Figure 17

Episode 1:

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We just met Figure 17 please don't ask me such difficult questions.

This was a fantastic first episode.

The long length means there was time to spend half the episode just getting to know the characters and their situations. The first half of the episode builds a lot of empathy for Tsubasa and her unhappy life feeling alienated after moving away from Tokyo.

The other thing the extended prologue accomplishes is building up the atmosphere. There are lots of great bucolic shots to establish the quaint setting. Then there are small glimpses of the UFO coming to build intrigue.

The slow burn builds anticipation and then the UFO crashes and the action is actually satisfying. I liked the design of the alien monster, The fight itself was well animated and had some cool moments.

Then the episode ends on an intriguing note.

The retro artstyle and music are both on point too.
 
Episode 2:

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Seriously show. Stop it with the probing personal questions.
I'm so alone!!

This was great again. I'm quite enjoying the slower pacing of this because it gives events time to breathe and process. It was nice to watch Hikaru and Tsubasa's relationship develop. Tsubasa is so uncertain of herself and miserable that she needed a Hikaru to show her the lighter side of life. It doesn't solve Tsubasa's depressed state, but at least she's not so alone anymore with her father constantly at work.

I did like that the father found out instead of keeping up the pretense that Tsubasa would be able to indefinitely hide Hikaru and DD. I wish we'd seen a bit more of his reaction before DD started to use mind control on him.

The fight was snazzy again, but DD sucks for an space cop. Both times he's fought one of the monsters he got his ass beat down fast. Now his suit is dead. It also gives Tsubasa something else to worry about because if she keeps fighting then Hikaru's life is at stake as well. She's just found her new friend and after being alone for so long it'll give her some hesitation when fighting.

Yup, this seems like the real deal. Good episode again.
 
*adds to wtw list* An obscure show that ZK actually liked out of all that anime he's watched is the rarest thing ever.

I'm finding it hard to find any good anime these days in the back catalog that I haven't seen yet.
 
There's some absolutely gorgeous shots in this episode. I really do love how they play with mood lighting, things like the rain, the subtle classroom dynamics.

I'm guessing Kenta's 'why do they even HAVE parent's day?' is going to come back later. Things are unhappy at home. Maybe him and MC can bond, or maybe it'll serve as a different kind of drama.

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loved this scene

Also the ending scene reminded me of the classic Iron Giant setup, though this predates it. Well it's a common setup: kid home alone at night, hears something in the woods... Dog barking... Goes out. Like ET as well. Always those aliens showing up that way. And to be fair, it also leads to a very atmospheric kind of set up I mean there's something to a lonely child going out into the woods to see the unknown at night that is intimidating.

And intimidation wise, the alien was quite classically scary in a way I didn't expect
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Kind of feels like Tsukasa's dad doesn't have a lot of emotional finesse. Ultimately it kind of felt like he was a little lackadaisical about keeping his promise to come on parent's day.

Here we've sort of moved more into, slice-of-life alien hijinks as the aliens assemble around her.

I guess Hikaru has a strong connection here because something about Tsubasa's memories/emotions has really caught her eye. Though it seems Hikaru may not really have existed as independently before this, regardless, being some sort of power suit.

Anyway, it's largely a nice little episode of Hikaru experiencing Earth and bonding with Tsubasa and dressing up DD, who has kind of become the comical straightman at this point. She really serves as a counter to Tsubasa by being someone who is strongly opinionated and WILL get her way, while Tsubasa passively kind of sits back and lets others override her feelings. I'm sure she'll have a few things to teach Tsukasa by the end of this.

I especially enjoyed little moments like Tsubasa's dad walking in on Hikaru diving into the icecream, or the unusual bouncing outside the window moment where you can see he senses something off but isn't sure how to put it.

Kind of laughing that the one thing that seems to distinguish Tsubasa and Hikaru from each other is Hikaru's ':3'

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Episodes 1&2
The backgrounds in this show are bloody gorgeous aren't they? The character artstyle reminds me of something else, but I think it's just a generic look of the early 2000s.

I like that the show takes its time to build up the characters and the world around them rather than just throwing exposition and action at us. Then when the action comes, it's enjoyable.

