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| THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- This was a thrillng episode imo. We got our usual kappa but reflecting on the events from the previous episode, it felt like a thriller. Trying to save Haruka especially got me interested to see how far our trio of kappa guys will go. That bicycle kick! |
Stark700May 16, 2019 11:46 AM
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| This episode continues to top ep 5 as I expected. It's such a heartfelt pity that the whole tragedy came from the misunderstanding of both Haruka and Kazuki. Though, I died at green frogs playing sumo scene lmao. Weird kinks you got there, Ikuhara. So Sara won't choose another lucky selfie item unless the representative zombie is defeated huh. Now, Keppi seems more and more like the last boss to me... Or he could be the good personality or some sort of the otter boss. |
| I wanted more cops but not like this...That ending...Shit.... The dude at the end with Reo/Mabu is this guy from the manga, right? I mean though it's a spinoff or something along those lines...Hmm.. |
BackstageMageMay 16, 2019 1:49 PM
  Don't worry about being lame now, you were always lame anyway!  |
| This episode is just incredible. The comedy in the first scenes reminded me of the previous eps 1&2. It was fabulous max! This is also a good classic laugh pause for us... Only Toji didn't find any pros in the kappa life. I wonder is it because of his aniki? Slice of world history was also perfect. Mabu and Reo...their relationship has become even sadder. |
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BackstageMage said: this guy from the manga I think so. |
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| No hilarious cop dance this time, but we got a closer look at the extraction process and the otter facility. Might have been the most intense episode so far, dark stuff. Also interesting post credits flashback. |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
BackstageMage said: I wanted more cops but not like this...That ending...Shit.... The dude at the end with Reo/Mabu is this guy from the manga, right? I mean though it's a spinoff or something along those lines...Hmm.. lmao I just realized is that a cheeky nod to Victor |
| I wasn't expecting it to start off with that. It was so hilarious. The "kappa ni natte lucky" song played as well. Kappas love sumo wrestling, but this is a weird way of showing it. Enta got hit in the groin, but he's just happy his fantasy came true after that. Still, who comes up with something like hitting a youkai in the groin anyway? Hahah Reo and Haruka got to have a talk and we saw they aren't that different. That was sweet. Well, until the whole kidnapping part. Reo finally revealed he and Mabu live together. I thought the kappa zombies died after getting their shirikodama removed. The reality was actually kind of scary. Kazuki wore the ankle bracelet, finally! Haruka had stopped Kazuki from meeting his mum cuz he knew the truth. Wow, even he desires to be connected. Enta finally got to throw a pass to Kazuki. Keppi is awesome. He was like "it's sad but I'll allow you to use my cute-" , and no one cared about his cuteness. They beat him and broke him. Last episode's zombie got defeated. I wonder what secret leaked this time. Really surprised that Tooi cared about Kazuki's life. Guess he has connected with two people without realising. Reo knows about Keppi. Oh no! The policemen's past looks sad. Hope they get to be happy in the end. I felt so bad watching them hold hands in the end like that. |
| Children broiler 2.0 is here. Kowai~ We finally know a little bit more of the world. I think shit is going to start now. I feel bad for my policemen. Mabu and Reo please find happiness. *cries* Reo saying "It's our hope!" when they finally found Keppi... Keppi is somehow a way to give Mabu back his feelings? Reo did say that Mabu is "a doll whose emotions have fallen out of him". I... I really want them to be happy. But also Keppi T_T (Is Keppi the villain somehow?) |
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| This show is horrendously underrated. A little disappointed they didn't sing their battle song this episode, but this show keeps getting better and better. Too bad it's only going to be 11 eps. |
| This episode delivered, as always. It started with some silly, but funny antics, like Enta feeling Kazuki's skin through sumo, then they proceeded to invade that Otter Empire base to save Haruka, and it was nervewracking! I thought that Haruka was a goner for a moment, then Keppi gave Kazuki that option, but then he would be completely gone. I'm so glad Kuji and Enta desperately tried to save him from himself. And thanks to that last message Haruka sent to "Sara-chan" we could also understand him better, he also feels guilty, and he really just wants to be with Kazu-chan and see him smiling. Kazuki sees himself as someone who isn't connected, which made him almost give up on his on his own existence, but Haruka sees him in the "middle of a big circle". Enta was also able to give him the miçanga Haruka kept, and he was finally able to pass him the ball. Kazuki now feels renewed and grateful to both Kuji and Enta, his smile was so warm! And I loved the change from the previous episode title, "I want to connect, but I can't be forgiven" to "I want to connect, so I'm not giving up"! Now I wonder what is the deal with Mabu and Keppi. The fall of the Kappa Empire seemed brutal by the way. lol The Otter Empire seems ruthless too, one would think "love" is more "valuable" than "desire" since it even seems to be rarer, but they were ready to mince Haruka, someone innocent with this feeling, like it was nothing. |
