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「邂逅」 (Kaiko)
“Encounter”
Phew* This episode had me worried for a moment there. Thankfully, the return of our cast’s usual shenanigans comes with a departure from the norm, and our water-covered friend’s absence ends up a welcome difference that emphasizes this week’s theme of “change.” In particular, there’s a major focus on Tomori and Otosaka, and it’s readily apparent that their interactions with one another and the events they’ve experienced together have changed them.
Looking back to last week, Tomori’s act of intervention was but one major step in that regard, and there’s much to be said about how much more open she seemed to be in general. The fact that she was willing and able to scream “such a turn off” at the whole class is a subtle departure from the rebukes she used to make (they used to only happen with members of the main cast exclusively or in the privacy of the Student Council Room), and her willingness to show Yusa’s new music video combines with her ZHIEND concert invite as two other things she wouldn’t have done earlier in the series. Her first real, genuine expression of gratitude to Otosaka at the end of this episode is yet another key development, and it’s a relief seeing her slowly rise up from the emotional armor she’s put up around herself.
In this sense, Otosaka’s development doesn’t end up as pronounced, but nevertheless, it’s important to note how much less of an ass he’s been since he changed schools. The loss of Ayumi exposed an emotional vulnerability that still remains, and it’s a testament to the person he’s become in how he’s not only willing to talk about it, but actually has friends to talk with. His decision to bring ZHIEND’s vocalist to Tomori’s brother is especially laudable, and it’s refreshing to see how he’s gone from abusing his powers for personal gain to someone who’s willing and wants to do something for someone in return. Him not even needing to use his power to do so is a demonstration of the person he is and can be, and it’s a relief seeing how he’s capable of genuine relationships with others.
That said, a discussion about this week’s episode wouldn’t be complete without talking about ZHIEND’s vocalist in Sala Shane, and her arrival comes off as a fated encounter in more ways than one. Not only does she help Otosaka realize how he’s changed, she makes him realize the feelings he has for Tomori, and awakens Tomori’s brother from his insanity to boot. In this way she turns out to be an important device for character development, but there’s certainly more than meets the eye here.
The fact that she “bartered her eyesight away” reeks of a potential relationship to the abilities our cast possess, and the notion of sacrifice rings as a cautionary tale, almost screaming that there’s a price to be paid in order to acquire something. What that something is remains to be seen—Ayumi?—and one wonders if their powers themselves aren’t already the equivalent of something gained that must be repaid. Interestingly enough, one could also argue that her rapid rise to celebrity status may just be a metaphor for the highs one could reach with the abilities our main cast possess, with the drawbacks an indication of possible repercussions from an overuse or over-reliance on their abilities.
Either way, she too ended up being a story of “change”—except that she’s someone who sought it out herself and had her wish granted with a major catch—and I suspect we’ll be seeing more of her in the weeks to come. The fact that our watery friend hasn’t shown up since Ayumi was killed also looms large as a potential plot point of some significance, and next week’s concert promises to be something that could very well lead to a major plot twist…
ED3.08 Sequence
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https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
Everyone’s expressions are hilarious here!
https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
I wonder what other role Sala Shane has, especially if it is connected to the abilities of our main cast.
Thank you, Zephyr! I actually didn’t realize how Nao is starting to open up herself to others until after reading this post.
i don´t sure if it was because i don´t get see rokka and god eater this week but this episode was so boring and yukarin spells shit make it worse, even tomori don´t give a damn about the music it is only a excuse to date yuu (you father lelouch was disappointed when u leave the yandere girl live )
and well about the new girl i don´t like her voice and clothes but i like hair over eye style =D
Um, first of all, i don’t think that the vocalist of ZHEIND was done really well. I mean, she rarely acts blind, sure she says she wasn’t blind all her life, i wasn’t buying it. She was a little TOO familiar with her surroundings for being in Japan for a “visit”.
