Ending theory : not what everybody seems to think?

MidoFortune said:
I think you're kinda confusing this with the Zero Escape trilogy.

Seth7 said:
So I watched and rewatched the whole anime when it came out and yes the butterfly effect at the end its a bit too much since it would have changed a lot more. For example I might be wrong since it's been a while since I watched it but from what I remember Shinpei parents were in the island to investigate their goddess Hiruko so if she was erased and never existed there was no reason for them to ever be or know about the island. Also from what I remember Hiruko saved the islanders in the past when they were starving so this would also have changed a lot of the present too.
Going to your original question time flows like a river and everytime Shinpei was looping he was basically adding a branch to the river and creating an alternative reality.
But when Ushio erased Hiruko she didn't loop she changed the past she didn't create an alternative reality she erased the reason for all the alternative universes.
Again if time flows like a river and if you remove the reason for the river to have branches (alternative universes) then the alternative universe where Hizuru and Ushio are dead also disappears and never happened.
Don't know how to explain any better but if Hiruko is erased in the past Shinpei never got the eye and never looped to create alternative realities so you have a normal time flow without any alternative realities, Ushio didn't create an alternative reality were they achieved the happy ending she just erased the reason (Hiruko) for all the alternative realities with bad endings so these never happened in the end.

Akami__ said:
DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE ANIME



Still a bit unsatisfied with not everything making sense to me, I browsed online to see explanations to some points but couldn't really find something convincing. My understanding of the ending is completely different from everyone else's, and I'd love someone to tell me why it's wrong (assuming it is).

In a mid-series episode, we are told that looping isn't really "changing the past". It's more creating an alternative universe, and Shinpei transfers his consciousness and memories to that parallel universe. So technically, there is plenty of universes where the story doesn't end well at all, where the world ends and everybody dies.

Now, at the end of episode 24, Ushio erases Hiruko, which for me creates a NEW alternative universe where Hiruko never existed. That universe is the one we see in Episode 25 (well, the butterfly effect thing makes everything a bit questionable, but we can assume it doesn't impact anything). HOWEVER. The Shinpei we've been following all season long, he still exists! He still lives in his universe, where both Ushio and Hizuru are dead, but they defeat Shide like we see in the anime (again, a bit questionable because they used the eye + the audio sent to Hizuru to tell her to find Shinpei, which is a return to the past that shouldn't be possible, as my previous paragraph suggests. And it's even a bit of a chicken and egg situation, as they would never have gotten this far in the first place, had it not been for the eye, but whatever).

So, my understanding is that Ushio gave the eye to every version of Shinpei she could find, including the one we've been following the whole series (this one is the chicken and egg situation), as well as created ONE alternative universe where Hiruko doesn't exist at all, the one we see in episode 25. So in every single universe except for that particular one, and including the one we've been following since episode 1, Ushio IS in fact dead, and so is Hizuru. That's not really a happy ending. For me, the Shinpei we follow did NOT go back in time to get a happy ending, otherwise he would remember everything, as per usual in the anime.

Last argument in favor of my take: if erasing Hiruko was enough to cause a go-back in time and that happy ending where none of the ordeals even happened, then what the heck was this whole scene at the end of episode 24 where Ushio is like "i need to hurry before this body disappears", where she records that audio and somehow gives the eye to Shinpei? That scene should be proof that there is still a universe in which Shinpei gets the eye and has to fight Haine and Shide.

Just one last thing: some people say that at the beginning of episode 25, Shinpei still has the eye because it's a different color. But for me both eyes are the exact same color, so not sure what's up with that

Akami__ said:
DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE ANIME



Still a bit unsatisfied with not everything making sense to me, I browsed online to see explanations to some points but couldn't really find something convincing. My understanding of the ending is completely different from everyone else's, and I'd love someone to tell me why it's wrong (assuming it is).

In a mid-series episode, we are told that looping isn't really "changing the past". It's more creating an alternative universe, and Shinpei transfers his consciousness and memories to that parallel universe. So technically, there is plenty of universes where the story doesn't end well at all, where the world ends and everybody dies.

Now, at the end of episode 24, Ushio erases Hiruko, which for me creates a NEW alternative universe where Hiruko never existed. That universe is the one we see in Episode 25 (well, the butterfly effect thing makes everything a bit questionable, but we can assume it doesn't impact anything). HOWEVER. The Shinpei we've been following all season long, he still exists! He still lives in his universe, where both Ushio and Hizuru are dead, but they defeat Shide like we see in the anime (again, a bit questionable because they used the eye + the audio sent to Hizuru to tell her to find Shinpei, which is a return to the past that shouldn't be possible, as my previous paragraph suggests. And it's even a bit of a chicken and egg situation, as they would never have gotten this far in the first place, had it not been for the eye, but whatever).

So, my understanding is that Ushio gave the eye to every version of Shinpei she could find, including the one we've been following the whole series (this one is the chicken and egg situation), as well as created ONE alternative universe where Hiruko doesn't exist at all, the one we see in episode 25. So in every single universe except for that particular one, and including the one we've been following since episode 1, Ushio IS in fact dead, and so is Hizuru. That's not really a happy ending. For me, the Shinpei we follow did NOT go back in time to get a happy ending, otherwise he would remember everything, as per usual in the anime.

Last argument in favor of my take: if erasing Hiruko was enough to cause a go-back in time and that happy ending where none of the ordeals even happened, then what the heck was this whole scene at the end of episode 24 where Ushio is like "i need to hurry before this body disappears", where she records that audio and somehow gives the eye to Shinpei? That scene should be proof that there is still a universe in which Shinpei gets the eye and has to fight Haine and Shide.

Just one last thing: some people say that at the beginning of episode 25, Shinpei still has the eye because it's a different color. But for me both eyes are the exact same color, so not sure what's up with that