The main character is now a god. I think it’s fitting that she becomes a god because she names the fairies.
Same Old, Same Old
Most of the arcs in this show are the same, apart from the details. Fairies appear due to some fad. They multiply. Then they die out. It’s an accelerated version of what happened to humanity in the old world. But it’s already becoming stale.
I think that perhaps the main reason I don’t enjoy this show is its pure cynicism. It doesn’t have some vision of how humanity can improve. It’s message just seems to be “humanity sucks.” But this message doesn’t fill me with horror or anything like that. Just pity for the novels’ author.
And aside from this overarching cynicism, the show is mainly just showing random things that are both pointless and not funny. Like having the main character read the diary like in a video game for several minutes. Hahaha I am keeling over laughing. Not.
There are a few moments that make me laugh, sure (mainly the main character’s snark), but overall the show just puts me to sleep. It’s amazing that of the shows I’m blogging this season, Oda Nobuna is my second favorite.
This episode took a shot at religion. In episode 9, the fairies indicated that religion is something that is created. In this episode, they form a religion based upon the giant girl that gives them sweets and names them. When she tosses the responsibility onto another fairy, the implication is that religion is only followed when it is convenient and you like the idea of it. The fairies lost their faith and everything crumbled.
“I think that perhaps the main reason I don’t enjoy this show is its pure cynicism. It doesn’t have some vision of how humanity can improve. It’s message just seems to be “humanity sucks.”
Hmmm … I don’t think all of the episodes are completely cynical. The pioneer/voyager arc showed that humans should embrace what they have now, instead of trying to celebrate humanity’s past achievements. Those two space probes had a longing for the earth that humanity itself lacked. They even wanted to be ‘human’ as seen by their malfunctions. They liked to be associated with humanity/life. The time loop arc showed Watashi wanting for the Assistant to have a strong sense of self, showed that humans could be compassionate without having anything to gain from it. It is mostly cynical though, with episodes 1-2 being mostly about technology gone wrong, and beings trying to assert their authority to gain power/comfort, episodes 3-4 being jabs about the behavior around subculture, and episodes 9-10 being about how things can go wrong very quickly.
As far as shots at religion go, this one was pretty weak. If that was their goal they should have put a bit more focus on it. As it was it felt like more of an afterthought (esp. in episode 9).
I guess you could see the Voyager arc as a bit less cynical. But the probes get back and humanity has already fallen and forgotten about them, so I still found it pretty cynical. I saw it more as the satellites being silly for desiring these things.
For the time loop arc, I guess I feel asleep too quickly to get much out of it…
You seem to have labelled that the show is just about occasional cynicism but I don’t remember Jinrui ever declared that the show sets its course straight on that. You’re assuming too much about the author’s intentions to enjoy it, I think. Besides, who decided that you actually need to have a “vision to improve” when making fun of humanity? George Orwell? 🙂
Well, what do you think the show is about? As far as I can tell, there is no discernible purpose. The show is all over the place with random little messages that don’t fit together into any sort of coherent whole.
Sure, a show doesn’t need a “vision to improve”. But it needs some *purpose*. This purpose could be to tell some sort of message, or just to entertain. Right now Jinrui doesn’t have any purpose. The closest thing it has to a purpose is whining (aka cynicism) but it isn’t even very consistent at that.
I don’t really perceive the show as cynical b/c I still identify w/ the “old humans” like Watashi. They have their faults, sometimes quite severe, but they are curious and adventurous at the same time. So I see hope for “old” humanity. The fairies or “new humans” may in an exaggerated way exemplify humanity’s faults. But the fairies are just caricatures to me.
Btw, I loved Watashi’s schoolgirl style outfit w/ the red bowtie as in your last picture. She is super cute when she interacts w/ the fairies. She’s really made for her job.
Hm, that’s an interesting perspective. I find it hard to identify much with the old humans since we only ever interact with a few of them. And curiosity and adventurousness are two of the primary traits of the fairies, to an exaggerated extent.
I do love Watashi and her snark though.