「変わりゆくとき」 (Kawari Yuku Toki)
“The Time of Change”

Those tears are Ghibli worthy.

If there’s some sort of metaphorical crossroads to one’s life, then these kids are at theirs; I’m not sure if we’re truly looking at a timeskip or not, but we are looking at a choice, and that choice is not one easily avoided. Before the comment by Hikari and the others that not everyone might wake up at the same time, I’d have argued that a timeskip was somewhat unfavorable narrative-wise (never mind my subjective thoughts on why it would be unnecessary) anyway. There would, after all, be no one on the surface left if the whole point is to bypass an unnatural winter of disastrous proportions, and it would seem kind of odd to forcibly take all the important landed characters like Miuna, Itaru, and Tsumugu out of the picture (remember, this event isn’t supposed to happen until much later in these people’s lifetimes, so after a hibernation of that length, they’d all be dead and/or aged to their fifties/sixties or more) at this point. Wouldn’t that run a rut through the coexistence narrative?

There could, of course, be some interesting way of having the landed people survive and the sea kiddos interact with the children or what have you (would the sea kiddos have aged? Possibly, but not to sixty years, I doubt), but somehow, considering the emphasis placed on the importance of Tsumugu and Manaka’s meeting, I find that somewhat difficult to believe. The other option is where a time skip is more likely; for whatever reason, if the sea kiddos wake up much much earlier than this, but not long enough to bypass a disaster, then we could ostensibly see something like this happen with only slightly older versions of our cast. My problem with that scenario would be what the kids would do in terms of the disaster, but I’m imagining that it would probably prompt them even further to find some way to overcome it. A time skip could also occur should the children decide to stay and then later have to deal with the consequences. Whether or not I find such a skip necessary, though is a different question. Personally I like the way things are now; it’s not every day we get to watch a middle school cast in such believable emotional circumstances, and I’d like that to work out on its own without the need for the usual scenario with high schoolers acting like middle schoolers. Then again, maybe that wouldn’t happen either, but I’m happier not finding out, for the most part. However, the fact remains that this is speculation, and while the writers definitely have some choices as far narrative goes, the choices the characters face are more immediate and pressing to think on.

The romantic relationships aside (despite the fact that they’re incredibly important in terms of how they fuel the kids’ thinking about the situation), there’s a lot riding on the simple question of “eat or not to eat”, if only because that’s not the real question at heart. This is about deciding whether or not to listen to Shioshishio and Uroko-sama’s assurances that the land is doomed no matter what and save themselves, or to eschew that completely and leave the village for the sake of staying with the landed. That’s in essence giving up one’s family and lifelong friends and neighbors, and for the village, that’s essentially the end of most of their reproductive possibilities for the future. It’s also about deciding which attachments matter most; does Akari, for example, love Itaru and Miuna more than her father? Manaka love Tsumugu more than Hikari and her parents? The sea kiddos their friends (including possibly each other) over the entire village? As of now, there is some hope riding on the Ofunehiki and whether or not a live sacrifice would have more effect over a wooden one, but if Uroko-sama is right and the Ofunehiki truly has no bearing on anything, then the choice must be made, and it must be made soon.

 

Preview

30 Comments

    1. it wasn’t that bad as ep #05.
      it was a much more reasonable sobbing, without being too much melodramatic (THO it was a bit dramatic).

      as for those confession. I don’t know what with guys, I enjoy it.
      showing a dynamic situation, not static, unlike other love-complexes in anime. it allows free characters’ development.

      thedarktower
      1. Yes, I liked it as well. It gives a sort-of-AnoNatsu feel.. With E confessing to D who will confess(?) to C who confesses (or hugs) to B who still hasn’t confessed but likes A whose feelings are unclear.

        Red HeartGold ZX
      1. because her name was said a loud 2-3 times the entire series. and she has barely showed up those eps, and even when she was on screen..no one is saying her name. not to mention I have difficulty to remember names HaHa

        same goes for Miuna’s dad. what’s his name again? XD

        thedarktower
  1. Hikari’s going to lose Manaka to Tsugumu and will reject Chisaki. Forever alone in the friendzone just when he’s starting to become a bro, unrecognizable from what an asshole he was at the start? The one who wrote this story has no heart. ;_;7

    TheMoondoggie
  2. In the first moments this episode (after the OP), Hikari was the narrator. and I must say it surprised me the most. I really don’t know if it was there all along and I just didn’t pay attention, or it was on purpose for only this time.
    but for sure it’s interesting. since Hikari as a narrator said he didn’t pay any attention at that time to Chisaki and Kaname acting weird. and throughout the ep he still hasn’t noticed. so it’s interesting how Hikari the narrator bring that up especially since we are almost one step from the upcoming event (considering something will happen). in a way it reminded me SSY when Saki said what she said about Maria in ep 2 or 3 (or was it #4?). so I wonder if something related to chisaki or kaname might happen. sure, not in big scale like SSY, but something.