Tsubasa is an interesting protagonist so far, she's obviously not in a good place, the death of her mother and then completely uprooting her life for her dad, on top of that, she really doesn't seem to have a good relationship with her dad at all. I'm glad the show is also taking it's time with this so far, rather than giving us one big conclusion like "friends make the sad go away", it seems that gaining a friend in Hikaru could be a small turning point instead.
 
episode 3
The episode where sports fuels the drama.

Curious what illness Shou has, 'ambiguous anime illness'.

Man what IS Mina's deal? Does she even have a deal? Will we get more on that? Curious.

I like the little ways the story encourages Tsubasa to challenge herself here, and I think what's most interesting to me is how there's multiple nuanced children at play. I'm really curious about learning more details about all the characters in the class.

DD is kind of useless for an alien spacecop huh? I don't mind, actually I think he's kind of meant to be a bit of the damsel in distress here which is a bit of a role reversal.

episode 4
Laid-back trip...

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honestly was waiting for someone to get stabbed this episode with all these children and knives be careful kenta

I like Tsubasa and Shou's little detour in the school. Tbh, I'm quite fond of Shou as a character. He has an enigmatic feeling to him. Shou kind of raising death flags by being a sickly boy talking about flying around with big white wings. Don't die.

Honestly I'm surprised Tsubasa seems afraid of the dark after fighting creatures from a child's literal nightmare the past few eps. But then again, fears aren't exactly logical

DD: I called the children, not even two alien spacecops can handle this

Oldina the Bad Cop to DD's Good Cop this ep, too
 
episode 5
REAL family drama hours.

The electric fence scene reminded me of when I was a kid and touched one without knowing it was electric. Wow the children are actually warned in this one. Benign slice of life.

I liked Sakura's grandma. Cute old lady who loves children.

Actually really felt Sakura's pain here. I mean... I don't know. Maybe I'm not very sympathetic to parents, because it also felt to me her father was looking for any screw-up to deny her going to the concert and tell her she wasn't doing a good job. Do it perfect, or don't do it at all. Or if you don't do it perfectly, I'll chew you out but doing it perfectly is just expected so there's no praise. I mean, she is just about 14. It's kind of like... no wonder Sakura doesn't help you guys out, you're kind of dicks about it. Granted, the reward in most families for helping out is not being bitched at, but maybe because of my own experiences it felt the reward was a moot point because no matter what you do they'll find a way to screw you out of it or lie to you about it.

Granted, Sakura seems to love her mother so she should want to help her out of her own volition for a day. But Sakura probably wouldn't have weaponized the concert (I'll help out if you let me go), if they'd agreed in the first place. So who knows. There's some sort of familial balance not being met for anyone.

I admit I have my own parental issues that are probably making me biased here though because I do think the parents are supposed to be the more sympathetic parties here and indeed... you know, if they were like, hey it's pretty unsafe for you to go to the concert I'd be like... damn that's true, but the issue for them is Sakura thinks about fun. I mean, sure, Sakura should definitely take responsibility but a little positive reinforcement here and there wouldn't hurt either.

Sakura does make genuinely bigger mistakes here like missing putting in the order but then it's like. oh you left a shovel somewhere. like we need your fucking help sakura. I mean, idk, although I like watching shows about small towns they make me feel nervous so perhaps it was making me feel a bit trapped for her sake too. Somehow 'I'm not going to the concert after all' didn't feel very affirming.

I guess part of it is we can assume family history/patterns one way or another though. I thought way too much about this I know

It succeeded at hooking me into the emotional drama of this family quarrel though lol

I was actually really surprised the spacecops managed to fight off one of the creatures on their own this time
 
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Episode 5

Glad I'm not the only one thats behind

I'm not entirely sure what the moral of the story was here? Blindly follow through on what you said you were going to do no matter how ridiculous it is for you to do it all, while everyone just tells you how shit you are? I also get that these are jobs her mum does everyday, so maybe the moral is supposed to be help out more at home so all those jobs aren't entirely reliant on one person. Also seems very gender normative in that house.

The reward for all of that hard work was not going to the concert anyway, so I dunno Sakura, I feel like this is a lesson that will haunt you rather than help you later in life.

