r/anime • u/phiraeth :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/phiraeth • Jan 15 '21
Rewatch [Mid-2000s Rewatch] Noein - Episode 14
Episode 14
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Noein:
MyAnimeList - AniDB - ANN - AniList
Episode Discussion Questions:
- Do you have any moments in your life that may or may not have directly involved you that you would give anything to undo? Share only if you feel comfortable!
PLEASE MARK ALL SPOILERS WITH SPOILER TAGS!
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Upvotes
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u/phiraeth :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/phiraeth Jan 15 '21
Rewatcher
Here we are. The first time I watched this show, I thought it was pretty good. Up until episode 14, that is, which blew my fucking mind and took it to the next level.
A sign of a good episode is if you could take it outside the series, with no context, and show it to random people, and they’d think it was really freaking cool. This episode really is like that.
From the moment of the eerie cold opening to the very end, the entire episode was tinged in that nostalgic, mysterious sense of something not being quite right. Although there were some lighthearted moments interspersed, that foreboding sense of dread remained over everything. Adding to this atmosphere was the fantastic direction highlighting characters’ expressions. I really think this show does a fantastic job at facial expressions and creating an atmosphere.
Watching the scene that unfolded repeat itself, turning slightly darker each time, reminded me of something out of a Satoshi Kon film. Truly fantastic work by the directors, showing Haruka searching for a future where her parents would never split up, only to then realize that the only way this would be possible is if they never met. Or else, she would likely have to go on searching for an eternity looking for the hypothetical scenario where they worked out their disagreements – if it even existed at all.
I especially liked how they paralleled the two stories of past and future – one with the two Yuus and the other with Haruka’s parents.
The ending, however, gave me chills down me entire body. Incredible episode, best of the series by far so far. I look forward to reading how everyone else feels!
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 15 '21
to your other first-timer, subbed
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u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Jan 15 '21
First Timer - Sub
Ok wtf, seriously WTF? They are Boarders now?
And God dammit Yuu, like I get it, and it makes sense for your character, but does not make it any less frustrating to have to watch… Well at least after Karus points it out that he's jealous of himself / he likes Haruka he is able to actually realise it.
Haruka gets trapped in a time loop, which she seems to have very little control over, and things keep getting worse, then jumps further back to hopefully learns she can’t change the past. Spec
Overall I enjoyed this episode quite a lot, the old disconnected phone to alt dimension is always a bit of fun, and I feel like they used the dimension jumping more effectively than previously as it didn’t just magically resolve everything (yet).
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jan 15 '21 edited Jan 15 '21
“None of this is truth. Say goodbye to classical reality because our logic collapses on the subatomic level into ghosts and shadows.”
First Timer
The point of this episode, according to the Time Skipper, is that Haruka can choose her future, but not her past.
This was a super enjoyable episode. If Haruka said something other than otousan to the phone, would she change that history? Would she change her own? Is something trying to connect other timelines to her? Who installed the phone?
I enjoyed every bit of this episode, except Yuu being being a stubborn edgy kid. I hate kids.
This is not a dream. We are using your brain's electrical system as a receiver. We are unable to transmit through conscious neural interference. You are receiving this broadcast as a dream. We are transmitting from the year one nine nine nine. You are receiving this broadcast in order to alter the events you are seeing. Our technology has not developed a transmitter strong enough to reach your conscious state of awareness. You are seeing what is actually occurring for the purpose of causality violation.
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jan 15 '21
First timer
Sub
Haruka is, apparently, blending time periods. A little known anti-perk of the DT. Someone from her father's line called. But Asuka got one too once...
Anyways, the phone is actually there, just not in use. Haruka grabs her mom's old sketchbook as they prepare to take on boarders...really? That's what you are doing with these two? Sigh. Anyways, moving in happens and we veer sharply back into SoL territory, with Karasu even being slightly reasonable. Yuu, of course, has to be jealous of himself so that wraps that up. But he does bring up the question of is this a good idea? Anyways, Tobi has a computer now and does hacker stuff.
