Summary:
One day while on the train, Minamo spots a young girl reaching out towards the horizon on a beach. Terrified the girl will try to commit suicide, Minamo sprints down to the beach and sacks the girl. Minamo then learns the girl Amy had been blind until very recently when her dad hooked her up with the very latest in cybernetic eyes. Coincidentally, Amy used to be in Minamo’s class until very recently. Rather than celebrate her newfound sight, Amy is depressed and scared that the world is not at all how she envisioned it in her mind. In fact, Amy is so troubled by her new sense of sight, that it is destabilizing her consciousness.
All this coincides with Eiichiro’s mission to unmask the Metal artist Iris. Iris (obviously Amy) made some trippy artwork that crosses up your senses with rainbow bubbles, and Masamichi really digs her art. Before Masamichi can reach her consciousness, however, Amy/Iris brain-downs and from there it is trivial to figure out Iris’ identity. Amy feels like she has lost something from gaining sight, and Minamo understands what she means. In the end, it’s implied that Amy goes back to being blind although Eiichiro tells Iris’ stalker that Iris is no more.
Reaction:
I was intrigued to learn that Minamo smells like sunflowers. Beyond that, this episode was excellent. I really enjoyed Amy’s story as a sort of metaphor for how Man has changed both himself and the Earth. This comparison had many layers, with the polished glass necklace that lost something while becoming more beautiful and Amy finding that the world was not at all how she imagined it (except for the sky and the sea). Cybernetics disrupted her balance; has it done the same thing to the sea on which the Metal is based? Furthermore, it seems that once this balance is lost it is not so easily restored.
This episode also highlighted how Minamo is the perfect lens through which to view the Real Drive world. I loved her conversation with Amy about how everyone feels bad for Minamo for not having a cyberbrain, but Minamo doesn’t see it as a hinderance at all. I was tickled at all the girls putting on makeup for Amy’s return to class in order to make the best possible optical first impression. This was an excellent example of a standalone episode also fitting into the broader message that Real Drive is trying to convey.
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9 Comments
Might be my favorite episode so far of Real Drive. It just kinda seemed to sum up the things that make this a good show. Someone must have noticed you’re almost caught up because subs are starting again, just beware that #14 is a recap.
Not really related to this episode, but I think this hostess looks like straight outta Real Drive. I’d say that’s how Holon would look in real-life. There even seems to be some kind of Meta-Real on the display in the background.
LOL that is awesome. You know that guy in the Metal is probably trans-gender-death-gasming in the hidden pr0n area behind the scenic mountain view.
i don’t get why she thought amy was going to commit suicide, i would have thought the girl wanted to take a swim. am i missing something?
Well, the way she stood there, staring into the empty and moving her handy oddly as if she was reaching out to a mirage, one could jump to the conclusion that she was about to drown herself in the ocean. Minamo can’t swim, so she had to get to her before Amy was deep in the water. I guess, after all the writers just wanted to make it a bit interesting and emotional. Of course, Minamo could have walked up to her and asked her “WTF are you doing?” but that would have been to simple.
If people in anime talked more to each other, most plots would simply end after 5 minutes anyway.
Also, the animators wanted to squeeze in a pantsu shot.
well, there is never a too thin excuse for a pantsu shot.
Did you just call Minamo fat?!
phat is the correct spelling, i belive.
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[...] I’m glad I was given the heads up about this episode being a recap, or else I would have been really disappointed. The staff really [...]