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「東雲に消ゆ」 (Shinonome ni Kiyu)
“The Daybreak Disappearance”
Shut up and get in the robot.
This week’s Kuromukuro pays particular attention to one of its weaker aspects: Yukina. This isn’t to say that the character is irritating or bothersome, just somewhat bland and uninteresting in context to everything else that’s going on. She certainly has her moments of promise, like when the conflict with her mother is addressed or her past with her father is brought up. This time around, Yukina comes into contact with a more central and relevant concern.
She doesn’t want to fight giant robots.
In animes past, strapping and timid young fellows are reluctant to enter the fray because they’re insecure of their ability, even though all they really need is to believe in themselves. Yukina, on the other hand, merely just doesn’t want to. She’s just a student who’s been forced into this whole matter—bigger than anything her meager, unachieving life could ever think of touching. The traumatic conclusion of last week’s events are further reason that a high school student has no place in this battle. Now, some may conclude that this makes the inner conflict unexciting or boring, and that may very well turn out to be the case as episodes carry on. However, there’s some serious potential here.
It’s a serious creative challenged to force this completely unmotivated character into fighting such a risky, large-scale war. This is completely out of her comfort zone, and she has zero to little interest in the matter. I predict that some greater explanation of her father’s disappearance, as well as her budding fondness for Kennosuke, will play a part with getting her into the pilot’s seat once again. The way I see it, all of this will play some large part in uplifting Yukina’s character—in essentially, making her an engaging, motivated, and interesting character for the rest of the series.
Something I’m also excited for is the main antagonizing force. Don’t get me wrong—there’s not a lot of interesting material here. Their aesthetic appeal leaves little to no impression (generic armor, clichéd throneroom in space, etc.) and their motivations—unconditional and undying praise to some faceless godlike entity—do nothing to set it apart from much of what came before. What’s interesting here is that they’re human! Now this itself isn’t a unique plot development, but its effect on Kennosuke’s resolve is intriguing. His entire life purpose is built upon revenge, which itself is facilitated on the nameless, inhuman nature of his enemy. Until now it’s been easy for him to focus his anger on “the demons.” However, now that he’s learned that there’s more at play here—that his foes could be actual people—he’s left confused and in denial, as he refuses to acknowledge they’re anything. As he learns more and more about the enemy, his character motivations and constitution could evolve in continually dynamic ways.
Preview
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I do hope that Yukina develops through this because by the end of the episode, her selfishness was starting to grate on me (which means I care and want to see her get through this, much like Amuro in Mobile Suit Gundam, Kamille in Zeta Gundam, and other Gundam/mecha protagonists who go through this stage).
It was always about her; her feelings, how she was treated (though, the other children didn’t call HER a liar, they called her father a liar), how her parents didn’t pay enough attention to her feelings, all without an ounce of consideration for what her parents, especially her father (even now) must have been going through too (how horrible the father must have felt to have not only his peers, but his own daughter calling him a liar, yet he continued to smile and move forward with his research).
Even when it came to Kennosuke, Yukina just made assumptions about what he, and others like her mother, would say to her on the piloting subject, just assuming she’s some sort of puppet (or “tool” in her words) to be controlled when it quickly gets shown that she is completely wrong, only to once again make the subject all about just her. Given how things have been for much of her life, it’s quite conceited on her part to always be making such assumptions (not even able to name one moment where her mother somehow “never gave her a choice” and such).
Now that’s not to say I don’t understand the general position she’s in with all the pressure of suddenly being the only one who could use the mecha alongside Kennosuke and protecting the world compared to just her normal school life. I’m guessing it will take something akin to realizing how many (more) people could/would get hurt or even die if she DOESN’T do anything, possibly when another Knight comes down and attacks, leaving the GAUS units badly damaged and the pilots in danger as well as everyone in whatever area they’re in.