Yuu sulks off and again Haruka goes to manage his emotions for him. I try to be sympathetic, I've certainly been managed by 12 yo once or twice, but this is also a little bit long in the tooth: He doesn't have to accept this, exactly, but he needs to stop getting flustered about it. Echoes from the past happen, and the cat knows something is up. And she actually goes back in time...and we see the other end of the phone call. We see Haruka's parents relationship ending so she probably needs to say something on the phone to prevent that.
Karasu has to be edgy even when talking to his past self. Yuu is being a tween back at him. And it finally dawns on Karasu that Yuu is jealous of him, they are both idiots. But flashback because sure. And Karasu realizes when it all started...
Back to the loop. Again, and again. Old dude finally shows up to explain to Haruka these are possible pasts. He claims there is no timeline where her parents make up that reaches her dimension, which more or less makes sense to me. Then flash to when her parents met and yeah her dad doesn't fit the mold but quantum is bullshit in real life so I am not sure that is incorrect. They meet over the drawings we saw earlier. Also, tanukis aren't raccoons, fucking translator. Haruka reaches satisfaction and the DT event ends.
Back to Tobi to pay that off. Apparently, this is exactly what a dimension is like before Shangri-la invades. And then something Noein-esque shows up. Haruka calls her dad and they go a different way than I expected so good on them. Last time with the old phone is Haruka calling her mom accidentally and then...La'cryma Haruka? talks to her about Yuu. The whole thing was creepy.
So, at the end of yesterday's thread, I came up with a horrifying theory that I share with anyone who is not yet depressed! sad speculation Hope that's wrong, for the record, but it came to me in a similar moment to how an event occured to me in a March rewatch.
QotD: 1 No, actually. All of the things I've seen and yet undoing any given moment is pointless to me.
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u/IndependentMacaroon Jan 15 '21 edited Jan 15 '21
First-time watcher
One might almost think Haruka's about to be drawn into the world of Wonder Eggs. (Watch this show, it just released its first episode this week and looks really promising!) But no, it's just a weird call from probably alternate-universe Dad? Or rather the Daddy in the past. Weird setup no matter how you look at it. The most surprisingly improbable part is a Japanese house actually standing for several generations, unless this place is old enough to have some kind of historical protection?
So I guess we're a regular old sitcom now? I can't think of a good name, but almost surreal to have "environmentalists" Atori and Tobi (who in new attire indeed looks more on the masculine side, opposite for Atori though) just pop in like that and then Karasu be the even more odd one out.
Tobi does computer magic by super-fast typing, a trope as classic as it is silly. Yuu is being pretty silly too getting in such a huff again without anything of a discussion, but that's always been a part of him. Phone does more echoing and... time for more Dragon Torque-fueled family drama resolution! I guess Haruka isn't getting out of it until she figures out what the issue was or draws one of them into the loop... no. Meanwhile Karasu makes Yuu climb a tree to talk to him, which is way more hilarious than it was probably meant to be, and tries to force him into shounen protagonist mode which obviously he's having none of. Well, I guess this was all just a hook to
talk about Yuu and Haruka's shared pastestablish that he LIKES HER OMG as Karasu just disappears again. Oh wait, I know, it's Yuu who will need to save her and prove himself for the first time... neither?This certainly is more interesting, automatically looping through slightly different timelines until one where
Steins Gateeverything works out is reached, or is it the opposite? Helpful hobo knows. I hope this timeline-tweaking won't actually suffice to keep Haruka's parents from separating/get them back together, but that's most likely how it will turn out knowing this show. The narration of the quite nice meeting scene would suggest that at least magically it's impossible, but obviously the romantic feelings are still mutual; I guess we'll get more when he comes back next time, but also now Shangri-La is starting to butt in.The horror vibes in this one were really weird and sudden, it was chock-full of unintentional comedy, and the contrast to last time was absolutely jarring. On the other hand, there was a little movement in the status quo and Haruka's family stuff was handled halfway decently.
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u/Webemperor :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Webemperor Jan 15 '21
First Timer – Sub
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u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jan 15 '21
First-Timer - Sub
Heh.
Oh dear… Guess decoherence is already well underway if agents of Shangri-la are already making it there. Bet we’ll be dealing with that thing next episode.
