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「妖精さんたちの、おさとがえり」 (Yōsei-san-tachi no, Osatogaeri)
“The Fairies’ Homecoming”
Well now, even by Jinrui’s whacked-out standards I’m not at all sure what to make of that one.
First things first – was there a timeskip somewhere I didn’t catch, or a reference to this episode being a flashback? I can’t think of obvious reason why Watashi seemed to meeting the UNESCO CLT Director for the first time, and hearing about the Human Monument Project for the first time (Y spent several minutes talking about the latter at the beginning of episode three). The thing is, I’m not sure whether her ignorance is supposed to be some sort of clue, or simply reflects a continuity gap – I know the LN chapters are being adapted out of sequence.
Setting that aside, this episode was quite the change of pace – but I’m getting used to saying that with Jinrui, which is proving itself a series of many moods. Nowhere near as frenetic as the conclusion of the “Factory” arc or as overtly satirical and meta-comical as the “Subculture” arc, this was something close to a world-building episode – heavy on the information download and on the mysteries, which were piled up pretty heavily. As a consequence it didn’t end up being one of the more entertaining efforts so far, but I suspect it’s filling the same role that episode 3 did, setting up a faster-paced and funnier second half of the arc.
Here’s what we know, and what we’re left to wonder about. A “monolith” appears in what looks to be an asteroid crater at the start of the episode – a black rectangular object about the size and shape of a tablet PC. Grandpa is convinced it didn’t come from space as it didn’t burn up on re-entry, but there’s something distinctly odd about this clearly artificial object – and the first thought that naturally springs to mind for me is “2001, A Space Odyssey”. That monolith, if you recall, was alien technology that, when discovered by prehistoric man, seemed to influence his development into a technological society for the express purpose of eventually making contact with its creators millions of years later.
That’s a big leap, of course, but there’s lots of other interesting stuff here to grind the teeth on. The CLT Director, as part of the launching of the Human Monument Project, is using a “newly discovered functioning satellite” to provide electricity to Camphorwood and the adjacent city ruins, and having a “Culture of Electricity Festival” to celebrate it. Electricity from space – orbiting solar power station? In any case, the rub here is that the Fairies are hightailing it out of town – apparently EM waves are deadly to Fairies – but not before giving Watashi a dire warning of “death and disease” to follow (could these little bastards get any creepier?) along with a good-luck charm and a book hilariously and meticulously explaining the equation “no fairies = humans SOL” via real-life-ish examples.
Further complicating matters is the arrival of what appears to be a cat-eared android, Pion (Mizuki Nana). Pion’s arrival seems suspiciously coincidental with the discovery of the monolith, and she’s complaining of “memory leakage” – and she tells Watashi she’s looking for someone named “Oyage”. That these names are conspicuously in English (we see the latter written clearly later in the episode) is interesting, as if the fact that they almost spell out the names of the two spacecraft man first sent into space looking for signs of alien intelligence, Pioneer and Voyager. Further fuel is added to this fire later as Watashi and Joshu-kun explore the city ruins and get trapped underground, only to discover that Watashi’s “good luck charm” is actually a Fairy who’d twisted himself into another form – and is reconstituted as a fairy when she accidentally drops him in her hot mug of tea. That’s where they find the “Oyage”, not to mention another monolith that looks exactly like the one that fell to Earth above ground. Courtesy of the Fairy a lot of information comes out here – first off, that the ruined city was actually one that was built specifically to block EM waves for residents afraid to go outside – a “City of Hikkomori” as he calls it. There are also weird alien blobby things, which the Fairy says are “something we drink”. One of these blobs seems to merge with the monolith to plug itself into a wall and turn into a robot dog – one which attacks Watashi and Joshu-kun before Pion shows up, defeats it and thanks Watashi for “providing the electricity”.
