First Impressions / Robotics;Notes

「なんという狂った世界」 (Nan toiu Kurutta Sekai)
“What a Crazy World”

What a crazy world it is… Let’s take a step back and look at all the events that are going on Robotics;Notes right now. Sometimes even I start to forget all the happenings amongst just 5 people, so watching it on a weekly basis doesn’t help. We have Kai who’s on his quest to find more Kimijima Kou reports with Airi. There’s Kona and her missing mother and the recently leaked last episode of Gunvarrel. Aki’s still building her giant robot with the help of Nae (who recently celebrated her birthday!). Then there’s Junna and Subaru who have taken a back seat with their family histories briefly discussed. Not to mention all the little pieces here and there – including the monopole, Aki’s sister and the destruction of the world approaching as quickly as these solar flares. That’s an abundance of things going on at once; I honestly was not expecting such an elaborate plot when I started blogging. Now that I think about it, Robotics;Notes should really be more of a mystery than anything else – so I get pretty defensive when I hear people assuming it’s all about mecha and robots. It honestly isn’t.

I thought this episode focused on a lot of smaller plot lines, with the overarching theme being Kona and her mother. As a side note: She had brown hair when she was young! She must be in that rebellious stage where all teenage Asian girls dye their hair blond (who can relate? *raises her hand*). Anyway… when Kona revealed to Kai all the photos and their messages and all that research behind her mother’s website etc. etc., I found it so hard to believe. It was almost too good to be true and it reminds me of crime dramas where “nothing is a coincidence” and the audience is expected to just take it as it is. I would probably be less critical if Kona wasn’t always shut out from the outside world and her mother’s story wasn’t still a blur. Her explanations are almost forced and put into place just for the sake of advancing the story and as elaborate and ingenious as it is, I find it hard to digest. I must admit though, it’s a great way to tie in Kona to the Committee of 300. She’s been left behind her entire life and I honestly really pity her after seeing her suicidal attempt. I never expected her to take that route, but everyone has their limits.

There were two Kimijima Kou reports revealed this week… none of which were narrated or read out loud. I think this is to keep the suspense of what’s happening around them and when the Committee of 300 is going to attack. A solar flare also struck Tokyo at the end of the episode sending everyone into chaos – mainly the robots that started attacking citizens. A reader mentioned before that this reminded them of I Robots and I’m sure that this isn’t an uncommon theme. But the twist here is, these robots don’t have intelligence of their own – they’re merely being controlled by the Committee of 300 (since I’m assuming Kona is being framed). My question is, is this an artificially created solar flare (as indicated by report no. 5)? What would the Committee of 300 achieve by destroying mankind? I feel like a broken recorder, asking the same questions every week.

Full-length images: 12, 23.

47 Comments

  1. I am quite intrigued with this show. It just gets better and better~!

    The question remains if we will really see Gunvarrel in action or whether the world will end… XD… dammit, just love this show.

    Ddadain
    Reply

  4. “What would the Committee of 300 achieve by destroying mankind?”

    Not 100% sure since it’s been a while since they explained it but…

    Pretty sure the committee’s plan isn’t exactly “destroying” mankind but more like culling it.

    World domination is tricky when you’re dealing with billions of people. Engineer an almost-apocalypse and not only do you reduce the number of people you need to control but you leave them scared and looking for someone to take charge of everything.

    qwert
    Reply

    1. Your right, And some “White Knight in shining Armor” will appear and will get rid of this Robots. So everyone will see the Hero in him. But nobody knows, that this “Knight” was the one, that send these Robots..

      i saw this “Plot” in Mai Hime, and others. But it worked every time. So it is a “classic Plot drive”

      Germanguy
      Reply

  5. This episode progressed the plot quite a bit and helped us know Kona-chan better but for me the most striking part, especially considering how she became later in the episode, was the first minute and how it ended with Kona trying to mock her own thoughts and act as if it was something stupid while she was crying especially since she was doing it despite there being nobody to see it.

    HakumeiJin
    Reply

  6. Like many would say, the plan of the committee of 300 is not destroying mankind, but reducing the population significantly and crippling all governments and technology so that they can come into the picture (after hiding from the solar-flares) and take control of what’s left of humanity to rebuild the world but this time it will be fully under their control (with only millions of people left it will be much easier to control and rule over them).

