kiznaiver 09 thoughts - p2
Katsuhira, Noriko, and Katsuriko did me so good this episode!
And then there was the Kiznaiver Experiment and all the parallels to make me completely confused.
Seriously, how does the Kiznaiver Experiment manage to get more confusing the more we know about it?
Warning: Image-heavy musings about Katsuriko and the Kiznaiver Experiment below the cut!
- That Basketball Court scene was the best! I love how they show the intimacy between Katsuhira and Noriko not only through their conversation but also through their actions and body language. I mean, Noriko literally unbuttoned his shirt and laid her hand over his
heartmark.
- Katsuhira was ridiculously adorable throughout the entire thing and I loved that they confirmed he has spent the entire show thinking about Noriko! That has actually been my favorite thing on the ‘showing-not-telling’ front. The fact that you can watch every single episode and tell whenever Katsuhira’s in his little world thinking about Noriko lol
- So yeah, the entire conversation about how much Katsuhira thought about her was just gold. But beyond being sweet and hilarious, it was just such a nice showcase of their condition.
- Like anyone in Katsuhira’s shoes would have simply said “All the time”, wouldn’t they? But not Katsuhira, because Katsuhira’s honest and he approaches his emotions logically. “Relatively”, he says. So he literally calculates how much time he may spend thinking about her per day! How priceless was that??
- And Noriko! Instead of showing any sort of emotional response to what Katsuhira is telling her, Noriko asks for more details because she is simply applying logical, concrete thinking. But the sweetest part about it, IMO, is that when Noriko does this kind of thing, she isn’t only trying to gather more data to determine Katsuhira’s feelings for her. I bet you anything that deep down, Noriko wanted to know how much Katsuhira thought about her.
- Just like she went out there last episode saying that she was going “to give the experiment a push”, but that wasn’t true.
- What Noriko actually wanted was to face Katsuhira, hence why the first thing she does when he comes to she asks him if she exists inside him and tells him that he exists inside her.
- BLESS THIS SHOT. It’s literally what the Ending shows!! Katsuhira running and telling Noriko to catch up. She falls behind. And then he comes back and pulls her along. So going by the ending, by the end of the series, Noriko should be able to “run” at his same pace (fingers crossed!).
- I GOT THE SHOT I WANTED. BLESS.
- I love that Katsuhira just goes and hugs her again after she separates herself from him. That was just way too sweet!
- But seriously, look at that. Katsuhira’s mark was no longer activated. What was making “a lot of things well up inside him” was literally simply being able to hold Noriko close.
If only Tenga would’ve let them keep hugging… - Also, got to appreciate all those contrasts. I mean:
- It’s fantastic. Like the way Katsuhira is towards Noriko is outstanding on its own, but then the show literally showers you with parallels that make it even more incredible. Katsuhira hugs Chidori because she wants him to hug her, and Katsuhira who hugs Noriko because of feelings he himself can’t understand. Katsuhira is asked to go after Chidori and Katsuhira who jumps into a typhoon to go after Noriko.
Now, onto more serious and confusing matters though…
Kiznaiver Experiment
Too many things caught my eye this episode, I don’t know where to begin. The small stuff would be:
- Look at the round-about way Noriko talks about her feelings and sensations. Plus:
- Noriko looks a bit surprised when Katsuhira tells her she’s the one who’s been telling him to get his pain back, doesn’t she? This makes me think back to the first episode, where Noriko simply clapped and didn’t actually react to the quote. I thought that was just Noriko being Noriko, but maybe there’s more to it than that.
But the biggest thing this episode is that we have a clear parallel between the Kiznaivers then and the Kiznaivers now. And Katsuhira is in Noriko’s shoes this time around.
But according to Noriko, back then the experiment never got past the first stage, right? Aka, they could just feel each other’s physical pain.
So then, what was this?
The kids are holding different parts of their bodies, some aren’t even holding themselves at all. This couldn’t have only been physical pain, could it? This feels way more like there was emotional pain as well. Especially since we just saw the way being able to feel “everyone’s pain” reduced grown-up teenagers to whimpering messes, it would have been impossible for children this young to be able to process it least of all endure it.
