Ikoma getting beaten so easily was bullshit poor writing, nothing else. I hope the author will recover his touch in the next episode.
War criminal Mumei deserves anything bad that's going to happen to her. It would be cool if she was turned into another abomination like Horobi. She had plenty of time to realise what kind of a scumbag she's following, but she willingly chooses to ignore it. I don't care if she's 12; she has more life experience already than most 30 years olds even in that world.
Life experience with what? Killing zombies?
Mumei seems like a sheltered child brainwashed into believing everything Biba says. I don't blame her at all for what happened. If she didn't do it, Horobi would've done it in her stead, changing very little in the end. The kabaneri are so powerful they really didn't have to sneak in at all. They could launched a frontal attack on the bridge and still succeeded.
Peace.
She could have closed the bridge immediately when she noticed the zombie horde about to march in. Instead she did nothing. During the whole time afterwards she did nothing but mumble in self-denial, except for killing one random kabane when the trauma hit a bit too close to home. Even after Bibi slew Horobi in cold blood, Mumei didn't change her stance, which was made evident by the fact she didn't object to those soldiers arresting her. She could have taken them down before they knew what hit them, after all. I'm not even sure she's regretting what she did. Maybe she's merely baffled by it.
You don't blame her, I do blame her. It's cool.
She's clearly regretting it AND baffled by it. My argument is mainly that nothing would've changed, even if Mumei tried to close the slow-as-hell bridge, that got disabled with one rope-cut (ridiculously dumb design). The presentation was done in such a way to make that clear. Mumei was used for the plan, but in no way was she critical to it.
Biba didn't even know she was alive before arriving at the station.
Peace.
Sure, but like I said, she never tried to do anything after realising (?) her mistake. She was used only up to the point when she opened the gate. After that she was willingly cooperating because that's also where her instructions probably ended, and, like you said, Biba didn't really care if she comes back or not. Though I'm sure Biba is more than happy to keep her around to serve as the core of another abomination, should the need arise.
To be honest I expect Mumei to seemingly redeem herself by freeing Ikoma later, or something along those lines, but in my current mindset I'd prefer her to lose her mind and turn into a monster in the middle of an aggregate.
I actually don't think she needs redemption. She was used by the man who saved her life and raised her until now. Biba deserves all the blame.
Peace.
The shock of seeing the direct result what she had just caused was what finally broke Mumei's brainwashing.
She'd been doing it for years, but without the Kotetsujo crew, she never would have even questioned it.
That is actually what made this episode not just good, but great. It explains what complete scumbag Biba has become for his own personal gain. This is obviously a fight he started with the shogun, and perpetuates by being a incredibly evil POS.Originally Posted by shinta|hikari
There is one key thing to notice is the composition of Biba's forces. All the regular warriors (and scientist) are male, and all of Biba's manufactured Kabaneri have been female. He charms and brainwashes girls from a young age to be loyal to him, worship him, maybe even love him. Horobi, by far the oldest Kabaneri we've seen Biba have, is still fairly young. We can presume he started with her.
Then he injects Horobi and her wonderful ass with the blue blood, turning her into a black cloud hybrid. She eventually loses control, and starts slaughtering their own forces, and stops right before killing Biba. She hesitates because he's formed the cult of personality around him, Horobi was still ultimately loyal to his greatness, and he kills her, face completely calm.
But that's not entirety of that scene. That's what his people see, but something else plays between Horobi and Biba. That single, perfectly animated bead of sweat. Brilliance in visual storytelling right there. Biba was scared. He assumes his female Kabaneri still love and are loyal to him, but he's not completely sure. Horobi, regaining control of herself in those final moments, notices that little drop. A knowing smirk plants itself on her face before she lets him kill her. He keeps it off his face, but she saw his weakness.
He could use men as Kabaneri, but they wouldn't worship/love him the way his brainwashed girls do. He'd lack that final safety net.
One he just lost with Mumei (thanks to the Kotetsujo's crew casual humanizing and deprogramming) and that he probably doesn't even realize (except that dumbass was speaking her final lines this episode out loud, so maybe, maybe not).
I agree with your analysis of the scene, including the bead of sweat. What I don't understand is how you can be brainwashed enough to do something like that. Horobi didn't look stupid. She knew she was being sacrificed by someone who doesn't give a shit about her but willingly did it.
Peace.
You are just saying that because she's a main character and thus needs to survive and turn good.
In reality she didn't do a single thing to oppose that scumbag of a man. I believe he could still command her around, even despite the soldiers confronting her.
Because things like brainwashing and imprinting are emotional rather than rational. If you start at a young age it's even more effective.
Your last line is is essentially the epitome of love.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
No, it's not. That's a rather romantic way of defining love, unrealistic even.
Even real love in real life has conditions. Consider divorce rates and estranged parent-child relationships. I know, I lived through the latter.
