Loved this episode! It was so heartwarming to see how the conflict between abiko and GOA was resolved, but then they dumped us right into ice water with aquas ptsd induced panic attack :,)
It was nice to see Abiko so genuinely excited about this show now. She seemed more like a fan than the author. Maybe she can translate that back into her work and train assistants with a bit more compassion...
It's good to see they were able to revise the script in time. Apparently all they needed to do was to put the scriptwriter and the author together. But now Aqua needs to overcome his PTSD to be able to act his part, and he only has 2 weeks until the show.
About the OP, the first time I heard it I wasn't a big fan of it, maybe I had my expectations too high after the first one, but it's growing on me and it's now one of my favourites of this season.
Yeah didn't watch the OP until now to not get spoiled by tipycal anime opening bullshit. And it was pretty good yeah.
The next general thread is going to be this season's OP/ED thread. So look forward to it! I personally really like the ED and it has grown on me a lot.
The next general thread is going to be this season's OP/ED thread. So look forward to it!
I will :D
Done!
I really like that Aqua got humanized. So far he only came across as this calculating revenge machine without any human emotion. To me he's always been an unlikeable character. But showing him now actually suffering from losing his mom, makes him more likable to me. It's not nice to say "hey, I like you better with PTSD" but it is what it is.
Akane seems like a genuinely good person to me and I hope her love will be returned at some point.
Kana really called him out this episode and hit the bullseye. He is always putting up a flawless front, whether that is emotionless stoicism, or feigned geniality like on the dating show. He doesn't know how to express actual emotion because he tries to never feel actual emotion.
I totally get how seeing flaws in Aqua actually makes him more likeable. It reminds me a bit of kintsugi, a pottery repair technique in which the previous breaks are actually highlighted and treated as part of the history of the object instead of hidden, adding to the piece.
Yeah, the lack of emotions is definitely a defence mechanism against the traumatic memories. It's nice that they're exploring this topic
Damn this episode hit hard, especially when aqua told himself to stop enjoying himself. This might humanize for a lot of people watching this show.
Akane might have made some big progress with Aqua this episode, especially now that she somewhat knows his past. However, something of note, the person who appears most in his "happy memories" is Kana :))
person who appears most in his “happy memories” is Kana
The person it ends on is Ruby 😜
I do like how they animated his dark thoughts with the highlight of his glasses from his previous life inside a literal dark swirling cloud of emotions.
I really liked this episode (even if poor Ruby and co. are still on the bench). This is a turning point in the relationship between Aqua and Akane. I know many people like to pick teams between Akane and Kana, but I really think they are both great. They each give Aqua something different. In this episode we see Kana unafraid to speak truth to Aqua and call out why he is struggling with his acting. Meanwhile, Akane is there to emotionally support Aqua when he is most vulnerable.
All that said, what got me the most excited this episode is an anime-only addition that is super spoilery for anybody not up to date with the manga. So, I am going to put it all behind a spoiler tag.
Major manga spoilers
It happened super fast, but something jumped out at me with the real brief flash of Gotanda's computer at the very end of the episode. Here is the single frame for reference:
Anything jump out at you? It sure did to me. In addition to the aqua and hoshino folders, the one placed right above it is named hikaru. Gotanda figured it out! Or at least has suspicions. I am super curious how Gotanda connected the dots and why he feels he needs to hide it from Aqua.
Btw, the final folder in that column, named hajimari, probably refers to one of his movies. The name of the movie that Ai starred in and where Aqua met Kana for the first time was named Sore Ga Hajimari.
I have not read the spoiler you attached but from the frame before the ending I wonder whether the director has something to do with Ai's murder.
I really struggled with what I can or can't say outside of a spoiler tag, but I will say that I have that same screenshot in my block of spoiler text above.
Major manga spoilers
Gotanda? More like GOATanda
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