First Impressions / NO.6

「奈落にあるもの」 (Naraku ni Aru Mono)
“What Lies in the Abyss”

Wow. Episode 10 of No. 6 certainly went straight for the jugular, serving up an orgy of shocking imagery and gross brutality from the good guys as well as the bad.

For such an earnest and seemingly old-fashioned anime as this often seems to be, it has quite the talent for slapping the audience in the face occasionally. Seeing a baby being nursed by a dog is certainly a first for me, anime or otherwise – and that’s just for starters. I guess Dogkeeper’s stories about her background (I’m back feeling pretty safe with “her”) were meant more literally than I expected. I’m not sure which was more interesting, hearing the baby call her “Mama” or her reaction to it when Rikiga asked why. Is there more to that angle? Is there enough time left to find out?

It’s obvious now why Nezumi was so worried about Shion changing when he saw what was at the bottom of the abyss they and their fellow prisoners were dumped into. While the reasons are not clear – the Soylent Green theory still seems possible, especially given the extensive close-ups of delicious baked goods in Karan’s shop in the scene immediately following – the human wreckage of No. 6’s foraging and killing expeditions in the West District are apparently dumped into massive mountains of flesh, dead and alive. Nezumi implies that the entire city is built (literally or symbolically we’re not sure) on these masses of victims. The entire sequence was agreeably horrible and disturbing, again – I believe quite intentionally – calling to mind imagery from a Nazi death camp.

Also disturbing, for reasons both good and bad from a dramatic standpoint, was the specter of Shion and Nezumi making their way through the correctional facility towards Safu, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake (in a beautifully animated BONES-y action sequence). The first time Nezumi shot a guard was mildly jarring, but the key moment of that exchange was his reaction when Shion made no complaints about it. Nezumi knew that for all his “I don’t want you to change” admonitions, something had broken inside Shion right then and there, but little did he – or we – know that Shion would not only shoot a guard to defend Nezumi, but then calmly walk up to the wounded man and pop him again to finish him off with extreme prejudice. The good part of that was yes, it was effective in totally shattering our image of the character, and shocking as hell. The bad, for me anyway, was that I thought it was a bit far-fetched to see Shion so thoroughly desensitized to violence that his nature would completely change in so short a time. Of course he saw terrible things and he was angry to witness Nezumi wounded, but it happened a bit too quickly to be believable – unless of course there was some sort of mind control (Elyurias?) going on, which could have been vaguely hinted at if you really want to believe you saw it.

As things stand, both strike teams have infiltrated the facility and Shion and Nezumi (he must be a tough SOB to take two gunshot wounds and merrily march on with nothing more than a couple of strips of cloth to bind the wounds) have finally met with Safu. She seems…changed, and quite clearly under Elyurias’ control. Of course we don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing just yet, and there are signs of all hell breaking loose in the city as well, where Karan’s little friend Lily is suddenly terrified because “something is out there”. The wasps, Elyurias, Safu, the baby – we just don’t know how it all fits together yet, and whether Elyurias is a force for good or evil. But things are shaping up nicely for an interesting conclusion, if a bit of a hurried one. It’s obvious in watching that this was condensed down from a much bigger story, but BONES have managed to give us something quite entertaining and occasionally very impactful. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all works out.

63 Comments

  2. Yep, Inukashi is definitely a girl XD

    And yes, I was a bit shocked at Shion’s change in character (actually I was more shocked at the pile of dead body and the dog feeding the baby scene XD) but I don’t think it was Elyurias’ mind control or anything but more as him witnessing Nezumi getting hurt and angrer took over him. Otherwise I don’t think he would have mentioned Nezumi’s name while shooting that man. It was a interesting development though.

    Also its not too obvious but I started to see more hints of Nezumi getting jealous towards Safu whenever Shion mentions her. The Bromance towards Nezumi–>Shion is definitely getting obvious and it’s definitely there.

    Thanks for blogging this again 🙂 Looking forward to how the story will all tie together in the end.

