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「迷惑かけてるのは親だけ」 (Meiwaku Kaketeru no wa Oya Dake)
“Only Parents Give Us Problems”
Two weeks ago it was the father who took the spotlight, this week, it’s Sasami’s mother’s turn to shine! Whenever an anime purposely skirts around the fate of a character, when they intentionally leave it vague, the logical assumption is always death. But every time it comes up, I always harbour a secret hope that it’s misdirection – that the character in question will not turn out to be dead and instead something clever will happen. Sadly it’s never misdirection, and it wasn’t here either. But the fact that she ‘vanished into the darkness’ was some pretty nice foreshadowing for the second half of the episode at any rate. I’m also happy that it doesn’t seem to have taken the obvious route of Tsukuyomi Juju (Asakawa Yuu) being resurrected through Sasami’s longing to see her again. I guess that’s one of two clichés avoided!
There’s something quite entertaining about seeing people exposed to things that are unusual to them but completely normal to us. We’ve had varying degrees of this already throughout the series thanks to Sasami’s strange nature, but there was something enjoyable to seeing her mother’s reactions which generally bordered on paranoia or disapproval. Her suspicion of everything is rather funny, but then again, is it really paranoia given just how crazy the world of Sasami-san@Ganbaranai can be at times? Especially for someone like Sasami herself. There’s also something ironic about the fact she tells Sasami not to rely on her brother too much despite the fact he exists, in Tsukuyomi tradition, entirely to be her slave and her mother is also completely incapable of doing anything for herself.
I’m always kind of impressed by how quickly Sasami-san@Ganbaranai can go from being light-hearted and fun to rather dark and brutal. It’s a little sad that Juju came back from the dead not to spend time with her beloved daughter, but rather to force her back into seclusion for ‘the sake of mankind’. So is the happiness and freedom of a single person truly worth more than the future of humankind? I can’t say I’m too interested in getting into philosophical debates on the ‘net, but even if she does have the power of Amaterasu, is it really required she sacrifice herself for others? What’s to say the world won’t move on fine without her? There’s a lot of arrogance in her mother – believing that the land cannot be left in the hands of gods and that power should be held by humans. But what more right do the humans have to it? Especially when gods and humans have been portrayed as so alike in this series. Tsurugi may be the ‘lazy’ god who threw away her powers, but she still cares enough to watch over Sasami and try to keep her from harm.
I suppose, in the end, the big question is how much of those events were actually real. It seems to be implied that what Sasami saw was not actually the real world, or it could be that her mother is referring to the ‘real world‘ as in the world she belongs to – the Tsukuyomi Shrine. I guess next week’s episode should shed some light on that!
tl;dr: @MoombaDS – First fathers, and now mothers. #Sasamisan
Random thoughts:
- I feel sorry for Kagami – it must hurt to have that pillow snatched away at the last second every time!
- There’s something rather ironic about Sasami comparing her own worth to that of the rabbit when it’s entirely possible that it’s what became of her duplicate!
- I wish I could do that!
- Kagami’s contrasting reactions to people and bunnies are a joy to watch!
Full-length images: 02.
Random aside: I released an awesome eight track sci-fi electronic video-game-inspired album! You should listen to it, buy it, and spread the word or something!
Preview
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End Card
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“even if she does have the power of Amaterasu, is it really required she sacrifice herself for others?”
I would say no. No one has any obligation to sacrifice for others or the whole “mankind.” It always irks me when characters like Sasami’s mother make their self righteous speech. Her dialogue is full of ironic too. She judges the world Sasami lives as vulgar, but what about the whole Tsukuyomi shrine with their abnormal traditions.
Really, just when I was about to say her mother is adorable as hell, the “hell” pretty much ram me in the face.
You know this story prided itsef for being the logical illogical anime – everything that doesn’t makes sense makes sense. Sasami’s mom sure is a badass that’s for sure and I can now truly understand why Tama is the right choice for Amaterasu’s power.
TQ
whoa amazing episode… but now I’m curious to see if it all was an illousion made by her mom, or if it really happened, AND if sasami.. will somehow reverse everything since she has the ultimate power, though the title of the next ep makes me think if its the latter it won’t happen next week KYAAAA I so excited this ep was amazing I want more!! MOREEEEE
Looks like Sasami was teleported elsewhere at the end there.
I think that’s what’s left of the shrine.