Kids didn't get to fight this episode, the other adult Aliens actually displayed some competence, which was nice. However, this was the 5th Magyuar they've killed, and there was only 6 initially I believe, so I'm awaiting some kind of twist in the tale, maybe they've been breeding, maybe the weird thing they emit when they die is calling for more. I'd like to start learning a bit more about the alien stuff now and maybe shift focus away from the kids daily lives for the minute.

I do kind of feel that Tsubasa should be traumatised by this a little more, she realises now that if she doesn't pull through as a Figure, Hikaru could die, and those monsters are pretty scary, all teeth, giant eyes and spikes. Yet she doesn't seem all that bothered other than showing a bit of relief when they've killed it, or managed to avoid having to kill it because Ice Queen and PhotoDad have done the killing for them.
 
@Taek
It can be hard to find time to stay on track! Especially considering the 46 min runtimes. I'm enjoying this show too so I don't want to 'waste' the episodes by watching them when I'm feeling stressed out either like some shows.

Episode 6
Now that we've beaten the "final" boss, I'm wondering what they'll pull out afterward. Also I can't shake this awful sense of dread like... we know this has to come to an end somehow. Is Hikaru going to die.

Anyway, enjoyed the school play dramatics.

Mina, I really want to know more about you! Sometimes kids are just petty, but in stories we get explanations so I wonder if we'll hear one haha.

I'm really enjoying Shou and Tsubasa's small, slowly developing friendship.
 
Episode 7
A chill episode. Playing out a whole play in real time, but with a sense of bittersweetness...

It feels like there's no way they'll be able to keep up this peaceful time. Enjoying the moment while knowing it isn't sustainable...

Kenta! You got the best role my boy! Everyone knows the funnest and most dramatic role is the villain!
 
ep 8
You know I keep wondering what the deal is with this side story of investigating the figure? Will it come to fruition?

Also Shou's ':3' is so cute, I love the small :3s in this series as mouth shapes. It's just cute.

This was a really atmospheric and gentle feeling episode, which I suppose is true of the show as a whole. But I especially like this one because we get to see the kid dynamics at play.

Tbh, I'm surprised to say, I feel like the slice-of-life elements are so much stronger than the sci-fi elements. Obviously we have the interesting story with Hikaru as an artificial device and as a human, and some cool alien designs, but the sci-fi elements are sometimes almost a distraction to some of the sol elements. It's not really like I dislike those elements, I'm a sci-fi fan, but they're more the Basis for this story than a continual plot element. It's kind of like 'nod we have to acknowledge yeah there's still aliens and that tension of the fact Hikaru is staying here just for those'. Still, the alien designs are interesting and honestly scary considering the rest of the overall tone of the show

Shou and Tsubasa's relationship is very heartwarming, but. Danger feeling
 
ep 9-11
You know, I saw it coming with Shou, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. As soon as Shou had that lingering shot with 'see you tomorrow', it was like 'oh he's definitely dead'. I'm sad about that, because Shou is a kind of... you know he's set up for this in the show, but it's Nice that Tsubasa can have a relationship with a normal person who vibes well with her energy and understands her.

Shou and Tsubasa's quiet reflective relationship was pretty meaningful... and I do like how the show lingers on and illustrates Tsubasa's grief. Losing someone like that is pretty unbearable. Heck, when Hikaru was telling Tsubasa to stop being sad it was kind of like... well, maybe back off a bit Hikaru. I really empathized with Tsubasa's sadness. But of course, Tsubasa goes too far in response. Hikaru is understandable too - she really dedicates herself to Tsubasa and she's scared of what she's seeing. She puts on a happy face.

It also really builds up this... I wouldn't call it quite codependency, but it's verging there with Hikaru and Tsubasa. Like, Hikaru really brings Tsubasa out of it by really illustrating how much none of this is... Like, Tsubasa has this inferiority complex around Hikaru but Hikaru just wants nothing but to wholly love Tsubasa. and now that Tsubasa wholly accepts that in the wake of grief, she's clinging to it a bit too hard I think - but Hikaru's glad to go along with that.

I really sense some burgeoning tragedy, because it seems Hikaru isn't doing well either

It's really the small scenes that add a lot to the show here, even things as simple as Tsubasa and Hikaru picking out matching mittens together. I really liked that scene.
 
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