I know we’ve gotten pretty used to kids saving the world in anime, but let’s actually put things into perspective. Is, ‘I don’t want to be conscripted as a child soldier,’ really such an unreasonable position?
no it is not which is why i disagree with all this “yukina is being unrightfully selfish” comments ive seen floating around. I think viewers have gotten so used to characters in shows being righteous and being able to conquer their fear to do what’s admirable that they forget that in a real situation, this is how someone of yukina’s personality would act and that’s…..normal
And what is heartbreaking is that there is a whole lot of selfish people around poor Yukina, starting with Sophie, all those woderful quotes about duty at the end od the day are just excuses to negate the free will of an individual, to justitfy how truly selfish society could be on a person no matter the age, just because I can do something I ust do no questions ask? what about my happiness? my safety? is free will just fancy talk? They asking a normal child to kill people and get scarred for life fo the love of the gods! At least Kennouse was a samurai, he´s used to death but even heim is having second thoughts on this.
Next is Carlos, tow idiots get themselfs vaporize and you blame the two guys that barely walk out of the battle alive for not saving them? Those two didn´t desrve to die but if you enter a battlefield you´re going to die, that´s all there is, I can´t even blame the yellow Oni for theire deaths, their own stupidity kill them even that sounds cold.
And finally but most important: Yukina´s parents. The poor girl got two very lousy parents for the looks of it, one walk of his family out of obsession with his reaseach (the fact he was right doesn´t really help) and the other is almost completely abasent from home. The thing is that if you don´t spend any time with your kids and all of the sudden you try to act like a parent they will most likely reject you. Shirahane obviously loves he daughters very much, but her lack of interaction with them translate like indiferences to those poor girls and it shows in how she knows very about the worries of Yukina.
Again, I understand that general position, but the problem is that nobody in the episode has been trying to force Yukina to do anything. Even Kennosuke and Shirahane, two of the people who anyone (in-universe and viewers) would think would be ones to try to do what they could to her to pilot somehow, tell her right to her face that they AREN’T going to try to force her to pilot, even thinking she SHOULDN’T pilot anymore. It’s only Yukina herself who keeps turning those conversations around to make herself look like a victim who is being forced, controlled, used as tool, etc. which is what makes her appear selfish despite her understandable position.
The only thing that hasn’t given her a choice is the mecha itself, but even then, it’s not like it’s using some power to unknowingly compel her to pilot or anything. It just logged her as the “key” to use it alongside Kennosuke and that was due to chaotic and unpredictable circumstances.
The problem with Shirahane and Ken is not about the Kuromukuro, it´s something deeper and more complex. kennouse wants to to die after all this is over and is practically asking Yukina to help him commit suicide and the girl cares for him a lot so she´s horrified of the idea. Shirahane in the other is trying to act like mother despite not knowing anything about her, she walk out on her the same way her father before, she just made it more painful becuase he chose to drawn herself in her work.
Understanding and knowing things is a two-way street though. I agree that Shirahane and Kennosuke could have done things better, but at least Shirahane was trying to make an attempt at being a mother since she knows the dangers Yukina would be facing if she were to keep piloting which shows she does care, but Yukina doesn’t seem to want to make any attempt at knowing or understanding Shirahane and what she has to do as well (that job is probably what allows Yukina to live her normal school life, for instance), so I just think it’s unfair that people are so coddling of Yukina and demonizing of Shirahane and Kennosuke and act like only those two should change and conform to Yukina’s feelings rather than Yukina meeting them halfway.
In terms of Kennosuke, we need to remember that while he may be physically getting more used to living in the modern era and no longer freaking out at every little thing, he is still mentally much more a samurai living hundreds of years ago and if a samurai has nothing to live for, no cause for honor, (which Kennosuke has yet to truly find again; you can’t just expect him to pick up a new cause just like that), then they would commit suicide in order to retain their honor.
Her being the ‘tool’ of the Samurai guy is not wrong, no matter how he sugarcoat it.
She is just the key to activate the mecha. She has no control over the mech, she has no experience and zero contribution in the combat.
Unlike the samurai guy, she doesn’t have any personal stakes against the alien mech (even more so now that she knows there are human inside). Asking her to pilot the mech is, for all intent and purpose, akin to ask her to murder some random passerby in cold blood.
