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Feb 17, 10:19 AM

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Apr 2019
815
natsuko looks likes she misses a bit of her humanity. but what is that damn bird.
 
Maybe watching, maybe reading, probably living
Feb 17, 11:23 AM
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Jan 2024
19
ah damn I thought she was gonna return to her world
she rizzed everyone before dipping that's wild work
also that cliffhanger wow
Feb 17, 11:42 AM
Community Mod
Equanimity

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Nov 2020
1636
It's so frustrating, the episode was so good... why can't this be a normal drama? A story about a prodigy and her life in the animation industry and how it's slowly breaking her? Why is this an isekai...
Feb 17, 11:55 AM
Ero Ojisan

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Jun 2019
5398
What a lovely episode that focused on Natsuko's life and its clearly that her first love is animation after watching Tales of Perishing for the fist time. Her passion for animation has turned into an obsession of becoming an animation virtuoso(prodigy) that she completely ignores the experiences of her youth such as experiencing her first love. By the time she given the task of directing a romcom she had no experiences to draw from because she never been in love before due to not having friends or a social life. If Natsuko didn't have animation in her life she would have been shut in based on her appearance alone not being able to see her face, but she's also shut in emotionally as well thinking that she can do anything by herself and not wanting to ask for help due to her lack of social skills when interacting with others.

Are we finally going to know what's up with creepy bird giving ominous vibes?
Feb 17, 12:41 PM
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Feb 2011
14
Since the beginning, I have been thinking about why I keep watching this anime. But this episode gave me my final answer.
Feb 17, 1:17 PM

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Nov 2013
6919
Show me your "SQUEE!" :D

This was a fun episode.

Natsuko stealing hearts and breaking them to pieces. She's a rare beast.

Dat end though. "Is Madoka Magica supposed to be happy?" EP 3, "NOPE!" (vibe)

Can't wait to see what horrors await.
Feb 17, 2:36 PM

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Jan 2019
858
Best episode by far, was waiting for Natsuko being an animator to actually become relevant to the plot.

My suspicion is that the bird is the reincarnated director of A Tale of Perishing, I've forgotten their name. iirc Natsuko heard the news of their death shortly before her own death in the first episode.

Feb 17, 2:40 PM

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Jan 2019
858
Adizcool said:
Easily the best episode so far. Seeing all the different kinds of first love that was around Natsuko but she never realized it was amazing. We also got to see Natsuko retreating into her animation shell with each time jump, giving us the context around her character. And Mappa went above and beyond making the real world more beautiful and exciting than any scene in the fantasy world.

The ending got me really hype since I feel the anime might touch on the difference between fan and creator intent. With how Natsuko has been changing the story of ToP, the current thing cannot be called anything other than a fanfiction. While she has helped all the characters she liked like a fan would want to, that has completely stripped the story of the director's original intentions. As happy as the story is now, it is nothing like the story Natsuko fell in love with when she was young and if the original story was what we are watching right now, there is a big possibility she would never have in the first place. ToP was always meant to be a bleak tragedy, and with messing with the story and characters like she has, can it even be called ToP anymore?

It really reminds me of those god-awful fanfictions people create whenever a big anime ends. Think of all the dogshit 'alternate endings' people create for AoT and JJK. All fans want is for their favorite characters to have a happy ever after at the end, and when that does not happen, they create their own endings and claim it to be better, not realizing that a happy ending for all the characters and the world spits in the face of the themes and messages the original creator wanted to express. Natsuko's condition is a bit different than these, but I still wonder if the anime will harken to these themes of original vs fan intent.

Also, the closer we get to the end, the more I feel like Natsuko isn't really dead and is just in a coma, dreaming about ToP. Maybe she already had an inkling that she needed to change and is speaking to her own subconscious self in the coma in this way to help her fully realize that. Its a long shot, but for some reason, I feel like the anime could go down this or a similar route.

Anyway, I'm so much more excited for the ending after this episode than I was before it. With the passion the team put in this episode, I feel like there is a high chance the anime lands the ending.

