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Jun 13, 2009 7:06 PM
#1

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Jul 2008
5116
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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so the red shoes sucked out her life, and now shes a lifeless doll, so sad
the only way to stop a gamer from playing is either: beat them, or wait until they get bored (though 2% percent suffer seizures
Oct 28, 2009 1:21 PM
#2

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Jan 2009
33
i'm starting to notice a trend with Miyu...mercy blood sucking leaving the sucked victim dead...yeah...

makes one realize where the heck does she get her blood meals for all that flaming around. Something doesn't smell right here
Jun 10, 2010 4:32 PM
#3

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Nov 2009
769
wait what happen to the singer??? did she die??? and the snobby girl... did she die??? thats confusing... but this was a really great epi =D
May 10, 2013 4:20 PM
#4
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Jul 2018
562455
nice episode
Jun 18, 2014 3:28 PM
#5

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May 2012
25828
Not a bad episode, quite liked this one.
Sep 17, 2015 7:38 AM
#6

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Oct 2014
3669
Great episode I loved it
Jan 31, 2020 8:12 PM
#7

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Jun 2010
1874
Miho is shown in the hospital at the end so she's not dead, but she does seem to be hollowed out. Miyu put it nicely but there's an ugliness to the results of her "eternal happiness". She made sure this girl won't have a future.
Dec 19, 2020 4:16 PM
#8
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Dec 2019
392
Seems like a standard Faustian tale but several story choices make me wonder if there was something else to it. Why choose the girl who didn't even want to sing? Wouldn't such a Faustian tale make more sense if the snobby, ambitious girl was offered the power to sing in exchange for her soul? Because usually a Faustian tale is condemning someone who's too ambitious, who wants too much, but in this case this is a girl who seemingly didn't even want anything. Did they choose the opposite personality to condemn her lack of self confidence or was it just a more convenient story choice to offer the red shoes to someone desperate for a better self image? Why have the the snobby girl try to steal the shoes while Mihu was sleeping? Is it just to have a little bit of drama and action in the middle of the episode to punish the snobby girl for being jealous, or is it a conscious choice to have her sleep through the whole thing as some kind of commentary on her dream? Why does the Shinma ask her if she has good sleeping habits when she meets her?

What exactly is Mihu being punished for here? Because given the episodes leading up to this series people usually don't get killed as innocent bystanders. In typical Twilight Zone fashion, we're not supposed to feel bad for the victims. It seems to me she at least had some desire for recognition and success, but she was too timid to go out and get it herself. Instead of auditioning herself, she offered to support her classmate. She was more nervous than Chisato, which suggests that she was trying to live vicariously through Chisato because she was afraid to experience failure for herself.

"Being a dummy is admirable. A smart person like you should understand that one doesn't need human pride or intellect".

If Urobuchi wrote this he'd say something like, this girl got power but in exchange she lost her humanity/free will. I think this is saying something that's more nuanced than that. It could be said that Mihu never had much of a pride or intellect at all to begin with. She was just drifting about without any kind of assertiveness; she didn't want the burden of free will because free will engenders responsibility and with responsibility comes failure. She dreams a lot but doesn't work towards those dreams. Okay, so you say you don't have any talent and that you're always a failure so you can never achieve your dream. Let's give you talent and hand you success. Does that make you happy? Yeah sure, because you don't have to work for it and you don't have to think. You're just handed the keys and enjoy all the praise. Her success and happiness is kind of hollow, then. On paper you made your dreams come true, but it's more like reality conformed to your dream. A dream takes no effort to form--- it has a kind of lulling, anesthetic effect that numbs your brain into bliss. The success and happiness isn't real, isn't truly fulfilling if you don't grab it with your own two hands. But Mihu wanted to play the dummy because it was easier to do so. It was easier to potentially live out her dream vicariously through Chisato than to audition for herself. And so when the opportunity presented itself she literally became a dummy. In this case, giving up her soul was not just the price of power; it was part of the the happiness she got.

It's not just that cheating is bad because you get in trouble with the teacher; it's that the very act of cheating and taking shortcuts is damaging even if you never get caught.
RecynonDec 19, 2020 4:20 PM
Oct 22, 2021 4:05 PM
#9

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Jul 2011
1136
Miyu sure drinks from a lot of the victims.
I wonder if she would find other solutions if she didn't have that hunger.

Also this shinma seemed to be the least bad so far I think ?
He would have let Miho live a short but happy life and he doesn't seem to usually kill people directly (the arrogant girl is an expection but it would almost pass as self defense and is clearly not a normal occurence).
Apr 8, 2024 9:12 PM

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Dec 2022
4482
amazing musical episode
every one of these stories is brimming with emotion and soul
Jun 13, 2024 2:30 PM
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Jan 2015
29
It's a melancholic kind of feel.
Oct 13, 2024 4:53 AM

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Apr 2017
1376
That piano and horse combination was freaky.

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It’s time to ditch the text file.
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