    Corn
    Reply

  3. I remember a few weeks back, when the episode titles were released and novel readers were figuring out where Bones was putting the different parts of the story, that a lot of the novel readers were afraid that Sion’s change in character would come off strange and rushed and I have to admit it does feel that way to me. This simply seems like one of the cases where having more time (which the novels did) was necessary to pull it off (think I’ve heard that most of novel 8 was Sion monologing actually XD ) and it’s a shame that the anime didn’t have one or two more episodes to help here. Although I have to admit, rushed or not, Sion and Nezumi are some of the toughest anime characters I’ve seen in a long while and it was pretty cool to see just how easily Nezumi was able to pull all of those fights off.

    wandering-dreamer
    Reply

  5. I can totally understand why some would think Shion’s change to be a bit out of the left field. In the novel it was implied from the beginning he had screws loose(he would hear voices in his head telling him to ‘destroy everything’ and many other instances) These scenes were left out of the anime however, which is unfortunate. Still enjoyed this episode though. Lots of powerful scenes.

    Don
    Reply

    1. Yeah, I also heard about this and while it clears up a lot of things (also, might this be related to that scene where he pats Nezumi on the back and Nezumi didn’t even see it coming? I was disappointed when they didn’t pick up on that sort of thing) it still rushes Shion’s development a lot, and even if it was finally exciting to see Shion do something that was’t passive, it was also slightly confusing at the same time.

      I’m looking forward to next week’s episode, but I really hope they don’t throw away Safu just to make Shion/Nezumi a pairing; the slight misogyny in this show is already somewhat off-putting. Overall though, I’ve kind of enjoyed No.6, and hopefully this finale won’t be a disappointment. Thanks for blogging, Enzo!

      Snowolf
      Reply

  6. I was really hoping that after the baby said “mama” the next shot would have it with a confused look on its face and then say “dada?” just to keep messing with people on Dogkeeper’s gender.

    Qwerty1
    Reply

  8. The way that Elyruias is talking seemed close to an AI, maybe she is just a “copy” of the true Elyruias.

    About Sion, well I’ve never witnessed murder but I do have seen hard things in my soldier life and I’ve witnessed people changed at an incredibly speed wich can only occur through death.

    So yeah maybe there is some mind control, but I think it isn’t needed, and the way it is now seems pretty realistic for me even though it’s extreme yes.

    KTNO
    Reply

    3. Darn, you beat me to mentioning that. It definitely was the needle. Since they talked in an earlier episode about how Twilight House (where Safu’s grandmother was) was like an execution chamber it doesn’t surprise me that she would’ve ended up here. Although, its probably just an amusing thing they decided to stick in.

      UnknownVoid
      Reply

  12. given reactions of allied soldiers to liberated Nazi concentration camps, I would be the least surprised when Shion goes suddenly cold fury…
    oh and after being hit by something of the caliber seen on ss#27 you are not in shape to be walking wounded, Nezumi!

    ewok40k
    Reply

  14. lol I was more concerned at the end of the episode where Safu definately had crazy eyes going there. Shion looked hawt with his killing face and poor Nezumi lost the Shion he lived with for the last few months XD

    Shadiic
    Reply

  18. Epic episode is Epic.

    This and MPD are the 2 show I didn’t expected to be this good. Also, the ED song has grown on me. As for Inukashi’s gender, like Avalanche said, there IS indeed a cleavage at 05:38 XD

    briex
    Reply

  20. Completely agree with your first lil’ paragraph. I honestly felt a little sick to my stomach when we found out what was at the bottom of the pit and then Shion and Nezumi had to climb it *shivers* The baby and… dog scene was an eyebrow raiser, and this scene had my hands clamped over my mouth. I didn’t know if they were going to do it, change Shion that much, and wow. They went for it, though I’d be fine with it turning out to be Elyurias mind control too. The scene would have had me in tears had I not been so shocked, so I’m looking forward to reading that scene (and more build up to Shion snapping) whenever it gets/if it’s already translated. Reminded me of him choking Rikiga out for suggesting Nezumi sell himself.

