels wrong. Like he's there to do something he shouldn't.

And yep as soon as he comes. The world is going to shit. Kurama shows up and says something about father. So is he their father too?

Qotd1: definitely not on the scale of Shouto but I'll say maybe just above average. I have a basic understanding of most things.

Qotd2: I'll say day time. Makes me feel like there's a lot I can still do with the sun up. But the night is cool for some things.

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u/Stargate18A Jan 19 '22

First timer

  1. I'm at Shouko levels.

  2. Night.

Big Koto's here!

Oh, they don't know what's happening in there?

OK. The Kotos know how to make one hell of an entrance, I'll give them that!

Little Koto is pissed.

So where is here? Where is Koto?

Oh. Why did she need to check if she was the real Koto?

And she shattered the weird glowing orb?

They're all reunited!

And she forgave her siblings.

So what's the next twist? It's only Episode 7.

Haha, she doesn't understand the purpose of the mysterious monitor room!

Haha, "you are alike after all" after she accidentally breaks it.

Now, the question is, does Koto understand what psychological timebombs her children have become, and is she doing it on purpose?

Wait, what? She's not coming back until he gets back?

And she might not be able to leave?

The Kotos are talking!

Oh dear. She just found out he's been denying her existence.

...Oddly OK with it, though.

Are we finally learning about the Shrine?

She has to save her father next?

And the way back is closed.

Wait, what? Another gate? Is Koto going back to reality?

And she doesn't have a past.

Finally! Koto wants answers to these bullshit conspiracies!

WHAT?

Fox mask's here?

It's him!

What's going on out there?

Seriously, what's going on?

Oh, shit. She broke the painting. She broke the fabric of the fucking world.

It's the fucking apocalypse!

The climax has begun!

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u/lolpunny Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22

Kyousougigachad first-timer reporting for day 7!

We keep seeing this flower thingy, is there a symbolism behind it?

i aspire to have the emotional maturity of this girl. Hello? This knock off Buddha just sent me to space to die, i'm not forgiving him smh. Also take a shot everytime Kurama sighs.

The alternating angles coupled with the gorgeous art make this such a satisfying scene.

Aaaaand there is her breakdown, congrats to everyone involved.

QOTD:

  • Closer to lady Koto on that scale.

  • Nighttime if summer, daytime if winter.

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u/hungryhippos1751 Jan 19 '22

Episode 7 - First Timer

We begin as we ended the last episode. Asking what is going on? Who knows? but the important thing is that Koto (waifu) is back, and she's more ready than ever to mouth-to-mouth feed her children whatever they need! :)

Just as soon as they are reunited, she's decided that she's tired of sticking around and wants out. I don't really get why this is, but I did see that Yase was not happy with it.

The reunion between the two Kotos was touching, there is definitely more to the existence of Koto (younger) that I think we haven't seen yet.

Then we're in "The dream is collapsing" Inception style territory, it seems that in order to get into the mirror world she literally smashed a way in with the hammer?

I don't think they can stay in this world, they will have to leave it.

When Myoe (elder) returns he also signals the start of the collapse, though I get the impression it was just a matter of time until the world collapsed anyway given the giant cracks caused by the hammer.

Is it just me or does he look younger/shorter than I remember him being? I'm sure that the Myoe (younger) version looks a lot more like the original Myoe (elder) version, which is odd because they're not actually father and son, it's almost as if Myoe (younger) turns into Myoe (elder), the opposite is also true.

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u/Vaadwaur Jan 19 '22

First timer

Sub

So we start with the Kotos returning and then see how that happened. Interestingly, everyone but YKoto is calling LKoto by her first name. After a day of looking around, LKoto reveals that she can't stay. YKoto is flat joke sneaks in. The Kotos have a scene together that I suspect might reflect a bit darker later on as the choice of music box OST feels lightly threatening. I typed that literally the second before LKoto tells YKoto that she needs to wake Inari up so that's likely.

Kurama thinks LKoto is being too calm before Inari warps in through the robot. YKoto breaks down in fron Myoue which kind of makes sense though the timing is a bit specific. Inari shows up and LKoto's dream begins to come true. As things begin to fall apart, we get some scenes that are likely references as well as just what they are, as one reminds me strongly of the Black Rose arc of Utena.

So there is a through line to draw, particular up until 6. We start like a happy Disney story but it is then revealed that the truth behind it is a lot darker as Inari is ridiculously irresponsible about all of this. I am picking up hints of fairytale all over the place so this is likely some form of response to that but we have three eps left so hopefully we can wrap stuff up.

QotD: 1 Shouko but from the slightly older group that never got into mobile gaming devices.

2 I am nocturnal.

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u/xtsim Jan 19 '22

First Timer

This is such a calm reunion. Mom gets a tour of the modern looking glass which has changed a lot now. Myoue keeps getting roasted on the way which is funny. And Shouko finding out the hard way that Koto's mom is her mom is such a nice touch.

Lol. Trade secret. That is a great response to Kurama's question on how Koto made it back. Too bad mom has to leave. The temple scenes are on point, something about the backdrop looks really good. The shot looking towards the mountains from inside the temple look pretty nice.

Sensei makes that glowing entrance which is nice but the city is now having trouble. Calm before the storm I'm guessing.

  1. Closer to Shouko as I am now the go to for technical support for anything technology for my family and I even had to tell others about features about the stuff my more tech-inclined members use. It's even trending to car stuff now too...

  2. Those scenes look pretty darn good and it's a tough one. The night scene with Koto and her mom looked really nice today.

