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“The Monk’s Immorality”Flashbacks, Flashbacks, and More Flashbacks!: It seemed like we would be getting a few flashbacks based on last week’s preview (and how weird are those previews – the dialogue that is spouted at the end of each episode is almost as weird as the show itself), but I did not expect nearly an entire episode dedicated to exploring the histories of a select few characters. Reactions to this episode seem to be mixed (more mixed than usual), as they’ve shifted the formula and actually attempted to flesh out these characters a little more, while still making Nanakimura seem like a horrifying place to live. My reaction is much the same as every other episode: I like it. I’m having a blast watching this, scoffing over the ridiculous lines of dialogue coming from the mouths of these ridiculous weirdos. We got a varied selection of insights into these characters, ranging from traumatic to just plain silly. Funnily enough, Lovepon’s is easily the most serious of the bunch, as she had to witness her mother get abused by the local monk who she remembers as a giant oni face. It’s not subtle in the slightest, but that has never been the case with Mayoiga, so expecting otherwise is more of a reflection of your own expectations rather than what the show intends to deliver. Regardless, her obsession with executions felt sudden given the time we had to establish her backstory, but it fits her character and actually makes her seem more like a person and less of a mascot that the rest of the cast doesn’t think much of. We also see Jigoku got a silicon implant in his head to make him tall enough to enter the military, but that didn’t work out for him. Nyanta got her obsession from guns after being bullied at school and then trying to take her revenge on the girls from afar before being caught again and attacked by wasps. And then there’s the most absurd of all, which comes from Mikage, perhaps the most serious character of the cast. He wanted to make successful toy trains, and failed. People laughed at him, and now he’s emotional scarred. I… don’t even know. But I kind of love it. The Forest of Visions: While all these revelations feel crammed in a single episode, it mainly works because it clarifies just what’s happening around the forests of Nanakimura, and establishes that something supernatural is going on. We’ve got the giant floating oni face, the silicon boob monster, the enormous wasp, the demonic looking train accompanied by a chorus of laughter, and also Mitsumune’s ripped up teddy bear (that’s what it looks like to me) with a human eye, as well as a giant Mitsumune from a few episodes ago. What seemed like a random sequence of events now makes sense: everyone’s greatest fears are manifesting themselves in a physical form. There is more to this than a few roaming bears, clearly. Unless, of course, someone had personal trauma in their past involved some grizzlies. Overview – What’s Next?: With all that clarified, we can now move forward and see what else lies ahead. We’re learning more about these people, and I’m not minding the direction this episode took, though I do wonder if Masaki really is a ghost. Unless she disappeared several decades ago and hasn’t aged since, I don’t see how that confirms anything. She could have just went missing by herself and joined this bus tour for her own reasons – but at the very least she has reasons. There’s been something fishy about her since the third episode, so I expect a big revelation is around the corner. P.S. My favourite moment of the episode might actually be Koharun swerving past Dahara and instead heading to Valkana. That was painfully hilarious. Also, Koharun needs to stop randomly singing. It was weird at first, and just plain creepy this time around. Preview
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It’s good to see that Äs Nödt found a job after happened to him in Bleach. And he has an equally low kill count. Though I think manifestations of fear is not exactly the right word. I don’t think Hellfire was afraid of silicon, but rather that it’s related to his issues and troubles.
The issues were surprisingly realistic and rather relateable. There are probably quite a few people who encountered the same problem as Hellfire. And even the wasps are understandable, since japanese hornets are extremely dangerous.
I wonder if the monster is some kind of wannabe therapist, who tries to let people confront their fears and issues through the illusions. Those who conftronted them survived, the one who continued to run away died(?). I guess we will really have a low kill count and instead get people trying to overcome their issues. Some will succeed and some will fail.
Back in Episode 1, I had the feeling that the whole cast was actually already dead. After this episode, I’m starting to believe more in the theory that the village is a boundary between the living and the afterlife.