For once, it wasn’t Sasami’s powers that resulted in Sasami’s mom returning to the living world.
Rather, it was Sasami’s mom that made a deal with the “King of the Underworld” (implied to be Susanoo, Amaterasu’s (Tsurugi’s) brother, who has a grudge on his big sis. He even gave Sasami’s mom his sword to counter Tsurugi’s) to come back as a zombie so she could give her “naughty” daughter some spanking (based on her own hardcore beliefs).
Wow… Things just got serious…
I read a manga don’t know which one or what anime , they said it’s about courage for example you have a great disease and if you don’t die everyone will die but you will surrender not because you want to but because you are a coward who can’t fight against whole world yourself, I would ask nobody to sacrifice himself for mankind or the sake of the world cuz if world or mankind is going to end , now or after , it will still end and if it end we would be
together at the last moment! watch the knowing give me that feeling!
I’m pretty sure the example you just gave was from the first Kara no Kyoukai movie.
Each conflict that arises has had its origins with Sasami, and at their conclusion, in Sasami’s
narrative, she learns something about herself and her power. Last episode was a perfect example.
I still think Sasami somehow made all of this happen through an Alteration, or it can be fixed
(if her mother really did the impossible and came back to get her). Remember, her mother is no
longer a vessel for the god; so she shouldn’t have any power. Just a theory…
No longer a vessel for Amaterasu. But judging from the way she was talking, she appears to have been lent Susanoo’s powers for the sake of this exercise. This was all likely an elaborate scheme of his to get a shot at Amaterasu, and it seems to have been successful.
For those who don’t know. Susanoo is one of Amaterasu’s siblings. Lord of storms, and ruler of the land of the dead. He and Amaterasu don’t get along. She is arguably more powerful than him, but they’re comparable. If Sasami’s mother has his power at the moment, a real fight between her and Sasami would probably destroy the world.
On the plus side, assuming someone can work out how to get there, it should be fairly easy to rescue both Tsurugi and Kagami from the land of the dead. Tsurugi because she isn’t actually dead, and because she’s smart enough know the rules and not eat the food. Kagami because she doesn’t eat. In all cases eating the food in the land of the dead is the point of no return
Can Kagami be “dead” in the sense of going to the underworld since she’s a machine?
Well at least part of her is a piece of Amaterasu. The nature of her existance is kind of ambiguous. But given that she qualifies as a god, and that sword is said to kill gods, I’m not betting against it. It’s possible either Tsurugi or Sasami could save her at the moment, but they’re both indisposed.
prove Shaft’s real worth start from this episode!! At first it had been criticized by its complicating storyline and lacks smoothness of plot. When it comes to this, I have no idea of the big picture. However Shaft proves their value with its directing skills like their past works, -Bakemonogatari-, -ef- sth like that
Sasami was so uncomfortable in the preview.
What if we think about this in another way?
Given how crazy Sasami’s world is, it is possible that the mother is right when she assumes that the future of mankind depends on Sasami’s seclusion. Perhaps in Sasami’s world, the reason humans were able to progress to where they are now was due to the power of Amaterasu. Also, it might be true that Sasami’s seclusion is the only method for allowing mankind to progress.
Obviously, this is not the case, but what if?
What if the future of mankind depends on Sasami’s seclusion? What if Sasami’s freedom leads to mankind becoming stale or stagnant, and that without the power of Amaterasu, mankind will stop progressing?
In this case, should Sasami be secluded for the sake of mankind? Or is mankind not worth saving if it is dependent on the powers of Amaterasu?
(This is just a “what if” question from me.)
I’d say mankind is not worth as much as you think :p.
to say that one person’s lazyness is worth the lives of billions of our species is not only unpragmatic but deeply misanthropic. if my daughter being locked up meant that mankind’s evolution would continue progress then I would have to pick the hard but the right choice and demand that sacrifice. juju is just a dick about it
Is it safe to say sh*t just got more serious?
Oh God. The art shift.
This is good.
Now things get real and that animation quality… Its just full of SHAFT goodness
That OST that ost when Sasami mother is walking in the dark remind me of Mawaru no penquin drum ost go check it out really close lol
If you think about it maybe it’s best for mankind if Sasami is secluded so she won’t cause so many alterations with her power.
Sasami mom too OP
It’s sad that many people has already dropped this show due to the weird pacing on the first few episodes. It keeps getting better, and this episode is a concrete evidence.