Scarlet Nexus – 04

「レッドストリングス」 (Reddo Sutoringusu)
“Red Strings”

What’s the main mystery with Scarlet Nexus? I’m at a loss when trying to describe the central mystery of this – what I can only describe as a sci-fi post-apocalyptic story, with a little spice of cyberpunk thrown in. To me, the central mystery revolves around the red string that keeps haunting Kasane in dreams and waking visions when she reaches a certain emotional state. This episode was triggered by how general Seto was defeated by Nagi, both of them went down, but only Nagi stood up. Yuito tried to console Kasane, but it seems only their emotions got stronger, and that’s how they activated the third impact, I mean, the really big void in the sky.

It was akin to something like a black hole. As soon as it appeared the city got pulled into it, and everyone standing under it got affected by it as well.

So how are the Red Strings and big void interconnected, when you get swallowed by the big void, does that mean you turn into an other?

Yet I find it curious because there’s a second mystery interconnecting its way through the underlying threads of the B story. The OSF is somehow involved in all of this, their recruitment process asks for a couple (maybe thousands) of medical checks. And they run those checks through a system, that allows them to determine who is and who isn’t an exact match. Later they get recruited and it’s seen as a big honor that the OSF chooses you personally. So the screeners can’t help but comply. Almost out of honor.

I like this little part of worldbuilding a lot, it’s clear the OSF has a lot darker secrets that it doesn’t wants to let out. The inside of the void almost resembles a virtual space, a space created solely inside the void, that has swallowed entire cities so it seems. Whatever, or whoever doesn’t want something seen, they simply throw into the void, without little to no disregard.

This episode had a fair bit of action as well, and models were mostly on point, except for some key moments here and there, but overall it wasn’t noticeable. Anyone watching this for entertainment is sure to have a good time, especially if you’ve already played the game. The story is there, yet I can’t help but feel that it’s not reaching its full potential. Like there’s something missing in the writing, but it goes so far down and seems inescapable and out of reach. I bet that didn’t make a lot of sense, as when I talk about writing I usually talk about the wishy-washy stuff. It’s almost like it’s hindering itself from being more than what it already is.

I don’t know…

Scarlet Nexus is a weird one this Summer 2021, it’s not exactly on everyone’s list, and most people seem to have gotten bored with it, or have dropped it. But not me. for some reason, maybe it’s because of my love for sci-fi, and wanting this series to get better, do more with its potential. Whatever it is, it’s certainly not leaving me with my jaw gobsmacked on the floor, and it’s not delivering on extremely high-quality visuals that anime is known for. There are a lot of corners cut here, and there’s down washing of the story itself. Yet I can’t look away?

It might be an extreme train wreck at times or feel like a talking heads show, but there’s just something about the sci-fi elements in tandem with the mystery that’s keeping me connived. There are better anime this Summer that you could be wasting your time with, yes. But for me, it’s these two mystery’s that I’ve talked about that keep me coming back.

I covered last’s season’s silent hit, Odd Taxi, so maybe I’m just a sucker for a mystery that gets dissolved week by week. And this idea that Kasane might be stuck in another dimension has me wanting to know more. What exactly is the purpose of the void. And the OSF is becoming more and more like a silent tyrant that works behind the scenes.

And let’s talk about how Gemma said he’s almost 52, and at some point, he’ll have to leave the OSF, it’s those age suppressants they give them. They’re just bound to wear off, and their bodies just slowly deteriorate, that’s how it goes. Everyone knows about it, it’s not a secret they keep hidden in shadows. But it’s an intrigue only told in passing. There’s a reason navy dudes don’t speak about aliens, even if all of them have at least one story with a UFO.

Preview

Special Report:

Episode 04 – July 22, 2021

CODE – 2009

Rewards:

OSF Armband Vision [Septentrion]*x1
Top Secret Investigation Profile update for main characters.