    in a different matter, I liked that NnA isn’t telling us everything to details, but it’s not hard to understand. we never knew or saw on-screen that Land-elders ignored Hikari’s “prophecies” about the upcoming “event”. but at least we got to see the circle here closing with their apology. I liked how it’s involved their livelihood and so.

    speaking of which, Ofunehiki! Hikari is still on-board with that. even though Uroko-sama disposed his argument. I am telling you Hikari – never trust adults in those matters. go with your way and what you believe. even if nothing will come out of it, at least you tried, you did your best and so. he didn’t think about it that direct way, he simply let it be according his hunch. Hikari’s definitely grown here.
    and the Ofunehiki is starting to fill its purpose as both sea-people and Landies are in this together. young and adults. I think that to work together is the point behind Ofunehiki even if it doesn’t work out as everyone wishes.

    yet, Akari came with a weird suggestion. it’s not that weird, but I am having hard time to truly understand Akari. on one hand I know she wants to do everything right like supporting Miuna and establish her relationship with Miuna’s father and all. on the other hand, she looks distant somehow, and it’s been like that ever since she left the village. maybe it’s because she’s holding back for the sake of her family. and there are two sides for this – seas-family (Hikari and their father) and Landies (Miuna and her dad). she is too much in the middle of this, but despite all of this, she is resolved to do..who-know-what at the Ofunehiki. at this point, it’s worth to remember what Uroko said once “they are his descendants”. I don’t know who is this “his”..but it must be related in further development.

    I don’t know where exactly this is heading to in the macro level. but let it be. there is a nice combination of conflicted characters (Akari, Hikari, Manaka), Ofunehiki, societies, apocalypse and so. let it move on. I am guessing they’ll reach something eventually. and I am willing to see what exactly it is (I have my guesses) and how they are willing to reach this Place Promised in Our Early Days 😛

    in the micro-level it’s becoming more and more interesting. I have said once but I’ll say it again – it’s dynamic and not static. the love-complex is being developed as we continue watching. and I love it! all the time there are interactions and sometimes those interactions turn the tables. at first it was Manaka who heard Chisaki. this time we had Kaname’s confession and next Chisaki saying she’ll confess to Hikari. all those aren’t necessary a consequence of the “apocalypse”. it’s simply because our characters are changing all the time along side with the plot.

    thedarktower
  3. aww…seeing the preview makes me so sad at everyone’s situation…Kaname looks so tension, Manaka getting denial, Hikari confessing and Chisaki…huuhh…i feel like sleeping and waking up for the next episode! D;

    I cant really say much about this week’s episode. I dont feel like speculating anymore when Hikari narrated everything in a “past tense” sense…its like he’s the only survivor and telling this to the future generation (like Saki in Valvrave or Saki in SSY)…:(

    onion warrior
    1. If we were comparing this to SSY , although Hikari is like Saki in terms of narration , in other ways he is like Satoru(the only other person out of the original group of 6 to survive). So maybe Manaka will be the Saki-in-all-other-aspects of NnA? Although I still want TsumuguXManaka to happen 😛

      Aki-Chan
  4. Go go go Hikari and Chisaki

    I don’t really want to see the reaction of Hikari and Manaka(if hikari decided to confess) t.t
    Especially Manaka >.>

    So only Kaname knows Tsumugu’s amazing timing?

    ricz
  5. Had to laugh at Sayu protesting about her human rights while Kaname and Tsumugu carried her by the arms. That was the funniest bit of the whole episode.
    And I really , really want to know about Tsumugu’s backstory. And what makes his encounter with Manaka so special. I am still rooting for them.

    Aki-Chan
  6. I haven’t seen anyone mentioned this before but does anyone really think Akari is being genuine about the reason she wanted to be with Itaru-san was mainly because of Muina? I am going a bit off topic here but considering this episode focuses a lot on her, my feelings about her character just resurface. To me Akari just comes off as the home-wrecker. She said it so herself that when she saw Muina’s mother together with her family she was actually jealous of that and she wanted that too. She got to know the family when she was in high school and when the mother died she went to Itaru’s house at night to prepare dinner and I bet her death happened not too long ago. When she fell in love with Itaru, it wasn’t only after the mother’s death – the feeling was there all along but it was just kept hidden deep in her. The death was a convenient factor for her. In real life you will never get a woman says ‘I care about his children’, they are just a way to get into the family because the children always have the first say and if they don’t agree that is it for her. Even Uroko-sama said so – it is just the way Akari worded the situation. And Uroko-sama should know better because it seems to me he know what lies in the heart of the sea people. The worst part was when she was playing the victim while she said to Muina that she wont be coming back again. It was so pathetic. I am sorry if I sound off bitter here but a similar situation happened to me and the experienced truly broke me apart and watching Akari’s situation really reminded me of those days that I really want to forget. Regardless, in this episode I saw a death flag on Akari. Maybe its just me being bias towards her.

    Maya
    1. According to the story , Miori(Miuna’s mum) died three years ago. From what I can tell , Miuna seems to care about Akari as a person , but things got complicated when the possibility of ‘Aka-Chan’ becoming a new ‘Mama’ came about.
      Not sure how much that clears it up for you.

      Aki-Chan

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