Worse yet, the samurai guy stated clearly that he intend to commit seppuku (follow his princess) once his revenge is complete. In other word, he’s ready to abandon her ASAP after her value as a ‘tool’ is no longer needed.
yukina misght be the key to the Kuromukuro but Kennouse doesn´t see her as such a tool and that´s what it´s killing the poor guy, because he´s aware he´s using her even if that is not his intention but doesn´t have much of a choice. Being a tool and being treated or cosidered a tool are three very different things and that´s part of the conflict between the two.
@haseo0408
Agreed. Although (I hope) the samurai guy will eventually snap out of his endless revenge cycle thing.
Only when he stop fighting HIS little they can properly start fighting THEIR fight.
HIS little war *typed too fast*
Revenge is dangerous thing Min-san, I´m a huge fan of Count of Monte Cristo and I agree to a certain point that sometimes revenge is a personal choice of a person if they want to move on with their lifes, that is, as long as they don´t hurt the innocent people in the process, in anime Gate gave us the most recent example of this. Somethimes people hurt you in a way that there is nothing left of you so revenge becomes the only path because you are pretty much dead inside; some other times revenge becomes the only way to move own after a devastating trauma, like what happened to Tuka Luna Marceu in Gate with the Flame Dragon, as I said before, a dangerous double edge sword.
Kennouse has that right but there are many, many unkowns in this story to just follow the revenge path blindly, first order of business is finding what they are seaching, then who this Oni really are, after knowing all this Kennouse could decide what he wants to do his life.
The thing is that this is not an all out conflict with the Oni Aliens, the U.N. forces said that the Oni don´t attack anyone unless they are attack first and they have kidnap some people for god knows what reason, it´s not like the Earth is going to be destroyed right away; beside you can´t just ask a child to kill get into a robot and start killing people, it´s not like this is a Gundam colony being destroyed by Zeon.
@halfdemoninuyasha
take into consideration that her perception matters tho. Maybe nobody has aggressively forced her to pilot the mecha. But if you have been told that you’re the only one who can do it and that plenty of people know this fact, dont you think you’d feel as if people are expecting you to accomplish this task, therefore making her have this perception of being forced to do something in the same way shinji felt? Besides, kennosuke has said that he needs her without asking her if she wants any part of this and that probably makes her feel as if she’s being pushed into doing things she doesnt want to do
Amuro? Kamille? Shinji? Gundam/mecha protagonists?
You needs urgent medical treatment to stop the drug use and return to the reality
All of them were PILOTS and not NAVIGATORS, none of them is a moeblob schoolgirl girl and/or a damsel in distress, who requires constantly a charming prince astride his Whitehorse (MC) to achieve her rescue.
Yukina is a NAVIGATOR, She is not a PILOT.
you guys don’t realize her entire role in the mecha is support? She sits in the back seat and warns Ken when shit is coming. Inside the Mech, Yukina is a support character as Ryouko, Shizuno from Zegapain, there is nothing wrong with being a support character.
Wait, i think episode 7’s title is “東雲に消ゆ”?
True, even the romaji’s supposed to read “Shinonome ni Shō Yu”.
(Shinonome, 東雲, is an old Japanese word for dawn.)
I think Yukina is having trouble coming to terms with what happened in the previous episode, the enemy was human, the enemy committed suicide. She probably feels like a murderer at this point, she’s clearly not, killing in self defense is not murder after all but that fact can’t really change how she feels, at least it can’t change it quickly.
Also LOL at Kennosuke and the Councilor-sensei having two completely different conversations at each other.
Preview for next week’s ep, the Black Eagle’s Castle/ Kurosagi no Shiro, 黒鷲の城.
http://kuromukuro.com/story08.html
Yukina’s reluctance and denial seem pretty natural for her character, given she nearly got killed & watched a space human blow himself up just yesterday per the series timeline. Add the fact she likely feels responsible for Akagi and Jundai going missing (even though that’s definitely not her fault here).
PS. Think those 2 will ever be found, or just as 2 ash piles?
I totally want ash piles, although I am sure I will be disappointed given the general tone of this anime.