On the other hand I’m glad that Tomori wasn’t that typical “wow!! My favorite band member is here and i could meet her in real life!” Type person because that would have been so over kill, but then again, i’m upset they forced the Tomori and Yuu together on a “date” that’s just so cliché. Another note is that i loved Yusa’s insert song there!! I replayed it 2 times!! But i hate her fan group, sorry to say but i find them annoying..
Also, i really don’t like how the death of Ayumi was left on the back burner and all like it wasn’t tragic, i know some people deal with deaths in different ways but still, things aren’t being explained and i can’t stand it. Let’s hope with only a few episodes left they pick it up.
The vocalist certainly is a “more than meets the eye” character. I feel that the fact that she ends up playing such an important role in this week’s episode warrants mention though, and her thematic fit to the story ends up being the major reasons I actually quite liked her inclusion, especially in the whole fantasy “fated encounter” kind of way.
As for Ayumi’s death being left on the back burner, I mentioned last week that the resolution did seem a bit fast, and I think this week continues that to a degree. There’s not much that can be done regarding that at this point, but at the very least they did some subtle mentions of how Otosaka’s still reeling to a degree, so there’s that.
That said, part of me wonders if it isn’t intentional to some degree how low key they’re making it aside from the initial building collapse. It almost seems like they’re screaming to people that she’s still alive or will return in some way, and I reckon we’ll get more answers sooner rather than later. Hopefully.
The singer is Marina Not the VA / BTW she sings for Masami / ANGEL BEATS / As soon as I saw the 2nd half and heard the song I was thinking that ! I liked it so much did some Wikipedia and there it was !
And I cant believe how many anime fans missed that !
I understand how the vocalist was just like some sort of metaphor for the definition of “change”, but i don’t like how rushed they’re making this anime feel. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m still going to see this anime straight through to the end because i’m sure they’ll explain things soon. But in the previous episodes (episode 6 maybe) we never got around to who was that orange haired girl who came out of the car to survey the wreckage or even tried to stop Ayumi (that’s just my guess) i really wanted an explanation for her. Hopefully episode 9 would produce the information that this anime needs because that’s where they’re seriously lacking in my opinion. But it’s still a great anime!! I’m still counting on it to excite me!
Can’t wait till Nao meets her next episode and I just there was previews for next episode just like some animes do
Get lost baka Idoru!
The post rock is real. It is a fitting choice for the character development here though as the genre is defined through long, atmospheric meandering designed to evoke a sense of emotion and serenity, often without the accompaniment of vocals (which I would argue is the best variety). In a sense it audibly indicates the changes in Otosaka as he comes to realize the boundaries on his power.
Surprised it took this long for the genre to feature in an anime as Japan is only behind the US and Britain in its love of post rock.
God, what was the point of the half of this episode? The last half was genuinely good but… is it that much to request for this show to focus in the necessary? The music video’s a filler, the humor (which is a miss) was also a filler and things only got better when the vocalist of Zhiend appeared.
What happened to the yandere that prompted Ayu to self destruct? Oh well.
The classmates are monstrous little shits, right? The guy’s sister died and he took an extended absence to deal with his grief, but they’re getting jealous and angry that their classmate is welcoming him back to class.
I do hope that the eyesight trade is figurative instead of literal, mostly because I don’t want all the emotional conflict in this show to be connected to the supernatural.
I definitely agree with you. Are they insensitive or something? If that was done for humor, that was a hell of an acid trip.
Yep, they used here to much the Joke Woodhammer, and forgotten the Past of our MC, just for the sake of the Joke
Like this scene here.
https://randomc.net/image/Gundam%20Reconguista%20in%20G/Gundam%20Reconguista%20in%20G%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2014.jpg
This Girl was holding on her bed for not falling to the Death, and the other Girl just saw that she is trying to seduce his Bf…
Same case
jeez i don’t know….Yu’s transformation from almost psychopath who abused his power to gleefully torture people to someone who goes out of his way to help someone felt so heavy-handed. Time is obviously different for the characters themselves, but to the viewers, it was less than half an episode!