    A lot of great scenes in this episode. Now I’m even more pumped for the finale, but at the same time I’ll really really miss this anime. Thanks for covering No.6 even through teh gay, Enzo 🙂

    Faye
    Reply

  21. Hmmm, i think Elyauris wants to either destroy No. 6 (she killed those scientists) or repopulate the forest (forest folk). Meaning either she goes for crazed cold blooded Shion or Nezumi. Highly doubt a threesome ending. But what the hell.
    With regards to the ending phrase… maybe either Nezumi or Safu needs to sacrifice themselves?

    deafvader
    Reply

  22. Sorry for the double post but is the PROMO VIDEO a new thing? Never saw it around the announcements section before. And I won’t even try to say I understand what the fate zero vid was that someone in the Fate world send a D-Mail to make it Fate stay to Fate zero. Similar but VERY not the same.

    deafvader
    Reply

  24. The mountain of bodies, Nezumi begging Shion not to shoot, as well as Shion’s momentary flashback of their first meeting are what really got me in this episode.

    While Shion’s sudden change in personality was somewhat heartbreaking and slightly unnatural, I thought it was really exciting in terms of character development.

    Sad that this series is ending so soon. Looking forward to the final episode. Hope they will have better animation for it though – we’ve been getting more and more corrupted frames from ep 7 onwards…

    tokiNA
    Reply

  25. I enjoyed this episode very much!! But the episode I feel like Rat n Sion, they change their personality. It’s like Rat is much kinder n Sion becoming colder. Maybe I should start reading the novel to knw what is happening.

    Wohoho
    Reply

  28. I should have stick with my first guess that the Dogkeeper is a girl. When Nezumi took that hostage (I thought he killed him out of self-defense) I had a feeling that it won’t work out. I mean they don’t care about other people nonetheless their allies. Anyways, Shion wasn’t the only one who changed drastically. I didn’t think I would see Nezumi cry like that. I felt sad too that Shion isn’t like how he was before. If Safu turns out to be the mother of all bad guys in this show than I’ve already prepared myself for that.

    Pikachu
    Reply

  29. Very good episode, confirmation on Inukashi’s gender (she never fooled me), i saw cleavage and i even saw bewbs, when sh’es holding the baby i definitly see something there and on side shots of her she clearly has chest, that and her “feminine” ways…
    How come some people still doubt…

    Djisas
    Reply

  32. i skipped this show like 5 episodes ago.. first i was just bored but then just annoyed by the title not being compatible with the search-engine of my anime-resources board.
    WORST. TITLE. EVER.

    wolfi
    Reply

  33. Wow, Shion is like…bosskado, to the extreme. He seems to regret his actions when he regains himself but his Nezumi-stalker mode is just…wow. Biggest fan ever. XD I feel like there’s some sort of point or connection between Shion, the parasite bees and Elyurias but that might just be me.

    By the way, I can’t hear Yoming speaking without thinking of Lockon, is this wrong? (though I know it’s the same seiyuu)

    Sissy
    Reply

    2. This series is magnificently Dramatic, and completely taken up in it’s own pace.

      You’re really watching a Novel unfold as an Anime. If you’ve been in need of a good book about cynicism vs naivety, a dystopia, unconventional romance, and a bit of sci-fi. No.6 is wonderful stuff.

      If I can’t convince you, read the reviews for Episodes 1 and 2, that’ll give you a bit better sense of the show’s premise and basic direction. Hopefully you can make a decision whether or not to watch after that >). [/but you dont have to take my word for it] [/seriously this series is such a book.] ^^;;;.

      KumaKaori
      Reply

    1. Kkk, I’ll take up the recommendation. 🙂 I have a lot of catch up on..

      The only show I’ve been watching each week is Steins;Gate. You should try 2 episodes! It’s a really good series. (The first episode is kinda like the first of Haruhi though, intentionally confusing.)

      Chloesong
      Reply

  37. Ah knewwwww eeeeet ^^. feels good to know it hasn’t always been a complete sausage fest in that “hotel” of DogKeeper’s. His flustered actions over the baby was adorable ^_^. To think it all comes to an end next ep. Noitamina being 11 ep series and all. … That wasn’t Safu…

    … anyone else whisper 「助けて」 “tasukete” [Help me] to themselves every time she called Shion’s name ;)?

    KumaKaori
    Reply

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