Remember the self-destruct divice of the Predators zz-san? Tha´s pretty much what happened in that airport, if those two idiots were caught by the explosion there won´t be any ash left.
Get into the giant robot Yukina!
Also that Marina is a cutie
Get in the the
Unit-01RelicShinjiYukina 😀Yes, because Shinji piloting an EVA eneded so well in both the original series and the new movies.
Damn. Sensei was looking good in this episode.
Really can’t blame her.
-Her father disappears after she suffered years of bullying because of his beliefs and probably blames herself.
-Already struggling with school and her future she’s now asked to “save the world” on top of it all.
-With her mother’s work she’s likely pretty much raised herself until now as well as her little sister.
-She’s being tasked with basically taking care of Kennosuke.
-Classmates of hers might of died because of the battle already which I suppose she might suspect atm.
And that’s just the big things. I’m surprised she just hasn’t cracked already; that’s a lot to take in for a normal high schooler. I’m sure she’ll rise to the occasion in time but right now it would be odd if she was just “okay” with everything going on.
https://randomc.net/image/Kuromukuro/Kuromukuro%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
It’s the perverted Guildy aliens from Ore no Twintail…
Maybe they’re really kidnapping people to use as their fetish playthings…
But seriously, their peaceful harbinger email makes me trust them even less.
https://randomc.net/image/Kuromukuro/Kuromukuro%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
I don’t care if he’s 450 years from the past, he’s dressed just as skimpily as the girls. Look at how they’re all over him!
The email was pretty peaceful as one of their own was killed. A non-peaceful response could have been surrender or we bombard every major city in an hour till there is nothing left but the robot suit.
Obviously there is a lot more going on then we know as there are many unanswered questions:
1) The missing dad says two odd statements twice earlier it is the “evil demons will return to devour humans once more” and then later he goes to “make friends with the demons” is he even talking about the same demons/aliens as their could easily be evil, neutral, friendly, blue/orange aliens out there as there is more evidence towards there being more than one type of alien species which is logical.
2) Does the old photo mean there is another group of aliens separate from the most recent ones and or the ancient japan ones. The blurry photo certainly does not appear to be a mech or a human sized alien so what is it. (Clearly has a cape and is as tall as a tree but none of the mechs have capes and the alien pilots are normal human height)
3) Why are the little drone mechs abducting people seemingly randomly in all seriousness as it isn’t clear what reason there is to do this. Does this count as devouring humans because that is more like kidnapping than eating.
4) The aliens mention an advanced party before them was wiped out and betrayed but it certainly didn’t seem like Kennosuke in the past totally won either so how did that happen exactly. How did the princess steal a mech suit and did he go onto wiping out their entire advanced party in self defence or offensively including the ship they arrived on way back then.
5) Who systematically erased the clan from history and why. If the advanced party was wiped out and he was in hibernation and his clan dead what group had the time to clean up afterwards and keep their history hidden and kill any stragglers.
Lots of plot questions they have going.
True, the aliens are taking the peaceful approach for now, although things might change once they get what they came for.
Note one of the alien commanders sits in a much bigger chair and looks to be twice the size and height of the others. If standing, he could match the size of the large alien blur in the old photo Yukina showed Ken.
Mysteries, mysteries.
@zztop
Those macguffins having positive gravity anomalies with them probably means they have something to do with their gravity control technology but if they are digging it up and searching for them were they there long before any of the visited?
Optically speaking the commander is not twice the height of the others just taller than them. If we estimate the others to be average human height of 5ft 10inches the commander would be 8ft tall. (Modeling the human in the frame to 5ft 10inches also confirms the 8ft roof line and the blur is clearly behind the shack and then some but just with the shack back edge the blur is >8ft tall).
Another problem is that the alien commander is clearly on the ship and they just arrived recently but that blur has been from long ago at least from the BW photo date and possibly even way back.
Mysteries indeed.
@zztop The bracketed estimate in my reply above is referring to the BW photo and how taking into account the perspective and using the shack as a reference means the blur is >8ft tall at minimum.
The irony is that 450 years ago in Japan so would nudity be less of a taboo then today and mixed nude baths not a big deal. So the guy acting all prude makes no sense really.
