Based on how the story is going and the eye flame, my prediction for Ep 10: The ghosts pull out various guns and start fighting. Surprise, it's actually Black Rock Shooter, Season 2! :D
Posted Jun 4, 2012, 12:50 PM UTC
So, some random predictions (note, I haven't read the manga and have no foreknowledge about the upcoming episodes, so this is speculation and not a spoiler):
The "dark side" symbolism is an old storytelling trope, but it's a fun one. Shadow Yuuko represents Yuuko's demons, obviously, and generally a story about inner conflict can end one of two ways: happily (in which the person faces their demons) or unhappily (in which the person refuses to face their demons, it eventually destroys them).
Teiichi is an extra dimension to this. It's clear from this episode that Teiichi hasn't accepted Yuuko's dark side, even though he has enough information available to understand that they're the same person. I would posit that really loving someone means accepting the good and the bad, so it seems to me that Teiichi's acceptance (or lack thereof) will play a significant role in the the next couple of episodes.
Here's how I hope things will play out:
After experiencing Yuuko's past for himself in the next episode, Teiichi will gain an understanding of what it was that caused Yuuko to break. He won't want to let go of his perfect image of Yuuko, but eventually he'll realize that if he really loves her, he has to. After an internal struggle, he'll embrace Shadow Yuuko and comfort her.
Yuuko will see them embracing and be horrified; most likely she'll run away. Yuuko doesn't want to admit that Shadow Yuuko exists, and, perhaps more importantly, she doesn't want Teiichi to either. It will hurt Yuuko immensely because she'll think that Teiichi's acceptance of her shadow means that he thinks less of her (that is, that he views her as dark and flawed).
At this point, Yuuko will be forced to face her dark side, which is something she's been avoiding for the past half century. What's really interesting here is that Yuuko's real dark side is her selfishness; the fact that she has forced all of her suffering onto another person and refused to share any happiness and comfort. I suspect that the final episode will involve a reversal of roles, and that Teiichi's acceptance of Shadow Yuuko will bring out Yuuko's jealous, childish, and selfish side out in full force, and in that episode Yuuko herself will clearly be the villain.
It's hard to say how this will play out with any precision, obviously, but in order for Yuuko not to be a tragic character, in the end she'll need to grow as a person and be able to put aside her selfishness and denial and embrace the shadow herself. I'll expect that before the episode ends, it will be revealed that Yuuko must embrace her shadow or else she'll be destroyed (once again, failure to face one's demons is what does a tragic character in). Ultimately Teiichi's acceptance will lend her the strength to do this.
After that, they could make the ending bittersweet (Yuuko, now at peace with herself, moves on) or happy (Yuuko has accepted herself, but to truly be at peace, she needs to live the life that she missed, so she spends the rest of her un-life at Teiichi's side as his lover and then "moves on" with him, when he dies).
-OR-
A failure on one or both of the main characters' parts to accept the shadow (I don't see Yuuko accepting her own shadow without Teiichi accepting it first) will lead to Yuuko's ultimate destruction. Since this is running parallel to an unfinished manga series I'm guessing it won't end like this.
-OR-
They'll do what some shows do where the manga is ongoing and go for some sort of cop-out ending. :p
I used to write fanfiction. Can you tell? :) In any case, it's been a while since I've enjoyed a series enough to over-analyze it. I wonder if I'll be right.
I used to write fanfiction.
You're in "good" company, the TOxA author used to do h-manga. ಠ_ಠ
It kind of shows. :)
Nope, it will be more of a test than a time for action.
Another excellent episode. Only 3 more episodes, but they've already outrun the manga.
A tear will be shed when this show ends, this was my Shaft'ish weekly dose of awesomeness.
Definitely had my jimmies rustled this episode again, I love the mindfuck and horror aspect of this show a lot more than the kawaii and romance. Don't get me wrong, I love that part of the show and they have done a great job balancing both aspects but the horror draws me in more.
I also thought of the same thing OP, did Mato jump into the show? And I wonder if it's a reference or ode to the Black Rock Shooter?
Something like a reference to IBRS? Since we're pretty much in the climax.
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It reeks of that ending! We and both Yuuko and Teiichi are about to know about the past and the "why's" of all the history, I wouldn't expect a battle per say but more a battle of ideals, like something you've seen in Nisemonogatari, the director seems to be fond of the same style aswell.
Oh and yea the horror part of this anime coupled with the mistery is giving me the shivers everytime I watch a new episode, can't wait for the next one!
I don't think a battle (of ideas or otherwise) is really the answer here. Shadow Yuuko looks like the villain, but it seems to me that the real villains in the series are the ones who did whatever they did to Yuuko when she was alive that left her in this state, and possibly even Yuuko herself for pushing all of her negative emotions and suffering onto a separate being, even if that being is an aspect of herself.
A couple of interesting things I noticed:
As Teiichi sees her, Shadow Yuuko is actually pretty. Dark and foreboding, yes, but she has Yuuko's good looks. That would seem to indicate that he wouldn't hate them if they were one being.
Shadow Yuuko clearly cares about what Teiichi thinks of her. She's Yuuko also, so it stands to reason that she loves Teiichi as well, although she seems to get the bad parts (loneliness, jealousy, etc).
Honestly, I spent the whole last half of the episode wishing that Teiichi would just give Shadow Yuuko a hug and let her cry on him. Her existence must be horrible, and she has no one. Honestly, if I were in Teiichi's shoes I would have sought out Shadow Yuuko during the previous episode, because Shadow Yuuko, by her very nature, remembers.
Both Yuuko and Teiichi are going to have to become less selfish and childish for any of this to be resolved, since right now all they're doing is taking the easy way out and ignoring someone who is clearly in pain. I'll be interested in seeing how this all works out. I haven't read the manga (planning to after the show ends), so don't spoil it for me. :)