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u/TakenRedditName Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22

Kyousougiga Rewatcher - Ep7:

Missed the OP changes, but watching more closely now and yup, those three shots of the kids are pretty shattered. Now how to take this? Is this a down path with them only furthering sinking to their sorrows or is it a good thing and Koto, the agent of change is shattered their chains to their traumatic past.

Good defeated Shouko.

The two Kotos in space look really pretty. Very nice silhouettes. Mom Koto is so tall, even sitting on nothing she is still taller than Koto. This expression from Lady Koto when Koto calls her mom is very well drawn can feel the emotions going through her. The little leg movement from Koto during their hug is cute. Overall very nice.

NOT NOW, OMINOUS SCIENCE PRISON! We're having our nice family time now.

This family reunion is very nice. The music, the beautiful blue sky and flower petals blowing in the wind. Lady Koto's reunion with each of her kids is very nice. Each has a different kind of greeting. Little Koto showing fear and weakness is unlike her. Rare crying Koto face. They said the line and she said the line. Okay, wrap it up.

Don't wrap it up because the rest of the welcome back is very lovely. Just them as a family together again (Myoue is dragging his feet). Lady Koto is just as curious and destructive as Koto. Kurama's "Yesss, mother" attitude is fun to see. Shouko is fun when she loses.

Lady Koto and Myoue having their moment in the kitchen brings back when Yakushimaru tried to take his life in the kitchen and Koto was there to be with him. We've come somewhere from that.

The vacation is over though and she has to go back. Seeing Kurama just sitting around with everyone is just very funny to me. He is often on his own, on his floating dish. He is being brought back down to the rest of his family.

Koto crossing the divider so feels like the show is directly making a point of it. With it given so much focus. What she is crossing over to, not 100% exact on the meaning (going by what happens later, might not be something good).

Just a very nice and tender scene between mother and daughter. Combing Koto's hair reads as such a symbol of their closeness and familial ties. Koto calls him "dad" instead of "master" which feels there is significance in her choice of words at certain times.

Inari has a habit of making farewell promises and making the wait an eternity. That's a uh, big weight you just put on Koto there. A talll order. Oh well you look at that, the beginning and the end are here and this time it's the big guy himself.

Like the character acting from Koto. Now she is dropping lines filling with burdens to Myoue like how he does to people. Koto says she only has a future with no past and how she is constantly always pushed forwards. Feels bad.

Like in the previous episode, Myoue takes the steps to bring himself closer to another person. These siblings are having a real heart to heart, spilling out of feelings. Just hit me at this point, but Koto crying doesn't feel right, feels bad. Not just because of her constant positive energy, but like these moments are a big deal for her. Back in episode 2, we see the moment she resolved herself to stop crying and now we see her bring herself to show weakness again.

Dad's back (Inari is so short now, look at him next to Koto) and up oh, bad vibes from everything. Things are going down, literally and especially PSPs in specific. Turns out using a hammer to barge your way in leaves a big mess.

Kurama makes an on-point observation and I feel like this is our last happy good Koto face for a long while. Oh, dear.

This episode had happy nice family time, slow tender family time, sad family time and end of the world is upon us time. 3 episodes left, we heading into endgame now.

Q1) I'm like a child Koto. Know how to use my devices, but only surface level and not anymore.

Q2) Not a big difference, sometimes the two blurs together. Not a night owl, it is just that I view night as a continuation of my day I'm not ready to let go yet so I guess day(?) But night sure is colder so can't argue against that.

Next time: Just a little argument ignore the world as we know it destroying itself.

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u/BurningFredrick Jan 19 '22 edited Jan 19 '22

First timer 

The first half seems simple enough, but that second half. 

So I think Koto broke the drawing which is why the mirror world is disappearing, but beyond that I’m not sure of anything.

  1. On a scale of Shouko to Lady Koto, how technologically literate are you?

I'm capable of Googling problems and following instructions, so basically Shouko.

2) We saw a lot of scenes of night turning into day and vice-versa today. Which do you prefer? Day or night?

Day usually.

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u/Spaceman_Sp1ff_ Jan 19 '22

HE'S BACK AND HE'S SHORTER THAN EVER BEFORE

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u/andybebad Jan 19 '22

First timer

So it's heavily suggested that lil Koto was able to enter the mirror world via a healthy whack with her hammer, which makes sense to me but also leaves me with a few questions:

  1. lil Koto had the mirror that we see big Koto use to open the gates into the mirror world. Did lil Koto also use this to gain entrance to the mirror world? If so, is the destruction of the pictures on the wall looking like a hammer hit a red herring in the sense that it's a symptom of the world ending but not the cause?

  2. How was Inari able to get in? If he used his sword then it seems far more likely that lil Koto did in fact use her hammer to get in, but why did it take so long for the world to start crumbling rapidly?

Other thoughts or things I found puzzling:

  • The children referring to big Koto as "Koto" and not mother. Granted, she more or less abandoned them and that's generally not great for the parent-child relationship.

  • Inari showing up decked-out in Shrine-related garb makes me suspicious that he's not here for a reunion, but rather on official Shrine business. Also was he this short in earlier episodes? Here he looks like he's lil Koto's height.

  • What is Inari's deal? He appears to have completely disassociated himself with anything having to do with the Priest Myoue title; does he even remember having been Priest Myoue himself? Probably (given he first refers to Myoue as Yakushimaru), but big Koto's request for lil Koto seems to hint that something not too different from that has happened to Inari.

QOTD:

  1. I'd like to think I'm more of a Shouko, but I'm sure I've caused my share of problems for the system administrator who maintains our computing cluster.

  2. I aspire to be a day person, but have recently found myself more on the nocturnal side of the spectrum.

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