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Slores said: This show is horrendously underrated. A little disappointed they didn't sing their battle song this episode, but this show keeps getting better and better. Too bad it's only going to be 11 eps. I am fairly new to anime and never heard of Ikuhara before. Being grown up and on the arthouse side if cinema, I just had picked this show only based on the hope it would meet that taste. Then I had a pretty hard time persevering the first episodes, because while being artfully crafted, the plot was almost non-existing. And I do not really like episodic anime (some exceptions exist) in general. And thirdly, it was really necessary to learn all the details about kappa mythology from wikipedia (cucumbers, sumo, the circle on the head etc. pp.) for anything to make even remotely sense. Today my patience and research was rewarded, it was a great episode, and the previous ones fall into place now. Glad I did resist my urge to drop the show. Looking forward to the resolution of the story! |
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| Keppi seemed very unconcerned about basically offering Kazuki something that would wipe him from existence. Giving off some suspicious vibes ngl Also that sheeh reference, lmao. The golden duo pose looks so much like it already so it makes sense it'd be a joke. |
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| This episode was by far the best yet! So many things from the previous episodes make sense now. The “desire or love” line, when Enta’s sister forgot about her ‘boyfriend’, the true meaning of the shirikodama etc. All of the characters in this episode played their part without being left in the dust. I didn’t notice until now, but the animation of the kappa is really smooth & looks different from when they’re humans. The characters seem to be more flexible as kappa, which I can appreciate. And the scene where Haruka & Kazuki’s mum were on the stairs was gorgeous. The soundtrack was amazing. I’m not sure if it played in episodes prior, but while Kazuki was chasing Haruka’s box there was a cool instrumental version of Sarazanmai no Uta. Really cool idea. Keppi’s character really interests me. At first you’d think he’d just be the supporting character, but this episode made him out to be pretty damn special. I wonder what the cops meant by him being their “hope”. I guess it’s because he can create the dishes of hope? If this series has taught me anything, it’s taught me the Japanese words for desire and hope lol. They use the same Kanji too & in general have a similar meaning, I love the connection. EDIT: Yet again, I forgot to watch the aftercredits scene lmao. Damn, some interesting stuff we saw there. Was that a flashback? I wonder how long ago that incident occurred. But I gotta be honest here, the artstyle is what captivated me the most. |
GlowingAuraMay 16, 2019 6:14 PM
| I'm glad they stayed on their kappa forms longer in this episode, I kinda like them. On the real, the episode was heartwarming especially Haruka's secret words to his brother. I felt Kazuki was a jerk in that situation, how could you want to ditch your family like that even if they aren't blood. A family is what you have built bonds with overtime and have loved each other through hard times/happy times, building memories that were/are precious or nor precious. A family can be anyone who is biological or non biological. I believed he built that with Haruka and his non biological parents. |
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove  |
| Honestly my favorite series of the season. This anime is a gem. Really liked the character developments especially in the past 2 episodes. Hoping the future episodes will retain similar quality or increase in quality. 5/5 |
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| Damn, the character development is amazing. I'm getting more and more involved with this show, it actually offers a decent story. Although I'm still not sure which side is good and which is evil, I must say that kappa is lit.  |
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BackstageMage said: I wanted more cops but not like this...That ending...Shit.... The dude at the end with Reo/Mabu is this guy from the manga, right? I mean though it's a spinoff or something along those lines...Hmm.. The author confirmed that the manga and the anime takes place in the same universe. |