Get in the friggin robot, Shinji…… Oh wait, wrong anime.
If it’s a ploy by PA to make me not hate Shinji by turning him into a moeblob girl, they sure as hell succeeded. Yukina’s currently still my Best Girl. 😀
BTW, that has got to be the friendliest email message ever sent by a mech anime villain.
IKR, No huge imposing hologram head, no “or else” then followed by an orbital strike. Just a give us back our mech, signed “peaceful” alien XD
Anime has had the cliche of “high school teenager becomes mecha pilot”, only for it to backfire when the person isn’t up to the task, or doesn’t want to be up to the task.
We also have the cliche of “ancient robot better than anything modern”, even when those modern robots were based upon the ancient one. That reminds me of Raideen. Plus, the modern-day pilots have no qualms about constantly showing the samurai from 450 years ago about how much better they are than he ever was.
Yukina only gets “training” on the ancient robot when it’s in life-or-death battle. Learning military actions on-the-job is not a good thing. They either need simulation time (something her mother and the other adults will not let them do because they might cause “an accident”, look how they had to haul the ancient robot back from the abandoned palace), and the “recharge time” for the cube-car-cockpit is too long and/or not comprehended.
While I can kinda understand Yukina – she is not merely afraid, she doesnt want to kill other humans, even if they come from space in giant robots, she also probably feels subconsciously responsible for probable deaths of her classmates.
Speaking of MIA classmates, you can view them as suicidally dumb or heroic individuals who at the cost of their lives brought the truth of the nature of enemy to the population at large kept in the dark by scheming gvernments and UN.
As for the enemies themselves, they are so bland that I can’t even FEEL any sympathy/antipathy towards them. Their reasons for invading remain obscure, but wouldn’t it be easier to negotiate first and shoot later? Especially as they are apparently far from home and any reinforcements that may be called upon (worse still, they are loath to do so against mere “barbarians”, who already managed to kill one of their top end robots and generally make good work of defeating lesser ones)
It seem like the Alien mecha guy that blow himself up was acting without order (i.e. went rogue).
My theory is that the aliens are operating based on pride and arrogance – pride that they can handle it without help from home, and arrogance that Earthlings are so primitive and stupid they’re not worth negotiating with.
Plus it’s not a full-on invasion yet, more of a search mission for alien stones in very specific locations (plus 1 new destroy the Glongur objective).
The aliens clearly think humans to be essentially puny animals relative to them so this is probably why they didn’t bother negotiating at the start they just wanted to walk in take what they wanted and leave why ask the puny human ants.
Obviously the stolen mech kinda shatters that idea and the death of one of their members made the situation different and now their objective is to destroy or retrieve the stolen mech. So they then asked pretty kindly in an text email of all things.
It doesn’t actually appear that they are invading rather they are after some possibly more ancient gravity control tech buried on earth. Totally random guessing the way they are described maybe the stones they are looking for allow for even more ancient interstellar gates to be made and they are basically glorified ancient interstellar road builders and are taking samples of the local intelligent wildlife for study. Alternatively it could be a weapon to blow up earth but that would be very cliché and odd since they don’t really seem to care about earth in the slightest. Or both at the same time, it could be they want to blow up earth to make a space highway ala The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which would be hilarious.
It seems like it takes a very long time to get to earth’s star system so maybe their FTL tech is mainly gate based and their advanced party/frontier patrol have to wait hundreds of years in hibernation hence why it would be pretty shameful to ask for assistance when it takes so long to reach.
Now assuming they get all those macguffin cornerstone(s), hinge stone(s), and whatever they are what happens then is the obvious question. Do they profit, invade, leave, gifts rain down, demons devour humans, …
This is all wild mass guessing but there is a lot more going on clearly with the hints they have been dropping.
I’m conflicted between pity and relief that those two imbeciles are “dead”. Pity, because they’re “dead”, and relief because that’s two less idiots the world has to worry about. Hopefully.
