Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu. Episode 7 Discussion

Just as boring and disappointing as ever. It's more interesting to count how many seconds boring scenes stay on the screen for than it is watching the actual show istg

...I mean, what's there not to get? Who is Riko, why is she "hollow", why is she so strong, and why is she so loyal to Mishiro? Why's Yuuki frustrated and suddenly wants to live? (I mean this one I can guess at least, but her character motivations are not fully clear). Why did the guns at the end fire at both of them even though Yuuki had a key, and why did it suddenly stop? What were the point of the boots that they kept focusing on?

I'm sure you have an answer to these because you've read the source material, but objectively these are not explained in the anime.

I get why some people can like this episode because it seems "deep" and "artistic" but it wasn't what I expected:

1- why would they show us scenes that she won BEFORE showing us HOW she won?? that is super anticlimatic
2- Did the two teams ALL die on the confrontation?? I must have missed something, if not that's super lame
3- we got ONE MINUTE of a super boring and vague scene of the turret shot
4- why is Riko THAT strong?? why can a little girl rag-doll other people around??? it's because of the prostetics that they haven't barely explained and can't tell them apart from REAL limbs because look like REAL limbs?

I don't know man, there are too many vagues and plot convenient stuff with no explanation going on here for my taste.

🎯 Truth Score : 7.4/10 ⭐⭐⭐🌑🌑 (Decent / Fine)

🇺🇸 A watchable but frustrating episode that highlights the gap between the series’ ambition and its current execution.

I...cannot really tell if this week's episode is a rushed mess or not. It's perhaps Yuki at her most emotional so far in the anime, crying out to affirm that she wants to live in the face of a situation where her usual altruistic methods aren't going to bear fruit with Azuma and the others taken out, she wants to keep going in spite of previously claiming she doesn't mind death, and wants to claw her way out of being killed by Mishiro. Riko is an interesting one-off character, clearly manipulated by Mishiro, but I can see where and why it played out the way it did, with a faux mother and daughter, or sisterly bond, and that desperation that we sadly didn't get to see in the initial attack against Yuki and Azuma's base led to her falling for Yuki's trap in the gun room, with Yuki walking out victoriously as he claims her fallen foe's rainboots. Speaking of... what? A gun room? Um, sure, whatever it takes to win, I suppose.

Like with Chihiro, Mishiro's death isn't to the tune of a loud final send off, instead it's seen as a desperate slog from faraway shots. We just see Yuki get a good dig in with a makeshift blade and blondie eventually succumbs to the loss of blood (I do like that we see the previously mentioned blood-morphing-into-fluff transformation of the preservation treatment. Clearly still red yet coagulates quickly in a flash) and falls in to the water. It's a less is more tragedy between two veterans over their egos, with the perpetrator of their conflict losing rather fittingly for starting a truly pointless conflict.

The conversation between our ghost girl and her handler at the end was interesting; apparently there is something unfavorable to waking up last. Wonder how we'll see that change next game and also whether any fruits come of Kinko's Dad's listening device pill. That end where Yuki mutters "good game" is so satisfying despite me the viewer not really feeling as fulfilled as I had with the two previous full games, but fair enough after all that shit.

I don't really understand, why is Yuuki suddenly want to live? what change her? what is her thinking at that time. Can someone explain?

My assumption was because her plan didnt work well and thanks to that all the other died because of her...but i dont think its that

This show's style is its strength for the most part, but this episode is just bad. Shit literally doesn't make any sense as it is presented here at all, the show is too busy huffing its own farts to actually explain anything in anyway. Riko as a character makes no fucking sense and isn't explained at all: I think the flashbacks this episode were supposed to explain her deal, but they just don't. Why is she "hollow", why is she so obsessed with Mishiro, and why is she insanely and comically strong as to be able to yeet people around like ragdolls? The twists and turns of the game itself also don't make sense because stuff kind of just happens and flows from A to B to C without the connective tissue between each of these individual moments to help them make sense: jumping from the ambush last episode straight to a pointless flashback and then suddenly Yuki being captured offscreen is just jarring and incoherent.

I hope whatever comes next, the show can rein in the style at least a little bit and focus more on providing an actual coherent narrative first. The show has managed that just fine for the first 5.5 episodes, so I'm just hoping this episode and the second half of episode 6 were momentary blips that stem from the ambitions of this style.

@otakuweek yea so here's a summary below of what actually is supposed to happen. The problem is the 1st two volumes are great because it's heavily carried by the psychological aspect. Yuki's personality, her perspective, her inner thoughts + the other characters' motivations and perspective.

@stevejawbs you see the cotton pieces on the ground showing ppl died and there's no body. Those shoes are obviously rubber boots so it's assumed the floor is electrified. You have to show the key so it has to be visible. In the beginning of the episode, Riko is shown losing her limbs and she's another one of those wondering why she's playing death games and having a sort of existential crisis. Mishiro saves her and gives her a purpose, which is basically to take her place if she dies to Yuki. She basically turns her into a literal terminator.

The previous episode tries to touch on Yuki's mental state, which is pretty bad before the day she goes to the game, but it does a terrible job. The anime removed all the best things about volumes 1-2 that the anime is adapting, which is Yuki's personality, inner thoughts, & perspective while giving other characters' motivations of why they're there and some context about the games. There's really not much importance in the death games, but more the psychological aspect, including the dynamics, interactions, and Yuki's thoughts

Below is an explanation of what actually happens. They changed almost the entire arc

https://myanimelist.net/forum/?goto=post&topicid=2253498&id=73910084