#ep110

I think the most important thing I wanted to mention is that the way the starfruit is described feels symbolic of what Keroro actually wants deep down

essentially a hybrid of the best of both, coming together into a single unit. all keroro does want is for keron and earth to co-exist in harmony, but his flawed way of imagining that is explored a bit more in 110b.

Any sort of invasion, even a peaceful one, despite being the best possible scenario for him in the situation he's in, still implies changing things about earth in order to achieve it and... as he realized, he doesn't want that!

Having a nightmare about successfully invading... Even with the starfruit representing literally the best possible scenario. It highlights his impossible task, but it also served to make him reflect about the invasion and his feelings on it at all.

In fact this whole episode is huge in this regard because the whole reason he got sick in the first place was stress and failure to adapt (hey! remember those old posts I made about how he doesn't quite feel at home on either planet and even though he loves earth it feels unwelcoming too in many aspects...) and it's easy to see why, normally we can see his stress, but this season won't let us forget (thanks to that beautiful timer device). With this constant reminder of what he has to do, where usually he likes to not think about it at all.

Coming to terms with his feelings towards earth and his own role in regards to it when it comes to invading, realizing you don't want anything to change about it really, in the second half that is.

The entire first half he spends it severely downplaying his negative feelings, which is nothing new, he often does this.

Trudging through his daily tasks sluggishly, doesn't ask for help or complain at all, actually the opposite is true.

Losing strength and physically lighter, like someone who doesn't want to be a weight and can't stand up for what he believes in. Ready to give up.

The kind of lethargy one experiences when under extreme pressure (and already depressed if I'm allowed to add), which is why when he tastes the starfruit (which again, what it represents...) which is one new positive thing he hadn't experienced before (something to keep going for), he literally breaks down in tears. And then attaches way too much importance to it (in a dream yes, but that's still his subconscious so, if anything it counts more).

Normal phrase to say for someone whose feelings are totally stable and not at all experiencing an extreme low. Normal tantrum behavior showing perfectly fine emotional regulation, not dramatic at all.

So anyway in my opinion from what I've observed so far anime keroro really isn't one to explicate his real feelings/needs or even do much self reflection on them at all. Normally, these occur when he's under huge stress. On average he has tantrums or indulges in escapism.

When Aki asks him a simple question on it, he has to stop and think about it, despite literally almost dying from the severity of them. My alexithymia king.

And then and only then, when it feels like he'll actually be listened to (by the way, getting ignored seems to be a big trigger for him! just based on observing his reactions... when people don't pay attention to him or praise something else while he's there... and stuff like that), does he say it in a way that feels so understated.

But to me it's really huge, because I don't think he has ever admitted these two facts so naturally. Or at all?

And as I said the shot with the timer feels especially devious in this context, it's a reminder to us the viewer that anyway how Keroro feels about the invasion doesn't matter, because he really has no agency or choice about it at this point. It's also a visual reminder of the obvious other underlying reason for his stress, that he doesn't outright say, but is shown to us regardless.

I think maybe, in such a context, even praise for a job well done could start mattering less to him, because the outcome is what's unfavorable, the thing he dreads.

That might be why this did nothing for him. Throughout the day so many duties, things he has to do, but not many times that he's asked how he feels about it (which is why he often ends up snapping in extreme ways). Like "what's the point?" of even thinking about it, if the situation is set in stone no matter what?

And I know Aki said may disease and we settled on that, it's the closest thing for sure, it lends a description for the type of disappointment he feels about what he has to do. But I do feel like it's not about "may" for him, it's more long lasting, it's just reaching a boiling point now due to the set timer. And may disease (while not clinically recognized) is best described as a type of minor depression. Keroro doesn't really have responsibilities tied to japan school/work (even if it's representing it), so you also have to see the bigger picture of it here... of why it manifested... He himself says he carries stress and unease every day. So it's not limited to may, it's circumscribed to his situation.

Sam: “… you mean subtraction…”

[Everybody looses it for a good couple of minutes.]