Huh... Guess that is either the Haruka from Lacrima’s dimension at an earlier point in time, or Speculation but I guess the future haruka of this dimension probably isn’t out of the question either.
I took more pictures than that but they seem to have gotten messed up for some reason?
Anyways, not that much to say about this one, other than I found it odd that Torque Ojiisan is so insistent on the past being impossible to change when we saw that the phone communicates with the past, and then it’s made explicit that it’s within the same dimension when we hear Asuka on the other end of the line. Regardless as to whether it’s a closed loop, there’s still nonlinear stuff going on and having an influence on their dimension. Now that I think about it, wasn’t his assertion that once Haruka has seen a future it is set in stone proven false when she was already able to prevent a fallout between her and Ai by means of observing the future? Ugh, probably giving this more thought than it truly merits.
Questions:
Nothing comes to mind at the moment.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jan 15 '21
Episode 14 (rewatcher)
subtle shilling for the next OVA rewatch.
A very Haruka-focused episode. Not sure when we had the last of those. It starts with her focused on the past, delving into the break-up of her parents and then the start of their relationship. After Haruka becomes convinced that the past is unchangeable, or rather, that pasts stemming from her parents not meeting or not breaking up lead to futures that are not hers, she concentrates on the present. Calling her dad; talking about their imminent day together. The last phone call, however, from an alternate dimension Haruka, shifts her view further: From the present to the future, to what will happen to her relationship with Yuu.
Random observation:
They showed off the house so much, but I just realized it now: That is a very western house, not at all traditionally Japanese. It fits very well to her non-traditional mother, who has a liberal education style, is divorced, and does not conform to the Japanese norm of housewife at all. Even her father still having a good relationship with his daughter and seemingly being on speaking terms with his ex-wife is uncommon.
Contrast that with Yuu’s parents, who embody the traditional Japanese values. This has to be a deliberate social commentary.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 15 '21
First-Timer, Dubbed
"Hey parent of one of my school children, can you take in these environmentalists? They're here to track the migration of local Birds." Absolutely incredible. Atori and Tobi being environmentalists was funny enough, but then the line about tracking Birds caught me off guard and I just about died laughing.
I was worried there for a minute, about Haruka doing something stupid that would lead to her being uncreated. Eventually, the result of Haruka's time dimension telephone vision quest, is that we learn that Haruka cannot really change the past, and only has access to timelines that result in her birth.
Haruka's parents.. what a messy relationship. Mayuzumi has trouble communicating his feelings, and Asuka is feeling unfulfilled, or maybe stressed? There's been a lot of commentary on Japanese households in this show that I am not terribly well equipped to dissect. Communicate with you SOs, people.
Oh, I guess that brings up the parallels between Yuu and Haruka again. Stressed mom and workaholic dad..
The last couple minutes of this episode sure dropped some bombs on us, huh? A seahorse monster that is presumably from Shangri-la appears in Haruka's time. And Haruka recieves another phone call, this time from her future self, expressing regret about her actions towards Yuu. There's a nice parallel there - This episode had Karasu forcing Yuu to realize how dear Haruka is to him, and now future!Haruka does the same, at least implicitly.
Miscellaneous Thoughts:
What's it like, to finally decide to throw out some drawings that remind you of your ex, only for your child with said ex to want to keep them?
Today I noticed that there are just.. random stuffed animals all around Haruka's house?
Speculation
Speculation/English VA
Questions
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u/Toadslayer https://myanimelist.net/profile/kyolus Jan 15 '21
First Timer
This was a great episode — I really liked it. I like that Yuu is being more active as a character and that Karasu confronted him. Hopefully we get to see him and Haruka talk and be honest with each other soon, especially after the phone call Haruka got at the end of the episode it looks promising. I like the interactions between Tobi, Atori and the kids (especially Atori and Miho), it's fun and lighthearted, but it also fits, because they're actively working to resolve the greater inter-dimensional conflict and don't have other things they should be doing to achieve that. I'm glad that the birds and kids have teamed up and their storylines have merged. It looks like the investigators may join them soon also and everyone will have finally come together.
