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HaruhiToy
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 4118
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Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 1:30 pm
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Bugnin wrote: | I think this show is better than to have the stereotypical, pointlessly abusive parent. Yes she obviously did a lot of damage, but I'd like to know how much of her abuse was influenced by her decaying state of mind. In other words, was she just as abusive before she got sick? |
His mother is a done deal -- we have seen the (hopefully) worst parts of her and no doubt there were good parts as well but even if we see them that won't serve to develop the story much.
The bigger part of the story is what sort of healing that Kousei actually accomplishes. What I found more curious is at the very end there is he actually seemed to imagine his mother's approval at his performance, which was rife with variations and errors -- barely worthy of evaluation. That would have earned him a real beating had she still been alive but Kousei imagines she would approved. Is that for real or just a delusion on his part?
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Bugnin
Joined: 09 Sep 2012
Posts: 575
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Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 2:59 pm
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HaruhiToy wrote: |
The bigger part of the story is what sort of healing that Kousei actually accomplishes. What I found more curious is at the very end there is he actually seemed to imagine his mother's approval at his performance, which was rife with variations and errors -- barely worthy of evaluation. That would have earned him a real beating had she still been alive but Kousei imagines she would approved. Is that for real or just a delusion on his part? |
I noticed this too, which is what made me re-consider my stance on Kousei's mother.
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xyz
Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Posts: 243
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Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 11:01 pm
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Let me guess. Kaori will die of terminal illness after successfully pulling Kousei out of the darkness and into the light, making him fall in love with music and her the same. He will remember her as his first love and reminiscence about her every April even after marrying his childhood friend many years after. The last scene would be Kousei looking at sakura blossoms falling in April thinking, "Sono shigatsu wa.... sono shigatsu wa kimi no uso..."
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A Mystery
Joined: 10 Oct 2010
Posts: 1887
Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 3:21 am
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@xyz: I think that your theory is mostly right. I'll give you bonus points if even those uttered sentences are right.
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Stark700
Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:30 pm
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Episode 11:
Solid episode overall although I smell a flag on Kaori..she also seemed a bit down compared to some of the other episodes. It felt a bit slow also with the development but I think things just take time.
That new woman Hiroko is awesome though and I like her already. I think Kousei has a chance to make it back to his primes again through this journey. Can't wait to see him play again.
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HaruhiToy
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 4118
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 10:44 pm
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KaWoRi [sic] is my hero. And I really want to see her play again.
It doesn't surprise me that Kousei's mom wasn't a total monster from start to finish (like she was at the end) but I really wonder what made her change so much. The (physical) illness alone doesn't account for it. And I am a little pissed at Sato-san [sic] for not protecting Kousei when he needed it -- of all people she would have known what was going on.
So did what Kousei say in the firefly field there amount to a confession? Is that the way Kaori took it? I hope so.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15494
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 5:53 am
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Episode 11
A pretty episode.
With what she said at the end who else thinks that Kaori is going to pull a Lucy and pull the football as he is about to kick it (die suddenly)?
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Animegomaniac
Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4093
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:05 pm
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And it's back.
Episode 12.
It's the turning point: narration from a future POV reflecting on nothing at all. This better be it as the heavy handed foreshadowing has gotten to the point where it's making me laugh.
"What are your future plans?" and then... Wow. It's too late for that. We get it, why don't they?
Still looks great, humor's still out of place both visually and emotionally, the new ending's a lot more, well, yeah. An interesting plot twist at the end {not that but the performance} could prove informative. The other thing, well, that could be a thing but it's probably just a thing but, you know, it could be "one of those things" that gets blown out of proportions and leads to some plot movement for once!. It's like trying pull a glacier with bare hands...
And I don't understand how hearing her son telling her to die would make Kosei's deathly ill mother smile or seeing how that would be a marker of his growth as both a pianist and a human being. Are we measuring the same things here?
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Stark700
Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 3:31 pm
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Episode 12:
Aww, I think I like the first OP song over this one although it still has some nice touches to it. Overall, a good build up episode but I wonder if Kaori will show up? Right now though, it's up to Kousei to perform in front of the audience.
I'm probably prepared to experience more flashbacks next time. Hopefully Kousei can deliver a performance everyone will remember for good reasons.
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A Mystery
Joined: 10 Oct 2010
Posts: 1887
Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:08 pm
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Animegomaniac wrote: |
And I don't understand how hearing her son telling her to die would make Kosei's deathly ill mother smile or seeing how that would be a marker of his growth as both a pianist and a human being. Are we measuring the same things here? |
I do not get it. I really don't get it either. And no ill word about all the abuse he's been through, not from his female mentor or anywhere in this episode at all. It's not that I'm against showing that Kousei's mother probably has some other side to her, but are they trying to downplay the abuse and glorify the mother here?? What is going on?
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Gina Szanboti
Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11404
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:30 pm
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Far and away the best part of the episode was the little girl mirroring Kousei's panic dance. I especially liked how it took her a little bit to get into perfect sync with his frantic moves.
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HaruhiToy
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 4118
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:19 pm
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A Mystery wrote: |
Animegomaniac wrote: |
And I don't understand how hearing her son telling her to die would make Kosei's deathly ill mother smile or seeing how that would be a marker of his growth as both a pianist and a human being. Are we measuring the same things here? |
I do not get it. I really don't get it either. And no ill word about all the abuse he's been through, not from his female mentor or anywhere in this episode at all. It's not that I'm against showing that Kousei's mother probably has some other side to her, but are they trying to downplay the abuse and glorify the mother here?? What is going on? |
It isn't that complicated.
