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「私も一緒に」 (Watashi mo Issho ni)
“I’m With You”
Oh now that hit the spot. And I mean really hit the spot. As if hearing the questions being voiced for several weeks, 86 finally laid bare some of the answers to our noted voids, and while not everything was revealed here, enough has come out to start expecting plenty. Lena and her fellow Alba are in for a world of hurt – and the majority don’t even know it’s coming.
The first biggie to appear this week is Legion and its staying power. I think few honestly believed that two-year lifespan to be accurate, and lo and behold that’s actually the case. Just not in the manner you might expect. Machine perseverance through biological augmentation? It ain’t The Matrix (the original neural network premise for The Matrix mind you), but it’ll do alright. Besides appealing to my love of dark sci-fi this concept also has the added benefit of instilling a serious degree of dread. The 86ers fighting on the front aren’t just at risk of an early grave, they also stand a good chance of being subsumed into the very gestalt consciousness they’re actively trying to stop. It’s the sort of tension all war stories need to develop any major staying power and it is tension helped especially by Magnolia’s leadership bringing the situation about through their incredibly ironic decisions. The Legion may have been created by San Magnolia’s enemy, but it is San Magnolia who could very well provide the Legion with immortality.
Outside of machines turning cyborg, however, the other leading tidbit was in the hidden side of Para-RAID. While the voices of the dead blaring over the airwaves have an explanation in the Legion’s use of deceased neurological tissue, it does succinctly explain why earlier handlers decided to either quit or blow their brains out. Sure, might only be audio, but some things can quickly go from uncanny to downright disturbing under the right conditions (As Kaie clearly did for Lena). The one unknown though is how Shin and the others are picking up on the voices; the indication is that it’s an artefact of the Para-RAID system (and god knows how heavily the cost of this system has been teased), but the discussion leaves open the potential for some quirky power on the part of Shin which lets him pick up on such vestiges. I seriously hope that’s not actually the case to keep this story reasonably grounded (and avoid the pitfall of magical abilities), but until we learn more it’s probably good to keep expectations on the down low.
After all, there’s one hell of a backstory regarding Shin and his brother yet to come out, and you best be sure it’ll explain quite a bit about where this story is going.
Preview
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I find the latest developments this episode make this the best episode of 86 so far, which is a good thing as I did not enjoy the earlier episodes of 86 although I felt Episode 4 was a step in the right direction.
This was definitely the best material wise, but I think it shows how well the pacing is. A lot of the tension would’ve been lost if this came up a few episodes earlier IMO.
Overall the direction is excellent, from Lena hearing the voices of the dead to the the rats (which are analogue of Legion eating what the Republic is unknowingly throwing at them) during Shin explanation.
Para-Raid is inherently dangerous because it grants a limited form of ESP so, other than audio, something else entirely can be transmitted. In the case of Lena and previous handlers they literally felt the cold of death emanated by Black Sheep and ended up with various degree of traumas and hallucinations. The squadron is less affected by resonating with Shin because they keep the synchronization at minimum and are very familiar with death anyway.
Also we we barely scratched the tip of the iceberg regarding Legion…let’s just say that’s a really fascinating beast.
Cyber horror?! Oh now I’m really into this.
Best episode so far! Lena becomes also more likeable with every episode.
I haven’t read the source material,so I just like to speculate a bit.^^
Last week I said that within Shinn there is obviously this internal discrepancy – his shadow acting differently from the person standing there. I know you answered that this is understandable being on the battlefield all the time 😉 – I agree and this might ultimately still be the case..
But I find it intetesting that shadows in this episode are associated with the “ghost”. And when Shinn looks in the mirror at the end, the shadow yet again doesn’t fit the reflection. Then we have his head appearantly cut off (mirror and scar) and the symbol on his Juggernaught (skeleton withouth head). We have him reading a book while talking with Lena (!) and grinning at times where it’s kinda strange.
So to me it appears that at times he’s possessed by the “ghost” of his brother and that you CAN have conversations with them – I believe that it’s sometimes him and not Shinn who is talking. The reading of the books could be connected to his brother as well.
I mean, it’s pretty obvious that the (unhurt) brain of his brother is in some machine, he hinted at wanting to find him, but not the body, even though he is already dead. The shovel on his machine would then make sense, since he needs to put his brother to rest. (Just some speculation ^^)
Ah yes, forgot to mention;) the reflection also looks kinda differently than he usually lioks, so it would be his brother’s head on the “other side”? (Sorry, I love it when you can actually think about the details in a show :P)
If you want to get really into the weeds, remember Lena’s father as well; who wants to bet his brain has been acquired by the Legion and put in a commanding position? That could explain why particular voices are being passed to the processors and handlers given his established care and consideration for the 86ers.