Not only that, but we have another parallel between Noriko and Katsuhira right here:
Noriko says that “that must be the case”. Which means that she actually isn’t sure. Even Honoka notices there’s something off about it.
And the same goes for Katsuhira.
He figures where the pain is coming from and what kind of pain it is, but he doesn’t seem to be able to feel it to the same extent as everyone else and even apologizes for it. So this was the closest we have gotten to confirmation that Noriko isn’t able to feel pain, either.
Plus, there’s also this:
Noriko literally passes out when her mark gets activated. Which would make one think: Okay, so maybe she uses her injections to subdue it?
Except that we have this right here:
Meaning it’s not normal for Katsuhira and Noriko to still be connected after 12 years. Even Noriko is taken aback when she sees the way Katsuhira’s mark activates and then disappears again without a trace.
Which could mean Noriko’s been keeping her mark alive through those injections, or she is different; like she said she was. Perhaps she is forever tied to the experiment (or tying herself to the experiment) while Katsuhira shouldn’t have been?
But going back to that scene. If we have all those parallels between the past and the present, then could that mean that this—Katsuhira blaming himself for their pain—could have been something Noriko did in the past, too?
"People can’t find themselves within you and that irritates them.”
Because I mean, it really stood out to me that Katsuhira sees all those crying children essentially within Noriko’s scar. And all those colors must represent them and their feelings because our Kiznaivers are color-coded and so are their emotions.
Then there is Noriko’s reaction when she realizes they can hear Chidori’s “voice in her heart.”
She doesn’t look pleased by the advancement of the project. She looks shocked first and then rather sad. If Noriko really is under the impression that she and Katsuhira’s connection is a failed one, this could be easily be read as Noriko reacting to Katsuhira reaching a higher, stronger connection with this new group. It wouldn’t be the first time this happens; I’m pretty sure she did the same thing when they began to be able to feel each other’s emotional pain.
Hell, even in this episode we have Noriko basically telling Katsuhira: Why are you hugging me? Yes, you and I were connected but we aren’t special, you were connected to more people as well.
And yet… something just strikes me as extremely odd about all this. And it starts with this new stage being “Red” and Katsuriko’s childhood flashbacks being red as well.
So what I’m wondering is, is it possible that Katsuhira’s actually been able to hear the voice from Noriko’s heart in the past and she doesn’t know this?
It would tie in well with how Katsuhira always seems able to find her whenever Noriko goes through something that should make her emotional. Like back in Episode 6 (when she was told the Kiznaiver project was in peril and she made the call to use Maki’s trauma to their advantage) and in the previous episode. I was talking about this to someone the other day, but I’m pretty sure Katsuhira got those flashbacks because Noriko was thinking about the past. So once she got in close proximity to him, it’s like their wavelengths connected and he got overwhelmed by stuff Noriko herself was feeling.
And that brings me to this right here:
I can’t help but think that Katsuhira may have been feeling the aggregated pain Noriko herself has either been subduing or been unable to feel all this time.
So I’m basically torn between two sides. Either there is something about Noriko, and that something was affecting everyone, or Noriko perhaps took the burden upon herself last time? Which would actually fit with the imagery of Noriko standing alone in front of all the children and then free-falling into darkness. Perhaps the price of taking up everyone’s pain was being unable to feel much of anything anymore / being unable to connect with others?
All in all, what we know for sure is that Noriko and Katsuhira shouldn’t be connected anymore, and yet they are. This makes me more and more hopeful that we may get a “their bond goes well beyond the Kiznaiver experiment” by the end of this.
So yeah, I don’t know what to think lol
Lastly!! More things to appreciate:
- Noriko’s SIGH when Tenga calls her their enemy..
- More Katsuhira/Noriko paralles.
- Katsuhira’s DESPERATE and super emotional face as he tries to catch Noriko. MY SON.
- Urushii’s mysterious backstory with Noriko. I thought their “secret” would be revealed in this episode, but the only thing I got from Yaamada was a possible hint of Urushii being Noriko’s mom. Which does not compute so I’m choosing to ignore it and expect something else instead lol