doraeyaki said: Keppi seemed very unconcerned about basically offering Kazuki something that would wipe him from existence. Giving off some suspicious vibes ngl. This. Also Mabu/Reo are looking more and more like victims. They met Keppi and Mabu ended up dead. It could also be that the Keppi we know is actually the dark shadow that was inside Keppi in the flashback... I think Reo is so excited in finding Keppi because he can finally make him produce dishes to save Mabu (?) since Mabu is a "doll" now for some reason. Fayrin said: one would think "love" is more "valuable" than "desire" since it even seems to be rarer, but they were ready to mince Haruka, someone innocent with this feeling, like it was nothing. I think maybe desire is the only thing that can produce dishes or something valuable. Love then ends up being useless. They're cops after all, they're supposed to catch the bad guys (the ones with the ~desires~). |
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| Keppi pole dancing was fabulous lmao. lihle808 said: I felt Kazuki was a jerk in that situation, how could you want to ditch your family like that even if they aren't blood. A family is what you have built bonds with overtime and have loved each other through hard times/happy times, building memories that were/are precious or nor precious. A family can be anyone who is biological or non biological. I believed he built that with Haruka and his non biological parents. That all sounds wonderful and Hallmark-worthy but if you found out the people you were living with weren't your biological family at maybe age 10-12, and then you meet your real mom and she's warm and gentle and just feels different to be with; you're very likely going to want to go with your real mom. You're obviously entitled to your opinion, but it doesn't sound like you stopped to look at it from HIS perspective. |
| Mendokusai |
I would also like to point out that this scene: Reminded me of Yuri Kuma, another one of Ikuhara's works. There we have Bear/Lily duality, where the bears are the "aggressive lesbians" (they are very clear about their sexuality; assumed lesbians in that sense) and the lillies, who are closeted lesbians (in public they're shown as catholic-like figures, when in reality they're all doing the same thing that the bears do (like having sex lol). I don't really know what to make of that... But Ikuhara loves doing this duality, and what seems to be evil is not always evil. In this case, I'm not sure if having desire is truly evil - in the cases we've seen, all the guys were somehow perverts, so probably IS? -, but since Mabu and Reo keep saying "don't let go of your desires", maybe IT REALLY MEANS that you shouldn't give up on your desires, be proud of who you are, like the bears in Yuri kuma? Maybe - and I'm not very confident in those assumptions, but I'll leave them here anyway - deleting the kappas and erasing their existence isn't the right way to go about the desire-capture folks? That's what Kazuki and the other boys are doing, but what if Keppi is the "evil" somehow? UH... It could also be that Mabu/Reo are somehow working for a devilish organization as Keppi claims, but for the sake of saving Mabu somehow? Like, maybe Mabu is working for them because he died and the otters ressurrected him (without his shirikodama?) but Reo is doing it entirely in hope of making Mabu stop being a "doll". AND CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT HOW THIS IS CALLED "Kuro keppi" system and not "Otter system" or some other thing? What does it meannnnn? Could it truly be an indication that the otters are not a completely different race from the kappa, but instead a dark faction inside the kappa? (I read some theories about that)! Maybe the monster that left Keppi--- WAIT. WAIT. What if the monster that left Keppi in the flashback is actually the Keppi we know now?  It does have Keppi's eyes. And overall size... And it runs away from the burning empire. Is Keppi the evil Keppi that was inside the... whoever that was (but I think that may be the real keppi?) |
MaahHeimMay 16, 2019 9:40 PM
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lihle808 said: I'm glad they stayed on their kappa forms longer in this episode, I kinda like them. On the real, the episode was heartwarming especially Haruka's secret words to his brother. I felt Kazuki was a jerk in that situation, how could you want to ditch your family like that even if they aren't blood. A family is what you have built bonds with overtime and have loved each other through hard times/happy times, building memories that were/are precious or nor precious. A family can be anyone who is biological or non biological. I believed he built that with Haruka and his non biological parents. Kazuki didn't want to ditch the non-biological family, instead he wanted to protect Haruka from knowing the truth that they are not biological brothers. But Haruka actually knew already and misunderstood that Kazuki was going to leave him for the mother. The whole tragedy was caused from misunderstanding. |
The smile of an angel :3 We finally get Kazuki to smile :D (NOT in Enta's fantasy XD) |
My bingo now looks like this btw: Didn't mark suffering because I believe it indicates MORE suffering than what we've seen so far (recalling other Ikuhara works at least). Mabu was our human sacrifice this week. The flowers were seen in the first ep btw (A lot of people didn't mark it in their bingos, but that first scene seemed really important and the flowers really caught my eye so). Haven't marked anti-heroes yet because we're not sure if Mabu/Reo are really anti-heroes or plain villais or plain heroes. I'm betting on anti-heroes, but not marking until we're sure. And no one has died in a horrible way yet, so "suddenly it gets really dark" is also out. Ahhhhhhhhh best ride ever. |