We know that Saki drilled her son mercilessly to perform to the score. This is an ability that is much admired in the community. Kōsei managed it to a level that everyone -- audience, rivals, judges -- were in awe of him.
Whether she knew it at the beginning or if she had a later epiphany we don't know, but by the end of her life she clearly knew what the mistake was -- that he would never be able to achieve his potential and succeed her on that alone. He might as well be a well-built player piano that made witless mistakes. His outburst and defiance of her iron rule was the first evidence she ever had that he had what it takes. Perhaps she was beating him in desperation for it to appear so when it did she must have been relieved no matter what the cost.
It was really interesting to hear Hiroko's opinion that Kōsei's ability to not hear the notes was actually a gift. If you go back and think about what she said it actually makes sense.
So mistakes were made and poor Kōsei is still dealing with the aftermath. Although I have enough of choked-out performances from the bottom of the ocean it would be worse if this story just took the "poof the problem's gone" route that it could have. Kōsei's problem is more complex than that but he is clearly progressing. He is no longer hopelessly passive. And he sees there is something in it for himself.
Now, please. Could we have just once concert without nightmare-level of stress beforehand?
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15494
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:53 pm
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Episode 12
There was an uncomfortable amount of Kaori pretty much abusing Kousei in this episode, how can you not draw such similarities between her and his mother. And her continued lack of informing her friends that she ill is causing further problems.
I wonder if she just collapsed and went to the hospital or could go to the extreme and have her already pass away. At the very least she cannot continue to lie.
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A Mystery
Joined: 10 Oct 2010
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Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 9:04 am
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@Haruhitoy: Well, that all sounds very logical and I don't have anything against those explanations, but...
You see.
No sane mother would want to hurt her child. Not one. People who do that to their child aren't necessarily always evil and unloving, it's often a sign that the parent feels powerless in some way and does not know any other solution to control the situation than to resort to abuse. The reasons you're giving are legit, possible motives.
It's not that I'm against depicting her motives behind the abuse and showing a more grey picture of the situation, but fact is: NO ONE did ANYTHING to stop this. If nobody were close to this family, it's understandable, but very sad and you'd question the health care system at the very least. But we have Hiroko, for example. She's not saying anything bad about the abuse. It's like the show is saying: well poor Kousei did experience pain, yes, but he should be able to get by without professional help. An ill high school girl will do. No matter how many oceans we're shown, he has to solve his traumas partly on his own and partly because of an ill teenager who has a weird sense of humor (as this show uses abuse as comedic device as well) and a woman whose talents seems to be giving advice, but also to idly stand and watch someone get beaten emotionally and physically until they're broken.
Some things are done in a very thoughtful way, like the advice Hiroko gave about not being able to hear the notes. But there's no person who acts as the voice of reason regarding the abuse. It's fine if there isn't, as long as we know why poor Kousei didn't receive any help. What were Hiroko's motives, what flaws made her not act when she should have?
I might be reading too much into all this and the show still has many episodes to clarify both the mother and Hiroko's role... but I'm a bit pessimistic. From the beginning of this anime, I had some doubts about the depiction of abuse and I'm still not feeling 100% alright about how this show is dealing with this issue.
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Animegomaniac
Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4093
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 9:47 am
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HaruhiToy wrote: |
Whether she knew it at the beginning or if she had a later epiphany we don't know, but by the end of her life she clearly knew what the mistake was -- that he would never be able to achieve his potential and succeed her on that alone. He might as well be a well-built player piano that made witless mistakes. His outburst and defiance of her iron rule was the first evidence she ever had that he had what it takes. Perhaps she was beating him in desperation for it to appear so when it did she must have been relieved no matter what the cost.
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There is just too much wrong with this paragraph. If her training regiment was to make Kosei a mechanical player then "mission accomplished" up until his own will resurfaced. Her frustration was based on the idea that she was trying to make the perfect replay machine out of her son before she died. And just prior to that death Kosei had his fill of her treatment and told her to her face to die.
This is the source of his performance trauma, that he ceased to meekly obey and play but he outright told her what was on his mind.
And her response, which we just learned? She smiled. Oh and then she died soon after. No anger, no shock but even outraged amusement would have put her in the "human" category. It looked to be a genuine smile but it was a curse on him for not accomplishing what she wanted while she could enjoy it.
Newsflash: She didn't care about Kosei. She barely even cared for him, the only thing that mattered to her was what was done when he was seated at a piano.
Everything after that smile is conjecture {not to forget, very brief} but everything prior to is known. Those actions she took, the way she trained and treated Kosei, were not done to get him to rebel but to play the piano the way she wanted. Kaori's notions of fun and self expression which is the essence of Kosei's outburst? Doesn't win you any recognition that matters.
With that smile did she realize she was wrong? Doesn't matter, the damage was already done with further damage on the way.
Maybe her smile was "rueful", a "little do you know how close to death I actually am" sort of smile. But it just makes her even more of a witch then because it's all still about her.
I'll end on a basic question: Did she care what happened to Kosei after her inevitable death? If Hiroko is Kosei's present guardian somehow, who was his previous one?
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