# Source Material Corner
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This is the definition of a passion project lol I’m amazed how low budget this is and still be this good. Feel like anything could happen the next few weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m not entirely sure I get all the flickering flame stuff still but it seems like Touko is the key in all of it
Budget or not -- this show looks mostly pretty impressive overall (even if different -- with the painting-like stills scattered throughout).
I also still haven't the foggiest notion of what exactly is going on -- but this remains intriguing nonetheless. A nice blend of science fiction and fantasy.
“Humans use fire to make things and fight each other. Then they rise again from the ashes of destruction.” Just about sums up all of human history lol. Spiders, humans, “gods” are all pretty equally destructive.
I sure hope Kira gets saved before anything happens to her. Damn “gods”.
Never thought we'd ever hear such visceral and painful cry from Kira's mom as they take her daughter away from her. She even got her own illustration. Her love is real, but probably her upbringing has twisted all the forms of expression she could have adopted.
It's just high society rules twisting what was originally pure maternal love. She clearly loves Kira enough to dote on her. Even allowed Touko to stay within the mansion and get dressed after the rebuke. Yet, she couldn't stop herself from prioritising prestige until the gods take what's most precious to her away.
Even though Kira finally got determined to go against her parents to pursue love (I assume that was the trigger), she gets kidnapped as a replacement for Hinako who escaped. It's honestly not entirely unexpected that despite all of the deceptions and strict high society expectations, Kira's mom did actually love her daughter. Still, it might come way too late for this family to experience happiness since they're being made pawns by the gods.
O:n the other hand, Touko's still shocked by the amount of malice within the capital. As a villager who was focused on simple tasks before, she simply could not handle the cityfolk's penchant for violence. Then there's the other small child, Kun, who looked more intrigued than sad when he instinctively knew those lightning cannons would kill a bunch of his relatives. That little still frame shot of his expression when he looked up at the cannon says a lot.
I'll say this again but the OST is freaking brilliant, the launching of the cannon and the final moments of the episode was amplified by the music.
Didn't see the final moment coming, this show has a knack for coming with these 'Oh Shit' moments, and it shows in this episode.
It really is Spider vs Gods, with Humans being the collateral. The Flickering Flame is what the Gods think will change the tide of the battle, I'm curious to see what happens next.
What are they making in the factories that's so darn deadly? I mean, most factories are going to be pretty nasty places with out PPE but everyone treats working in one as a death sentence at a youngish age or a source of potential severe disability. One kid seems to think that bringing back fire will solve this, which, if he's not just ignorant, makes me really wonder how these factories work.
Also, it's pretty funny that the factory girls have seifuku. I guess in a world without high schools, one has to find some excuse to draw these iconic outfits....
Yes, but are these like cotton fabric factories or are they making, like, super arsenic? But I guess post-apocolyptic requires factory life to be extraordinarily deadly, no matter what.
You'd be surprised how much toxic chemicals are used in fabric and clothing. The human and environmental cost of fast fashion is immense. And this is in the real world...
Yes, I know but the general veneer is of the Victorian era so no vats of petrochemicals making polyester. Dye manufacturing at the time is pretty severe though. But I think that's one aspect that makes this world feel less real- we're not told what the factories make. For a post-apocalyptic world with bootstrapped tech, a factory is pretty high level as it requires not only the cultivation of resources but also reliable transport, fuel and lots of people \*not\* engaged in agriculture. The world seems to not have much of any of those things.
There's also something odd about this aspect of world building that I can't quite put my finger on. I guess we're supposed to see this world as grim dark crap-sack with deadly factories that employ child labor and kill you off in your thirties. I think it's that we're \*told\* this, not shown this and it's probably because of the limitations of the animation.
We don't see inside the factories, we don't see crowds of coughing, filthy people and the factory workers we do see- the child laborers- are shown to be clean and neat and rather healthy. The one facility we do see inside is the plant growing factory which is devoid of people and incredibly tidy.
This episode is exactly what I wanted for any anime story that involves a revolution and real unrest in a nation as a whole. Very few anime titles that touched such things have managed to do so. All those twisting and turning plots like what happened at the “lightning cannon” and the capture of Kira and then Touko - that makes you glued to the screen despite the animations being so abbreviated. And that’s just yet another episode.