Moving on, Yukina…I just find it ironic how the young girl accusing other people of selfishness is just as equally selfish. Perfectly normal teenage behavior– my younger brother is going through a similar phase. Hopefully she’ll grow out of this phase soon because it’s not pretty to watch.
I can’t quite sympathize with Yukina– rather, I sympathize more with Ken and Shirahane. I was honestly expecting Ken to flip when Yukina said she wasn’t going to pilot anymore, so props to him for not coercing her this time. As for Shirahane, while not the perfect mother, I’d hope Yukina’s development includes acknowledging that Shirahane is, at least, trying.
sometimes trying is not enough…
Yukina reactions show just she is must has to grow a little. She have to find answer about her father decision to “vanish” “make a friend with alien” (term using to speak toward child and not to make them worried- it could be selfish but i don’t think cause everyone need to hide the danger of the real world to children- mentaly not prepare to understand). Now she is in age to confront with reality so, the only way to find deepest answer is to go back to the cockpit (yes that best place where she said ” don’t know how i know but i know”).
She has to find the roots of all her bad feelings, but she could be find more, her destiny. Destiny is the side you accept to choose and embrace and fate is the side oppressing you and make you “feel a tool” with no way to change something.
Damned ! Those aliens humans knight are faking nuts !Just send frienship email to everyone in different language like not knowing speaking directly? Alright they are just minions. But that may will not be the case of their boss. Looks like the princess sacrifice was realy effective until now and even for these days.
I like the way ken want to end his life. That’s honorable but these days this samurai view is not understandable by the majority. In ancient time you live short life in neverendindg war period. Honor and code (culture, knowledge, spirituality) is what save your soul from being an human beast, and make your soul evolve (reincarnation). Today honor is to not only survive but grow of children and instill good principles of life. But you know what there is always people who struggle and die for the benefit of the majority, (war period neverending in the entire world even these days) so why not with the samurai code in mind? He is right in that sense. May yukina hepl him to join the majority if she understand him?
Oddly though in two flashbacks the father did say the evil aliens (demons) would come back and eat (devour) humans. So when he says he is going to befriend aliens is it the same evil ones or a different group. That is unclear.
The aliens are probably more along the lines of don’t even bother to give humans the time of day in the galaxy type of thing because they consider humanity on earth to be barbarians. There email is pretty terse and blunt to say the least and they are not actually lying as it is stolen somehow from the advanced party long ago. (How, why it got stolen is unknown)
I don’t think the writer intends the audience to root for Ken to commit suicide after everything is over. Obviously over the series he is intended to change/grow as a character.
An episode about the character being depressed because she doesn’t wanna fight, being treated as the “hero” at school (but not enjoying it) and having father issues… Evangelion, is that you?
https://randomc.net/image/Kuromukuro/Kuromukuro%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
I’m a simple man. I see boobs, and I watch this entire series from the beginning to get some “plot” context.
I know no one’s gonna bother reading this but I sampled episodes 4 & 5 of this show and well, just like quite a bunch of other shows, almost everyone that matters in this show is irritating as fuck and the setting’s just so contrived that I’ll just quite while I’m ahead. The only thing I really liked was Kennosuke and the voice acting for him but other than that, barely anything else. Even as I say this, I’m struggling with so many other shows so instead of increasing my cortisol levels for no reason I’ll get away from Kuromukuro, simple as that.
I’m curious when you say sampled episode 4 & 5 does that mean you just watched two episodes in the middle?
At first I was annoyed by Yukina’s behavior, but then I realized that I was looking at it from an my now-adult perspective; if I were a kid her age, I’d probably behave the same (yes, including what Yukina did if my parents slapped me, regardless of the reason).
It’s pretty rare that I get 7 episodes into an anime and still haven’t decided if I like it or not. There’s just enough that’s interesting about it to keep me watching but I keep finding myself lamenting that so far it’s just an average interpretation of Inuyasha x Evangelion. . Yukina is a lot less of an annoying whiner than Shinji or Kagome and Kennosuke’s fish-out-of-water-ness is mercifully not played up to such annoying heights as Inuyasha but the self-awareness to not create terrible characters isn’t translating into a series as interesting as I would hope.