Using humans as parts, and the brain parts? Yeah, not surprisingly we got Muv-Luv Alternative as well.
*chomp*
Thanks for reminding me about that series too! Too much Matrix nostalgia it seems haha.
Fingers crossed that the Muv Luv anime will be a good adaptation as well. The promo materials so far is very promising.
The Legion is kidnapping dying 86, and using them as replacement for expiring AI.
I must admit I suspected 2 years expiry date on Legion was too good to be true, but I did not expect that kind of horror.
And Shin seems to somehow be able to hear those undead voices, and by extension of para-raid give the experience to poor handlers….
Well, I wonder how Alba will react when their expected date of war end passes, and they have no more 86 to press into service?
BTW, what happens to 86 who complete their “servitide”?
Are they sent back to camps from where they came? Allowed to retire somewhere in the 86 district? Or disposed of, quietly as potential danger to stability of system?
I can also imagine some desperate 86ers go purposefully to die at hands of Legion to help bring about downfall of Republic that has betrayed them….
Well, I hope that the story surprises us, because simply killing off 86 who completed their term would not only be “stock bad guy behaviour” but also kinda dumb? And I’m sure that the seasoned 86 wouldn’t believe any of the lies that the Alba tell them in the first place, so…
Well, you noticed the reaction of everyone when Lena talks about “the end of their terms in the military”?
Obviously the Alba are enacting a final solution of sorts (their way of reasoning is very Nazi like) on the Coloratas and they also want to be able to rewrite the history if needed.
In the best case scenario they inherit an empty world in which they are finally the only ethnic group, something they always wanted in a way or another.
However in the worst case scenario other nations survived (very probable considering that the Republic wasn’t considered a military powerhouse and was able to survive) and if they came to know what they did to their kin they risk to be obliterated or, in case of surviving 86, to pay reparations that will destroy their economy. They pushed the situation to a degree in which they can’t keep them alive after the war.
Yeah I highly suspect they aren’t purging the 86ers but rather placing them in new roles akin to indentured servitude. Given the situation at hand (which guaranteed not everyone in Magnolia’s high command is ignorant of) you don’t just casually dispense with a tool, you keep it on hand whenever it could be required. Much easier to string a people along with promises down the line than wholesale killing them because that gets out sooner or later, and would create serious issues given the military arrangements at the moment.
Instead of ghosts, I really suspect the voices are a form of psychological warfare by the Legion. Mildly effective on the 86s and very effective on the operators. Para-RAID doesn’t seem that secure any more, or at least has an exposed vulnerability.
Having access to the brains of humans also exposes a potential strategy they might be making. A certain General died in the front line. Someone who probably has info on San Magnolia’s strategy. Playing to make it seem like it’s working as planed is a logical step to take. Especially when it doesn’t seem like they are actively gathering intelligence outside the battlefront. San Magnolia really seems screwed right now.
Only Shin so far is able to hear the “voices” and it’s actually not an advantage for Legion considering that he uses his condition (which is actually nightmarish if you think about it) to predict incoming attacks.
Anyway Legion creates engrams from collected brains which are grafted in a pseudo nervous system composed of liquid nanomachines. That’s the liquid metal substance oozing out from downed Legion drones. The original brain is invariably destroyed by the process.
If Shin is the show hasn’t done a good job of conveying that as the rest of Spearhead seemingly heard Kaie’s death throes during the battle. This could be due to the mechanism though as we only just learned of it and admittedly plenty remains to be learned regarding Shin and his brother.
– ”as the rest of Spearhead seemingly heard Kaie’s death throes during the battle”
Yeah, because they were synched up with Shin at the time
I’ve visited a few anime websites and then I noticed that many people dropped out of this show after episodes 4 and 5 due to a lack of action, mech battle and the absolute excess of SoL, fanservice, romcom, teenage drama and slice of life. Show Spoiler ▼
That’s just blatant trolling originated from 4chan which i advise mods to delete.
Basically it’s a campaign using multiple accounts that aims at discouraging the target audience by depicting 86 as a series full of romantic comedy (seriously you need you head examined if you think that this is a comedy…), fanservice etc. . It became a target due to the racism themes since it was announced, but they are doing this mostly for the lulz.
Honestly anyone who sincerely believes this to be a romcom or SoL is incredibly stupid, the first episode alone established the setting, themes, and atmosphere the show plans on following. Just another reason to not believe everything written online and take the time to actually judge for yourself.
Quite a decent episode. Honestly speaking, the plot of the starting episodes was rather confusing to me and discouraging to follow the show.
Yes, things clearly weren’t dark enough before….