2017 Week 11: Episodes 41-44

[Milieva]

This thread is for the discussion of Season 2: episodes 41-44.  Please mind the rewatch rules.

[Mokonalord]

Okay, I had an epic capslock rant on episode 44 because of that one scene that forever supplies me with salt, and I will now share this with you. Warning for language and rage, I'd put it under a spoiler tag if there was one.

WHAT SORT OF PRE-LABOR LAWS FACTORY PRODUCED BULLSHIT IS THIS?! WHO THE FRIGGIN FUCKIN HELL THOUGHT THIS WAS OKAY?! WHO?!
WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME HATE UMI LIKE THIS, WHY?! DID YOUR MOM NOT LOVE YOU ENOUGH AS A CHILD?! WELL NO WONDER SHE DIDN'T IF EVERYTHING YOU DID WAS AS SHIT-FOR-BRAINS AS THIS!
ASCOT JUST PUT HIMSELF OUT THERE LIKE HELL, HIS FRIENDS LOVE HER AND HE LOVES HER, AND HE'S NOT EVEN ASKING ANYTHING OF HER, HE JUST WANTS TO HELP, GODDAMMIT! LOOK AT HIS FACE, THAT IS THE FACE OF SOMEONE WHO KNOWS REJECTION IS A GOOD POSSIBILITY AND IS BRACING THEMSELF FOR IT! AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE UMI DO?
YOU HAVE HER FUCKING FAKE HIM OUT! YOU GIVE ASCOT ONE INSTANCE OF THE BLISS OF MUTUAL AFFECTION AND THEN SEND HIM CRASHING WHEN HE HEARS THE REST OF THAT MEALY-MOUTHED FAUXJECTION THAT DIDN'T EVEN GIVE HIM THE DIGNITY OF BEING SURE SHE HEARD HIM RIGHT!
OH, BUT I KNOW SHE UNDERSTOOD! UMI'S TOO PERCEPTIVE NOT TO GET IT! PEOPLE WHO SAW ASCOT FOR TEN SECONDS ON A VIEWSCREEN SAW THIS COMING, SHE HAD TO HAVE HAD SOME FORESIGHT AND THAT JUST MAKES IT WORSE! SHE FUCKING PLANNED THIS REACTION! UMI PLANNED TO IGNORE THE REAL SENTIMENT ENTIRELY AND JUST ACT LIKE HE WAS SAYING IT PLATONICALLY!
THAT'S HOW YOU REACT TO CONFESSIONS FROM KIDS! YOU DON'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY BUT YOU DON'T EXPLICITLY REJECT THEM, EITHER! FUCKING HELL, DON'T TREAT ASCOT LIKE THAT! HE'S WORKED TOO DAMN HARD TO TURN HIMSELF AROUND, HE'S SAVED HER LIFE SEVERAL TIMES, THE LEAST SHE COULD DO IS NOT INEXPLICABLY ACT LIKE HE SOMEHOW CAN'T HANDLE A REJECTION WHEN SHE THOUGHT HE COULD HANDLE ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY FOR SOME OF HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS' DEATHS BACK IN THE FIRST SEASON! GIVE HIM SOME FUCKING CREDIT, GODDAMMIT! LOVE HIM, HATE HIM, BUT DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING UNDERESTIMATE HIM!
MAYBE IF WE ACTUALLY GOT AN EMOTIONAL REACTION THAT WASN'T PATRONIZING MAKE-BELIEVE, IT WOULDN'T FEEL THAT WAY! MAYBE IF SHE ACTUALLY SEEMED TO FELT A BIT GUILTY ABOUT TURNING HIM DOWN DESPITE KNOWING IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, OR EVEN GOT A BIT UPSET BECAUSE "NOW IS NOT A GOOD TIME FOR THIS, ASCOT!" I'D RATHER HAVE AN EXPLICITLY BAD REACTION THAT COULD'VE BEEN RESOLVED WITH AN APOLOGY/EXPLANATION OF SORTS LATER THAN THIS WEAKSAUCE TRYING TO MASK A PILE OF BOTULISM BURRITO SHIT!
IF I CAN'T HAVE MY OTP, I JUST WANT TO BELIEVE THAT UMI ACTUALLY DESERVES THAT SELFLESS LOYALTY THAT ASCOT'S SHOWN HER IN THE SECOND SEASON! I BELIEVE IT IN THE MANGA, IS IT TOO FUCKING MUCH TO ASK TO BELIEVE IT IN THE ANIME? I BOUGHT EVERY VHS WAITING FOR THAT ORCHARD SCENE AND YOU SERVED ME A PLATE OF RADIATED SEWER RAT TESTICLES INSTEAD! FUCK YOU! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK YOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!
... Wankers...

Now, after this, I want to make one thing perfectly clear, because we live in a world where some boys feel justified in killing a girl just because she didn't want to go out with him and I do not, in any little way, want to encourage that. In fact, after getting into a lot of feminist theory, I tried to revisit this scene, wondering if it would get better on rewatch with that in mind.

It didn't. It still felt unforgivably obnoxious, it still didn't feel like a real reaction Umi would have unless she thought she was dealing with a child. If this had happened much earlier in the season, while she was still getting used to the whole sudden growth spurt deal, that might be a bit more excusable, but at this point, after we've confirmed that he really has changed for the better and seen him pretty much take a bullet for her, that seems like a slap in the face to Ascot's character development. (Also, if they wanted to imply that her problem was still seeing Ascot as a kid, they shouldn't have made her love interest the 745 year-old in a ten year's body. Tarta would've served much better in that regard)

But seriously, Umi didn't need a reason to not feel the same about Ascot. Not feeling it is enough, and neither myself or Ascot would want Umi to pretend to like him romantically if she doesn't. (Of course, being a fictional character in a series with various canons, whether she does or could like him is totally up to interpretation) And actually, several of the other elements in this subplot show that this idea had good potential, between Ascot just being refreshingly okay with Umi not liking him the same/still thinking she's awesome/still heading out to save her life regardless and Caldina's own reactions to her little brother falling in love and then getting his heart broken. Like, I can forgive a lot of bad things happening to my faves if I feel like it's part of a good story. So much of this anime just felt like pieces of a good story that they tried to sew together with bacon because the deadline was near and they were drunk and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Milieva]

So much of this anime just felt like pieces of a good story that they tried to sew together with bacon because the deadline was near and they were drunk and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

This just about sums up the entirety of the anime.  Thank you!