Lots more questions than answers here, but there’s certainly circumstantial evidence to suggest alien involvement (and a possible clue as to where the Fairies came from?). It’s fascinating stuff, even if it lacked the sheer volume of entertainment Jinrui has shown at it best. The moment when the Fairy popped out of Watashi’s mug and said “Hi!” in English was probably the funniest anime moment of the week, though…
seems to be another set-up episode, I’ll expect more of these questions to be answered next week
this ep
another day fairies being object using here food then black slate drop.
main’s grandpa see it just nothing so mention explore & festival time.
main see fairy trying to mention but ignore then cue fairy leave.
cause fairy afraid of EM waves so here book & ring for luck.
main read book the fairies give from safe to yikes if see a fairy.
cause reach 0 fairy get pancake, shot down, & lose.
festival time with all the lights with main meet cat girl named pion.
who had bit memory lost & search for someone.
next day explore main & assistant get lost in elevator ride.
enter area with little supply oh ring drop on tea cue it a fairy.
so with fairy they search then see slime creatures & run.
enter medical room see stuff mention with no EM waves.
another slime then slate it but robo-dog yikes.
oh here pino to the rescue.
to be continued…
I’d be careful of those fairies because they will lead you to a non water source that will only eat you alive.
-Enzo, do you know who voiced the fairy who said Hi!?
-I think this is a flashback.
-The fairy who said Hi! somehow resembles Links(Zelda).
-For some reason many people will die next episode(I think).
I don’t know who that is for certain, though the voice certainly sounded familiar.
the alien blobs that attack Watashi kinda look like the transformation when the fairy lucky charm fell into her tea.
Don’t think the robot dog came from the monolith/blob merger. Looks like it walked in from the doorway off to the side of the room.
Seems that the monolith is related to Pion as after taking down the dog she thanks them for providing her with electricity (the blob/monolith had just plugged itself into the wall after all) and her attack on the dog came from the direction of the power outlet you can see in the background sans the blob/monolith.
I agree, I think the monolith turns into Pion2. Ditto, I reckon the first monolith (a bit dented from re-entry), gets activated by the microwaves from the power satellite and turns into Pion1.
That’s Fairy I think she is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etsuko_Kozakura cuz its sound similar to the Tamama of Sergent Frog
Those monolith just keep popping up everywhere. Show Spoiler ▼
Lol.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw that robot dog, was Friender from Casshern Sins. Anyone else get that?
Not really, but that’s probably because I’m a failure as a fan of Casshern. Good catch there. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it.
I agree, the resemblance is there indeed, it’s one of the most famous robot dogs out there (not that there are that many any way XD).
I’d disagree, and say that this episode was as entertaining as the previous episodes. That said, the idea of quantifying and comparing different types of entertainment is as obscure as one of comparing apples with oranges. Or something like that. Either way, I enjoyed myself watching this week’s Jinrui as much as I did during previous weeks.
Oh, and as always, amazing job with the post, Enzo! I was pretty impressed with your point about Pioneer and Voyager. May just be me being derp, but I had no idea that the producers had actually sneaked in something like that into the scene. Another good catch.
Hmm, I hadn’t thought about Pioneer and Voyager, but it sounds very likely that it’s related to the monoliths and Pion in some way. Maybe a bit like the first movie of Star Trek, Show Spoiler ▼
.
I was starting to laugh/freak out with the elevator rider if you look at the panel/buttons it’s the same equations given in the book Watashi read.
So this episode was probably a parody of the shounen tropes watashi was listing off from that book. What’s great is that all the details of this current arc fit together like they’re actually serious about the show’s direction.
1st Monolith: Causes primates to evolve into Homo Sapiens via ancient alien intervention
2nd Monolith: Human race becomes a child of the cosmos and part of the hierarchy of beings that populate the universe.
also, Giorgo Tsoukalos will love this episode for all the Ancient Alien references it had.
So doesn’t this kinda say that the fairies were also partly responsible for humanity’s decline? A lot of things that might have caused death could be either slightly mitigated or downright avoided depending on the quantity of fairies present in the area. Over time, this had probably deteriorated mankind’s survival instincts (which includes obtaining food and *cough* procreating) so much that man no longer know how to live properly. So ironically, while the fairies may have saved a man’s life in the short term, in the long run mankind is certainly doomed.
Ouch.
Well, the moment a person is born is the same moment a person begins to die. Whether the fairies had intervened and aided the survival of mankind or not wouldn’t really have mattered, because the state of humanity would have deteriorated either way. It would only have affected the duration which humanity would have thrived before declining.
But yeah, considering the significance of the fairies up to this point, it’s safe to say that their existence within the human community is undoubtedly tied together with the current state of humanity that Watashi is forced to mediate. Poor girl. Your suffering is our entertainment.
anyone notice that it’s hard scifi? it is possible with own technology to sent electricity from space using satellites. however to pass the atmosphere they need by be in microwaves. unless shielded from like in that city, could be deadly and cause of disease or be ok.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_radiation_and_health