If people weren’t anticipating some shocking “Jun Maeda” plot twist, they would have long dismissed this show. The pacing and tone for this show has been frankly schizophrenic.
If you look back at Yuu’s actions up until now, it’s clear that he isn’t averse to helping people; rather, I think he finds a sense of purpose in it in that it helps him to find himself. It isn’t too hard to imagine Ayumi’s death, however, triggering a greater appreciation for those around him and for life in general.
You might think of it as Yuu still being in a post-shock state of sorts, which this episode also made clear.
Yea, I can see that and I’m not denying that was already in him. I’m just saying this is complete whiplash and we got cheated out of his introspection. Literally, 6 minutes before the start of this episode (yes I went back to check), he was gleefully threatening to stab someone in the eye because he felt “real life was more fun than games.” Then he ate some rice and the viewer is supposed to feel like he’s a nice person? It would’ve been better if he started episode 7 off the rails, and then was in a depression for the rest of episode 7 (i.e. flipping the storyteling they actually did).
is this show worth watching? is it on the level on angel beats?! it doesnt seem emotional at all tho
To be honest I didn’t find angel beats to be anywhere as emotional as any other key \ Jun Maeda’s works…
But if I were to compare my opinion and feelings experienced in charlotte and angel beats then I’d say yes both are at the same level. However I’d say charlotte is well paced so far, angel beats at the end was a mess in terms of pacing and wrapping up the ending.
i know what you mean
i even find magi more emotional than angel beats….
i guess the method for angel beats was to build pressure on the whole season and release on the last episodes
well how is this show in terms of emotional/tear jerker?! is it similar to other KEy works?
If it can help you, I can give you this Key inequality:
Clannad After Story > Kanon 2006 > Clannad > Angel Beats! > Little Busters! > Charlotte
I have yet to watch Air… so I cannot give a judgment with that. This is the Key show that I least enjoyed so far, unless they will be able to pull an awesome ending.
Charlotte’s not near as funny as Angel Beats! and not near as dramatic. Though admittedly, its presentation (the sequence of events, not including the execution) is better than the latter.
AIR was a very sad anime in my opinion. I was about 12 when i watched it and i was getting all emotional from it. So i recommend watching it if it could make a 12 year old emotional. Speaking of which you could probably tell me about little busters because i never got around to watching it and i wanr to know if it’s worth the watch. (*^u^*)
I am bad with giving summaries but all I can say is they are situated in a school, they are in a club that helps others and there is a fantastic plot twist that is in the second season..
i felt like kanon was very slow and not sad enough.
by far air and clannad were really good and very emotional! angel beats had a very good concept and the last episode was sad when it just ended with the character crying….i havent seen little busters yet or charlotte but by looking at the pics it seems more comdey and school life rather than emtional or tear jerking…or even a decent plot
looking up high,
found a steel tower,
wondering how would i feel,
if i fall down,
was it a dream,
i saw deep red,
chasing for what’s far ahead,
always yearning,
don’t know why but the beauty,
i really want,
may seem to be,
akward to someone’s eyes……
I think, most of the Anime Fans here can not deny that this Episode was here to support the Real Life Music Band. An Promotion Episode to push their Ticket selling. Like Anime is made today to selling more Manga…
The Merchandising industry is getting out of hand lately
i don’t think music industry requires advertisment from anime industry…..
people have passions and dreams, and you can see this in every other series
there are even sport’s series and they are not doing it for sponsorship.
Really? Why did they go there and trow Money to animate this Music Video? They could made it so, that both are still watching on TV
https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
and only the Voice/Sining would be heared, perhaps some face emotions of them showing us their enjoyment. But not an entire Anime Music Video. Where did the Budget flow? Oh well
If i want to criticize the Music Video, then…
the first seconds of her, just sitting on this Table waiting for her part to sing. She could at last move to the beat (oh, i forgot Budget!)