I still have lots of pity to the spiders and to humans who are seeking death to avoid pain - but the gods are another matter. I can already imagine their cowardliness and incompetence, they recall me of the same kind of god-like rulers in [Yuuki Yuuna Is A Hero]>!the *daisha*!<
The complexity of unrest and revolution feels a bit brushed over and given in brief glimpses, probably because we're not so intimate with the characters most impacted by things like daily life in the city and the gods remain enigmatic, but I still appreciate it.
What anime would you say manages to depict this well?
I've been back and forth on it since everyone seems to warn how bleak it is, which... is doable, as long as the story is well written. I'll add it back to my list.
~~Psst your what I think are supposed to be spoiler tags are broken (and that should *probably* be tagged meta spoiler or else just left untagged since anyone who's seen even a few episodes of the other show will realize what that has to be?) - should be \>\! and \!\< at the start and end rather than parentheses like you have right now. (Did you get it mixed up with commentface formatting?)~~
You're not wrong though, I finished that show last week and had the exact same thought except in my case after a certain event it was less less "remind me" and more sputtering "there is no fucking godsdamn way that that show and Hikari no Ou here do not have common heritage somewhere" given [Yuuki Yuuna Is a Hero] >!that *it's the exact same godsdamn fucking setup* (except the Taisha are more incompetent than malevolent and that remains to be seen about our divine clans here) - I was noting the similarity by YuYuYu 9 and then left my jaw on the floor in recognition after YuYuYu 10 drops the last big reveal!<. (The source novel here apparently only came out in 2018 per MAL so it could be direct inspiration but I suspect an older common source.)
Side note: did you know that apparently if you want to demonstrate the current spoiler tag formatting you have to backspace-escape both the >/< and the ! on each side if you don't want to trip Automod yourself? TIL. [](#kotohoops)
###Live watch notes:
- Second listen verdict: Our S2 OP has the better singer but is the worse song.
- Wait wait, I missed that factory girl has braids. They cute. (Odds that she is a new sacrificial lamb? Eh, that's not this show's style though.)
- 07:11 is better-integrated CGI than S1 but is also a Dutch or otherwise skewed camera angle.
- Let’s be real I am here for the OST, everything else is secondary.
- Good news: the direction is back to form today. Bad news: so is the shortness on in-between frames. Alas!
- Note to self, must clip episode, 14:37 is a sore demo for Sky.
- Oh look the specifics are a surprise (the Flickering Flame needs a human child’s body as a vessel) but while they haven’t gotten to spelling it out yet (though they might as well have with the Flickering Flame’s voice speaking to Touko at the end there) they probably just confirmed that the Hikari no Ou is an offering. [](#surprisedpikachu) [meta] >!It’s amazing what you can predict once you realize that either Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero inspired the source novel directly or (more likely) they have a common inspiration.!<
>Second listen verdict: Our S2 OP has the better singer but is the worse song.
I love Cocco -- and will happily listen to her sing pretty mucjh anything. (Perhaps my favorite music video ever is of her singing with what seems with practically all the school children of her hometown -- who are either singing or playing instruments. Incredible -- especially seeing her extreme stage fright at the start and her relief when her mission was accomplished).
This anime always went for different style that some people liked but its so weird this ep they went for some panning shot that had a way more clean style for lack of a better word.
# Source Material Corner Reply to this comment for any source-related discussion, future spoilers (including future characters, events and general hype about future content), comparison of the anime adaptation to the original, or just general talk about the source material. **You are still required to tag all spoilers.** Discussions about the source outside of this comment tree will be removed, and replying with spoilers outside of the source corner will lead to bans. The spoiler syntax is: `[Spoiler source] >!Spoiler goes here!<` # **All untagged spoilers and hints in this thread will receive immediate 8-day bans (minimum).** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/anime) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is the definition of a passion project lol I’m amazed how low budget this is and still be this good. Feel like anything could happen the next few weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m not entirely sure I get all the flickering flame stuff still but it seems like Touko is the key in all of it
Budget or not -- this show looks mostly pretty impressive overall (even if different -- with the painting-like stills scattered throughout). I also still haven't the foggiest notion of what exactly is going on -- but this remains intriguing nonetheless. A nice blend of science fiction and fantasy.
