Mirai Nikki Episode 4

Horrified by what he has just seen at Yuno’s, Yuki holes up in the sanctuary of his room, debating whether to inform the police. He starts dialing Inspector Kurusu but is interrupted by an incoming text from Yuno, who anticipates the move. Yuki grimly realizes he has no way of escaping her. Kurusu arrives the following morning, awakening Yuki from a failed all-night vigil. He tries to tell the inspector what he saw the night before but Yuno’s unexpected presence forces him to abandon the idea.

In the car, Kurusu informs him Ninth Future Journal owner Uryuu Minene has been apprehended and is being held at the shrine of the Sacred Eye, a religious cult. As Kurusu negotiates permission to enter the grounds, Yuki tries to mask his nervousness in front of Yuno. Knowing he cannot act without her knowledge, he tries to determine whether she would resort to killing him to conceal her dark secret. The outsiders, Yuki in particular, attract the interest of a cloaked, shadowy figure watching them via unknown means from within the compound. They are soon escorted to meet the Sacred Eye and shrine oracle in person. As they enter, the figure recognizes Yuki as the First Future Journal owner and reacts to Yuno with supreme disgust.

Inside, they meet the cloaked figure who had been observing the group in secret since their arrival: Kasugano Tsubaki (Sendai Eri) introduces herself as the leader of the Sacred Eye cult and Sixth Future Journal owner. With the Clairvoyance Journal, she is able to foresee distant events, making use of her followers’ eyes as her own.

Tsubaki tries to reassure Kurusu’s misgivings by renouncing any desire to become a god herself. She alerts them to Minene’s presence downstairs and reveals her journal has reached a Dead End. She offers Minene to Kurusu to do with as he sees fit but only in exchange for Yuki, because he has managed to survive two Dead End flags. Yuno immediately rejects the offer and Kurusu carefully weighs the options; in the end, it is decided Yuki will remain at the compound overnight. Tsubaki warns Yuki against Yuno, whom she prophesies will bring about Yuki’s doom should he not heed her warning. A jealous Yuno watches from afar. Between her journal and reading Yuki’s troubled glances, she learns his conversation with Tsubaki is causing him to lose trust in her. She quickly decides she has no choice but to kill Tsubaki.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An unseen saboteur sparks a sudden fire in Tsubaki’s chambers, changing the entries for all the Future Journal holders present. Though cult members rush to put out the blaze, the flames only grow stronger. Strangely, as though possessed, the cult followers begin killing each other off as the fire steadily continues to spread.

When Yuki tries to save Tsubaki from the fire, Yuno pleads with him not to go. Fearing Yuno may very well turn on him should he listen to her, Yuki denounces her as crazy and hurries to do what he can to save Tsubaki. Though he forces his way inside with an axe, the fire is quenched when the sprinkler system is activated. Tsubaki, drenched but otherwise unharmed, shouts at the addled cult members who then begin coming back to their senses.

Unable to accept what Yuki has just said, Yuno concludes he is being brainwashed and concludes she must dispose of Tsubaki her herself. Yuki questions Tsubaki, who voices her suspicions the cult members were being controlled by means of hypnosis and realizes her Clairvoyance Journal’s weakness has been discovered. Twelfth Future Journal holder Hirasaka Yomotsu turns out to be the one who brought Minene to Sacred Eye, holding her in ward underground. In a bid to gain an advantage in the Survival Game, he has been manipulating the actions of cult members, as Tsubaki suspects, by means of hypnosis.

Yuki tries calling Kurusu, who was strangely absent during the fire and carnage, to no avail. As Tsubaki believes the one responsible is still on the property, she puts her Clairvoyance Journal to use. They quickly find evidence of enemies on the premises in one entry, but soon the journal is overrun with reports of intruders within the compound. Below, Yomotsu prepares to renew his attack, donning his full costume as, above, Yuno demands Tsubaki let Yuki go.

Yomotsu declares himself a force of righteousness, whose “righteous” extermination plan cannot be foiled by “evil.” Minene scoffs, remarking Yuno’s abnormality will help her foil it. In what appears to clearly be a fit of insanity, Yuno begins hacking the scores of cult members’ corpses littering the room: the “corpses” are not actually dead. As the bodies of the cultists “come back to life,” Yuno urges Yuki to choose: to join her and live or choose to stay with Tsubaki and die with her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

—-

What happened to Inspector Kurusu? Midway through the episode, he just seemed to disappear in all the commotion.

