Karen's Anime Blog

Disclaimer: This show is very messed up. I am going to write about some very sad things here. If you can’t handle reading about bad things happening to kids (which I totally understand), you’ll probably want to give this post (and this show) a skip.

Last time: Benevolent alien from outer space accidentally bludgeons a nine-year-old to death. Now, they’ve got to deal with her corpse. Azuma, the kind kid from school who’s worried about Shizuka, comes around because he’s afraid of what kind of bullying Shizuka might be facing. Azuma is understandably shocked to see that they’ve killed Marina, and surprisingly, he can now see Takopi. I wonder how that works? Is Takopi visible to everybody now that he’s completed his “sin?” Anyway, he starts off coldly stating that Shizuka should turn herself into the police, but is gradually persuaded to help Shizuka and Takopi cover up the murder. We learn that Azuma has a big crush on Shizuka, which is why he’s so easy to manipulate here.

They bury Marina’s corpse inside one of Takopi’s happy gadgets, and it’s clear Takopi has not remotely processed what he’s done yet. He will come to understand by the end of the episode, and it’s heartbreaking.

The group decides to have Takopi impersonate Marina, using that gadget of his that lets him copy peoples’ appearances. How long are they planning to keep this up? It would be pretty suspicious if “Marina” is getting ready for college and hasn’t grown an inch. I guess the answer is, they’re fourth-graders: they’re not thinking that far ahead.

So “Marina” goes to school with Shizuka and Azuma, and there’s some dark humor in the fact that the other kids are flabbergasted to see the two girls getting along. The three form a power trio and start making plans to go to Tokyo to see Shizuka’s dad, who supposedly has Chappy living with him now. I’m 99% sure Chappy was put to sleep and Shizuka’s mom just said Chappy was “with Dad” to spare Shizuka’s feelings, so this trip is going to be a fiasco if it actually happens. It is really nice to see the three of them playing together, like normal kids (and one alien I guess), although the murder obviously casts a pall over the whole thing.

We get to see more of Marina’s family dynamic. Her father is one of those men who thinks all the money he makes is “his” money, and all the labor her mother contributes through cooking and taking care of the house does not entitle her to use any of the household funds. I don’t understand why men who think this way get married, but they do. Being a waste of space, her father asks if Marina would like to abandon her Mom and live with “Papa.” Takopi interprets this as meaning Shizuka’s Papa– where Chappy supposedly is. Takopi would love to go to Shizuka’s dad’s house, so he’s enthusiastic about going to live with “Papa,” to the shock of both parents. This is when Marina’s mother starts to realize that something is wrong; she is at least enough of a parent to realize when her child is being impersonated by an alien from outer space, so she eventually breaks down and begs Takopi to bring the real Marina back. That’s when Takopi finally understands what he’s done.

As a mother, this scene really got to me. Marina’s mom knows she’s not a great mother, but her love for her daughter is genuine, and I felt her loss.

Gah, why is this show making me feel sorry for Marina and her family? I said I wasn’t really sad about her death because she was a psychopath, but then they hit me with this nonsense:

Oh, that is not fair, show. They know that babies are my weakness! Why must you be so adorable, Baby Marina?

But wait, there’s more misery! We also learn about Azuma’s family situation, which is naturally terrible in its own way. His mother likes to make him pancakes, then take them away if he gets less than 100 on a test. To make it even worse, she claims his older brother, Junya, always got a perfect score. This really is Terrible Parents: The Anime. This might be the most insidious form of emotional abuse on the show, because Azuma’s mother is not just hurting her son, she’s also driving a wedge between the two brothers, and their relationship will likely never recover. Having a sibling can be an amazing, lifelong source of support, and taking that away from someone– your own child, no less– is evil.

This also hits harder for me because I happen to love pancakes. You know what I’m having for dinner tonight? Pancakes.

Also, we start to see the dark side of Shizuka in this episode. We’ve been solidly in her corner so far, but when she’s free to act as herself and not just live in terror of being hit, she’s got a dark side the size of Kansas. And why shouldn’t she? It’s not like she’s getting any proper parenting to teach her morals. Now the audience’s sympathy has largely switched from Shizuka to Azuma, as we watch the latter slowly get corrupted by her influence.

At the very end, a geological survey team has dug up the capsule with Marina’s body. Makes sense; that “Do Not Enter” sign that the kids ignored was there for a reason. I don’t know if the police will tie the murder to Shizuka (although talking to any of the kids in their class will send them in that direction), but if they do, it might not be such a bad thing honestly. Shizuka is basically raising herself, and might be better off at a juvenile facility that would actually make sure she eats and gets proper medical care, among other things.

I’m really interested to see where this show goes now that we have a more emotionally mature character in Takopi. Will Takopi start working against Shizuka, now that he’s aware of right and wrong? Will he leave to go back to Happy Planet, after deciding that getting involved with Earth is bad news? If so, I can’t really blame him.