Forum SettingsEpisode Information
Forums
Top
  >  
Anime
  >  
Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu.
  >  
[Anime Only Discussion] Specul...
Top
  >  
Forum
  >  
Anime Series Discussion
  >  
Title Discussion
  >  
[Anime Only Discussion] Specul...
RecentWatchedIgnoredSearch Forum

[Anime Only Discussion] Speculating on the Meaning of the Counter

New
Jan 8, 3:09 PM
#1
the_great_prince
Offline
Mar 2016
103
As an anime only watcher of this show, the thing that intrigued me the most was the meaning of the number counting up to 23 throughout the episode. I noticed that it seemed to skip 9 and I'm not really sure why. There are a few things it could be, but none of them fit neatly. I thought it might be some kind of countdown, but why count up to 23 and skip 9? It doesn't seem to be related to the number of games she wants to win because she said she already did 28 and wants to do 99. I thought it might be related to the number of players alive since the counter seemed to skip 9 when the first girl died, but it didn't seem to skip numbers when other characters died. Right now, I'm at a loss for what it really means. Any ideas from fellow anime onlys?

Another thing that I wonder is why they set up this system where the characters don't have blood anymore and can reattach limbs. They seem to imply that it's because people are watching, so they don't want it to be too gory, but what kind of death game watchers don't want the death game to be gory? The watchers are okay with actual death but not blood? I wonder what the explanation for that is.
Jan 8, 3:27 PM
#2
JustAKidWhosFour
Offline
Jun 2022
12
I'm anime only as well and I interpreted the countdown as a representation of the various "stages" of the escape room. The counter tends to go up when they enter a new room or uncover/activate something (for example when the saw blades started coming down or when they left the vanity mirror room), I assume the counter skipping from 8 to 10 was because of the quick followup from the "finding the key" stage to the "triggering the key trap" stage. Just my interpretation though.

The second part is probably just because of censorship, there are things you can't show on TV even if it's what the viewers want. This just kinda implies the death games are a publicly televised thing imo.
Jan 8, 3:28 PM
#3
NewestPersonHere

Offline
Oct 2015
1538
All the questions will be answered in the first volume of the novels. :)


I don't know if the anime will answer them~

What about reading the novels? Not that hard to read as compared to some other titles. :)
Jan 8, 3:39 PM
#4
IhnalakoKaina

Offline
Jul 2021
359
as for the numbers, i don't know what they mean. I'm sure it's just a style choice like the kinko loop of "you're so kind, i wanna be like you, hehe thank you" playing to irl footage of trains and streets and shit. In any case, I wasn't even thinking about it and I'm patiently waiting for the answer to appear on its own if it ever does.

as for the gore, I don't know why yuki referenced the fact that people are watching. the meaning behind it seems to be, as the name suggests, about the conservation of the girls' bodies as they are when they enter the game. it's what makes the reattachment of the limbs and the healing of wounds possible, so that they can clear the gruesome requisites of some of the games (mutilation, self harm).

if indeed the fact that people are watching has something to do with it, then it might be a commentary on how some people are fine with the broader concept of people dying for their amusement or benefit, but are repulsed by the real and graphic implications of it.
Jan 8, 4:18 PM
#5
Phantom_373

Offline
Aug 2022
2854
Honestly I have no clue on the counter, as for the whole blood being fluff I’m fine with it either way it don’t take away from the show.

It got explained but perhaps the people watching maybe don’t know it’s like a real thing and maybe see it more like a show with actors for example.

Idk though really.
Jan 8, 5:02 PM
#6
lazy_Modifier

Offline
Oct 2015
1775
Reply to NewestPersonHere
All the questions will be answered in the first volume of the novels. :)


I don't know if the anime will answer them~

What about reading the novels? Not that hard to read as compared to some other titles. :)
@NewestPersonHere not all people can read novel mediums
Jan 8, 5:50 PM
#7
SeiyaTempest

Offline
Oct 2021
542
I guess I'm pretty simple-minded as I assumed it was just representing the change between scenes. I didn't even notice that the number 9 got skipped.
Jan 8, 7:59 PM
#8
gustken
Offline
Apr 2017
13
the_great_prince said:
As an anime only watcher of this show, the thing that intrigued me the most was the meaning of the number counting up to 23 throughout the episode. I noticed that it seemed to skip 9 and I'm not really sure why. There are a few things it could be, but none of them fit neatly. I thought it might be some kind of countdown, but why count up to 23 and skip 9? It doesn't seem to be related to the number of games she wants to win because she said she already did 28 and wants to do 99. I thought it might be related to the number of players alive since the counter seemed to skip 9 when the first girl died, but it didn't seem to skip numbers when other characters died. Right now, I'm at a loss for what it really means. Any ideas from fellow anime onlys?

Another thing that I wonder is why they set up this system where the characters don't have blood anymore and can reattach limbs. They seem to imply that it's because people are watching, so they don't want it to be too gory, but what kind of death game watchers don't want the death game to be gory? The watchers are okay with actual death but not blood? I wonder what the explanation for that is.

The only theory that I could put together and that made sense to me is that the counter indicates how much the game has progressed, with each number filling up a requirement needed for them to reach the exit.

Regarding the preservation thing, I think more than anything it’s a way to ensure so that any player that has managed to win a game can return in future ones without any problems, just like Yuki herself is doing, to make it more exciting for the audience.
Jan 8, 8:20 PM
#9
sdyrt_ch
Offline
Jun 2025
1
i asumed it was the chapters, the episode gave me really strong novel adaptation vibe (just checked, it is) and the whole direction reminded me of the monogatari series and shaft with team shinbou
Jan 8, 9:57 PM
#10
Safuan12616
Offline
May 2022
333
Probably the stages they needed to finish the game
Jan 9, 1:15 AM
#11
Zhabin
Offline
Feb 2007
31
Not a spoiler but here's a spoiler tag anyway since you're trying to find meaning in it...