So, perhaps they wanted an Production breather to get air. But somehow this Music Video still got animated. So they done not a real favor. The 2nd Part in the Hospital was better, they let her just Sing. Not Music Video insert here.
So, i think really, this Anime Music Video was there to push some CDs selling and real life Post-rock group
@WorldwideDepp If that music video was meant to push me to buy merchandise rather than solidify the whole episode’s music theme, (with three characters who are primarily identified by their relation to music) then I gotta say it did a bad job at that.
It didn’t even seem like a serious song, what with the bad English. That’s to say that Sala’s grammar was a lot better, so the bad English was probably intentional.
Moreover, post-rock usually lacks vocals, so I really doubt the video would help in selling post-rock CDs. Not everything is a conspiracy, you know.
We are back to lame jokes and forced relationship. After the last 2 emotional episode. The music sung by Sala is pretty cool, though.
I also wonder if Sala could have a connection to Otosaka in particular, given the “flash” he seemed to have when she walked past him.
We are back to lame jokes and forced relationship. After the last 2 emotional episode. The music sung by Sala is pretty cool, though. I hope we can wrap this up without rushing stuffs and end up a mess like Angel Beats did.
I thought of Angel Beats in the 2nd half and I was right
Sala / Zhiend is sung by Marina ( not the VA ) also sung for Angel Beat’s Masami Iwasawa ! ( she sang “My Song and disappeared! )
I have a hunch that Tomori has secrets. Show Spoiler ▼
I think Tomori was persuaded to become friends with the main character. Tomori forced him to join the student council against other ability users. Why him? Tomori knows something weird about his ability and I would not be surprised that Tomori’s knows that her favorite band has something to do with MC delusions. What is her agenda?
I get that Tomori is cynical and all, but I’d think she’d be somewhat excited for a chance to meet the vocalist of a band she’s a fan of, not in a fanboy/girl type of way, but just because it’s an opportunity for an interesting experience.
Or having her show a little more interest at the chance to have Sala visit her brother, even if it’s just a symbolic gesture. The fact that it turns out so well just makes her look like an apathetic, pessimistic jerk (which I don’t think is the direction they’re going with her, Tomori’s just not very open), cause what if Otosaka’s just gave up after her insistence that’d it’d be pointless?
Anyhow, great last half of the episode, and looking forward to next week so we can hear ZHIEND’s music, which sounds like it should be pretty good based on Sala’s singing.
https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
Appears halfway through the show and practically steals the entire episode for me
So this was pretty much Yuu’s self wish fulfillment. He wanted to repay Nao back and did so with Sala. They made him grow as a character as well this episode.
in comparison…..
Nao really draws out the worst in people.
She was talking about how she doesn’t care if he met Zhiends vocalist.
She’s fine with buying their albums and going to lives and now he’s talking about wanting to bring Sala to her brother.
Sawashiro has arrived to save this show
Miyuki Sawashiro Best girl
We can all agree she is the best girl?
We can all agree that Sala and Yuu is the better couple?
I feel like Sala is a good 10 years older than Yuu, so judging by anime logic, that’s a no-go.
4 years
Yu – 16 years
Sala – 21 years
excuse.
Sala 20 years. 20年
How to determine best girl in anime
I do not know if you are talking about Sawashiro doing the VA work for Sala or the song ?
Because for the song The singer is Marina Not the VA / BTW she sings for Masami / ANGEL BEATS
Marina (Japanese singer) Wikipedia
“”Marina had an interest in singing from a young age, and participated in singing contests in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. In 2010, Marina made her debut singing songs composed by Jun Maeda for the anime series Angel Beats! as one of two vocalists for the fictional in-story band Girls Dead Monster.Marina was the vocalist for the character Masami Iwasawa, “”
“” Marina reunited with Maeda for the anime series Charlotte as the vocalist for the fictional in-story band Zhiend. “”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_%28Japanese_singer%29
Hmm. The anime didn’t meet the criteria for the drama + music on which it should originally be. But… I guess this will do.