I like your take and I hope you're right about the show delving into artistic intent versus audience enjoyment. If the bird is the director like I suspect then it could get very interesting.

Feb 17, 7:15 PM
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Feb 2024
119
Kinda needed this episode a lot to help understand MCs main flaws.

I guess this is going to springboard into the final episodes.
Feb 18, 1:19 AM
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Oct 2024
206
I love how this episode was her backstory and I can say she's very talented. This was a fun episode and I loved it.
Feb 18, 2:25 AM

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Oct 2024
226
Reply to Sigmar-Unberogen
Show me your "SQUEE!" :D

This was a fun episode.

Natsuko stealing hearts and breaking them to pieces. She's a rare beast.

Dat end though. "Is Madoka Magica supposed to be happy?" EP 3, "NOPE!" (vibe)

Can't wait to see what horrors await.
@Sigmar-Unberogen
Sigmar-Unberogen said:
Show me your "SQUEE!" :D


Sure

Feb 18, 5:11 AM

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Dec 2009
407
Got bored halfway through this episode. This anime in general is not catching me, I expected to love it since it feels like a middle point between Re:Creators and Eizouken, but it feels derivative instead of a homage.
Feb 18, 4:03 PM
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Oct 2020
27
Visually very impressive as always, however this was another incredibly mediocre & pointless episode… Mappa really are fumbling their originals as of late which is super sad to see coming from the studio behind Yuri on Ice & Zombie land saga
Feb 18, 6:05 PM

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Dec 2017
75
Well I finally got to enjoy another episode of this. I seem to like it whenever we are not in the fantasy world. Maybe it's because the fantasy aspect of this show is so generic and boring. The world building is uninspiring. But boy, they really knew how to write a compelling story for Natsuko with this one. They should stick to real life.
Feb 18, 9:29 PM
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Feb 2010
1
Huge aro/ace vibe this episode, it'll be a great representation if future episode doesn't "awake" her romance, but i doubt it. Either way i trust the story will be good
Feb 19, 12:02 AM
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Oct 2024
19
Incredible episode! Holy shit Natsuko was/is a nightmare person lol. I mean she definitely was hyper toxic in the previous workplace episodes, but kinda fun to see how she gets there. Jokes throughout are great too.

Love to see more of an outside perspective and what Natsuko means to folk.
Also appreciate being able to see why Natsuko is taking on this project. Crazy director trying to develop talent, matched by someone who's never stumbled in figuring out their art.
I think these little mini stories are some of the best anime has to offer, irrespective of the show at large.

It is incredibly hard for me to care about childhood romance, but Mappa did it. Love the illustration of the friend next to Luke and the different styles.
When we see Natsuko watch the Perishing Movie, you can see she's fallen for her first love so clearly in a way that mirrors her own admirers.

The cliffhanger is great.
Will we see Natsuko turn into a villain and kill her darlings for the drama of her art like the previous director, or fight back and embrace love!?
Feb 19, 10:04 AM

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Oct 2020
18
It's lovely how Zenshuu always makes us expect something and than completely twists that.
The next episode is definitely not going to be the type of confession you first think of hearing that word. Or is it? At this point, that would be double twist so that would work too.

Anyway, I am just going to repeat myself but this show continues to be absolutely incredible, with each episode out-performing the previous one.

This ep gave us a very important piece of the puzzle by showing us fragments of Natsuko's past and it once again successfully combined top notch comedy (many laugh out loud moments), romance, drama and bits of other genres and sub-genres without stumbling for even a second. One of the most enjoyable 20 minutes spent in a long time, even if I judged it just by how much I didn't want it to end.
Feb 19, 10:36 AM

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Jan 2021
88
Reply to madoy
I had a feeling that this anime is just someone from MAPPA self inserting herself, and now it makes sense...
Script, Original Creator, Series Composition


So this anime is just some greenlit of personal project as reward.
@madoy Ngl, until seeing your comment I would have assumed the mc was more an amalgamation of different egos instead of being more directed at a specific person
Feb 20, 9:50 PM

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Jul 2021
2160
Wonderful episode. Part of me thinks this episode could've (should've?) been Episode 1.

