Kyousogiga – Episode 8

The family’s all together now, and Koto’s enthusiastic break-in has apparently heralded the end of the world. Turns out Dad wasn’t lying after all – he did come back, and he did indeed bring with him the beginning and the end.

Episode 8

2:05 – These episode titles never let you forget the show’s purpose. It’s not a fantasy, not an adventure – it’s a family story, just like any other

2:52 – The girl with no past, who can only charge blindly forward, is now seeing some of the first wreckage of her existence. Well, accepting and taking responsibility for that certainly puts her ahead of the Head Monk – his wreckage has been waiting hundreds of years for him to take responsibility

Kyousogiga

3:29 – Yase tramples on the concern of those who care for her here. If the world’s ending, Mom can’t leave her behind!

3:59 – And again. Kurama calmly admits defeat as the people of this world fight to save their home. Even Myoe’s wish disregards the feelings of those around him

4:31 – Not that he’s without sympathy. Burden or not, this place has accidentally become his home – oddly enough, only him and the outsider Koto seem to mourn the death of it

6:28 – The biggest child of them all

Kyousogiga

6:58 – In the wake of Koto’s heartfelt apology, this rings even more insincere. For someone who speaks of responsibility, he’s not much of a practicioner. Perhaps Myoe was a better priest all along – perhaps, in the context of a family, we’re not defined by our distant desires, but by the things we do every day, because we have to

8:06 – EHHHHH??!?!?

8:13 – Finally

Kyousogiga

9:35 – Koto’s not one for sulking. It all may be pretty overwhelming, but she made this problem, and she’s gonna go bash its skull in

10:23 – I love that we’re at the point where images like this make total sense

10:41 – Grass is greener and all that. This place didn’t need to be actively destroyed – paradise is paradise because it’s remote. To the people stuck there, not so much

10:52 – So that’s her secret? She’s their one natural-born child?

11:39 – Gods paying deference to their own bureaucracy. Eesh

Kyousogiga

13:15 – Those are such a great image. In this world, the planets were basically just a mobile hanging above the cage, shaken loose with the splintering of the sky

13:26 – This is a very well-chosen shot. The distance emphasizes the weight of this moment both through showing the broken sky and making our characters appear tiny beneath it, and the tower’s construction emphasizes the fragile, ramshackle nature of this world

14:23 – Again, a wonderful visual trick. So many shows seem to forget this isn’t actually live action, and you don’t have to play by that medium’s visual rules. Which is pretty standard when it comes to young mediums (or somewhat older but artistically constrained ones, like how television was until very recently) – in order to discover the new rules, you start with the rules of your medium’s closest parallel. And so early films often looked like plays, and videogames still look like toys with movies awkwardly attached. Which is why we need people like Masaaki Yuasa to come along and say Fuck That

Kyousogiga

14:39 – Those beads are a great trick on the narrative end. A wonderfully natural continuous reminder of his nature and his cage

16:20 – I was struggling to tie the death of this world to the personal conflicts, but here’s a gimme. Whether through creation or destruction, your actions are never just your own – the plot up until now has been a consequence of the Head Monk’s careless creation, and we’re now seeing the results of Koto’s careless destruction

17:58 – Our monk steps up, acknowledging his responsibility and destroying the mask he inherited from the priest

19:13 – Loaded words here

20:12 – Jeez. Family really is suffering!

20:24 – Beautiful destruction

Kyousogiga

20:27 – Oh god

21:07 – Go Myoe!

21:27 – These two are the best

23:28 – Hostages! The solution to everything

And Done

Hm. Didn’t like the second half of that nearly as much as the first half – the Head Priest strikes me as an actual villain, and the destruction of the Mirror City more evocative than poignant, whereas my interest in the show lies firmly in the resolution of the desires of the four siblings. The moments within the family itself were still great here – Older Koto finally getting fed up with the Head Monk’s refusal to act responsibly, the two brothers rushing to help their mother, Myoe snapping Koto into shape, Myoe’s early realization that he really does care about this place. But yeah, them “defeating” the Head Priest just isn’t that interesting in a character sense, and this is very much a character story (like, in my opinion, most worthwhile stories are). We’ve still got two full episodes left, so hopefully they’re not so busy with Things Happening – we’ve still got a lot of emotional baggage to resolve.

