[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Episode 5 -- "The Final Match of the Contest"

Despite the setback, Haruto is totally prepared to set aside fancy tricks and get the job done with nothing but a sword, only for the real gravity of the situation to quickly become apparent once he runs out of juice entirely, undoing his transformation and leaving him at the mercy of Cat Sidhe. Fortunately for Haruto, he's only at the mercy at Cat Sidhe, who, true to form, simply takes the opportunity to run away and slack off somewhere.

So the stakes for Wizard would be the mana for its Rider user, where if Haruto runs out from it he'd revert back to human form. He can't henshin forever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

She tries to walk off in a huff, telling Haruto that it's not worth putting his life on the line for Takagi, but before Haruto can say anything to try and calm her down, he collapses outright.

Seems coincidental for my viewing that the recent OOO episode also talks about if the victim is worth saving. Sorry, but I guess this'd be the bigger dick move for Koyomi to tell Haruto to abandon a victim. Virtuous characters of superhero shows tend to run on how there's no life not worth saving, though Eiji was the one that said it in ep. 4 that it's not his place to decide someone's worth, but it's also a good tips that should be widespread, that one should be able to divide time against those who are worth spending your on, and cut off those who aren't otherwise, for their own well-being. I know it's often brought up about how heroes should be self-sacrificial, but I don't want suffering to be glorified, while not encouraging basing treatment on what they deserve or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Those feelings have manifested in some pretty ugly ways throughout these episodes, but put in light of that fear of being abnormal -- of not being good enough -- it's a lot harder to criticize her for that.

It can be generally easier to sympathize in watching a fictional story (though generally this applies more to cool morally grey or villainous fighter characters), as by following a character, we get to know them better in detail, learn about why they act the way they do that helps one emphatize with them better, but for real life, one likely wouldn't know the ones who behave in a poor way better, giving little motivation to sympathize, and many'd (including me at times...) just write off these kind of people as pure monsters, but in actuality perhaps anyone can have their own struggles and reasons to act like that, which makes me wonder what'd be actually deserving of criticism given anyone'd have reasons... outside of actual villains. Of which obviously, Haruto's the one to strive for in how he understands Takagi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

With Haruto's earlier words as the hint, Koyomi realizes that Takagi is terrified of facing failure tomorrow because he's trying to cling to the success of his past. This too, has value far beyond just these two episodes. Pleasant memories can be a source of hope, and something that drives you forward in life, but with Takagi, we're seeing how it's just as possible for those feelings to become twisted into a much more unhealthy longing to go back, and you'd better believe the line between cherishing a memory and obsessing over it is a topic we'll be revisiting throughout the show.

Dunno what caused Takagi's slump, but a common case of this would be perhaps nostalgia goggles, as it's done through universal experience of life, where I just see it anywhere of people longing for the pleasant memories in their past, making them bitter of the present and lashing out at anything in the present. This to me, causes many double standard judgments to praise something of the past while bashing on something of the present, for the same reasons. I do try to not have this cloud my judgments, and call out these double standards, but as this can be the hot take, I might be the one in the wrong for doing this and by above, not understanding others about nostalgia (being a hell of a drug).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Knowing all that also makes it very clear how much it must mean to her that Haruto promised to be her hope that day, in spite of her trying to push him away, and that *also* ties together *so* much. Not only the parallel between Koyomi and Takagi, but what Haruto told Rinko earlier about accepting everything about Koyomi, and why she trusts him in particular. In that moment, Koyomi couldn't think of herself as anything but a monster, and yet Haruto treated her with kindness, and gave her a reason to face the uncertainty of the future.

I do understand about being singled out for being abnormal, which is something common in real life that doesn't need something inhuman like a doll to happen, but dunno if at this point, Koyomi had actually suffered due to her abnormal traits, or that her fear was all in the head. I understand having a fear of negative scenarios in the head, I have that all the time. Koyomi processing her abnormal nature this early may give her more time to develop from that, and it gives clear meaning of what Haruto means of accepting everything about her, though often conflicts like this are done in having a character who's prejudiced against other species as a test.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

With Cat Sidhe defeated, there's nothing to get in Takagi's way at the contest... not that it helps him come out on top. No, instead, Takagi wins a more personal victory today, by taking his loss in stride, telling everyone of his intent to get a fresh start studying overseas, and thanking Koyomi for giving him the wake-up call he needed. And as for Koyomi herself? Well, she even finds herself smiling along at Shunpei's usual antics, so it definitely seems she's gained something from all of this too.

It's refreshing to not have Takagi actually win, but still having him losing, continuing his struggle with before, as the lesson is about how he deals with his current predicament. Though obviously he has shown unhealthy coping mechanisms to it before that he grew out from, to some people, telling one to get over it (though both Haruto and Koyomi doesn't do it in an insensitive way) can feel offensive to them, where they don't understand on how it's human to have negative reactions like sadness and disappointment, and that said advice feels like telling them to repress negative feelings, which'd be toxic positivity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

It's quite the heartwarming resolution, and as usual, there's a lot of smaller things going on that make it all that much more impactful. It's not just that Koyomi is smiling; it's also that Haruto is there to notice she is, just like he took note when Wajima told him that morning that Koyomi had been spending the night with Rinko and Shunpei, feeling happy that she's finally making friends. And of course, Haruto gets to communicate all that to the audience without having to say anything directly, which I think contributes a lot of the nuance that helps it all land exactly how it needs to.

Though it's expected that the cast's bond will get stronger in a show like this, I feel that, at this point, Koyomi's just more indifferent rather than hostile against Rinko and Shunpei, which is still a baby step rather than full-on friends. Like, maybe driving away Rinko and Shunpei wouldn't produce as much results, so she stops forcing them what to do. As she said, suit yourself, if they join, then they join, but if they don't, then she wouldn't fret about it.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Koyomi may look sweet and innocent, even with the mischief behind her smile, but yeah, giving Rinko the cold shoulder like that shows how the team's sudden expansion has caused Koyomi's insecurity to manifest in spitefulness and that needs to be resolved quickly. It's not like her, but that's the whole point. It's good that we get to see her dark side now, so then we can get the healthy version of Koyomi we all know and love.

About looking sweet and innocent.... dunno if this just applies to anyone conventionally attractive (there are exceptions but still), of which this phenomenon is refered as 'halo effect', psychological bias in perceiving attractive people more positively - which may relate on how attractive people'd look sweet and innocent.