Considering what type of series this is, I shouldn’t be surprised to find Mirai Nikki is filled with a mob of truly, truly, messed-up characters. While doing routine research on the anime when it first started airing, I unintentionally spoiled myself regarding some plot elements and certain character background details – Tsubaki, Sixth Future Journal holder, included. As one might suspect, she is not exactly what she seems. While not every character suffers from some kind of severe antisocial personality disorder, this is not a happy world and these are definitely not the kind of people one hopes to find oneself at the mercy of.

I’m not ruined for the series by any means but I can’t help but anticipate certain developments on Yuki’s end and how the anime will bear out the consequences of certain revelations between Yuki and Yuno when the time comes. In the meantime, There Will Be Blood. Lots of blood.

Persona 4 The Animation Episode 4

Returning to the world of Shadows, Chie leads the way with Yu and Yosuke providing support as they continue their search for Yukiko.

Reaching a grand staircase, they catch up to Yukiko’s doppelganger in the same princess costume seen in the earlier Midnight Channel broadcast. Chie demands to see the real Yukiko. The double retreats deeper into the inner corridors, but they must dispose of a group of Shadows before they can continue their pursuit.

Elsewhere, Yukiko recalls an incident when two guys starting hitting on her at school, pressuring her to go out with them just as Chie arrives to drive them off. Relieved, Yukiko thanks her for always being there for her. Awakening, Yukiko looks up to hear the voice of her doppelganger recounting how much Yukiko values Chie as a friend.

A birdcage rolls down the nearby steps towards her, reminding her of the orphan chick she found one day by the side of the road and raised to adulthood. Day by day, the bird quickly became a source of some measure of comfort for her in a busy life occupied by long hours helping support her family’s ryokan and her school-life, when at times she didn’t have time even for Chie.

One day, Yukiko returns to her room to find the cage empty and the bird nowhere to be found. Her sympathetic companion in a life of stifling confinement and unchanging routine had vanished.

One day after having to turn Chie down yet again, the latter encourages Yukiko not to be discouraged in her position as heir of her family’s business and offers to help her any way she can; although Yukiko is glad to have Chie’s constant support, she is inwardly disappointed at the remark. Yukiko’s Shadow taunts her, indicating that moment as the time she realized Chie would not help free her from her plight.

Yukiko’s Shadow then reveals herself to her face-to-face as Chie and company arrive. Voicing her disappointment in Chie as her prince, the Shadow attacks Chie. Yu covers for her with a new Persona Margaret alerts him he now has access to before the Shadow incapacitates the group and their Personae. Yukiko denies her Shadow, allowing it to increase in power and transform into its true form, an immense harpy-like entity raining fire and bedlam until Yu summons Pyro Jack to absorb the brunt of the attack and contain as much of the fire as possible.

Yu initiates contact with the Shadow, galvanizing Chie as she makes her way through the inferno to reach Yukiko, confessing her jealousies and shortcomings as a friend while encouraging her to find the courage to trust herself and live the way she wants. Encouraged, Yukiko breaks free of the cage and embraces Chie. Yu, Yosuke, and Chie work together to bring down the Shadow, allowing Yukiko to make peace with her inner Shadow and gain her own Persona.

—–

And with this, Yukiko has officially joined the cool kids club, allowing the foursome to forge yet stronger bonds and upgrade their strengths and abilities even further. As I mentioned previously in my review of the first episode, I don’t know anything about the game so the lack of a clear-and-present antagonist seems somewhat strange to me.

The caged bird leitmotif prevalent throughout the episode and the color red (as referenced in the previous episode) gives us fairly good insight into Yukiko’s personality and her overall disposition. What comes off as passivity and shyness may in fact merely be part of her way of coping with her less-than-ideal life bound by tradition and filial duty for taking responsibility for the family business; the frustrations which may have developed in response to the menial daily routine ultimately gave rise to her Shadow self.

Yearning, boundless desire and a restless spirit bound up in a world dictated by the cold confines of a steel-wrought cage: Amagi Yukiko, break free and live.

Next week, Kujikawa Rise (Kugimiya Rie) makes her debut.