So this episode made me realize what makes this show so mediocre IMO: it goes just a step too far each time and doesn’t give itself time to earn any of the big scenes. I won’t go past two weeks ago since we’d be here all day, but just last week we had Yuu go dark-side for a full 3/4 of the episode, then he’s tame again with just a bit of omelet rice. Too far. Sure the rice could’ve snapped him out of despair, but he should’ve still been in a funk. Two weeks ago, we had no warning that one of Ayumi’s “friends” was a psychopath and the boy that “liked” her was probably working for the school to keep an eye on her, yet both just suddenly happened and were nonexistent the next episode, right under the rug. This week was another weird misstep, with the first half being a necessary waste of time until Nao pulled out the tickets. The rest was good until Nao’s brother makes an amazing recovery from hearing half a friggen song! No. I’m sorry, no. I buy that he would stop tearing apart the bedding and maybe not need the painkillers anymore, but he shouldn’t have reacted to Yuu. They once again jumped a step there. It should’ve been him being calm, then maybe a few days later recognizing Nao. Stop trying to make everything happen like it’s miraculous! Once, sure, but after that it takes away from a lot of the feeling.
After last week I do buy that Nao might open up to Yuu, even if just because she feels responsible for Ayumi. Wouldn’t be surprised if she started blowing him off again after the concert, though.
I couldn’t agree with you more. These people solve their BIGGEST problems with either songs, food or even the small things like talking. I mean, things get resolved TOO quickly in this show. I wouldn’t call it mediocre but i think it’s only not meeting the expectations i had for it. But don’t drop the show yet, i would give it a few more episodes or like 1 or 2. I’m still going to see it straight to the end to see if it’s a hit or miss.
I got this strange feeling that this two are the real siblings.
https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
And the real siblings are this below
https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Charlotte/Charlotte%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2045.jpg
Someone, I think in the story actually twisted some memories here.
Music reminds me a lot of the first singer on Angel Beats plus same VA. The mention at teh end of why so nostalgic makes me wonder if there is a link.
You are correct !! “” Marina reunited with Maeda for the anime series Charlotte as the vocalist for the fictional in-story band Zhiend. “”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_%28Japanese_singer%29
Seriously are they just put same voice actor in purpose to several characters or really trying to tell us that Charlotte is the sequel?
*of AB
So why was Tomori head turn the entire time this entire episode?
I guess Sala ends up not being an entire a**pull because zHIEND was mentioned earlier on in the show, but otherwise…meh.
Can we really say Yuu actually even changed? Episode 1 we got this self absorbed, self fulfilling douche Lelouche type character and then from episodes 2-6 he’s been demoted to the MC that quietly reacts to every absurdity surrounding him. Then he turns back into who he was introduced as in episode 1 for all of episode 7 only to be cured with some omu-rice. Need I mention that they needed a catalyst to revert him back to this type of character (aka, killing off his little sister)?
Too much happening for the convenience of the plot rather than things happening as a result of the characters bringing these actions to life. Half of the blame of this is solely on the moron who decided to give the show the ‘monster of the day’ episodic feel.
If they can replace episodes 2-5 with something of substance rather than flimsy character introductions and ‘super powers of the day’ moments then I’ll acknowledge this show as reasonably good. Otherwise I wholeheartedly nominate this for biggest disappointment of 2015.
I agree with all of this. Everyone built this up to be something special and it ended up wasting so much time to “set the stage” for a 13 episode or so long series.
We’ll just have to wait to find out if cutting out episodes 2-5, or condensing it into 5-10 minutes, would’ve changed our our understanding of the story. My bet is on no. Unless I missed something important during the entirely cringe-worthy music video in this episode, I’m sure it wasn’t essential to Jun Maeda’s plot twist either. I’m really disappointed this is how the series with all the attention and hype turned out.