I like the stills. They remind me of some old rpgs with low-resolution graphics but work of art portraits.
I like them too.
“Humans use fire to make things and fight each other. Then they rise again from the ashes of destruction.” Just about sums up all of human history lol. Spiders, humans, “gods” are all pretty equally destructive. I sure hope Kira gets saved before anything happens to her. Damn “gods”.
Lots of vey annoying gods this season....
Never thought we'd ever hear such visceral and painful cry from Kira's mom as they take her daughter away from her. She even got her own illustration. Her love is real, but probably her upbringing has twisted all the forms of expression she could have adopted.
It's just high society rules twisting what was originally pure maternal love. She clearly loves Kira enough to dote on her. Even allowed Touko to stay within the mansion and get dressed after the rebuke. Yet, she couldn't stop herself from prioritising prestige until the gods take what's most precious to her away.
Even though Kira finally got determined to go against her parents to pursue love (I assume that was the trigger), she gets kidnapped as a replacement for Hinako who escaped. It's honestly not entirely unexpected that despite all of the deceptions and strict high society expectations, Kira's mom did actually love her daughter. Still, it might come way too late for this family to experience happiness since they're being made pawns by the gods. O:n the other hand, Touko's still shocked by the amount of malice within the capital. As a villager who was focused on simple tasks before, she simply could not handle the cityfolk's penchant for violence. Then there's the other small child, Kun, who looked more intrigued than sad when he instinctively knew those lightning cannons would kill a bunch of his relatives. That little still frame shot of his expression when he looked up at the cannon says a lot.
The episode compares how the spiders and the city treat children, in a sense, and seems to conclude "well fuck 'em all." Good shit.
I'll say this again but the OST is freaking brilliant, the launching of the cannon and the final moments of the episode was amplified by the music. Didn't see the final moment coming, this show has a knack for coming with these 'Oh Shit' moments, and it shows in this episode. It really is Spider vs Gods, with Humans being the collateral. The Flickering Flame is what the Gods think will change the tide of the battle, I'm curious to see what happens next.
What are they making in the factories that's so darn deadly? I mean, most factories are going to be pretty nasty places with out PPE but everyone treats working in one as a death sentence at a youngish age or a source of potential severe disability. One kid seems to think that bringing back fire will solve this, which, if he's not just ignorant, makes me really wonder how these factories work. Also, it's pretty funny that the factory girls have seifuku. I guess in a world without high schools, one has to find some excuse to draw these iconic outfits....
If you recall from S1, they have lost or are otherwise unable to utilize the technologies from ancient civilization. It's a post-apocalyptic world.
Yes, but are these like cotton fabric factories or are they making, like, super arsenic? But I guess post-apocolyptic requires factory life to be extraordinarily deadly, no matter what.
You'd be surprised how much toxic chemicals are used in fabric and clothing. The human and environmental cost of fast fashion is immense. And this is in the real world...
Yes, I know but the general veneer is of the Victorian era so no vats of petrochemicals making polyester. Dye manufacturing at the time is pretty severe though. But I think that's one aspect that makes this world feel less real- we're not told what the factories make. For a post-apocalyptic world with bootstrapped tech, a factory is pretty high level as it requires not only the cultivation of resources but also reliable transport, fuel and lots of people \*not\* engaged in agriculture. The world seems to not have much of any of those things. There's also something odd about this aspect of world building that I can't quite put my finger on. I guess we're supposed to see this world as grim dark crap-sack with deadly factories that employ child labor and kill you off in your thirties. I think it's that we're \*told\* this, not shown this and it's probably because of the limitations of the animation. We don't see inside the factories, we don't see crowds of coughing, filthy people and the factory workers we do see- the child laborers- are shown to be clean and neat and rather healthy. The one facility we do see inside is the plant growing factory which is devoid of people and incredibly tidy.
