A message from Kate to everyone in the Jananda Arc:
It would be hard to overstate how much I came to hate this arc and almost everyone in it it by the end. I loathe it to an irrational degree – and that’s taking into account that I loathe it rationally too. It’s much more annoying when shows which have proved they can be great are mediocre, because we have a full sense of the potential not being realized. I know – rationally – that this arc was exactly the same length as the previous one. But it felt like it lasted a century.
Having Gugu play such a major role here was just salt in the wound, really. And you just knew that Tonari would walk away from this, while all the other main arc protagonists died. Not only that, but the writing was extremely clumsy in making Sander (be honest – would you even know his name without looking it up?) such a major player in the final episode. Where was any – any – characterisation for him in the previous five eps? It wasn’t like this in the first two arcs, which really calls out just how weirdly sloppy this one was.
When Tonari said “it was my fault”, that was the first moment in this episode where I was fully on-board. After that things got all cattywampus again, though. It’s hard to justify Fushi’s hesitation in putting the three zombie children to rest, first of all, after he’s just Gugu’d all the other zombies to yakitori. And then the physics of that moment when Tonari – being held out over a flaming abyss by Hayase – somehow manages to pull her off the ledge. Just how does that work, exactly? Let them fall, Man, for the love of God…
The larger issue of Fushi’s existence is explored in an interesting way, admittedly. From Hayase’s demented perspective I can see that what she’s offering him makes sense – let him stay pure and be his spear. It’s perhaps a little anti-climactic for her whole raison d’être to have been that she’s in love with him, but who’s to say it’s not possible? Even more insidious is her plea with Fushi to kill her and take her into his arsenal – she’s right, she’s a powerful potential weapon. But I can see where Fushi wouldn’t want Hayase inside him (even if that doesn’t cut both ways).
There is a fundamental contradiction to Fushi’s existence that this dreary arc does manage to call attention to in intriguing ways. What is his role in the world – not as his creator defines it, but he himself? He has his ideals and he’s entitled to them, but by sparing Hayase’s life in the past he’s already caused multiple deaths of people close to him (and having a Nokker seemingly bail him out here would be trying to have it both ways). He’s not a pacifist, clearly – he’ll fight and kill, as long as what he’s killing isn’t human. But what purpose does he want to serve? Maybe in the end it’s nothing more or less than learning to be the best human analog he can be, but he’s clearly not reached that decision yet.
Needless to say, these are questions the manga surely explores further. And while we’ve passed the point where I have knowledge of the source material, I can only guess that much of what to comes is more elegantly executed than this arc was. The question, with next week being the finale, is whether that exploration will happen in anime form (I would say the odds are against it). It’s not too hard to guess how things might end next week, and it seems as if that would be a fitting bookend to how they started. And it would certainly ease the sting of the past several weeks if Fumetsu went out with a reminder of just how much it’s capable of.
Bob
August 25, 2021 at 12:40 amThat last image though.
John
August 25, 2021 at 4:58 amIn total agreement with you here. I’ve viewed this arc as clearly a major step-down throughout, but this was the episode where I was actively rolling my eyes. The entire drawn out conflict over “killing” the 3 already-dead kids with close to zero characterization doesn’t work on a logical or emotional level, Hayase popping up unscathed after just being crushed by Fushi, her “negotiation” offer that Tonari is so against being…letting Tonari live and killing the 3 zombie kids for Fushi? Huh? Your previous point on the inverse relationship between how hard the show tries to be heartbreaking and how heartbreaking it actually is remains very, very true.
Also, it’s an interesting coincidence that all of the seasonal check-in “Elite” series this year (this, Megalo Box, and Horimiya) have struggled to live up to their first half in their second. Though obviously I would never compare the quality of the Jananda arc to anything in Megalo Box 2…
Guardian Enzo
August 25, 2021 at 8:25 amYeah, well – whatever issues MB2 had were definitely nowhere near on that level, as you said. But the hardest part of a story to nail is almost always the ending. In the case of Horimiya I think the issue was more a general problem with what the director chose to adapt to accommodate the length. Here, it’s just general unevenness.
Rasu
August 25, 2021 at 7:35 amI just would wish Fushi had killed her then (or anybody, please). She’s more dangerous and sickening obsesive than anything! Not worth at all, and personally I prefered that Gugu is the one teaching him about love (not in a romantic way) not Tonari neither Hayase psycho blood.
But the autor has this particular ideas ever since Koe no Katachi (god! How I hate those bully girls no matter what!) so, I just hope the series ends as its potential seems to be.
By the other hand, Pioran suprised me, really. I found her more interesting than Tonari or March. Too bad she’s underestimated (even by Fushi) when she’s no the spotlight. She’s also her family as Gugu is, she’s more entitled to that spot than “mommy” March, but oh, well…that’s how it is.
gedata
August 25, 2021 at 8:26 amI imagine Fushi had a much harder time killing off those zombie kids than all of those extras, not for any logical reason but simply because he actually knew them somewhat on a personal level and didn’t want to put Tonari and that other kid through more heartache. Just think of it in the sense that people can watch news reports about dozens of people dying in a natural disaster and not be as emotionally affected as they would with a close friend or family member dying. It seems a little cynical to say that we only truly care about the people in our lives that have made a notable impact on us personally (on more than a purely ethical, common etique sense), but it’s kind of true.
Guardian Enzo
August 25, 2021 at 8:35 amThat may be the case, but as a plot device it lacked any emotional resonance for me.
JHNSeph
August 25, 2021 at 3:45 pmTo be honest, the only decent thing about this arc was Hayase.
At least she was somewhat interesting and shaked things up.
In the boat, when she established herself as being yandere for Fushi and shifted towards the deredere side, that was one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen and I thanked god for it.
Guardian Enzo
August 25, 2021 at 3:51 pmYes, as skeevy as that was it was one of the more interesting parts of the episode. My theory is she initially got it in her head to mate with Fushi and try and sire a line of immortals to rule the world, and that grew into a twisted infatuation.
Kim
August 25, 2021 at 4:42 pmI am actually surprised you haven’t read further. There actually was a good stopping point in the manga but when I saw the episode count of this series I knew they definitely were not going to ever get there.
Guardian Enzo
August 25, 2021 at 5:26 pmI stopped when the anime was announced (as I often do).