AnimageNeby said:Eudaimonia said:
▶ In retrospect I should have seen Satsuki's act of matricide coming. Her and Ragyo's ideologies are way too different for her to remain the docile and obedient girl she has been depicted as whenever she was shown in the presence of her mother. Satsuki has always valued virtes such as self-empowerment and self-realization, there is no way she would stand by watching how humanity loses its independence to extraterrestrial beings.
Of course there's also the fact that unlike the bullies at Gamagoori's old high-school she's not content with leeching off the influence of her parents (where's her father btw, he's been suspiciously absent the whole time without any explanation) but rather usurp her mother's power completely even if she has to pry it out of her cold, dead hands. Though there's little doubt that the back-stabbing Ragyo received won't be enough to take her down with her scars on her back branding her as well-versed in combat.
▶ If it hasn't been clear before now it's pretty blatant just how self-centred Ragyo is, stating to be omniscient in addition to being the sole person to determine what can be defined as beautiful following up on her monopolization on the admittedly loose concept of sin. All her inter-actions with other people are coated with condescendence, her banter with the four generals nothing but superficial fluff, her spiel centering on abstract subjects such as primal sin basically being as shallow as the layers of clothing are that she covers her body with.
Though, perhaps that's just what it sounds like to her daughter who must have entered the stage of puberty by now and being in her rebellious phase acting like the know-it-all teenager calling bullshit on what the adults say and sprouting larger-than-life phrases herself with her own version on how the world works, most preferably revolving around herself, (I certainly wouldn't trust a person of her age to know humanity's true essence like she has been announcing from the rooftops since the start of the show) and putting up a strong facade to hide her weaknesses.
In contrast Ryuuko has found her onw way to defy adults' expectations by living as a delinquent, there's really no need to murder your mother to prove your self-worth ;) In a way both Satsuki and Ryuuko are chasing after slightly juvenile goals, the former with world domination in mind and the latter by getting revenge on her deceased father, a common trope in action-flicks, the whole elaborate setting could be interpreted as an externalization of their pubertal struggles, it is by the creators of FLCL after all and the Utena-esque elements (watch that show if you haven't already) alone should warrant digging up some subtle (or not so subtle) symbolism.
▶ Ragyo's harlequinesque appearance during the festival was a neat throwback to one of her more prominent catch-phrases "La vie est drôle", though I'm sure only the likes of Harime with her twisted sense of humour would deem the bloodshed taking place in the end amusing. The comparison of human pigs getting lead to the shambles by choice to get slaughered was a brilliantly morbid way to pick up Satsuki's figure of speech and hearing it out of the her mother's mouth who would be the first to be visibly slaughtered no less.
▶ It was nice to see two prior flashbacks getting expanded on by putting them into context especially by adding an emotional component to it in relation to Satsuki, painting her in a more human light and thus increasing the shock value of the last scene
Right. That said, aesthetically, I didn't like the dress of Ragyo much, whether the harlequin-esque appearance was symbolic or not.
I also thought it to be made a bit TOO obvious that she was the villain, this time. As of yet, though one could sense some nastiness, condescension and will to dominating, if not downright power-hungry, she still gave of an air of 'grandeur'. She also remained somewhat ambiguous, even with the bathscene, where, aside from being incest-like (which everyone commenting on it picked up), was also a way to help her (which almost no-one seemed to remember). Aka, meaning: it wasn't depicted as only something to 'villainize'. Meaning: she still wasn't portrayed as some sort of one-dimensional 'total evil' up to this point, even if it was clear she was the biggest antagonist.
They forgo completely to that in this episode, for as well the ambiguity (making her far more pronounced 'evil' in her speech and actions) as well as diminishing her demeanour of 'grandeur', by wearing the a clowns' custom.
I can't say I really liked that.
On the other hand, the rebellion was rather very brutal and straightforward, much more so than I anticipated, and I liked this surprise. There is, clearly now, no love lost between daughter and mother. This again diminishes the multi-layered approach a bit - I would have imagined some hesitance or lingering bond-feelings, but at the other hand, overthrowing the kings/queens in every era has always been brutal.
I can't say I like this episode the best - the former one was way better, I thought - but I guess the finale is going to start...