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| Man, Ikuhara finally managed to write a good show without abstracting wayy too much. |
I largely agree with your concerns, but I don't think it can be called queerbait when Enta is gay. He actually is, and that can't be taken away. Anyway, I think the show was focused on restoring Kazuki's ability to connect before moving forward with the emotional arcs of the other boys. That's a guess, but I'm sure we'll see more from Toi and Enta upcoming. One of the reasons I feel hopeful for Enta's arc still is because Enta has the most ost tracks in the show. (He has more compositions just for him than any other character) |
inim said: Slores said: This show is horrendously underrated. A little disappointed they didn't sing their battle song this episode, but this show keeps getting better and better. Too bad it's only going to be 11 eps. I am fairly new to anime and never heard of Ikuhara before. Being grown up and on the arthouse side if cinema, I just had picked this show only based on the hope it would meet that taste. Then I had a pretty hard time persevering the first episodes, because while being artfully crafted, the plot was almost non-existing. And I do not really like episodic anime (some exceptions exist) in general. And thirdly, it was really necessary to learn all the details about kappa mythology from wikipedia (cucumbers, sumo, the circle on the head etc. pp.) for anything to make even remotely sense. Today my patience and research was rewarded, it was a great episode, and the previous ones fall into place now. Glad I did resist my urge to drop the show. Looking forward to the resolution of the story! I only know about kappas from other anime I've seen. Still, there are a lot of things in this anime that do not make sense to me, like why everyone owned a box in the first couple episodes and how sara chan is the only news station and tv personality, and also how kuji didn't even question how Sara chan is a kappa too lol Despite all this, I'm still very much enjoying the story through all the ridiculousness. The animation is amazing, the characters are multidimensional, story is progressing, the bl makes it even better. This is also my first Ikuhara anime, although I've seen one or two Sailor Moon episodes long ago. This show is gold |
Kuji didn’t see how Sara have been escaped every time |
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inim said: Slores said: This show is horrendously underrated. A little disappointed they didn't sing their battle song this episode, but this show keeps getting better and better. Too bad it's only going to be 11 eps. I am fairly new to anime and never heard of Ikuhara before. Being grown up and on the arthouse side if cinema, I just had picked this show only based on the hope it would meet that taste. Then I had a pretty hard time persevering the first episodes, because while being artfully crafted, the plot was almost non-existing. And I do not really like episodic anime (some exceptions exist) in general. And thirdly, it was really necessary to learn all the details about kappa mythology from wikipedia (cucumbers, sumo, the circle on the head etc. pp.) for anything to make even remotely sense. Today my patience and research was rewarded, it was a great episode, and the previous ones fall into place now. Glad I did resist my urge to drop the show. Looking forward to the resolution of the story! So much effort! You deserve a starcookie after looking at wikipedia for a common japanese mythological creature.... or maybe a cucumber |
| my dark magical girl webseries https://unsafemahoushoujo.wordpress.com/blog/ |
inim said: Slores said: This show is horrendously underrated. A little disappointed they didn't sing their battle song this episode, but this show keeps getting better and better. Too bad it's only going to be 11 eps. I am fairly new to anime and never heard of Ikuhara before. Being grown up and on the arthouse side if cinema, I just had picked this show only based on the hope it would meet that taste. Then I had a pretty hard time persevering the first episodes, because while being artfully crafted, the plot was almost non-existing. And I do not really like episodic anime (some exceptions exist) in general. And thirdly, it was really necessary to learn all the details about kappa mythology from wikipedia (cucumbers, sumo, the circle on the head etc. pp.) for anything to make even remotely sense. Today my patience and research was rewarded, it was a great episode, and the previous ones fall into place now. Glad I did resist my urge to drop the show. Looking forward to the resolution of the story! I think it is exactly because you are new to anime that you don't like something that feels out of place and not telling you a direct straight-forward story. In the past, episodic anime is pretty much the norm, and plot only progresses at certain point of story. |
| this fucking show (great ep) |