The flashbacks of Lovepon, Nyanta, Jigoku, and Mikage all ended abruptly at a certain point, and I think the forest brings out the image of their last thoughts before they died (psychic residue or something). Lovepon was stabbed to death by the monk using the oni-faced bottle, Nyanta was stung to death by the wasps, I think Jigoku suffered silicone poisoning, and Mikage probably threw himself in front of a train after being humiliated. Mitsumune’s is the penguin because it was there when he fell off the wall in his vision back in Episode 1. At the end of all this comes the possibility of Masaki being a ghost.
My thoughts as well. It does seem like they all might be dead and going through some kind of Purgatory.
I can’t tell if this show is trying to make me take it seriously with those flashbacks or it’s just proving how ridiculous it wants to be. So far, everyone’s predictions (or hopes?) that people will be dying left and right have been incorrect… Or is there more to it?
And I have to continue questioning, but were those chase scenes supposed to be intense? Because I found them hilarious if anything. There’s some good soundtrack, but that’s all.
it suddenly makes sense!
everyone has to face their worst fears materializing (how and why, we can find out later)
since pretty much everyone has screwed-up past (otherwise they would not need to start life anew, right?) this means fertile ground for the series…
as some speculate, some or even all the cast might be alredy dead and function as ghosts , possibly without even realising it…
though, one thing bothers me – why would Mitsumune be someones biggest nightmare?
It wasn’t Mitsumune. It was her boyfriend, who looks similiar to Mitsumune. And it’s not even nightmares. It’s issues and troubles. The monster is able to create the source of one’s troubles as an illusion and transform it into something nightmarish. Maimai is still bitter about the break up with her ex, who looked like Mitsumune. The monster created an illusion based on those negative feelings and thus she saw giant Mitsumune. I can predict that Dahara will see Koharun and Valkna making out as zombies or so. But makes one wonder why someone would see sea lions.
Sea lions are deadly.
Wasn’t it Mitsumune that heard sea lions? Makes sense if that was what he heard while falling off the sea wall.
So it turns out that I hate my self since I haven’t dropped this show yet, I also have a few questions
1 : am I supposed to feel anything ? because i’m not
2 : who wrote this ??? seriously tho who wrote this ???
3 : how am I supposed to take the characters seriously with so much silliness ??? and also the opposite can not happen because the characters are too serious
4 : is ” hey let’s lock up this person because he tried to kill someone , BTW lovpon tried to kill someone twice ( very seriously ) but hey let’s give her this knife while we sleep next to her , sounds like a good plan ” supposed to make sense ???
Watch this with intention of watching B movies, the ridiculously amusing one that you can turn your logic filter completely off and just enjoy the ride. I promise you it will be much better.
Though if you’re looking for serious show, this is certainly not what you’d want to watch.
And no, it’s not supposed to make sense. It’s a trippy series. You’re supposed to watch it like you’re drunk. Turning on your logic filter would just make your head hurts.
I’m trying man , I really am , but the dialog is so painful
I’m still in it to see what happens and also I wanna know the truth behind this place but the characters and the dialog are a huge turn off
Even if you turn off “you logic” filter, it doesn’t make this any less stupid or more entertaining. They just made the mistake of making some of the characters so annoying and/or stupid it really turned off some of the audience. Plus it’s just insultingly exploitative.
Like Urahara said, I’m not sure why I’m watching it anymore, even if I just have it on in the background. I guess I’ve crossed that border into hate watch country, lol
He wanted to make successful toy trains, and failed. People laughed at him, and now he’s emotional scarred. I… don’t even know.
Mikage in the west would just be the super smart character who can’t handle failure. In Japan he’s the guy who staked his entire reputation on that project while dismissing his peers objections outright and blaming them for past failures. Then he proceeded to screw it up over something as simple as transposing the dates and ended up being mocked, shut out, and turned into an errand buy by the same people he ignored and blamed because of that.
In a culture that’s more risk averse and collectivist that’s going to be pretty damaging; both personally and career wise.
This monster is basically the same as It by Stephen King. Not necessarily a bad thing by I hope we get a higher body count before the end of the series.