It’s really frustrating because even if the latter of the season turns out to be brilliant as far as plot goes I’ll have this pitiful 1st half stuck in my system. Then there’s the characters, I have no sort of issue with characters being generic, but I’m not digging (and never have) dug characters that are just space-fillers. That’s all Yusa and Bullet guy really are aside from the guy giving little tidbits about Tomori’s past to aid Yuu in understanding Tomori.
*actively ignoring that music video*
I’m just expecting the remainder of the show to fall exactly as I’m guessing. Sala officially introduced the ‘ultimate sacrifice’ trope so ofc Yuu will probably give up something important to get back Ayu and it’ll all be under supernatural circumstances.
–
Looking back, I wish they hadn’t sedated Yuu’s personality and rather utilized his abusive nature to introduce a dangerous element to this hotspot of a school. Would’ve been much more interesting to see him accumulate guilt and disbelief as his abusive tendencies resulted in the outing of this school’s actual intentions and the students were then mercilessly ripped from their average lives and he had to determine some means of fixing everything because Ayu as well has been taken hostage and displayed the most destructive powers of them all. Oh well.
I agree with this as well. For some reason i think that the characters have nothing in common or any connection when it comes down to it. All we can really say is that they’re in the same council, the same school, and all have defective powers. I don’t know if this was on purpose but the plot is too over the place. If this was supposed to be a successor to Angel Beats, it isn’t working out that well. I just hope the next episode is better. I mean, the characters need some more connection. Like in the last episode when the girl from yuu’s former school just came out of nowhere. I was basically thinking “what is she doing here??”. In the end here are the things that are missing from this anime,
1. EXPLANATION (PLEASE!!)
2.character placement
3. Plot (it’s all over the place)
Let’s hope they build, is it too late 8 episodes in?? I hope not..
Episode 9 Preview
Show Spoiler ▼
That preview, lol
Show Spoiler ▼
yeah after reading the comments I think most people are getting the feeling that we are missing chunks of information….as if this was a novel adaptation with bits missing that explains things out. Like SOA fans have pointed out. Perhaps the script was balanced for double the episodes and then had to be stripped down. I think this episode would not have been such a head scratcher in a longer series. People would have just decided it’s filler/character developing. Little things like Yuu’s crush from his old school showing up and him saying he should apologize to her…it seems odd somehow…but if there’d been an extra episode where they’d actually been going out on a date… This is the reason they remade Kanon with 26 episodes. A more full experience can be had with more details. The end might yet overshadow the nitpicking.
I can’t stand the egregious amounts of product placement. Like, seriously this has to stop. At least they kept it short back in the flying guy episode, although it was really painfully shoehorned-in, Nao suddenly going “hey listen to THIS my favorite totally-not-product-placement band!”
Now we’re back at school with the generally unfunny shenanigans, which are simply jarring after an entire episode of MC being visceral, stabbing people and almost doing coke. Then MC conveniently meets its lead singer and after one horrible Engrish song, onii-chan is conveniently responsive.
What the heck happened to the yandere middle-schooler and the kid who like imouto? Are we ever going back to that?
I think I’m going to stop caring about what other people are nitpicking and just enjoy what I’m enjoying. Yuu and Tomori this week had fantastic development; compare his actions leading up to saving Tomori’s brother with her actions towards saving Yuu, and there are beautiful signs that these two really, really are making each other shine.
More of my thoughts here: https://unnecessaryexclamationmark.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/charlotte-08/
As for Yusarin and Takajou though, I really, really need something more. I enjoyed their comedy because I looked forward its development, but Yusarin’s spells in particular are losing their impact in all the ways they ever had it. At least Angel Beats! had a whole plethora of smaller characters to get comedy out of – constantly sing these two, even though not all the laughs are lost, is getting old.