Guilty Crown Episode 3

Presenting the Usual Suspects

In the wake of the incident at Roppongi, Gai and the Undertakers formally declare their existence to the world and their open challenge to GHQ’s authority over Japan, prompting GHQ to issue a public call for anyone with information related to the Undertakers to report it immediately. At Shu’s school, Inori makes a big splash in her first day on the scene as the instantly-popular bishoujo tenkousei. After all, she is the frontwoman of (apparently universally) popular band Egoist. Puzzled, Shu wonders to himself why Inori has transferred to his school after he turned down Gai’s invitation to join Undertaker, but stops short of asking her directly.

After school, Shu arrives home resolved to refrain from any further involvement with Inori, only to find she has personal access to his apartment and has already deposited her belongings there. She has taken up residence at his place for his own protection. Shu’s mother Ouma Haruka turns out to be a senior Sephirah Genomics researcher working closely with Keido Shuichiro (Inoue Kazuhiko), most likely Director or Lead Researcher of Genomics research, in the GHQ investigation to find the lost Void Genome and deal with the aftermath of the skirmish with Undertaker in Roppongi. Keido informs his superiors he has tasked Undertaker-related affairs to Major Makoto Waltz Segai (Canna Nobutoshi), a resourceful, intelligent officer specializing in hunting targets and was able to successfully figure out the Norma Gene genetic drug distribution network.

Yahiro, worried about Shu’s strange behavior at school earlier, shows up on Shu’s doorstep and asks him whether anything happened the day before. Soon, Inori steps out and at her request has Shu come along with her downtown. Eventually, they meet Gai, who recruits Shu to help find the identity of “Sugar,” A Norma Gene dealer who had witnessed the Undertaker operation and who has been determined to be a student at Shu’s school. His single clue is the knowledge of what Sugar’s Void is, which he has already divulged to Inori, leading Shu to conclude Gai has the ability to discern a person’s Void on sight. Gai warns Shu that Sugar is a threat not only to Undertaker but to his peaceful life as a student as well. Shu reluctantly agrees.

With Inori’s help, he embarks on a school-wide search, with no other feasible method available to him than to physically draw each student’s Void one-by-one. In a botched first attempt, Shu unintentionally gropes class representative Kusama Kanon (Kotobuki Minako), an incident which seals his reputation as a pervert school-wide, much to his chagrin. Fleeing to safety, Inori explains why he failed and helps him overcome his fear of eye-contact.

After spending all day trying to find the correct Void, Shu finally learns the Void they are looking for take the form of shears. Just as Kusama catches up with them, Yahiro helps Shu avoid her wrath by taking cover in the gym. Yahiro gives himself away and Shu calls him out, revealing his identity as Sugar. With no more reason to hide his true personality, Yahiro attacks Shu who draws Yahiro’s Void in desperation. With Yahiro effectively subdued, Inori prepares to eliminate the threat but Shu will not allow it. Trusting Shu’s judgment, Inori relents. When he awakens, Yahiro makes a truce with Shu, with both promising not to reveal the secrets of the other.

On the railway, Inori asks Shu whether she can stay with him forever. The line comes to a screeching halt. The doors open and Shu is shoved through onto the platform, which is crowded with waiting GHQ troopers. Shu turns just in time to see Yahiro apologize before the doors close; he watches as the train pulls away and shouts after Yahiro, not yet comprehending his predicament. Just then, Major Segai walks up and places Shu under arrest.

—-

They only mention Inori is a member of Egoist every five minutes, so in case you’ve forgotten in between the time you first started reading this post and now, I’ll tell you again. Inori. Is THE Inori. From Egoist.

We all knew Yahiro was going to betray him in the end but then Shu’s logic for sparing him was just horribly, woefully-wrong to begin with. Even if Shu had been feeling lazy enough to not want to think for himself, Gai had already given him plenty of reasons but Shu decided he didn’t want Yahiro’s efforts of constructing a completely false but painstakingly crafted and carefully maintained facade to go to waste? Not trying to nitpick here but that kinda seems like a non sequitur to me. Despite the plot holes, Guilty Crown still has so much else going for it. Like the villains. Segai looks like a real bastard. I wonder what sort of havoc he’ll wreak on Undertaker in the weeks to come.

Mawaru Penguin Drum Episode 16

The tone is definitely much lighter with this week’s installment, although with a few more serious developments towards the end. Episode 16 focuses primarily on Masako and the origins of her struggle to save her younger brother Mario.

