“A Monster of the Imagination”

「想像力の怪物」 (Souzouryoku no Kaibutsu)

Kotoko and Kuro Being in a Relationship

Surprisingly enough, it turned out that Kotoko didn’t lie about Kuro being her boyfriend – which means that statement she made about deflowering being painful was probably true. What kind of boyfriend treats his girlfriend with that kind of aloofness – not to mention treating an ex way better in front of her face. That said, what kind of girlfriend would calmly watch on without any kind of anxiety while her boyfriend’s head is getting smashed in? I found Saki’s reaction a lot more relatable. But I guess that normal logic shouldn’t necessarily apply when supernatural elements are in the question. Kotoko loves him, and fully accepts him for what he is – which is ultimately something Saki cannot do. He can be himself around Kotoko, without needing to conceal his supernatural aspects. And that ends up counting for way more.

The Truth About Kuro’s Immortality

I get why Saki’s so terrified of Kuro. But I had always felt a modicum of sympathy towards the guy and suspected his immortality was probably not out of choice. However, I didn’t think it would actually be so awful, with his grandmother openly killing and torturing him to test the limits of his powers. No sane person kills off so many of their grandchildren like that just to attain a single instance of success, and I cannot fathom why the grandmother was so obsessed to the point of carrying out unspeakably inhumane acts even after the immortality was achieved rather than immediately looking to exploit it alongside future sight – i.e. winning lotteries, etc. It seems like she’s no longer involved in Kuro’s life. Unfortunately, the damage has been done. He’s been emotionally stunted and it explains some of the previous behaviour that he’s exhibited. We also can’t ignore the striking resemblance that Saki has towards Kuro’s sister. I suppose that if he was enduring through such a hellish childhood, it makes sense that his only source of comfort would leave such a deep impression upon him. But the implications seem rather odd. By the end of the series, I hope he’ll come to terms with a lot of the stuff that happened to him –

Concluding Thoughts

Even with immortality restoring him after a brutal beating, Kuro is unable to defeat Steel Lady Nanase, who also turns out to be immortal in her own way. The gang come to the conclusion that she’s a thought construct – which indicates that they’ll have to fight fire with fire: using the power of rumours and social media to defeat her. Will this plan work? Probably. But it will be interesting to see exactly how they get there, even if we’re cognizant of the methodology they’re seeking to implement. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see you next week to find out whether they can successfully defeat Steel Lady Nanase with this new strategy they have in mind!

Preview

9 Comments

  1. Anything Kotoko said about Kuro and their relationship is 100% truths.

    Can’t wait to see people who haven’t read the manga go through the fun ride on how the gang will go up against the Steel Lady.

    It’s actually quite an amazing piece of storytelling.

    Nork22
    1. Well, you sure enough hinted that in the comments section of the previous episode.
      Personally, I would have had found it funnier if she didn’t manage to make him her bf.
      Guess Karin is really dead, after all. I had the vain hope that this was some kind of ruse.

      boingman
  2. It looks like Kuro only agreed to become Kotoko’s boyfriend because he realized she won’t stop pestering him until he relented. Regarding her deflowering, you’d have to wonder how much (or little) he was willing and active during the act. 😛

    Magnus Tancred
  3. Kotoko is just too precious. I love how she alternates between smug and jealous. Both animation and VA are definitely topnotch. Kotoko sending a ghost to haunt Saki knowing she’s terrified of them is absolutely diabolical and entertaining.

    I also have to agree. Kuro calmly getting his face smashed in and calmly snapping a ghost’s neck was unsettling. Saki’s reaction is definitely believable. It also seems her aversion to meat was because of Kuro– when he cut himself while preparing their food. It does make me wonder if his blood is toxic to humans, too.

    When this arc ends, I wonder if we’ll see more of Kuro’s backstory. I get that events happened just to turn Kuro into the plot device (armor?) that he is, but I’m also curious how the grandmother got away with almost murdering an entire generation of her bloodline.

    Beedle
    1. Who knew she murdered them? Looks like an unfortunate and tragic case of food poisoning. It’s also unknown when this occurred; there’s nothing in the backstory scenes to indicate it’s modern. The grandma claims a kitchen servant used mushrooms collected in the woods, oops stupid servant, end of story.

      Danny

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