I'm really not sure where the story will go from here, and that's exciting. Looking back, Episode 6's big battle might've been the final battle against the Void.

Now Natsuko might be facing a completely different kind of struggle... What do you do after you save the world and watch the ending? And you can't leave?

Adizcool said:
Also, the closer we get to the end, the more I feel like Natsuko isn't really dead and is just in a coma, dreaming about ToP. Maybe she already had an inkling that she needed to change and is speaking to her own subconscious self in the coma in this way to help her fully realize that. Its a long shot, but for some reason, I feel like the anime could go down this or a similar route.

I like this theory.

Maybe like The Wizard of Oz, ending with Natsuko "going back home" a slightly-changed person. Corny, maybe, and derivative, maybe. But I wouldn't mind seeing that happen to an animator character.
Feb 21, 9:29 AM
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May 2016
2123
Started watching this when I saw Mappa was doing it (since there isn't that much good to watch this season ) and caught up at this ep. Well Natsuko is unlikable and Tales of Pershing is dumb (though I guess it was supposed to be since it was a flop?), so I'm not to sure what this show is trying to be. I guess Natsuko is supposed to be growing from the horrible person she is but not sure why I should care after it spent so many episodes getting me to dislike her. :(
Also as someone who loves long hair, it takes a lot for me to hate long hair but this show managed it with her covering her face like a dog >:( if they hadn't occasionally uncovered it I would have dropped this immediately (Luke should have cut it the first time she fell asleep).
MenchiK1Feb 21, 9:41 AM
Feb 21, 9:47 AM
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Jan 2024
152
The best chapter of this anime, and the reference they made to the anime The Eminence in Shadow, at minute 10.30 when they said Nishimura, a very good chapter, really.
Feb 23, 12:08 PM

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Jan 2017
53
Srsly not a single comment about how that whole animation club was a Haruhi Suzumiya reference? I mean, even the club president's VA was Tomokazu Sugita, aka Kyon from Haruhi.
"Anime is trash and so am I."

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Feb 23, 12:28 PM
elk sensei

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Oct 2013
8651
Great episode, and I like how they had enough attention to detail to change the drawing scene as her legs were bare
Feb 23, 1:48 PM
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Nov 2022
1219
Lore and background for Natsuko, it's okay I guess xd
LuisSV23Feb 25, 8:31 AM
Feb 23, 9:21 PM
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Apr 2024
322
Wow, this episode was far beyond the rest of the show, both in terms of storytelling and visuals.
Average MAL user's media literacy:
Marinate1016 said:
Not reading allat cause I don’t care. Tensura peak. Have a good one tho
Feb 25, 8:42 PM

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Jan 2022
1482
The many admirers of Natsuko! I'm a huge fan of Natsuko's background. Truly a well written character.

She truly brought shame to the other animator lmao.

I'm starting to believe the pres is the owl/bird.

Nah but seriously, why is Justice kinda attractive lmao

Relevance to real life: people not reaching out to others for help
As a wise man once said, "No one hates anime more than anime fans"


Feb 27, 9:46 AM

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Mar 2023
51
Personally, I think this was a really cute and creative direction. Interrupting the isekai/fantasy-esque story to have an episode centered on the MC's past. The slice-of-life growing up. But through the LENS of OTHER new characters. The schoolgirl, track runner, and college student—all being profoundly affected by the MC, who is actually just living in her own little world. This was an incredible episode, both in a vacuum, and in the ongoing context of the overarching plotline. So much appreciation for the direction of this episode.
Feb 27, 10:10 AM

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Jun 2016
2124
natsuko is really kawaiii
Feb 27, 10:47 PM

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Feb 2019
1805
"Justy-bunch" lol it quickly stuck & now Justice can't shake it off lol
But Natsuko, that momentary bliss you just experienced was the calm before the storm, and that mysterious bird brought you some ominous news.
Mar 4, 4:03 AM
Online
Sep 2021
644
Hirose.... NEEEEZUUUUK---.. oops wrong series.

Anyone else notice the same VA though ;)?
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