Young Masako reads a letter from her father, who under trying circumstances was compelled to leave the Natsume estate but awaits the day when he can come back so they can be a whole family again. In closing, he entrusts her with Mario’s care until his return. In the present, Masako triumphantly pieces together the halves of the diary, until Yuri’s gloating message alerts her to the fact her prize is not the genuine article. As she formulates a new strategy, she employs her faithful maidservant Renjaku (Nakahara Mai) with the task of monitoring Kanba and Himari’s activities. Heir to a wealthy zaibatsu, Masako, upon the passing of her grandfather Natsume Sahei, has succeeded him as head of the Natsume financial conglomerate and directs daily operations with an iron fist.

At the hospital, Kanba arrives to deliver Shouma’s homemade bento but finds Himari is not in her room. He finds her on a courtyard bench outside with Sanetoshi, whose opinion she is soliciting in regards to a scarf she is knitting for her brother. He leaves as Kanba approaches and after he is out of earshot, Kanba warns Himari against casual conversation with the doctor, whom Kanba regards as shady and untrustworthy. Himari, indignant at Kanba’s low opinion of someone who took pains to deliver her scarves to Double-H, storms off.

Renjaku, already on the scene, reports her findings to Masako before focusing her reconnaissance efforts on Himari. As she peers at her through the window, Himari, as the Penguqueen, mouths “Seizon Senyryaku” to the unsuspecting Renjaku. Thus Pengudrum’s now-iconic Seizon Senryaku sequence makes a welcome comeback! After a brief exchange (in haiku) the Penguqueen produces a camera of her own and subjects the maidservant (who actually turns out to be a complete bijin) to humiliating, exploitative gravure shots in retribution for her voyeurism.

Impromptu gravure shoot courtesy of the Penguqueen (Takakura Himari); Location: ???

You get the idea.

In a series of repeated flashbacks, Masako plots killing her grandfather and succeeds, only to awaken to the reality that it was merely a dream. Most of these sequences are accompanied by comically-overdone English dubs, courtesy of her grandfather’s obnoxious American (in anime, any overly-obnoxious male foreigner, especially if they’re blond, has to be American¹ – see footnote) business associate. In the present, Ringo tells Shouma she will not give up on trying to reach him because she is his stalker… (wait a minute, since when is Ringo Shouma’s stalker…?)

Masako reflects back to a time when her grandfather burned the stuffed animals and other reminders of the young Natsume siblings’ father, tossing the gifts away like so much rubbish into the fireplace. Masako confides in Kanba she must get rid of her grandfather at all costs, even if it means she will be forever cursed. Ironically, her grandfather dies by his own hand, eating mishandled blowfish he prepared himself. Strangely, or perhaps appropriately enough, the same American business flunkie in Masako’s dreams is present when the Natsume patriarch collapses.

Although Masako finally gets her wish, her father does not return, prompting her to believe her grandfather has cursed them from being a happy family even from beyond the grave. Renjaku enters the study to inform Masako her brother Mario is not in his room. She spots him below, curiously, practicing with a shinai, as was their grandfather’s custom. It turns out her grandfather Sahei has somehow taken possession of Mario’s body and challenges Masako to a deadly duel for the headship of the Natsume clan: she must choose between two identical plates of blowfish sashimi (fugu – 河豚), with one containing the deadly poison. Seeing Masako’s hesitation, her grandfather forces Mario to make the first move. With Mario’s life at stake, Masako shoves him out of the way and downs both plates. Sanetoshi calls her just as she succumbs.

Losing consciousness, Masako enters a dream-like state where she witnesses first her father and then Kanba taken in by the mysterious men in black. Though she warns Kanba they will only use and dispose of him as they did her father, he does not heed her warning. Sanetoshi cryptically tells her they have been chosen to “put the world back on track” and that in order for Mario to be saved, she too must participate.

Masako awakens to find Mario and Renjaku keeping watch over her, and Sanetoshi standing outside below her window. Masako swears she will not be Sanetoshi’s pawn.

—-

Masako seems unnervingly calm for someone dying of severe neurological shock and major organ failure arising from the deadly toxins for which blowfish is notorious. I guess in the end panicking avails nothing when you’re about to cash in for good so it’s best to go out with some composure.

Sanetoshi has managed to manipulate both Kanba and Masako into a position of furthering his ends by way of the same weakness: their desire to save their younger siblings. Both of them are willing to enter the grey zone of morality to achieve that end. What can we deduce about what he is trying to achieve (perhaps with reference to Episodes 9 and 13)? He is probably still setting up the board and maneuvering all his pieces into place so there is still some time before the climax. Of course, that’s about when Ikuhara likes to come out of left field with a curveball (or four) that shakes up everything.