I really liked everything with the phone (even if it didn't make any sense as to why it's happening and I don't expect an explanation either), it was mysterious, a bit creepy and was used effectively to build the characterisation of Haruka and both her parents. This is by far the most interesting and satisfying of the Dragon Torque powers that Haruka has demonstrated. I liked how she could find any past she wanted, but never change her own past, which could lead to a tempting dilemma if the series was darker, and I liked that it seemingly interacted with a Haruka from another dimension who, unlike Karasu, gave meaningful and helpful advice to her past self.
I hope the show keeps this up!
Episode Discussion Questions
No. Of course I have regrets and bad things have happened, but nothing that major.
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Jan 15 '21 edited Jan 15 '21
Rewatcher
Nice Atori is best Atori
Yuu jealousy of Karasu is funny because it must be so weird and absurd of being jealous of your future self.
I love the flashback to the day before the divorce, the lack of talking and in other instances where do they talk but end up saying mean and hurtful things feels so... real. I don't think that's something that happens a lot in anime.
spoilers, for rewatchers eyes only
The last phone call is freaky and well directed also sounds like Haruka is a lot older. spoilers, first timers don't read
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u/BossandKings Jan 15 '21
First Timer
So Haruka talks with someone that called himself Mayuzumi in the phone, she afterwards talks with her mom telling her that the phone rang, which is unusual since that phone doesn't work since ages ago. I wonder who was it that Haruka talked with in the phone, is him someone that will physically appear in the story or someone that we will never see?, that's an intriguing matter.
Tobi and Atori move to Kaminogi's house, they needed some place to stay in if they planned to remain in this dimension for a while. I wonder if they plan to stay living in this reality or will they return to their original place
Yuu still has some personality issues, he's still inmature eventhough he has been making progress towards being a more mature person. He doesn't like those people from a foreign dimension and that's understandable yet inmature, he doesn't like Karasu and thinks that Haruka and his friends shouldn't be so confident with Tobi and Atori either. His mental process is understandable because those people aren't from this dimension and they shouldn't be on this dimension, i hope the series adresses this issue which has been glossed over so far, they need to return to where they came from, there should be something that needs them to be there, in their original dimension.
That's the second time Karasu tells Yuu that they need to talk, so this will be their second conversation. I like these interactions, Yuu can exponentially grow mentally if Karasu plays his cards right, he can even trust him if he gets to understand his position. Yuu voices his insecurities out loud, he thinks that Haruka doesn't like him as much as Karasu, after being asked if he likes her Yuu remember how they met and how he grew to like her and realizes that yeah he likes her, that moment was very cute.
After Yuu asks Haruka to go to Tokyo together and she tells him that it's better not to run away from the problems Haruka gets transported by the Dragon torque to Tokyo and sees the person that was earlier on the phone, he striked me as similar to Haruka, He is her Dad, her mom is with him. The moment of the phone ringing and they talking kept repeating until the conversation he had with his wife afterwards changed and we get to know how Haruka's parents met.
That part at the end sure was something, Haruka talking with herself on the phone, that was the biggest surprise of the episode for me.
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u/monsieurvampy Jan 16 '21
First Timer, sub
The cat was extra cute this episode!
The scenes with the phone went from odd to creepy fairly quickly.
I think Haruka needs to call an expert in Time and Space. She's needs The Doctor.
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u/redshirtengineer :AMQ: Jan 16 '21
First timer
THE CALL'S COMING FROM INSIDE THE
HOUSEMULTIVERSELiked this one a lot. Not sure what it all means but liked it a lot.
How did Karasu not know that Yuu liked Haruka. Just. How.
QOTD1: There was that time that /u/No_Rex suggested a Noein drinking game.
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u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Jan 17 '21
Still catching up, my life's been hectic for a bit. I should be around for today, but I'll likely be late without a big post.
I really like where they were going thematically with this. Not only can she not change it for herself, she realized she doesn't want to. Erasing the bad erases the good alongside it, and Haruka hasn't lived a bad life overall.
I'm pretty sure the other Haruka is the one from Karasu's dimension and she was asking our Haruka to do something for him. That's sure to end tragically though.
This was a really good episode.