10 thoughts on “Kyousogiga – Episode 8

    • Yeah, agreed it was still good – even if it wasn’t my favorite, a lesser episode of Kyousogiga is a damn good episode of anime.

      And yeah, their dad’s a dick. A change of heart several hundred years after abandoning your family does not good parenting make.

  1. I always had a soft spot for character that chose their relatives over the world’s destiny, so I really enjoyed this episode.

    And about Yase : See, Valvrave. That sort of scenes works better when In actually cae about the characters and their relationship, noy when I learn it just before they die.

    • Personally I’m not really on the forgiveness train regarding their absentee father, but I did love all the other family stuff this episode. I really love how this show celebrates family while never portraying it as an easy thing.

      What specifically are you referring to with regards to Yase?

  2. Seeeeeee, I told you this wouldn’t be the last episode! And I don’t think it’s the Head Priest that’s going to be the “final villain” but Inari, some of his lines in the preview were rather foreboding. Although of course, given Lady Koto’s request to Koto I’m sure she’ll find a way to save him from what’s he’s become as well (as to your “what, that’s her big secret?” reveal, I suspect it’s not that simple for one but even if it is, finding out that even Koto is completely non-human is a bit of a reveal, I always expected she was half human but never considered that she might not be human at all either).

    • Yeah, I’m guessing they’re going to be redeeming Inari in at least a narrative sense, though personally I’m not really too sympathetic to his position. Thought that may be the point – he made promises he shouldn’t have, but growing up is something the siblings have to do for themselves.

  3. 2:05 – Episode Name – “The Big Argument.”

    My version’s title was “A Story of a Fight Between Here and There,” while Wikipedia lists it as “Troublesome Talks Here and There”. I actually think the “Here and there” matter, because it shows who the sides are, and it’s not within the family. Moreover, “Here and there” fits the mood of the show’s phrasings – “The beginning and the end,” or “Death and rebirth”.

    2:52 “Head monk”

    “Head Monk” is the leader of the shrine. We meet him later in the episode, “The Priest” is a better name, since that’s how he’s referred to.

    3:29 Yase Trampling.

    Well, it was weird when it happened, but now we know the significance – she doesn’t know the significance of the cup anymore. She’s not trampling over others’ care for her, but trampling over her own feelings, which she had lost.

    3:59 Kurama gives up.

    That’s not Kurama, it’s the scientist :3

    6:58 – Insincere aplogy.

    Huh, I completely disagree with you here. He’s a sulky child. It’s not that he’s insincere, but that he doesn’t know how to express himself, or to admit it.

    Well, maybe I don’t disagree completely, considering he’s much more enthused and excited by Koto’s growth and how awesome she is, than to be troubled by the awesome destruction she had wrought. I think part of it is that he knows there’s nothing to be done, so he moves on – but here he says he’s sorry for not discussing things with his wife, not the state of this world.

    11:39 Gods showing deference.

    I’ve studied some Eastern religions/philosophy, and that’s sort of how it is. The Gods are governed by laws, and you can affect them mechanically, nothing to be done about it.

    17:58 Destroying the Mask.

    The mask had two roles. First, it was as you said a mark of his role within the shrine’s hierarchy. Second, it was a mask. He’s saying, “I am who I am. This is what I want.”

    Head Monk/Priest

    Confusing when you use both Head Monk and Head Priest in one paragraph, except it’s not true either – they’re all priests, not monks.

    BTW, about Myoue’s realizations in the end, he still reminded Koto that in the end, he wishes her to take his life. It was one sentence, and an allusion, but it was there.

  4. At this point in the story I have faith in Kyousougiga’s creators that the story will be more than a simple “defeat Head Monk man and live happily ever after” kind of deal. I picked up this show at the last minute out of pure curiosity, and it’s well on it’s way to becoming one of my favorites. As sad as I am about having to leave this family, I’m really looking forward to these last episodes!

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