AW SHIT THIS EPISODE FUUUUUUU. I was a little worried about where insight would be going at the end of last week/beginning of this one, but man, this was a brutal answer. It’s an answer I’m surprised Hajime would come up with, since it requires an acknowledgment of many of the cynical elements of this season that I figure she’d want to reject. But Hajime’s not stupid, she’s just very reserved with her thoughts, so I guess it’d make sense that she could play this game as well.
Anyway, I already wrote up a storm about this one in my review and notes, so let’s get to it! My review is thataway, my notes are below!
Talk about the great visual effects for destroying the Kuu-sama, how this show in general juggles a bunch of nice visual styles
The two rejected prime ministers waiting for Gatchaman to solve things
“Apes don’t stop until they get bored”
“Katze-san, how do you stop an atmosphere?” “Well, it stops when everyone’s satisfied”
Tsubasa: “Beating Gel-chan won’t solve anything. Because this isn’t Gel’s fault, it’s all of us”
Hajime and Tsubasa fighting the Kuu-sama is really boring. They’re not really intended to be an imposing enemy, but this is still just dull visually and dramatically
Hajime: “There’s something off about the way we’re fighting.” Hmmm
Millione announces Gelsadra is on the run, and then the Gatchaman invade his show
Still not much tension here
Sugayama announces a smart phone poll – “would you like us Gatchaman to do something about Gelsadra?”
Hajime’s harnessing the atmosphere, doing what Jou and Rizumu did. She’s giving the Gatchaman the power to deal with Gelsadra, but she’s making the people think it’s their own choice. Manipulation for the greater good
“Then the Gatchaman will take responsibility and do something about it.” And again, abusing the harsh lessons of this season. Nobody in the country wanted to take responsibility for their own choices when it came to the Kuu-sama and Gelsadra, so Hajime’s using that give the Gatchaman more power
So now the atmosphere has changed, and the Kuu-sama are all just cheering for Gatchaman
Seeing the Kuu-sama cheer for the Gatchaman is a weird sensation
“This is the only way to save everyone. We’re going to kill Gel-chan!” What, let him act as a public martyr for this whole era?
So they’re staging a mock battle with Gelsadra
This whole concept is so frightening. The Gatchaman are essentially “teaching” the populace that there are some problems they can’t handle through mob rule, and that expertise is required. But they’re doing it in the most ominous way possible – by creating an unstoppable threat, and positioning themselves as the only people who can deal with it
This is basically the Watchmen ending, except more cynical
And Millione marveling at the footage
And then TV networks squabbling over the access to the disaster footage. HOLY SHIT THIS TOPICAL GODDAMN EPISODE GAAAAAAH
An image of a security camera documenting the world going up in flames. Beautiful
And then another shot of Gelsadra tossed into a fountain topped with an image of children letting birds free into the sky
Gelsadra stumbles towards his tent in the park, where he once thought he’d bring people together. The camera crews follow
And Tsubasa’s the one who yanks him to the earth
And with the Gatchaman destroying Gelsadra, the people finally realize this is too much violence. They can’t support this. Humanity has good in it
“We never said take it this far”
“Isn’t there something more funny on the news?”
Hajime being healed in bed. Huh
Tsubasa snapping at the Kuu-sama. “You were the ones who left it up to us!”
Constant shots of lights and cameras hanging over this episode
“This is a chance for all of us to know just who we really are”