[ =D ]

that was... one hell of an episode. it genuinely left me unsettled in the second half but i'll get into that later.

i had asked before about what the line about giovanni and campanella was referencing in the last review, and a helpful commenter said that this was from the book "Night on the Galactic Railroad" by kenji miyazawa. of course this book is important because the Galactic Express ending from the game is literally based on that! (also found out that another game's sequel dlc was based on that story too, but that's not relevant)

in the galactic express scene, giovanni is represented by purple lollipop, the timid and shy one, and campanella is represented by kangel, their best friend who joins him/her on the galactic railroad and together they promise to find true happiness. in the end, campanella/kangel unfortunately dies, and giovanni/lollipop is left to grieve over him/her.

but this anime actually gives out a fun fact that kind of... recontextualises this story, if that's the right word? in miyazawa's 3rd draft of the novel, there was actually going to be a character named dr. bulganillo who would teach giovanni about happiness and how he should live from then on. however, miyazawa made the decision to cut that character out, leaving the final draft of the novel to be very melancholic.

i've got about two main questions from that scene. the first one is: does that scene actually foreshadow what will happen later in the anime? will kangel inevitably fall and lollipop be forced to deal with the loss of her idol? and the second one is: if they're going to use this fact about the third draft, who will be the one to represent dr. bulganillo? this scene has given me food for thought, so i'm very curious to see if Galactic Railroad will play a much bigger importance later on.

we get another scene of ame and lollipop bonding with each other, and ame talks about p-chan... i know it's silly nitpicking, cause it's just a matter of translation, but i was caught off-guard by p-chan being referred as ame's boyfriend in the subtitles, when they're supposed to not even be gender-specified. but i am gonna say, it's absolutely BRILLIANT that ame shows lollipop a picture that is meant to depict her and p-chan at the beach, but lollipop is very confused at what she's even seeing. if you've seen the comment te dire adieu ending, you'd know about the true nature of p-chan, and this part just... well, it'd tell the people who haven't played the game before that something is up, but as for people who have played the game entirely, they would know why lollipop's so confused.

karamazov do intend to take down kangel through surpassing her popularity, and i think it's interesting that there's allusions to kangel being like a god that they'll slay. probably not that surprising cause kangel IS meant to be the Internet Angel, but in the streaming world, you really could call her a god cause she has 10 million followers and counting. nechika says in the last episode that she really thinks the three of them could slay a god, and in this episode, she even calls kangel "the angel" like she's some sort of overlord. there's even a part where both kangel and ame talk about how god possesses all three traits of goodness, beauty and truth (which are the traits that nyalra believes the karamazov brothers represent and have written them into the karamazov group), how people have faith in god because they seek salvation... and how god will always remain alone. i had viewed the relationship between karamazov and kangel as a simple rivalry at the beginning, but... with all this, i really couldn't help myself but feel fascinated with the actual dynamic they have now.

of course i ought to give praise to the 2000s cartoon style that one scene had. (i absolutely LOVE it when the anime does stuff like that) and it was real funny too! michica tells lollipop and nechika about a dream she had where she was a detective who was trying to figure out who killed the royal jester (nechika) and she ends up going on this very convoluted mystery until it's said at the end that the princess (lollipop) who told detective michica about the murder was actually the murderer. not completely sure if that scene is meant to mean anything, but i reckon it's one of my favourite parts of the anime.

i did say that this episode left me feeling really unsettled at the beginning, and this is the part where i talk about that... michica absolutely breaks down, seeming to be struggling with her identity and her perception of her beauty, and when kache calls her to check up on her, she tells her to shut up and exclaims that she doesn't need any friends! and all the while, kache acknowledges that they both live in completely different worlds... that felt painful to watch, as someone who thought their friendship was sweet...

and then she runs off, and i say this part is unsettling because then you hear this whole... cult-like narration of what seems to be an excerpt from the brothers karamazov? (do correct if i'm wrong) dare i say it, i felt some fear, because of the unsettling atmosphere the background narration created.

and then at the very end, michica goes back into what seems to be her previous school, smashing all the windows with a metal bat... and that is where kache comes to confront her. what a way to conclude this episode.

i'm a little surprised at how much i've written, but ah if anything, it's just a sign that there's really so much to this anime...

if yer willing can u show how u made axis?

oh i would happily accept your request!

axis is in a purplish colour and his head is like a block so this is what i picked

eyebrows, nose, mouth and ears should be removed, but as for eyes, i picked these ones. they're not pink of course, but i reckon letting your miis express their emotions with the facial features you have rather than drawing their face on and depriving them of the ability to make expressions is the better option

now for face paint... i don't really think i am very good at explaining, but the copying and pasting feature in artist mode is really handy for the antenna bits. i've attached a palette of the colours i have used for the face paint.

chat

Make this world anew.

A perfect world, the brightest world. A perfect world, the darkest world.

The Angel lies. But He doesn't.

Follow Him. Follow his will.

purple lollipop has some purple highlights originally, but overall she's dark-haired. after michica gives her a makeover, her hair is completely dyed in lilac, hot pink and deep blue.

from this character sheet that was posted online, nechika also had dark hair too, but she dyed it white when she was in junior high school

for michica... i know i'm just stretching it cause her hair in the past and in the present are both black, the only difference is that in the present, she dyed the ends of her bangs in red

as for kache, her hair was fully black in her high school days, half-blonde in episodes 1-3, and fully blonde after episode 4

but you know who is the exception to this rule???

it's ame, of course!

she's never dyed her hair in any other colour, and when it comes to streaming as kangel, she wears a wig instead

this detail makes me wonder if there's any meaning behind it... like i was thinking that maybe michica, kache, nechika, and lollipop dye their hair as a way to be authentic and true to themselves, whereas ame is usually herself, but at night-time she puts on the wig and becomes kangel, the streamer persona who couldn't be more different from how she really is...

kache goes fully blonde, leaves behind her shitty boyfriend and gains individuality (the fact that it was half dyed before is probably reflective of how she was teetering between ordinary and extraordinary before she made her choice)

michica drops out of school and leaves the mundane world behind her, gaining liberation

more material, but nechika leaves behind poverty and gains a more stable, lavish life

purple lollipop leaves behind her life as a shut-in and gains self-confidence