Note to self:
Even more, stuff that stood out to me in this episode about Katsuriko’s past:
1. We never see chibi! Noriko’s eyes, ever. So either they are the same (she wasn’t able to feel anything back them, either) or they are different (she could feel emotions just fine). Noriko being able to laugh and smile seems to imply she could, but perhaps her emotions were already numbed by that point.
2. What makes Katsuhira different from Noriko and the others, exactly? What made him more likely to be able to “get back his pain”?
3. “Everyone”. The concept of “Everyone” is first brought to our attention in Episode 4 thanks to Noriko’s and Katsuhira’s little debate. Then we have the latest episode, where Hisomu points out that the pain they are feeling isn’t “anyone’s only” but rather “Everyone’s”.
Which I took as it is the aggregate of everything they are feeling. A pain that has no boundaries, no beginning, and no end because it comes from all of them and they all feel it in a hivemind-like fashion. And doesn’t that fit very well with what Noriko was musing about?
More than that though, it’s also present in a quote that the show keeps coming back to People who can’t find themselves within you. That irritates them.
Because in Japanese, that “people” is actually “皆” aka “Everyone” (皆あなたの中に自分を見つけられない。)
Which fits a little too well with this:
Plus of course, these ever-present questions:
4. What prompted Noriko to fling herself off?
Did she blame herself for the pain everyone was going through, just like Katsuhira did this episode, and thus was simply trying to sever the Kizna connection? Or was she unable to feel everyone’s pain as well and somehow found a way to take everyone’s pain within herself?
5. Has Noriko used the injections to keep her mark from disappearing or to keep it from activating?
6. Were the other children still connected to them by that point or was this a showcase of the sheer weight Katsuhira gave to his bond with Noriko?
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