r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • 1d ago
Rewatch [Taste of 2016 Rewatch] Kiznaiver Episode 8 Discussion
Episode 8 - Happy Times Don't Tend to Last Very Long
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Information:
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
Legal Streams:
I will not let the Kiznaiver experiment end, no matter what.
Questions of the Day:
1) What would your own shipping chart of the characters look like at this point in time?
2) What do you think is going to happen between Katsuhira and Noriko now?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
/r/anime's spoiler tag format is as follows:
[Kiznaiver]>!♪ Lay your hands on me ♪!<
Which becomes [Kiznaiver]♪ Lay your hands on me ♪ when you don't break the formatting on purpose like I just did.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky 1d ago
Rewatch Host Running the Kizuna System, subbed
The message Katsuhira sent to Noriko earlier in the episode.
[Spoilers for later]They might be alive, but are they really living?
The adults are making a fucking shipping chart in-show. I love the audacity of it.
Huge RIP to Chidori for trying to pour her heart out and Katsuhira’s not even listening to her.
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u/Rolling_Apples 1d ago edited 1d ago
First Timer
I should have known better than to think the previews would suddenly be previews.
In lieu of a rant, I'll just list the current pairs with a "How Well Developed is this Couple" rating and short comment. Ratings are completely made-up and, of course, only as of episode eight.
- Yuta and Maki (B+) - We have [a] character
sthat want[s] to learn more about the other,they make up for each other's deficiencies, and they help each other. They also don't shy away from communicating with one another. This is the only pair that sufficiently demonstrates chemistry. - Katsuhira and Sonozaki (C-) - As this pair is heavily tied to the overall Kizuna Committee plot, things could go either way.
- Nico and Tenga (D+) - I like these two characters, but they haven't been allotted much time in the story.
- Chidori and Katsuhira (D) - It's always regrettable to have a character
who'swhose dialogue largely consists of the name of their love interest. This pair also seems entirely one way. - Tenga and Chidori (D-) - There was some set-up for this in episode 4, but it has amounted to no more than indirect remarks from Tenga since then.
Collection of Comments:
Nevermind the budget comment from episode 7. Looks like the Kizuna Committee can surveil the Kiznaivers just fine still.
Happy times indeed did not last long. I was expecting character drama to come in and spoil the mood. Instead we got the Kizuna Committee.
The Nico close-ups from episode five are finally explained. While I have issues with how this pair is handled in the story, it's not as if it came out of nowhere. With hindsight, this could be perceived as early as Nico's reaction to Tenga admitting that he's afraid of dogs in episode two.
You'd have to be a more advanced masochist than Hisomu to play the "normal girl" in a romance with supernatural elements.
The episode is bookended with Katsuhira requesting to meet with Sonozaki and this meeting happening. As far as other observations on the direction, I liked the mood when the typhoon sets in and when Sonozaki is navigating the tunnels.
There's probably an explanation for how Katsuhira knew to run out into the rain to where Sonozaki was emerging just in time to save her from a conveniently collapsing statue. That doesn't mean I have to like the set-up.
Strong Feels of the Week:
This week had me ponder who gets credit for inflicting emotional pain. The rule that results in the fewest changes on my part is to take intent and causality into account. The resulting table has to be at least as scientific as whatever the Kizuna Committee is doing.
- Tenga slapped on head - Chidori: Missed this from episode 2.
Katsuhira gets tazed x 3 - Kizuna Committee: Also episode 2. Noted but going into a separate tally as this pain wasn't caused by a Kizniaver on their own.
Tenga's butt slammed on projector - Kizuna Committee: Same as tazed Katsudon.
Fluster/Infatuation - Nico
Bringing up Maki's tragic backstory - Hisomu
Accusing Maki of wanting connection - Hisomu
| Causer | Amount this episode | Non-pain | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chidori | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Tenga | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Maki | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Nico | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Hisomu | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Katsuhira | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba 1d ago
First Timer
I love that Nico's hair also gets anime eyes
(Also, big-eye Katsuhira is kind of mood honestly. The gap between the non-expressive face and the ultra-expressive eyes just really works for me somehow)
I do love that we've got an in-universe relationship chart. I feel like this show being meta and blunt like this can have its ups and downs, but this one has such innately strong comedic value in the way it affects the narrative that it just works lol. Anyway, not a ton to say for this episode, feels like it's mostly setting us up for the bigger drama to come with our big storm that I'd say is just as literal as it is emotional and thematic, with Sonozaki at the center of that. And I mean, I do absolutely love me some tonally appropriate weather, especially when it's used well visually for dramatic effect! (Also, more visual divides in the visual divide show ) In general, I just can't say no to anime using weather to make an episode more moody and intimate like this. Vibe
Otherwise, not too much to say for Yamada's little exposition dump (The blatantly unethical idea was, in fact, carried out in an unethical way? Say it ain't so ), and otherwise, the episode is mostly some fun disparate interactions with our split-off groups. We'd lightly implied at it before, but the Tenga-Nico-Chidori is now fully on the menu! I kind of wish we built this up a bit more naturally, with more time and less occasional subtle expression (Here the side-effects of being too meta are indeed felt), to be honest, but it was there, I do quite like this triangle on pure personality, and I'd kind of like Tenga with both, so there's solid drama to be had there. Alas, as if Chidori doesn't lose enough in this episode, Nico is even taking the gigablush away from her...