    As for Kona, i’m starting to think her mother is actually Kimijima Kou herself, she worked on the anime of Gunvarrel which exposed the plan of the committee of 300 in its final episode and also her site had the hidden note that Kona found .. she clearly knows about the committee of 300 .. or she was at least very closely related to Kimijima Kou and working with him .. but i’m in favor of Kona’s mother actually being Kimijima Kou or using his name as an alias to elude the committee (but apparently the committee found out who she is and tried to kill her as she said in her note, she knew who was on her trail and that’s impossible unless she knew before hand who was targeting her and why).

    It’s just my theory and i don’t have solid proof of it .. so take it or leave it i guess .. time will tell if it’s right or wrong

    HunterWulf
    Reply

      2. And how do we know that’s the truth, how do you know it is the real Kimijima is the one who wrote those reports and inputted that warning into Gunvarrel final episode !!!? .. everything .. and i mean EVERYTHING points out it’s Kona’s mom who did all this .. the note hidden on that site was clearly written by Kona’s mom (she is talking about the whole animation team getting killed, and that they are after her because she knows their plan), the password to enter the secret page on the site was obtained from the extra episode of Gunvarrel .. meaning the warning in that episode against the plan of the committee was made by Kona’s mom .. AGAIN her … above all that Kona came to the island in the first place because she heard that her mom was last seen .. yeah .. where .. ON THE ISLAND .. and there is really nothing stopping Kona’s mom from using a male alias to try to confuse the committee of 300 and throw them off her trail to buy herself some time.

        I was expecting some interesting rebuttal .. but “I think its been said Kimijima is a male” .. come on .. how many times have male writers used a female alias or the other way around in real life to hide their real identity .. it’s a very well known practice.

        HunterWulf
        Reply

    2. Here is a interesting rebuttal. Two people knew kimijima while he was on the island. One was Misa and the other her friend and they both said the knew “him”. Yeah it would be a nice twist but its already been shown false. Kona’s mom is involed somehow. Also if she was Kimijima should would be dead because he was killed on that boat.

      infinite
      Reply

    1. People don’t get more geeky/nerdy than Kona .. why would she wear “I’m mad scientist” t-shirt ? .. she is not a scientist .. never was, never will be .. she is one very geeky/nerdy programmer XD

      HunterWulf
      Reply

  12. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, retro-virus’, zombie apocalypse, whatever.
    BUT THE SUN EXPLOADING!!! What a terrifying scenario! This anime can just swing from cute to scary in a second.

    Jolly
    Reply

  13. Don’t forget about “Project Mars” mentioned a few weeks back (briefly).

    My theory is that Project Atom is designed to amp up the Sun’s power and destroy all life on Earth, while at the same time making Mars habitable and suitable for terraforming – which is Project Mars. By manipulating the sun in such a way they kill two birds (and billions of people) with one stone – they eliminate the grotty masses of peasants they loathe, and set up a new world for their master race to have a fresh start in depleting of resources.

    Guardian Enzo
    Reply

  14. Things got so intense in this episode, reminds me of episode 12 of stein’s;gate when shit just decided to hit the fan and the series went from good to just flat out amazing.

    imperfectblue
    Reply

  16. Awww, poor Kona…
    First things first, she was absolutely adorable as a kid, down to the T-shirt already proudly proclaiming geekiness…
    Secondly, it is awesome how well she managed to research the data smuggled in the “lost/last Gunvarrel episode”.
    Third, it is a meanest form of attack to frame someone innocent. 300 Committee or whoever is behind this is my personal enemy from now on!
    Fourth, does that mean her mom was framed in a similar way?
    Fifth, Yashio, props to you for saving her. Now give here the finger if she wants it, dammit!
    Sixth, Kimijima reports and the Gunvarrel subliminal code are simply 2 different relations about the same conspiracy – and now events in the world seem to be confirming both of them.
    Seventh, the sunglasses really fit Nae – do you remember her first showing up? There are no coincidences here and I seriously think some faction with agenda opposite to the 300 committee is secretly supporting our team via JAXA. And it’s good because the kids alone would not have a chance against such vast conspiracy – look how easily have they broken Kona.
    TL;DR I <3 Kona, h8 300 committee, fertilizer truck has hit the turbofan engine!

    ewok40k
    Reply

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