[C] - Episode 8

The following are some of the common reactions after watching this episode:

• Amazement: OMG!
• Curses: WTF! (or "F*ck!") or Sh#t (or "Holy sh#t!")
• Complains: "Things are happening fast" or "I'm confused" or "My brain hurts" or "[C], why are you not making any sense?"

Mine's like a combination of all those reactions, I suppose:

"OH MY GOD THIS IS CRAZY SH#T AND IT MINDF*CKED ME IN A MATTER OF SECONDS UGH DAMN YOU [C] I FREAKIN' LOVE YOUR AWESOMENESS MWAH"

*ehem* Okay, another version of the summary of my feelings:

"Wow... it blew me away. I love this show!"

In other words, the recent episode was full of surprises, and they happened in a really fast and impactful manner. Yet it didn't fail to impress me, and my love for [C] has not changed.

This episode was no doubt a shock. The series is taking things slow in developing its characters and setting in the previous episodes then in this one... SNAP! Everything just falls apart in an instant!

Some might consider the sudden quicken of pacing a "flaw", but in my opinion, it did was one of the most awesome things that the series did xD I mean.... Firstly, it seemed intentional: Watching [C] is similar to riding a rollercoaster.

The ride ascends slowly at first, relaxing you yet at the same time teasing you on what might happen later if you think about how high you're going. Then when you reach the peek, all of a sudden, you go ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM and before you know it, your ride just made crazy turns and even makes you go upside down. It got you off guard.... you were shocked and you screamed your head off. But after the ride, you say "I thought I was going to die but.... LET'S RIDE ON IT AGAIN!"

I LOVE it that this series is making me feel the excitement of a rollercoaster ride... figuratively (Since I'm not fond of riding the real ones at all. Seriously, I don't see the thrill of feeling being close to death every several minutes) .

Secondly, the real world's not really that different. I don't think I need to be an expert to confirm this thought: "For a country to prosper, it may take years; but for a country to fall, it can happen in a flash." It's much easier and faster to destroy than to build. The Financial District and its corresponding country in the other world becoming hell all of a sudden.... is very understandable. Real life is so harsh... *sniff*

I think this is why, aside from the Entres, the non-Entres in the real world, like Hanabi, are beginning to notice the changes somehow because a lot of futures are being affected SO FAST. That's my guess on why the non-Entres are spacing out or get confused for no apparent reason.

Moreover, even with this sudden change in pacing, it still didn't forget about doing further plot and character development. There are still quite a number of thought-provoking matters rised up in the episode as well, whether philosophically, sociologically, etc. It left some explanations, but at the same time gave us more things to wonder about!

Aside from the pacing, the biggest change in [C] is that "the leading character taking action" is more obvious now than before. In the previous episodes, he seemed too indecisive and confused... though in fact he has already taken a step since way back:

Ebara: Heh, you're quite a strange one.
Kimimaro: I've been told that a lot lately. Even though I've lived my life as an ordinary person.
Ebara: It's because you made a move.
Ebara: If you stand still, no one can tell if you're ordinary or strange.

So, destroying Midas Money goes along the lines of Jennifer's plan, and his giving importance of a bright future is in par with Sennoza's ideas. What made him pretty convinced with Mikuni's words is Mikuni's desire to protect... which Kimimaro also wants to do. But apparently, it's now clear to him that Mikuni only wants to protect the present, while Kimimaro doesn't want to disregard those in the future.

So Kimimaro's decision is indeed somewhat a combo of the three perspectives... and as the opening theme has hinted, despite the striking similarities between Kimimaro and Mikuni, Mikuni is going to be the main antagonist of the series, if not already. (Well, the Financial District still seems to be the number one enemy since it's the ones that's making their lives miserable. Even though Masakaki laughs like an evil villain, he doesn't seem different from a minion demon just doing what his boss tells him but enjoys watching bad things. )

With Kimimaro putting faith in his future, and saying: "The now exists for the future.", I guess it's safe to conclude that one of the messages in the series would be "There's always hope in the future.", and even if that's so overused in a lot of stories, that saying will never get old.

Speaking of "old", in Kimimaro's dream, he had a daughter and he said "Mashu" when his "wife" asked what name he'd like to give to the child. There's a theory that his future would be having a daughter named Mashu; and there's another saying that Mashu might be his supposed sister; and then there's another that him and Mashu are the same.

I'm more for the last theory (so much for my Kimimaro x Mashu shipping *sigh*). This idea might seem crazy, but I think that the child in Kimimaro's dream is Kimimaro himself, and his name was supposed to be "Mashu". But when his father went bankrupt, the child "Mashu" will be born from him instead of his father. That would somehow explain why Takezato finds Mashu familiar and related to Kimimaro's father? Well, if it turns out to eb the daughter theory, then his father's future was about meeting his grandaughter?

Either way, ugh, it looks like it's going to be just as I've feared. After all those cute happy moments between Kimimaro and Mashu, they're totally not going to work out. Things will be even harder now that Kimimaro made himself bankrupt (or almost bankrupt)... I can't imagine how their future Deals are going to be like.

More on Kimimaro, I think his lack of motivation and decisiveness in earlier episodes is just balancing his actions on what he does when he finally decides on something. Because when he decides to do something, it happens fast, and what he does is usually crazy: beating up a guy he doesn't know, defeating a hell stronger opponent, demanding Masakaki to see his superior, then lately burning all his cash. Oh I really love it when the characters that appear to be so plain and ordinary happen to be the ones that are... anything but ordinary xD

More about the other characters, it was a really huge surprise for me that the information broker was just an ice cream vendor in the real world. And what a rich ice cream vendor he is, haha! And oh the one with a yellow shirt in the Guild never ceases to amuse me. I freakin' love the Vin Diesel joke on the opponent he has picked, bwahahahaha! And as for glasses dude.... he's working together with Jennifer, eh? A traitor in the Guild and Mikuni trusts him? But Mikuni's pretty cunning so I don't think he fully trusts the guy.

Speaking of the Guild, it looks like Mikuni's plan in controlling the District has an operation name: [C] ... which turns out the title of the series too! xD So cool! But of course, the one who will be successful on that would be none other than the main protagonist. Oh I'm very excited to know how he does that! Highly looking forward to the next episode *_*

(Favorite scene in the episode. So cute~)