| still watching this anime .... dont call me gay or some shit like that , im still normal !!!! |
| This is probably my anime of the season. It's performing really well in terms of emotional development for the main characters as well as production values. |
Tsukizono said: I don't really get it when people talk ab queerbaiting and being problematic and whatever. I am gay, and a pretty shit part of being gay and growing up is it just not being a thing and having affection for people your age not reciprocated. It would be nice if it was in this anime, but if it's not I'm not gonna whine.Claptrap said: I largely agree with your concerns, but I don't think it can be called queerbait when Enta is gay. He actually is, and that can't be taken away. It's also not queerbaiting when Toi is also shown to be attracted to Kazuki and ReoMabu are canonically a couple. Enta's feelings towards Kazuki weren't taken as a joke this episode though. Enta's scene with the micanga demonstrated that his love for Kazuki is genuine. Like Toi with the gun, he openly shows his desire box secret in a selfless moment to save Haruka - he doesn't selfishly desire to go back to the "good old days" and fantasise about Kazuki being his white knight. He passed the ball (Keppi) to Kazuki to save Haruka, which was what he wanted. Ultimately Kazuki decided to not give up on connections because he's "in the center of a circle" - he not only had Haruka, but also people like Enta and Toi who loved him. The soundtrack continues to be excellent. |
| It felt more Mawaru Kappadrumish this episode. |
| Nothing to Ara-Ara about |
| About time they broke the cycle of similarly structured episodes, this one looked really great and refreshing. I like how the story progresses so far. |
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| Real talk how is it a "secret" base if Keppi has known where it was this whole time. Suspicious. |
Slores said: inim said: I am fairly new to anime and never heard of Ikuhara before. [...] And thirdly, it was really necessary to learn all the details about kappa mythology from wikipedia (cucumbers, sumo, the circle on the head etc. pp.) for anything to make even remotely sense. I only know about kappas from other anime I've seen. Still, there are a lot of things in this anime that do not make sense to me, like why everyone owned a box in the first couple episodes and how sara chan is the only news station and tv personality, and also how kuji didn't even question how Sara chan is a kappa too lol Despite all this, I'm still very much enjoying the story through all the ridiculousness. The animation is amazing, the characters are multidimensional, story is progressing, the bl makes it even better. This is also my first Ikuhara anime, although I've seen one or two Sailor Moon episodes long ago. This show is gold It really helps with all the symbolism and strange behaviours used in the anime to understand Kappa. E.g. why the anime plays at the location it plays is no coincidence. Obviously kappa are a very popular in Japanese folk lore and every kid knows about them. There is one thread here which conveniently collects all the info and external links. Theory Megathread We completely agree on the production values and storytelling craftmanship :) |
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Ventus_S said: inim said: I am fairly new to anime and never heard of Ikuhara before. Being grown up and on the arthouse side if cinema, I just had picked this show only based on the hope it would meet that taste.[...] I think it is exactly because you are new to anime that you don't like something that feels out of place and not telling you a direct straight-forward story. In the past, episodic anime is pretty much the norm, and plot only progresses at certain point of story. I would say my "suffering" was not about contemporary narration techniques such as nonlinear storytelling or limited, unreliable, and POV narrators. The Monogatari series was one of my first "anime research projects", and I really loved every second of it. Also, the techniques are familiar from live action movies and series, such as Westworld, Naked Lunch, or Mulholland Drive. Heck, I pretty much got interested in anime in general and this show in particular because of the narration techniques, not in spite of them. One point I wanted to make is that the strong symbolism based on Japanese folk lore must be understood to enjoy. Ikuhara is very obviously all about symbolism and fancy story telling. However, a storyteller is not good just because of using advanced techniques, the individual "handwriting" can still break or make a show/movie. And regardless how you tell it, the story itself still needs to be good. Today's episode showcased (to me ignorant noob) he definitely can tell a story, and this episode he simply told it the old fashioned way. That itself is a narrative trick, talk about carrots and sticks :) This to me made the difference between artsy-fartsy and good craftmanship, can't fully explain why. It just did "click" today. I'll write a review based this musings later, maybe that helps the show's rating (or undeserved lack of it). For my part, it went up 1 point today. |
inimMay 17, 2019 6:36 PM
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