Can you really state a real life example of someone doing the same thing Horobi did? That wasn't a battered wife not having an option or stupidly hoping for a change of heart. Horobi knew Biba was an irreversible fucking asshole and wanted to sacrifice her because he didn't give a fuck about her life.
Peace.
Didn't Mumei believe kabaneri will die young, no matter what, by turning into kabane eventually? I seem to recall her talking about it. Whether it's true or another of Biba's plots, who knows, but nevertheless it would allow Biba far more easily make the kabaneri serving him sacrifice themselves since they believe they don't have much time left anyway, yet could make a big difference by a final act.
Big difference for a dude who doesn't give a fuck about them?
That's the problem I have with this development. Most (logical) fanatic plot devices require some form of deception or rationalization to explain why the fool plays the fool, much like how Mumei got tricked. Here, Horobi knows everything yet still kills herself for what? Nothing! That's the problem. Biba isn't cornered or anything. There are a number of ways she wouldn't have had to sacrifice herself. Yet she willingly did so. Why? Plot!
Biba is clearly showing his true colors, making it weird how anyone would willingly follow him, much less someone as apparently intelligent as Horobi.
Peace.
Ignoring shinta´s gross signature ...
This episode was REALLY dumb. I´ll focus on two things:
1.) Why did Horobi suddenly turn into Kyuubi level 4? Fighting on all four, shooting energy blasts, .... WAT?! Surely that is typical for an evolved kabane, eh? lol
2.) Is Biba´s masterplan to eradicate all of mankind from the planet´s surface? Because if not, HOLY COW IS THAT DUMB. Sacrificing an entire town makes no sense, whatever the reasons. As far as we know, there´s only a hand full of safe locations left in this world. So unless Biba is set on killing everybody, this is just nonsensical and insane.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
Essentially, Biba thinks the Shogun is a coward because he does no fighting himself, hides behind multiple cities/walls and reaps the rewards as the commander.
He's here to "liberate" everyone from this unfair social structure. In his free world, the strong survive. The strong live at the top. It matters not whether you are a shogun or a pheasant.
That's the type of picture he's painting. It's chaotic and dangerous, but it's free.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
I´m pretty sure he had the power to just assassinte the shogun and his loyal fellows then, instead of ruining an entire town for good ;/
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
I don't know what Buff is smoking. That's what Biba says he wants. He's a known liar.
He just wants to be in power instead of his uncle. That's all there is to it. Biba is a lot more depraved in how he goes about it too.
Biba enslaves people through fear and lies.
You think all those extremist islamist leaders give a single fuck about the men and women who blow themselves up in Middle East and elsewhere? Nah, they don't. It's just that it's easy to make people who have got nothing to look forward in life to think they will magnificently serve some greater purpose by making a suicide attack against their opponents. If it wasn't so easy, it wouldn't be a part of the normal warfare in parts of the world. It ought to be even easier in fiction, especially when love is involved to boot.
Other than that, I fully agree with Ryll. Biba wants nothing but to claim power for himself. And he's not too shy to use any means necessary, cause as much death as necessary. With every city that falls, the shogun's power will drop. Perhaps Biba thinks he can repopulate the cities later, perhaps he doesn't even care if it's a land of zombies he's going to rule. He's also clearly exceptionally bitter the other side outsmarted him by delivering the first strike, even if it failed to kill him.
My problem is Horobi wasn't fighting for a greater cause or 1000 virgins. She was fighting for the man who practically tells her she doesn't matter to him outside of being a disposable weapon.
If there's some past there, they should've shown it or alluded to it in a conversation. This episode felt like Horobi showed up and then died just for the heck of it.
I think that's the biggest problem with this show despite the enormous potential it has: abruptness. Everything just suddenly happens with very little foreshadowing or sense, some to good effect like Train Woman, but some, like Kyuubi laser, just feel lazy. Sure, they can be rationalized, but good stories don't rely on rationalization to make sense. They have to flow into events, not jam all the characters into slightly misfitting plot holes (pun intended).
Last edited by shinta|hikari; Sat, 06-11-2016 at 08:41 AM.
Peace.
He actually goes about it by sidestepping the truth rather than outright lying about it.
In effect, what he says makes sense. That's why the MC didn't have much to say back when they had their debate.
He may not give a shit about all of that and just want power, but this is the world he's creating while he's doing so.
This is his "plan", in response to MFauli's "wtf is he doing?" question.
2.) Is Biba´s masterplan to eradicate all of mankind from the planet´s surface? Because if not, HOLY COW IS THAT DUMB. Sacrificing an entire town makes no sense, whatever the reasons. As far as we know, there´s only a hand full of safe locations left in this world. So unless Biba is set on killing everybody, this is just nonsensical and insane.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
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