Koharun and Valkana’s relationship is great, I’m just worried Dahara will end up doing something stupid out of jealousy.
I watched this week’s episode with it on in the background, but with so much exposition, I had to pay attention to most of it.
This is so poorly written it’s so lol worthy. I wish it was so bad it’s good, but it’s just so so bad.
Like Lovepon’s backstory is so exploitative, it still doesn’t make sense why all of a sudden she only says execute, even while running for her life!
Or like when gun nut shoots that second girl and begins laughing on the ground and all of a sudden she’s in her apartment? lol
Distrustful guy doesn’t like people laughing at him. Maybe do a better thorough job next time?
Survivalist nut puts silicone in his head. His head! Lmao, that anyone would think that a good idea.
So, the flashbacks did nothing to make me feel anything for the characters. Maybe if they had done them earlier, but at this point, it’s like, meh. And like I suspected in episode one like others have, they’re probably already dead!
Could this be a case of Cabin Fever?
This show’s all over the place, but I’m still enjoying it a lot; the flashbacks weren’t anything exceptional, in my opinion, just individuals trying to deal with whatever shit life throws at them. After of the four flashbacks, I kind of sympathise with everyone except for Mikage – it’s evident that his own arrogance and forcefulness led to his downfall. Even now he’s clinging on to that superior attitude…can’t feel sorry for him at all.
Honestly though, I never realised that Jigoku was so short for a guy; I always assumed that he was of average height; what he did was actually rash and stupid given that he’s still a teen, but he does seem like a good person, so I can’t hate him.
I agree with ET’s theory; judging from the flashbacks, and the body of water in the screenshot with Jigoku in it, there is a possibility that he drowned himself after his dream got dashed.
There’s one very, very big hole with this theory which I just realized: Lovepon and Nyanta look much different from their flashbacks. They’re older, and Nyanta has dyed her hair blonde. If they died then, they would look the same now as they were when they died.
Good point…I just realised that when you pointed it out; now that you’ve mentioned it, Nyanta back then just loved the thrill she got when she shot at her bullies, and seemed normal enough. Now though, she’s another survivalist who’s quite like Jigoku. Some stuff must have happened since then, I guess…
Am I the only one who still doesn’t get Lovepon???
I mean her childhood sucked, fair enough, but it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t see anything that would give her the right to think its ok to execute everyone.
& if anything, her mother was just as much at fault as the horrible old priest. If your husband left you with large debts, I wouldn’t think the only choice is to whore yourself out to the nearest Horny Old Priest. Maybe get a job or at the very least tell off your daughter when the school reports her essays are all EXECUTE! EXECUTE! EXECUTE! lol
I’m so pissed with fake-a** monk that he should be in hell instead of lovepon….he make me look bad
So, I still think Lovepon is annoying, but as someone studying psychology, I can understand her obsession with execution a bit more. Obviously she suffers from schizophrenia, which is basically disturbed thoughts and behavior, and people are usually afflicted with this from strong childhood trauma. In her case, the monk affected her real bad, and she probably didn’t seek or get any help, and she quickly gained symptoms of paranoia (her love for excecution). Still, she probably could have done other things to help her mother like get a part time job or there has to be some teacher or student who notices her strange obsessions and try to help her.
I suppose it’s kind of interesting everyone is facing (physical?) manifestations of their biggest nightmares. I mean, it’s kind of lame though if they’re all just hallucinations and not real, so they can’t actually physically kill you. I’m still not really feeling the danger and dread that I was hoping I would, but I suppose it’s also because there are still no answers to what the hell is going on in this village. It’s definitely eccentric and strange though. On a side note, It’s utterly hilarious that Valkana and Koharun are hitting it off, that glasses guy is totally going to do something dumb and conveniently getting offed, calling it now.
I’m a bit behind on this series, but I did find it disturbing that these characters were so happy to just leave everyone they know behind and blindly travel to a village that may or may not hold their future. It gave the impression they were going their to die or something rather than start a new life.
As the old saying goes, If something is too good to be true, it probably is.