(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but up to a couple every week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)
Somehow, the vignettes don’t stick with me, but the group episode (episode 3) was solid. What I wanted to watch now is late, so let’s give it a shot. Less/no notes? Let’s try.
Thoughts and Notes:
1) Don’t Forget, My Endless Hero, My Forever Friend:
1) First scene, we’re back at the clockwork tower. They meet, and meet again. Scarf-girl tells Shintaro he’s the only one who can see her, but didn’t she speak to Hibiya last episode? Is it perhaps Moorcock’s “The Hero with the Thousand Faces”, and there’s one “hero spirit” that reincarnates in various people? Perhaps she lies, or there are alternate realities? Or perhaps only he can see her outside of this place?
The last one in particular seems somewhat likely, as Scarf-girl asks him to remember her outside this place. I liked the time-loop talk – “I know it’s useless, and I ask each time, but I’ll ask again – No matter what, don’t forget this discussion.” and also his reply that it’s useless earlier, and she should know that.
Also, Hibiya spoke to her between lives, does this mean Shintaro died in the first episode, or had a near-death experience? Is it between lives, between realities? Is life but a dream? Hm.
2) “Had this been just a dream?” – But he’s not speaking about what we’ve just seen, but the robbery.
2) Ene Strikes Back:
Is Ene Shinbo’s Mary Sue? She just might be.
2) Shintaro, standing in for us all – “Can you blame me for being fidgety?! I don’t understand what’s going on!”:P
And just as Shintaro stands for the viewers, Ene stands for the show – “There’s nothing a super-pretty cyber girl such as myself doesn’t know!” – The show keeps telling us it knows things, and that it’s amazing and pretty. It’s very much in love with itself, and with its self-indulgent nature :P
3) “What’s the magic word when you ask someone for a favour?” – No wonder people uninstalled Clippy ;-)
4) Yes, Shintaro being in his underwear when Mary entered the room. I saw that one coming.
5) Kano and Ene throw down! Ah, I wondered what sort of challenge we had – we’re seeing who can embarrass the people around them better. Ene has an advantage, in a way, she sees all that Shintaro does, and he does it all on the computer. I guess it’s more a contest of who knows more embarrassing people, then.
3) Bonding by Binding:
1) He’s tied to the bed, he’s in his underwear, and he’s told he’s a member of the group, of which he knows nothing, and to which he didn’t agree. Yup, he’s been kidnapped, as he had originally surmised.
2) So, Ene signed up her master, who is afraid of any and all human interaction, to be a member of a group, of people. I can clearly see Ene as the sort of person to sign you up to dating sites aimed at Martians.
3) Show, please. I don’t even know what to say.
4) Finally, several years after the fact, Shintaro thinks of questioning Ene’s existence. She only spells trouble for him, appeared out of nowhere, and bosses him around, and he just lives with her. He’s a true NEET, someone who savors the status quo, even if it’s unbearable. Well, not like he can truly do anything about Ene, she lords him about.
5) Momo, explaining to us how Shintaro works. Kido looks entertained, can’t you tell? Good thing Kano is there to always explain to us what she’s thinking. But, it makes sense – no one could notice her for a while, so she knows what loneliness is. But somehow, so does Momo, who’s used to being alone in the crowd.
6) Wow, so Ene can realize she crossed the line and act repentant? I’m surprised.
4) Tying The Threads of Fate:
Kisaragi Shintaro is leaping into the open maw of fate
1) Konoha looking for Hiyori and Hibiya. Surprising, he didn’t seem to care. Did his father, Hiyori’s uncle send him? Also, one of them should be dead, so this oughta be interesting. Heck, each time one dies, the time-loop resets, I guess each time a new universe is born? Hm.
Shintaro doesn’t seem impressed by Konoha’s ability to explain things.
2) A kidnapping! Of a boy and a girl, the right height, dressed just as the ones Konoha is looking for! Seems we’re in for a, are you ready for it? plot!
3) Welcome to unleashed Konoha, he too has red eyes!
4) Look out! It’s the truck of destiny! What’s up with Shintaro, seeing a dark snake closing in on the others?Considering the “mystery”, is it that he can see the weave of fate?
The snake imagery was good. A never-ending series of maws, a fate one cannot escape, one that will engulf you.
5) Yes, the founding member. I didn’t comment on it earlier, but she seemed to be the girl in Shintaro’s classroom, and yes, obviously the girl from the mystery-world. The only question is where Ene knows her from.
Monster and Human:
1) Lonely boy, and lonely monster. Shintaro couldn’t turn his back on a fellow socially useless boy such as Konoha. Ayano who founded the Mekaku-Dan, and all the members of the club to one another.
2) Familiarity breeds comfort. That’s how you get stray cats to trust you. You just hang around, and let them get used to you. A monster, in love. Of course, “Monster” here means “different”, but then, so is the boy willing to love the monster.
Post Episode Thoughts:
This was my favourite episode of Mekakucity Actors. I don’t think it was great, but it was definitely solid. More talk with multiple characters, more tying things together. Ayano, the scarf-girl in the clock-world between reincarnations? We meet her again, and then find out she’s related to the Mekaku-dan as a whole. We know Shintaro should remember her, and then see her, so perhaps she’ll be coming back?
Hibiya, Hiyori, Konoha, not only are they finally tied into the group, but they’re tied in the way of something happening, and some plot – an enemy appears, one that is more than our loneliness, or our fate, but actual people.
Yes, Ene and Kano are still annoying, but that is their role, but the threads, they don’t seem random, and the chatter, it’s not going on without end while not actually taking us anywhere! I also actually laughed at a few exchanges, and especially when Mary repeated Momo’s line, “I am Kisaragi Momo, 16 years old!”
Well, guess I’ll be here next week as well!
Geekorner-Geekulture. 