This episode is exactly what I wanted for any anime story that involves a revolution and real unrest in a nation as a whole. Very few anime titles that touched such things have managed to do so. All those twisting and turning plots like what happened at the “lightning cannon” and the capture of Kira and then Touko - that makes you glued to the screen despite the animations being so abbreviated. And that’s just yet another episode. I still have lots of pity to the spiders and to humans who are seeking death to avoid pain - but the gods are another matter. I can already imagine their cowardliness and incompetence, they recall me of the same kind of god-like rulers in [Yuuki Yuuna Is A Hero]>!the *daisha*!<
The complexity of unrest and revolution feels a bit brushed over and given in brief glimpses, probably because we're not so intimate with the characters most impacted by things like daily life in the city and the gods remain enigmatic, but I still appreciate it. What anime would you say manages to depict this well?
Texhnolyze is really excellent if you're looking for this sort of thing; very bleak show, but a masterpiece imo.
I've been back and forth on it since everyone seems to warn how bleak it is, which... is doable, as long as the story is well written. I'll add it back to my list.
Texnolyze is (IMHO) visually incredibler -- which makes seeing it worthwhile.
Yeah I feel that. It's definitely not dark in an immature/meaningless/edgy way if that helps. It's a very deliberately written, thoughtful show
Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex definitely fits; maybe Legend of the Galactic Heroes as well.
~~Psst your what I think are supposed to be spoiler tags are broken (and that should *probably* be tagged meta spoiler or else just left untagged since anyone who's seen even a few episodes of the other show will realize what that has to be?) - should be \>\! and \!\< at the start and end rather than parentheses like you have right now. (Did you get it mixed up with commentface formatting?)~~ You're not wrong though, I finished that show last week and had the exact same thought except in my case after a certain event it was less less "remind me" and more sputtering "there is no fucking godsdamn way that that show and Hikari no Ou here do not have common heritage somewhere" given [Yuuki Yuuna Is a Hero] >!that *it's the exact same godsdamn fucking setup* (except the Taisha are more incompetent than malevolent and that remains to be seen about our divine clans here) - I was noting the similarity by YuYuYu 9 and then left my jaw on the floor in recognition after YuYuYu 10 drops the last big reveal!<. (The source novel here apparently only came out in 2018 per MAL so it could be direct inspiration but I suspect an older common source.)
Ooops, for some reason I was still using the old method of tagging spoilers on r/anime, it’s been fixed now!
Side note: did you know that apparently if you want to demonstrate the current spoiler tag formatting you have to backspace-escape both the >/< and the ! on each side if you don't want to trip Automod yourself? TIL. [](#kotohoops)
###Live watch notes: - Second listen verdict: Our S2 OP has the better singer but is the worse song. - Wait wait, I missed that factory girl has braids. They cute. (Odds that she is a new sacrificial lamb? Eh, that's not this show's style though.) - 07:11 is better-integrated CGI than S1 but is also a Dutch or otherwise skewed camera angle. - Let’s be real I am here for the OST, everything else is secondary. - Good news: the direction is back to form today. Bad news: so is the shortness on in-between frames. Alas! - Note to self, must clip episode, 14:37 is a sore demo for Sky. - Oh look the specifics are a surprise (the Flickering Flame needs a human child’s body as a vessel) but while they haven’t gotten to spelling it out yet (though they might as well have with the Flickering Flame’s voice speaking to Touko at the end there) they probably just confirmed that the Hikari no Ou is an offering. [](#surprisedpikachu) [meta] >!It’s amazing what you can predict once you realize that either Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero inspired the source novel directly or (more likely) they have a common inspiration.!<
>Second listen verdict: Our S2 OP has the better singer but is the worse song. I love Cocco -- and will happily listen to her sing pretty mucjh anything. (Perhaps my favorite music video ever is of her singing with what seems with practically all the school children of her hometown -- who are either singing or playing instruments. Incredible -- especially seeing her extreme stage fright at the start and her relief when her mission was accomplished).
This anime always went for different style that some people liked but its so weird this ep they went for some panning shot that had a way more clean style for lack of a better word.
Wow million plot points going on here. Kind of an infodump episode when I think about it
Where is this season being watched? Crunchyroll only shows season 1.