As for the preservation treatment, while it's stated that "since people are watching", meaning to reduce the blood and gore, it's also to reduce blood loss and exposure/damage to organs for more severe injuries to enable medical treatment and reattachment of limbs.

A real world possibility is that the author chose this method as a form of preemptive self censorship in the event the novel did get animated since the content can be considered fairly extreme even without blood/gore. This allows the author to be more unrestrained with the games and deaths since there isn't any gore to affect the shock value.

As for 9/23 being skipped, it looks like they had a typo in the anime, 8/23 appears on screen at timestamp 15:55 then 8/23 appears again at 17:09. Then 10/23 at 17:15.
Jan 9, 4:33 AM
#12
un1qu3uS3rnAm3
Offline
Mar 2025
30
Reply to Zhabin
Not a spoiler but here's a spoiler tag anyway since you're trying to find meaning in it...




As for the preservation treatment, while it's stated that "since people are watching", meaning to reduce the blood and gore, it's also to reduce blood loss and exposure/damage to organs for more severe injuries to enable medical treatment and reattachment of limbs.

A real world possibility is that the author chose this method as a form of preemptive self censorship in the event the novel did get animated since the content can be considered fairly extreme even without blood/gore. This allows the author to be more unrestrained with the games and deaths since there isn't any gore to affect the shock value.

As for 9/23 being skipped, it looks like they had a typo in the anime, 8/23 appears on screen at timestamp 15:55 then 8/23 appears again at 17:09. Then 10/23 at 17:15.
@Zhabin If you set playback at 0.25x you’d notice that the 8/23 got “transformed” in the same way the 7/23 got “transformed” into 8/23 in timestamp 15:55 so I don’t think that was a typo but rather a deliberate move by Director Ueno
Jan 9, 6:15 AM
#13
Zhabin
Offline
Feb 2007
31
Reply to un1qu3uS3rnAm3
@Zhabin If you set playback at 0.25x you’d notice that the 8/23 got “transformed” in the same way the 7/23 got “transformed” into 8/23 in timestamp 15:55 so I don’t think that was a typo but rather a deliberate move by Director Ueno
@un1qu3uS3rnAm3

Ah...must've missed that transition while skipping through the episode, though that doesn't seem to change anything. The error must be at 17:09 that 8/23 was supposed to read 9/23.

....I don’t think that was a typo but rather a deliberate move by Director Ueno


If it was deliberate, I'm not seeing the point. As in the novel....



...and that scene in the anime was part of the 2nd (8/23) which then immediately cuts to (10/23). I didn't re-read the whole scene in the novel but I skimmed a few lines and the overall scene didn't seem significantly different between the anime and novel, mainly just the timing/placement of the numbers.
ZhabinJan 9, 8:42 PM
Jan 9, 11:03 AM
#14
Rukodaime91
Offline
Aug 2018
243
There is no "hidden" meaning.
In the light novel, the first escape game has 23 "chapter". They just put the number in the anime for no special reason.
Jan 9, 1:50 PM
#15
Tsunderaygun
Offline
Jan 2020
26
Shit man, I just assumed it was hours spent in the game counting up to a full day (when 23 would roll over to 0).
Jan 10, 11:50 PM
#16
RustyCookies
Offline
Sep 2019
54
Reply to NewestPersonHere
All the questions will be answered in the first volume of the novels. :)


I don't know if the anime will answer them~

What about reading the novels? Not that hard to read as compared to some other titles. :)
@NewestPersonHere You could have stopped after the first two lines. At the big year of 2026 nobody wants light novels snobs to be telling them to read the light novels you know?
Jan 11, 2:29 AM
#17
mylkuno
Offline
Jun 2020
2
the numbers correlate to chapters in the light novel

the preservation treatment is needed so there can be repeat players, just like yuki. also it will be relevant in other ways than censorship later on.
Jan 11, 3:30 PM
#18
thewiru

Offline
Feb 2014
6563
For those asking why we didn't see 9.
It was 7's fault.
See All Discussions

More topics from this board

Poll: » Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu. Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 )

Stark700 - Feb 18

211 by MasterHavik »»
30 minutes ago

Poll: » Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu. Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page )

Stark700 - Jan 7

312 by phantom346 »»
1 hour ago

Poll: » Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu. Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 )

Stark700 - Feb 25

63 by Neneaux »»
2 hours ago

» [Spoilers] Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu is an allusion to the prostitution of young girls

WillKamio - Today

8 by iirayuki »»
5 hours ago

» Best high stakes game you’ve seen ?

silversurfeer - Feb 25

12 by CorLeonis-_- »»
Today, 9:28 AM

MoreTop Anime

  1. 1 Sousou no Frieren
  2. 2 Sousou no Frieren 2nd Season
  3. 3 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
  4. 4 Chainsaw Man Movie: Reze-hen
  5. 5 Steins;Gate

MoreTop Airing Anime

  1. 1 Sousou no Frieren 2nd Season
  2. 2 One Piece
  3. 3 Ikoku Nikki
  4. 4 Jujutsu Kaisen: Shimetsu Kaiyuu - Zenpen
  5. 5 [Oshi no Ko] 3rd Season

MoreMost Popular Characters

  1. 1 Lamperouge, Lelouch
  2. 2 Monkey D., Luffy
  3. 3 Levi
  4. 4 Lawliet, L
  5. 5 Roronoa, Zoro
It’s time to ditch the text file.
Keep track of your anime easily by creating your own list.
Sign Up Login