The ED for Episode 16 is “Ikarechimattaze!!” (イカレちまったぜ!!) by Triple-H. Need complete Pengudrum OST. NOW.

¹ – This is consistent with the still dominant portrayal of Americans in anime as dumb, ignorant, incompetent or just plain annoying if not meddlesome or altogether villainous. There has been much theory and debate over the years related to this phenomenon. You can see one example here, although the content is rather dated (circa 1999(!), it will not be hard to find further, more current discussion numerous places.

Persona 4 The Animation Episode 3

We begin in flashback with elementary-school age Chie and Yukiko, who have apparently been close since childhood. Chie consoles Yukiko on a rainy day during their first encounter, quickly becoming friends.

Chie barges into the classroom one morning, hysterical at not being able to contact Yukiko. Grimly, Chie cannot rule out the possibilty that Yukiko may have been the one who appeared on the Midnight Channel the previous evening. Worse, Yukiko hasn’t been responding to her calls or texts. Yu suggests she may have been busy helping out at her family’s inn, which Chie takes as some measure of consolation until Yukiko calls Chie herself, finally allowing her to calm down completely. Yu and Yosuke are left to wonder who it was that actually appeared on the Midnight Channel.

Yu, Yosuke and Chie head back to Junes so that they can consult with Kuma, who tells them he hasn’t seen any new people come over from the other side since their last visit. Yu suggests they all watch the Midnight Channel again to confirm. After dark, Yu waits and when the screen crackles to life, Yukiko appears onscreen in a princess costume, declaring her hunt for a prince on a white horse to be on. She races through the castle gates into the background, heading deeper in the Shadow world. Afterwards, Chie races to Yukiko’s house, only to find Yukiko missing.

The next morning, Yu meets Yosuke at Junes. Yosuke is excited to show Yu the katana he found in his backyard and begins openly flaunting the fake but realistic blades, alerting a nearby cop who mistakes Yu and Yosuke for thugs and subsequently arrests both of them for brandishing swords in violation of Japan’s strict anti-weapons laws. Chie catches up with them just in time to see them being deposited in the back of a police cruiser for transport to the station. After the misunderstanding is resolved, Yu and Yosuke are released and find Chie waiting for them in the lobby, finally able to tell them about Yukiko’s disappearance. The news prompts the junior detective to begin questioning Chie, as Yukiko’s family had already asked the police to search for her; but when he mentions Yukiko in connection with the case of the deceased Yamano, Chie is infuriated and Yu and Yosuke both rush to restrain her before Yu’s uncle arrives to break up the ruckus. As they leave the station, Chie resolves to re-enter the Shadow world to save Yukiko.

With the guidance of Kuma, they arrive at the same castle “gates” Yukiko had passed through on the Midnight Channel broadcast. He confirms Yukiko is inside, and Chie races ahead, passing through a cavernous, palatial hall -oblivious to the presence of the Shadows, as she lacks special glasses to equip. Yu, Yosuke and Kumakichi follow her, summoning their respective Personae to clear a path through the treacherous Shadows.

Chie arrives at a room at the end of the hall resembling Yukiko’s room as she knows it in the outside world, and begins to hear the Shadows give voice to Yukiko’s doubts and inferiority complex towards Chie. In response, Chie’s doppelganger appears, revealing all the hidden jealousies and resentment towards Yukiko Chie had bottled up inside. Yu and Yosuke arrive, to Chie’s embarrassment as she denies her inner Shadow. Transforming, Chie’s doppelganger holds off Yu and Yosuke’s Personae as Chie wrestles with her inner jealousies until Yu and Yosuke remind her that she is indeed Yukiko’s true friend, and that what’s important is that she genuinely loves and cares for her.

Believing in her bond with Yukiko and accepting the less noble parts of herself, Chie challenges her Shadow. Margaret informs Yu that his bonds have granted him access to another Persona. With his new Persona (Jack-O-Lantern + Tonberry?), Yu is able to free Yosuke to team up with against the Shadow, successfully coordinating their attacks to bring it down. Chie finlly accepts it as a part of her, earning Chie her Persona.

Chie may have some repressed dominatrix tendencies, frustrated by Yukiko getting all the attention from the guys: her inner Shadow is decked out in leather, armed with numerous, animate whip-like appendages, after all. I wonder what the physical characteristics of Yukiko’s Persona will reveal about her personality.