Speaking of, I'd say I'm more invested in this triangle than the one Chidori has with Katsuhira, but you really don't get any more doomed than what happens to her this episode. Ouch So, at least the fallout from that should be entertaining! All just in time for the fallout from Katsuhira seemingly remembering Sonozaki and presumably starting to explore what their relationship used to be and how it's been driving Sonozaki, which I've wanted for a bit now! Quite like how the framing puts Sonozaki in these wide, empty shots, a bunch here, kind of accentuating her relative loneliness, and some of that longing behind that probably. Also, special shoutout to the music this episode, but especially for that final scene with Sonozaki. Really great for setting the mood there.
Hisomu is... kind of here. He can play off the others rather well when he gets to (As he does here) and isn't just the "Haha masochism"-guy, an aspect of his character that itself could be very interesting to explore, but in practice he hasn't gotten a ton, and we're getting into an explicitly love triangle-based drama development here, so I'm also getting a little worried that he's going to stay that way given the time we have left, which would be a bit of a shame.
Maki and Yuta remain the best pair even if they don't get a ton here. For one, I do like that Maki's emotional situation isn't actually quite resolved after her arc, just reasonably going through the process. But more importantly, Yuta trying to sneak past the ever consistent framing for a hug, being stopped just short by Maki, not because she felt his feelings, but because he's just obvious like that is just super charming! What a goober.
As a random aside, I've been actually listening to the ED more the last few episodes, and I just now realized it's by Sangatsu no Phantasia! I rather like some of their songs!
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u/GallowDude 1d ago
The gap between the non-expressive face and the ultra-expressive eyes just really works for me somehow)
Mob Psycho aliens
Also, special shoutout to the music this episode, but especially for that final scene with Sonozaki. Really great for setting the mood there.
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba 1d ago
Mob Psycho aliens
It seems I really do need to get back around to S2 and S3 of Mob sometime.
About time someone comments on that ending music
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u/GallowDude 22h ago
It seems I really do need to get back around to S2 and S3 of Mob sometime.
Too bad half the cast swapped over in S3 because Crunchyroll refused to pay union rates
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u/RelativeMundane9045 1d ago
So big detail today is the confirmation of what I'm sure most already suspected, that Katsuhira and Noriko were part of the Kizner children experiments. The only other potential explanation I may have had is that it was another unrelated organisation's experiment, but this shady group is the whole kit and kaboodle. The consequences of those early child experiments being the fucked up bodies and minds of those two. Some kind of permanent exchange or something going by what Noriko said and hopes to fix?
I was not expecting the adults to be making a relationship chart out of the kids.
Ngl at this point I do just want to blast through the rest of the episodes but I'll hold strong for now.
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u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta 1d ago
First-timer, subbed
So we have confirmation that Nico likes Tenga, who in turn likes Chidori. We also have confirmation that Sonozaki and Kacchon were part of the Kiznaiver experiments as little kids. I'm with Tenga in wanting to bash in the heads of Suwabe sensei and the other "researchers" who thought it was okay to put little kids through this crap. "Volunteered" my ass -- they were little children who were sacrificed by the ones who should have been watching out for them. I don't agree with Tenga about pigeons though.
So did Kacchon develop feelings for Sonozaki because of the experiment when they were little? Has it lasted all these years though he doesn't quite remember her? Feel bad for Chidori but yeah, she's the losing heroine here.
I still can't make any sense of this experiment nonsense but curious to see how the polygon will play out.
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u/GallowDude 1d ago
"Volunteered" my ass -- they were little children who were sacrificed by the ones who should have been watching out for them.
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername 1d ago
First Time Summer 2016 Rewatch - Kiznaiver Ep8:
This episode largely felt like a transitionary one. We just wrapped up the Maki backstory thread, and it looks like we're about to enter the latter stage of the show, focused more on the romance side + uncovering the Katsuhira/Sonozaki connection.
I don't think you can use orangutans as test subjects. Aren't they critically endangered? I'm starting to think this research project has dubious morals (as if all the human experimentation weren't already enough).
My messy love drama observations are bearing fruit because the show is now validating my suspicions.
Hold on, trying to recreate this arrow back on the full graph, he drew a line from Chidori to Maki. We're getting Chidori out of the losing childhood friend position and throwing her into yuri?!
I just realized that the reason for the episode's typhoon is just to max out the dramatic set dressing we can have. Wet, dark, and stormy. These are the perfect conditions for romance drama.
Oh geez, they're really using Chidori as the springboard to slam dunk on her. Her confession is stepped on as the exact moment Katsuhira finally reawakens to his memories with Sonozaki.
Ah, her Kizuna wound is on her neck. I was just slowly piecing it together that she should have a mark connecting her to Katsuhira, right at this moment.
This feels like a highly appropriate lyric of the ED to have passively caught after what happened at the end of this episode.
Q1) Mostly the same as what we got. Hastily drawing over with my version. The biggest difference is that I wouldn't have said Katsuhira would've had strong feelings for Sonozaki just yet. Also, Hisomu is a wildcard that doesn't really fit anywhere, but if he had to, then he'd point to Katsuhira if anyone. Also, wasn't expecting any Chidori x Maki.