PokefanPT said:Ahhh, another amazing episode that had me all tensed up throughout all 23 minutes.
This anime is doing a great job at making you feel unconfortable, uneasy and suspicious at everything.
And the direction of the scenes is just incredible. Look at the conversation between Yoshiki and that lady from the last 2 episodes, the different shots, the contrast between their talk/feelings with the cafe they were, incredible.
Talking about that, we get to know that Lady reached out to Yoshiki, to help him in this situation, since she also went through the same, with her husband. However, she doesn't really give us much details, she just said it seemed her husband, but it gave their son a wound that would never heal (I wonder if it's a physical or a psycological wound). I suppose we are getting more from her in the next episodes, since she actually appears quite a lot in the opening.
This episode really focused on giving us more info about the characters. We also get to finally see Hikaru (Monster) leaving in his house, we also get to see his mother, and we discover that his dad actually died shortly after the moment from the flashback of the beginning of the episode (so while Hikaru and Yoshiki were kids). Interestingly, Hikaru's father died in the same mountain, around the same time in the year, as Hikaru, which might really suggest that they both died of the same cause (maybe some ritual or pact that went wrong?).
What surprised me the most in this episode was the characterization of this Monster Hikaru. That scene with it and Yoshiki at the school was really intense, and you end up worrying about Yoshiki's safety, but by the end of the episode, I ended up feeling sorry for Monster Hikaru, as it just seemed lonely, and regreted being violent with Yoshiki, since it really just wants to be with Yoshiki, as it said, it doesn't care about who Yoshiki talks to or does, Monster Hikaru just doesn't want Yoshiki to hate it.
Like, we all know how creepy it is, with how it just possessing a body from a deceased person, how it's implied it was the cause of the death from the old lady of episode 1 (although I'm having my doubts now), and how it literally said in the 1st episode it would kill Yoshiki if he just didn't continue living his life with "Hikaru" as normal.
Like, wow, they really made me feel bad for it, and they gave it actual human feelings. Now I just wonder if it's really theirs or just Hikaru's feelings.
We got that weird flashbacks too, to that woman with a baby, not really sure what that is, maybe it's related with the origin of Monster Hikaru? I don't know, it was giving me Attack on Titan vibes.
But I have to say the saddest part of the episode was right at the beginning, when Monster Hikaru thanked Yoshiki for being there with him, just chillin', and Yoshiki asked why he said that out of nowhere, and it just replied that it wanted Yoshiki to know it's true feelings, and then Yoshiki just thinks "I should have done the same", implying he should have confessed to Hikaru his true feelings while he was still alive :(
This episode really shows how Yoshiki is moving on from Denial, and it's starting to assimilate that Hikaru is dead. Even if by the end he may be swayed again by the temptation of using this Monster Hikaru as a replacement, even the way Yoshiki is treating it is already different.
Once again, this episode with the symbolism, this episode is with the withering of Sunflowers, that are linked to Hikaru, since his house used to have them. It does seem to indicate that Yoshiki is assimilating Hikaru's death, but I'm not sure if that's only it.
On a side note, I found it really funny when the anime had like 2 seconds of CGI students, when they were showing the school, because it was just so random, I didn't notice its use anywhere else, and the CGI was decent, but I don't know, it was just so random, and only for 2 seconds, that I just found it funny, without taking anything away from the episode!
This anime is by far my favorite this season (from the ones I'm watching)! I love how they always find a way to surprise us. This time around, the episode ended up on a much different note than the other 2, with a more dramatic tone, and focusing on the characterization of Monster Hikaru, while the other 2 episodes ended on a creppier note.
Can't wait for the next episode! Do we really need to wait a whole week to get it?
love that review! You described my feelings and favourite parts. Thank u. Its my fav anime of this season too ♡ Im so excited for next episode !Σ(×_×;)!